Chapter Five: The Two Castaway
Scorpia choked down the bitter-tasting fruit, her empty stomach winning out over her unhappy tongue. Although she had determined that the strange, oblong fruits growing on the trees weren't poisonous, they still didn't taste good by any means. But they were filling, and she was in no position to be picky.
"Never thought I'd actually miss that sludge they try to pass off as rations in the cafeteria," she mumbled to herself, tossing the empty rind aside. She walked over to a nearby river, scooping some water into her mouth with her claws to wash away the taste.
A few days had passed since she had first awoken, as well as her first transformation. She hadn't had to use it again since then, but part of her felt slightly safer knowing she had her ancestral magic at her disposal. While she was more or less confident she could fight off any monsters that attacked her, it was the issue of being caught unawares that proved most pressing.
She followed the river, hoping to find its source. With any luck, it would lead to a big pond with lots of things to eat growing around it. And with even more luck, there wouldn't be a giant mutated fish or something living in it. The sounds of snarling and growling filled the air, noises she had grown accustomed to, as she headed along.
Scorpia stayed calm but alert, her eyes darting towards any rustle in the underbrush she heard. More often than not it proved to be nothing, but she couldn't afford to be incautious out here. She would almost be impressed with how much her survival skills had grown, if it hadn't been out of necessity to stay alive after being unceremoniously dumped here.
Something moved in the bushes behind her. She spun around, her stinger ready to strike at anything that might be attempting a sneak attack. Her eyes darted across the ground and through the trees, but she saw no sign of movement.
However, what she did see was what looked like a face up in the trees. She stared at it for some time, until she was sure that it was just part of the tree and a trick of the light. It did have the texture of wood, after all. Reluctant to turn her back on potential danger, she slowly resumed her journey up the river. "My mind must be playing tricks on me," she said.
The rest of the walk was much less uneventful, though that wasn't to say it was without tension. Scorpia only let down her guard once she reached the source of the water, which was indeed a pond. It was much smaller than she had hoped, barely large enough for her to go swimming in. It flowed up from a rock formation, which she checked to make sure wasn't hiding any hostile wildlife.
The monster sounds had quieted, but it wasn't like the first day, where it was that massive creature that had silenced them. This place felt more peaceful, more natural–as natural as a place like this could feel, that is. After another look around her surroundings, she sat by the pool.
Usually, the only time Scorpia had allowed herself to close her eyes for any extended period of time was when she was sleeping. Even then, she had made sure to hide somewhere camouflaged and out of reach. But for the first time in days, she felt like she wasn't in danger, almost as though there was someone watching over her. For the first time in far too long, she was at peace…
But her peace didn't last long at all. In her relaxed state, she ignored the crunching of a leaf behind her. She didn't notice the rope tying itself around her tail until the appendage was pinned to the ground. "Wha!?" She got to her feet, and was smacked in the face with some sort of stick.
The blow did little more than momentarily disorient her, and she soon caught sight of her assailant. A small, skinny figure dressed in tattered clothing, mostly made from plants found on the island. They also wore a wooden mask; the same mask, in fact, she had thought was part of a tree earlier. But underneath all that clothing, they were undeniably human. Scorpia was so shocked to see another person that she didn't defend herself when they struck her again.
"Hey–knock it off!" she shouted, blocking the next strike with her claws. She pulled her tail from the ground, driving her stinger towards the figure, who deflected it with their staff. She then went in for a harder hit with her claws, knocking them back.
The figure quickly got back up. "You'll have to do a better job than that if you want to catch me unaware!" he said. He spun the staff around, and it began to glow with energy as he did.
Scorpia knew an attack was coming, but was unprepared when it did. When the mystery man next swung his weapon, it unleashed a blast of the same energy that threw her against a tree. "Me!? You're the one who came outta nowhere and started hitting me!"
A glowing circle appeared in his hand–there was no doubt that he was some kind of sorcerer. He swung his arm, casting a multitude of projectiles that homed in on Scorpia. These she was able to weather, though they still kicked up some dust on impact. "Call it a preemptive strike! I'm not letting you guys get the drop on me again!"
'You guys?' Did he mean the Horde? Scorpia looked down, realizing she was still wearing her old outfit. "Okay, hang on, let's talk about this!" she said. "I don't know what kind of beef you have with the Horde, but we're both stuck on this crazy island, so maybe we should focus on surviving first?"
"Ha! Tell that to Black!" He launched another projectile, this one whizzing right past her. "And while you're at it, let him know I'm coming for him one of these days!" The blast may have missed Scorpia, but it wasn't meant to hit her. The tree behind her, on the other hand, creaked and groaned until it gave way, falling on top of her.
She managed to catch it before she was flattened. Scorpia was strong, but this was a big tree. "I don't even know who that is!" she shouted, groaning from the strain. "I just got here a few days ago!"
He cast yet another spell, this one heading right for her. She dropped the tree, which was blown to fiery bits when it made contact. "Even if that's true, Hordak must have sent you here for a reason. Whatever that may be, you clearly aren't the type to be trusted!"
Emerging from the smoldering bark, Scorpia scowled at her attacker. Lines of black ran across her form like dark veins, seeming to darken the air around her. "Hordak's gone!" she yelled, her voice noticeably deeper. "Catra's been leading the Horde for years!"
This revelation seemed to give the stranger pause, but it lasted for only a moment. "Nice try!" His staff began to glow again as he ran towards her, clearly intending for another strike. Scorpia growled as she ran in as well, her body distorting from her power. Her face was almost unrecognizable, sporting beady black eyes and mandibles.
The two collided, and were blasted back by the force of the impact. Both landed with a thud, Scorpia coming to a rest near the water, and her assailant some distance away. "Urggh…" she groaned, pulling herself up to the pond. She looked to be normal again–she sighed in relief before lying down in exhaustion.
The man got up as well, finding to his dismay that his stick had been torn in two by the blast. "Aw, not again!" he moaned, letting each half fall to the ground. He got to his feet, cautiously examining Scorpia's still form.
"Now can we talk things out?" she asked. She slowly got to her feet, careful not to set him off again. "You seem like you've been through a lot, but I promise I won't try and attack you, or steal from you, or do whatever it was you were afraid of. I don't know who this Black is, and I was sent to Beast Island because Catra…" She trailed off, not wanting to relive those painful memories.
He considered it for a moment. "I suppose talking things out couldn't be so bad. Especially since neither of us look to be in fighting shape." He glanced over his shoulder at seemingly nothing. "I know I did just attack you and all, but…how hungry are you?"
"Very!" she exclaimed. "All I've eaten since I got here are fruits that taste like cleaning supplies! …Wait, you aren't just talking about those, are you?"
The man laughed knowingly. "No, no. I've had enough of those to last me a lifetime. I have some meat grilling back at my hideout, and–" Scorpia was immediately on her feet again, salivating as she waited for him to lead her there. "Huh. I'll take that as a yes."
Despite initially being at each other's throats, the two were now on the way to becoming allies, and were also on the way to the man's hideout. "So, how long've you been here?" asked Scorpia, awkwardly trying to make conversation. She wasn't exactly keen on talking about her past, and was unsure if he would be the same.
Fortunately, the question didn't bother him. "Oh, years now, I've lost count," he said. "Last time I saw my daughter, she was a little girl. She's probably a young woman now…" He stopped, taking a moment to look Scorpia over. "Actually, she's probably not much younger than you."
"I'm…sorry," she said, not sure of what else to say. "You seem like a good guy. I don't know why Horday sent you here."
"That's the thing: he didn't," said the man. "But I won't go into that now. Here, this is me." He led her into a cave hidden in a cliffside by a curtain of vines, out of which a delicious smell was emanating. As soon as he pulled the curtain aside, Scorpia ran inside, uncaring that the small chamber was mostly filled with smoke.
As the stranger had said, he was cooking meat in a campfire within. Scorpia immediately snatched it up off of the rotisserie and dug into it; she didn't care that she burned her mouth, nor did she care that she didn't know what it was. "Life is beautiful!" she said, nearly tearing up. Both from joy, and from pain at burning her mouth.
He sat down aside from her. "Hey, save some for me! It took all day to catch that thing!" He removed his mask, setting it down beside him. Scorpia was only just now seeing his face, and something about it seemed oddly familiar. He had black hair and somewhat-dark skin, his face covered with an untrimmed beard. "You don't want us to go back to those soap-fruits, do you?"
Scorpia shook her head, handing the skewer back over to him. "Y'know, I'm just now realizing we never introduced each other," she said. "I'm Scorpia, princess of the Fright Zone and former Force Captain." She held out a claw for him to shake.
He seemed hesitant, but took it nonetheless. "Micah, former king of Brightmoon," he said.
Like a switch had been flipped, Scorpia immediately realized why he had looked so familiar. "Y-you…you're the king?" she said. She probably would have dropped the meat if she had still been holding it. "King Micah, the King Micah? Queen Angella's husband, Glitter's dad?"
"Glimmer," he corrected, his face lighting up. "You know her?"
She moved her claw in a so-so gesture. "Eh, we've met a few times. Fought a few times too. She seems nice enough–we'd probably have gotten along pretty good if we weren't on opposite sides."
Micah looked fondly into the flickering flames. "My little girl's all grown up," he said, his tone bittersweet. "Tell me, what is she like? Is she still just as much of a spitfire as she was when she was younger? And how about Angella, are they getting along? Oh…" Reminded of his wife, his demeanor fell. "They probably hate me after all this time away."
"I wouldn't say they hate you," she assured him. "Everyone thinks you're dead. Hard to hate someone when you think they're dead. Unless you hated them before, which I doubt they did… Okay, look, I'm not very good at this, but I'm pretty sure they just miss you."
Despite her lack of confidence, her words did seem to reassure him somewhat. "Thank you, Scorpia," he said. "I'm sorry about ambushing you and all that."
"No harm done!" she said, helping herself to some more of the meat.
"That said…what did you mean when you said Hordak was gone?" he asked. "I mean, I know what you meant, but could you give me some details? Did Shadow Weaver finally usurp him?"
Scorpia chuckled at the mention of her. "Nah, Shadow Weaver's been gone for years! She got put in jail for going behind his back, but she busted out, and nobody's seen her since." This statement made him narrow his eyes suspiciously. "Catra's been in charge ever since Horde Prime showed up. Well, her and Emerald."
Micah clearly had no idea what she was talking about. "Horde…Prime? Emerald? Please, start from the beginning. And who is this 'Catra?'"
"Oh, Catra's my best friend!" Scorpia said. However, her cheerful demeanor didn't last long. "Or, she was. We were inseparable, but then she became Lord Catra, and Emerald started putting all these ideas in her head, and she tried to blow up the world, and…" She got to her feet, staring off into space. "I-I think I need to lie down."
"Here." Micah directed her over to a bed of straw at the back of the cave. It was much more comfortable than the rocks she had made her beds, even the ones covered in damp moss. "Go on when you're ready. At your own pace."
"S-she put me here," said Scorpia, the reality of the situation finally hitting her. "She was gonna destroy the planet, and I tried to stop her, and then there was this pain, and then I–I thought we were friends." Her voice was breaking, and tears welled up in her eyes. "I knew she had problems, but I thought I was helping! I thought I was making her better!"
Micah hung his head. "I know what it's like, to have a loved one choose power over you. I'm truly sorry."
Fully breaking down, Scorpia threw her arms around Micah, pulling him closer. "What did she want?" she sobbed. "What did she want that I couldn't give her?"
"I wish I knew," said Micah, eventually hugging her back. "Some people are never satisfied with what they have. They want more, or they want the one thing they can't have, and they'll do anything to obtain it, even turning their backs on the people they love. But whatever the reason she did it, it wasn't because of you."
"I know," she said, pulling back. "But it still really feels like that. Like, if I had done or said something different, I'd still be back home with her and everything would be fine…" She lay back down, turning her back to him. "I'm sorry, I…"
"No need to apologize," he said. "Get some rest, I imagine it's been a while since you've had a good night's sleep." Leaving her be, he went to put out the fire.
Without the fire's light, Scorpia realized it was later than she had thought. She also realized she was more tired than she had thought. Finally able to let her emotions out, Scorpia cried herself to sleep for the first time in years.
Scorpia didn't know how long she had been asleep, but it was still dark when she woke up. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, her vision growing used to the darkness of the cave. Micah sat nearby, upright but still asleep. Rising quietly so not to disturb him, Scorpia crept for the curtain and slipped out of the cave.
She didn't think it was possible for Beast Island to be peaceful, but it was, almost more so than it had been at the pond. There were still those creepy noises in the distance, though they were quieter here, almost ambient. Either this place was further away from the vicious monsters, or a good rest was all she needed to see this island in a new light. Probably the former.
"Good morning, Sunshine." She glanced back as Micah exited the cave. "How'd you sleep? Feeling better?"
She thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am. It…felt good to have someone to talk about it with."
He patted her on the arm. "Same here. I can't tell you how lonely it's been, stuck here without my family, with the only ones who can talk trying to capture me. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not glad you're trapped here with me, but misery does love company."
"That it does," she said, nodding. "Actually…you said there are other people here. Who are they, and why are they trying to capture you?"
He glared off to the side. "Long story." Scorpia stared at him. "But, we do have nothing but time. Come on." She followed him further into the jungle. "Hordak's sent plenty of people here over the years. Some aren't even on him, like the two of us. But they've all more or less banded together since then, formed into a sort of village. Well, not all of them. The ones who don't want any part of them?" He drew his finger across his throat.
"Ooh," Scorpia said gravely. "And this 'Black,' is he like their leader?"
"Yes and no. He keeps order in their little village, but he's just a figurehead. Now, his boss, that guy's the one in charge. And the one who sent me here in the first place."
He stopped them once they reached a large, sturdy tree. He climbed up onto one of its branches with ease, attempting to use his weight to break it off. Scorpia watched as more questions formed in her head.
"And this boss guy, what's his deal?"
Micah struggled a bit with the branch. "As far as what he wants, I have no idea. But as for who he is, we have a bit of a history. Modulok's his name; he's something of a mad scientist type. He captured me for one of his twisted experiments, but that's as far as I cared to listen."
Modulok. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put a face to it. He must have been before her time. "So you've just been on the run from him all these years?" she asked. He wasn't making any progress with the branch, so she reached up to snip it free with her claw, catching him in the other.
"Thank you," he said, back on his feet with the branch in his hand. He began to fiddle with it, plucking off twigs and smoothing it out with magic. "And yes, I've been running for a long time. But with you here, I think we just might be able to help each other. How'd you like to get off this island?"
"Absolutely I'd like to get off this island!" she replied. "But, what exactly can we do? I'm pretty big, but what exactly can I do that you couldn't do with your magic?"
Micah examined the branch, now a new staff. "Simple: you're going to help me raid Black's stronghold. See, Modulok doesn't stay here all the time. He's got a ship, one that he keeps stashed away somewhere inside there." He pointed to her with the staff. "And you're going to help me steal it."
While the battle continued to rage planetside, a small cruiser departed from the Supermassive. It wasn't a particularly heavily-armed, armored, or generally dangerous craft, but it didn't need to be. Its inhabitants were dangerous enough.
Catra stood up from the pilot's seat to address her team. "All of you listen up," she said. "All of Etheria is now considered enemy territory. There are a few pockets of New Horde loyalists here and there, but they're in no way reliable enough to depend on as allies. For this mission, it'll be just the six of us. We go in, stay under the radar, find this Heart of Etheria, and bring it back from right under Adora's nose. Any questions?"
Her entourage–consisting of Bluebird Azurite, a male scorpionkin, a Carnelian, a Mystacoran sorcerer, and a mer-kin–had none. "We're at your beck and call, Empress!" said Azurite.
"Good." Catra sat back down, readying the ship for a hyperspace jump. "Hope you're ready for me, Adora," she added under her breath.
