CHAPTER 1
"What happened?" A hoarse voice asked itself.
The owner of the voice slowly sat up taking in their surroundings. They appeared to be in some sort of forest. It's density is a bit concerning. The foliage was so thick they couldn't see past the line of trees in front of them. The sounds of wildlife unusually loud.
'Where am I?' they thought standing up. A shooting pain immediately shot through their head, almost forcing them back to the ground. Quickly catching themselves on a tree limb, trying not to throw up, they took a deep breath.
'Agh, my head is pounding. How did I get out here? More importantly, where is here?'
Taking a second to catch their bearings, they took in their surroundings more acutely.
There was no path, no trail, nothing indicating how they had wound up in the middle of the forest. In fact, there was nothing but trees and darkness stretching into the night.
The sounds of the wildlife were quite loud, almost unnaturally even. In fact everything seemed to be more vivid. The sound of dripping was constant. There must be some form of water nearby.
Just then they became acutely aware of how thirsty they were. Their tongue felt like sand against the roof of their mouth, and they were finding it somewhat difficult to swallow.
'God, what the hell happened to me?' they thought as they stumbled towards the sound. There also seemed to be some sort of smell in the air, and a strong one at that. It smelled almost metallic. They couldn't quite place where they had smelled it before. As they walked through the brush, gently moving branches to the side while being careful not to move too much so as to not set off another migraine, they noticed something about themselves. Their hands were not normal.
Stopping to look at their self, they immediately noticed there were claws on their fingertips. Blinking any drowsiness away, they took a more intense look at themselves. There was very fine fur where skin should have been. It went all the way from their fingertips to their shoulders.
It was there they noticed something peculiar about themselves. They had very long hair that stretched down a slender body belonging to that of a young woman.
"What the fuck?" they said to themselves. Feeling their body showed that the fur encompassed their whole body including their face. The most bizarre part of this experience showed itself in the form of a tail and cat-like ears.
'Ok, stop. What the FUCK. Last time I checked people didn't have cat features adorning their body.' She thought to herself. 'Also, why am I a woman? I'm not a woman. I think?' She thought, confusion clouding her mind.
For the first time since waking up she stopped to really think about things. Nothing was adding up. Everything from waking up in the middle of a forest she had never seen to this body that seemed straight out of a fantasy novel.
It was then that an alarming thought occurred to her.
'What's my name?' She thought, panic slowly taking over. Her breathing was coming out in shorter gasps and it was getting increasingly harder to stand.
"FUCK FUCK FUCK, Who the fuck am I?" She yelled out.
Cold fear gripped her stomach. She needed to calm down, panicking would get her nowhere. She took deep breaths doing her best to keep calm, realizing how increasingly alone she was. There were no tracks, no footprints, nothing to explain how she had gotten into this forest.
As she sped up her pace, she then noticed that the dripping sound was still constant and that the metallic smell had gotten pungent as she approached the sound. She identified the sound and smell right before she stepped through into the clearing. It was blood and a lot of it too. The trees were splattered with it and the ground had turned red. It looked like something straight out of a horror movie.
Her eyes quickly locked onto the culprit. There, roughly 90 feet away, was a dead deer? At least it appeared to be a deer, but no deer she had ever seen looked this way. It had three purple eyes, and a long cat-like tail that split into three. It's fur was a shade of blue as well, with it's antlers resembling some form of antenna. Peculiarly, it had hooves that somewhat resemble paws.
It was currently being torn apart by a dog-like creature that somewhat resembled a mix between a doberman and a crocodile. A very big creature.
'Right, this was a mistake," she thought, with an expression of fear, backing out of the clearing and getting as far away from the area as possible.
As soon as she was far enough away from the area, to the point she couldn't smell the blood or hear the dripping anymore, she took off in a sprint.
She ran for what seemed like forever but in actuality was probably only a few minutes, The sound of rushing water filling her ears.
'Ok, this time I know for sure that that is water.'
She came across a river that was so clear she could see to the bottom of it. The fish that swam through didn't even look like normal fish. Their scales shined with brilliant glowing patterns of reds and blues that seemed almost magical. If she didn't know any better she would say they were magic.
Taking a steadying breath, she sat on a rock, cleaned her face, took a drink and tried to gather her thoughts over what was going on.
'Alright, time to figure whatever the hell this is. One, I am now a cat person. . .I'm gonna come back to that one. Two, I have no clue what my name is, who I am in general, to the point I can't even remember my own gender. I think,
'Am I a man? I was kind of shocked that I had a woman's body. But then again, I didn't have any problems moving or walking or even running. Like I instinctively know how to move. Maybe I was a woman?' She let out a sigh of irritation. 'This is so stupid. What I have come to the conclusion is that I am in a place that defies reason and logic. The trees easily dwarf the biggest trees of earth and no river that she's heard of has water that glows and fish that can leave glitter in the water. What purpose does that serve anyways? Is it some kind of defense mechanism? Maybe a mating dance of some kind? Whatever the reason, she didn't like it. It was unnatural.'
'So the most likely option is I am dying. I am dying in a hospital room slowly dying from some head injury and the carbon dioxide in my body is causing me to hallucinate this weird fantasy dream. I'm in a medical coma and my brain is rationalizing the injuries.'
That's why her head hurt. The doctors must be working on her head to save her life, or his life. Still undecided on that part. The smell of blood, the migraine and nausea, even the weird brightly colored animals could be explained.
The picture became increasingly clearer as she analyzed her surroundings. The sights, sounds, and smells all pointed to the only possible scenario.
'At some point, whoever I am, must have been driving down a country side road. Along the way at some point, a deer must have stepped into the road. Seeing this, I must have swerved to avoid it, unsuccessfully. I hit the deer causing the bloody scene I saw earlier. The car must have wrecked and I hit my head resulting in this terrible migraine and memory loss. I must have veered off into a forest, given my current surroundings, and the fish are ambulance lights and the dog creature was a search and rescue dog.'
She smiled a toothy grin at having figured it all out. In all honesty, there were no other scenarios. It all added up. Though her satisfaction gave way to a more curious thought process.
'But why am I a cat person?' That was the one piece of this puzzle that didn't seem to fit anywhere. And not only that, what happens if she were to die in this mental landscape? Would she simply fizzle out of existence or would she wake up? Should she stay put or explore her surroundings? Either way she had decided she didn't want to stay in this area anymore.
She tried to get her sense of direction back by looking at the sky. If the moon wasn't at a high point she could figure out which was north. Though she was quick to find her thoughts on this matter quickly dashed and not for the first time this day and probably not the last, she found herself cursing her circumstances.
"Of course, why wouldn't there be six moons?!" she exclaimed in irritation. Looking around she noticed a cliffside. It seemed to stretch high into the clouds. It was then that she noticed it wasn't clouds, but fog. Giving a groan of exasperation, "Guess we're doing this the hard way," she said as she eyed the cliff.
The pain in the side and back of her head subsiding for the moment, she took in her apparel hoping to find anything of use. Examining herself more thoroughly, she found that she was wearing a sleeveless red leotard and purplish leggings, which had several holes in them, that wrapped around the arch of her feet, leaving her heels, toes, and knees exposed. She had on two belts that, admittedly, looked to be for aesthetic purposes only. The shiny piece of metal pinned to her shirt caught her eye. It appeared to be some sort of badge, a little bigger than a 50 cent piece. The insignia had a yellow background with what appeared to be two green bat wings under a diamond.
'What a stupid looking badge. It looks like a little kid drew this. What would this even represent anyways?' She thought, a disdainful look marring her face. 'Maybe I can use this thing to. . . I don't know where I was going with this.'
Undoing the pin, she brought it closer to her face and noticed it had a button on it. Thinking it over for a moment she decided not to push it, not quite sure what it does.
"With my luck it's probably my life support. Hey push this and all of your problems will disappear. Yeah right, I'm not that stupid.' Getting to her feet, letting out a breath of exasperation, she stared at the cliffside. "Well, no time like the present."
"Fuck this cliff, ugh, fuck this forest, argh, fuck this forest, mmh, and most of all, fuck whatver deer she hit." She grunted. This was bullshit and she knew it. She had nearly fallen several times, she had cut herself multiple times, and the worst of all was that she was very thirsty.
Finally finding herself at the top, she crawled herself away from the ledge and layed there for several moments, breathing heavily. 'Huh, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and what the hell man, I'm dying the least of all my brain could do is make me not run out of breath.'
Getting to her feet, she looked out over the land. It was a gorgeous view. Trees larger than she had ever seen before. The river stretched out for miles and she could see a waterfall where it started. The sky was filled with shades of pinks and blues. The moons seemed more vibrant now that she could get a good look at them. And there were mountains of ice that seemed to stretch on forever until they were lost into the clouds.
The breeze smelled cleaner. It was hard to describe, but there was no scent of gas or oil, no pollution. There was something that smelled sweet and almost made you feel safer, like a blanket around you on a cold night with a warm drink in your hands. If she wasn't sure she was dying before, she was now. There was no place like this on earth. The trees had colors that she had never seen before. But there was something missing. Something incomplete about the picture. She couldn't place it for a few minutes until it hit her.
"Where are the stars?" She asked aloud. It was almost heartbreaking really. She had never seen something so beautiful in her entire life, or rather what she could remember of it, and it was missing half the picture. Letting out a sigh, she turned away from the breathtaking view. She had to focus on finding her way out of the forest. There would be time for sightseeing later.
She walked for a few hours listening to the sounds of nature. She stopped when she noticed some sort of fruit on the trees. It looked like an orange but pink. She looked at her hands, tensing them a bit.
'Maybe I can. . .' she wondered when suddenly, her claws extended much further than she previously thought they could. "Huh well how about that," she said to herself. Latching onto the tree she climbed up and grabbed the pink fruit and dropped back to the ground, landing softly.
"Note to self, I am more cat than I first thought." she muttered. Looking at the fruit, she started peeling it. The smell of citrus filled the air. She took a bite and sweet juice filled her mouth. 'Yep, it's an orange.'
The morning rays started peeking through the branches, illuminating the path she was on. The sounds of wildlife became more prominent as nature started to wake up. As she kept walking her ears picked up on another sound. A sound she was familiar with. Laughing.
Quickly finishing her orange, or pink in this case, she ran to the sound as quickly as she could. There peeking through the bushes she saw a small village, or rather a smattering of tents. There was also a purple tree, with pink leaves, and what looked to be a large glowing pearl in the center of it.
She saw children playing and people chatting. They seemed to be performing the basic morning routines of waking up, eating, and getting ready for the day. There were also other people with animal features, but more deerish. As she examined the people, she came to the conclusion that, no doubt about it, these people were hippies. They had flowers in their hair and there was no meat to be found. Some of them also smoked what appeared to be blunts. Heh. But in the middle of the gathering was a blonde woman. She looked to be around 19, but what caught her eye was not the clothing, but the fact she had made the flowers grow in her hands. She also had a green circlet on.
'She must know the way out of the forest. I bet she controls it.' she thought with a smile. Stepping out into the open, she started to make her way towards the woman.
"Excuse me," she called out to the woman, "I'm kind of lost and trying to get out of this forest. I would really appreciate it if-" before she could finish her sentence, cries of terror and fear erupted from the gathering shouting about hordes. Quickly spinning around, she scanned the tree line thinking that the dog creature had followed her. But there was nothing. Not even a scent of the blood she had smelled earlier. Turning back around, she saw everyone was not looking at the forest, but at her.
'What the hell? I didn't even do anything.' She thought to herself, confused, when all of a sudden the blonde woman, who had been growing flowers, lashed out with vines towards her.
She quickly jumped to the side, attempting to avoid the flora coming towards her. Narrowly missing her by inches she yelled out towards the hostile woman.
"Why are you attacking me? I didn't do anything to you!" The vines kept coming though and eventually her lack of energy, her injuries, combined with the fatigue from climbing the cliff caught up with her. The vines latched onto her leg and quickly coiled around her, restricting her movement like a large snake would its prey.
The blonde woman walked forward with a determined look on her face. The vines brought her to eye level. When suddenly the woman turned towards the people and smiled like a kid in a candy store.
"We caught a horde soldier, and a Force Captain at that," she said taking the badge off her chest, "just imagine what She-Ra will say. This is definitely big news. We have to get her to Brightmoon immediately. She'll have so much information."
She tried to speak to the blonde woman but vines were covering her mouth, muffling any sound she could get out. Listening to the conversation going on in front of her she learned this woman was named Perfuma. She was also the princess of this forest, or something to that effect. Focusing back on herself for a moment, she became aware of how increasingly hard it was getting to stay awake. The princess Perfuma was so wrapped up in her speech that she didn't notice her captive slowly drifting into unconsciousness nor the blood leaking down the side of her head.
She opened her eyes and found herself in a hazy dark fog. The forest was gone, replaced by a road with street lights, shapes of skyscrapers and small buildings on both sides. Cars littered the road and shadows in the shape of people were everywhere. It smelled like junk food and gas. The sounds of people talking and cars honking filled her ears. The road stretched out in front of her leading to a glowing silhouette. Walking forwards there seemed to be something off about it. The street lights shifted until they were broken and crooked. Vines slowly crawled up the buildings. The windows shattered and broken glass littered the street.
'This looks like a city, maybe New York?' She thought to herself. Trying to concentrate only made things darker but the figure glowed even more brilliantly. It almost lit up the dark.
As she walked closer to the bright figure the scenery changed, slowly shifting to some sort of town. It looked to be an industrial-esque era mixed with a sci-fi element . There were pipes coming out of every building and it smelled like a factory. Oil and burning fumes filled the air. The sounds of power tools, metal working, and . . .marching?
As she walked closer to the figure, shadows appeared more frequently. These ones in a formation. They walked with purpose and in sync. 'Soldiers' She thought to herself.
She could almost make out features of the bright figure. But the one that stood out the most was that it was a woman. As she approached the end of the shadowy town, she noticed that the environment changed again. This time the pipes and buildings fell away, replaced by trees and forest.
'Guess I'm back here, huh?' She thought tiredly. Walking through the forest she realized it was the same spot she had woken up before. Looking around she noticed a few differences. For one the animals were all just shadows now, There was no river, just a dark crack stretching through the ground, and that it smelled like smoke. Suddenly the figure moved, turning and running through the dark fog, beckoning her to follow.
She quickly gave chase intent on finding out what was going on. Slowly closing the distance she took notice of the bright blue opal-shaped gemstone on the figure's chest. The figure stopped about 50 feet away. She slowly turned her face towards her, the light becoming brighter. The shadows were vanishing around them. But the light was becoming too much, too bright. She couldn't focus and it was starting to hurt. Blinding pain shot through her body. She couldn't breathe and it was getting worse.
"Remember." The voice filled her ears, stabbing through her mind like a knife. Remember, the word kept repeating in her mind, filling her entire being.
"Remember what? You're not making any sense!" She cried out, tears falling from her face, her eyes clenched shut. The pain was almost becoming too much to bear. If it didn't stop soon she felt she would surely die.
Another word rang out through the pain. "Catra," it said. Suddenly she was yanked off her feet. The word kept getting louder and the figure wouldn't stop repeating the word.
"Catra, CaTRA, CATRA" It slowly became louder and louder. Suddenly. . ..
Her eyes snapped open and she immediately turned to the side and threw up. Her head was throbbing and everything was too loud. A hand holding a glass of water appeared in her vision. Immediately grabbing the glass, she drank it one drink.
"Ugh, what the fuck," she muttered to herself. She went to look around but the lights were too bright. She shut her eyes when she finally took notice of the woman in front of her. She had been saying something but had been cut off by her less than stellar display.
"Catra, are you alright?" The woman spoke softly, her voice gentle and soothing.
Looking up at the woman she noticed a few things. She looked to be around 18 years old. She had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. Her hair was in a ponytail and had some weird floof thing going on. 'It looks a little dumb to be honest,' she thought to herself. She wore a red jacket with a white long sleeve shirt underneath and gray pants with red and white boots. She also had this weird double belt aesthetic thing going on. Must be the latest fashion trend.
The thing that stood out the most was that her appearance put her at ease. Almost unnaturally so. Her face was one of concern. 'At least this blonde wasn't attacking her with sticks and vines,' she thought to herself.
"Yeah I'm fine, thanks for asking- wait, what did you call me?" She asked the woman. Immediately the look became a little more concerned. "I called you by your name, Catra. Don't you remember?" She asked a little panicked.
'Is that really my name? Catra? That seems kind of on the nose doesn't it, what with the cat ears, claws, and tail? Hmmm.' She pondered, staying silent a moment before looking at the woman.
"Listen, I'm sorry if we know each other, but I can't remember anything. Just bits and pieces." She said nonchalantly. She went to say something else before she was cut off by another voice. One that sounded particularly shrill.
"Oh please, Adora, she's obviously lying. I mean look at her. She just happens to wander into Plumeria, eat a poisonous pinkel, and then get captured by Perfuma, just to end up here without any memories? I don't think so. She failed at Salineas and now she's plotting to get back in the good graces of Hordak. It's so obvious it's almost funny." She turned to look at the speaker. It was a younger teenager. She appeared to be about 16 and was a little chubbier. She wore some weird purple jacket. . .cape thing and her hair was glittery, like sparkly.
The now named Adora spoke, "We don't know that Glimmer. Look at her, you saw the wounds on her. That wasn't some little bump on the head. There was a lot of blood." She said in a worried tone.
The now named girl, Glimmer, looked at her with a scathing glare. "Fine, but until we know for certain she's staying in the containment spell. Mom will set it up." With her piece said, she turned and stormed out of the room.
Turning to look back at Adora she went to say something when, all of a sudden, a tall, attractive woman came striding into the room. She had pink hair that framed her face nicely and stretched to her mid back, along with piercing dark eyes. She had on a pair of white teardrop earrings and another gem on her forehead. Her necklace also consisted of these teardrop gems. She wore a pink outfit and gray pants and purple boots along with a blue cape that draped off of her shoulders and wore a purple belt. Along her back were gorgeous shimmering wings. They were transparent with a sheen to them. All in all, this woman had to be the most gorgeous person she had met thus far. She also realized this must be the pink haired girl's mother.
'So I am dead. The angel confirmed it. That means the sparkly girl must be a baby angel. Pfft, that's hilarious. Huh, weird, I figured heaven would be more "pearly gates and harps" and less "You are condemned until we prove you're not a horrible person".
She was broken from her thoughts by a sharp voice. "Are you listening to me, Horde soldier?" The woman's gaze was piercing and sharp, an Ice queen if she ever saw one.
"Ummmm, I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I'm still a bit out of it." She asked sheepishly. The woman eyed her for a moment taking in the bandages around her head and body, before turning towards Adora.
"You know this girl, yes? I assume this is the infamous Catra?" She spoke in a kind of judging tone, like she had already decided what type of person she was.
"Yes Queen Angella, I grew up with Catra. I know her. If we just give her a bit to get her bearings I'm sure she'll be cooperative. From what Perfuma told us she didn't attack anyone while she was in Plumeria. I don't think she's lying. She's acting differently, like she doesn't know me. If we can help her, maybe we can show her how bad the Horde is, like you all did for me." Adora says with a hopeful, if not slightly desperate, tone.
The woman glances back towards the amnesic girl. Regarding her coldly, she ruffles her wings and speaks in a commanding tone that leaves no room for arguments. "Your friend has vouched for you. If what she says is true and you truly do not have any memory of your life then you have nothing to be worried for. But if you are lying, know that it will not end well for you. Until further notice, you will remain in the Brightmoon prison. Castaspella will arrive within the week. She will prove whether or not you're lying." Standing back up she takes a glance towards Adora and takes her out of the room.
Alone for the moment she gathers her thoughts. 'My name is Catra? And I've known this person, Adora, for a while. Does everyone lose their memories when they die?' She mulled these things over for the better part of half an hour. SHe was practicing saying the name, testing how it sounded to hear. It felt like it was right but wrong at the same time. It was a weird feeling. She stood up and stretched, noticing the throbbing in her head was almost completely gone. As she went to walk out of the room, becoming quite bored over the last hour, a flash of pink sparkles filled her vision, startling her quite a bit causing her to jump back a few feet. In front of her was the sparkly teenager from earlier.
"Where do you think you're going, Horde scum?" The pink haired girl said in an accusatory tone. Looking at the girl, she said the first thing that came to mind.
"I got bored. I was going to go find the blonde girl. Adora, I think her name was," Looking at her for a second she asked a question that had popped into her mind, "Why don't you have wings but your mom does?" She asked curiously. As soon as she asked that, the teen's face turned a shade of pink and a look of indignation crossed her face.
"I have wings! They're just not grown yet. And for your information, Adora is busy. She's trying to lessen your sentence. I don't know why. But either way, you should be grateful to her. If it were up to me we'd lock you up and throw away the key" She said with a glare.
"So you're a cherub? That's hilarious," she laughed out loud, "from henceforth I name thee Cherub, first of her name. The pink haired girl kept getting angrier and angrier.
She looked about ready to strangle her. "What is a Cherub? Some kind of Horde insult?" She asked angrily.
Her laughter dying down, she looked at her confused. "What do you mean ' what's a cherub'? You're a cherub, a baby angel. An angel who doesn't have their wings yet," seeing her expression turning angrier by the moment, she went to calm her down. "Sorry if I made you angry. I'd imagine that's a sensitive subject for you. Let's start over. According to that Adora girl, my name is Catra,what's yours? " She asked apologetically, holding her hand out.
The sparkly teen regarded her cooly for a moment, looking at her hand suspiciously. Not sure what the intentions were she looked at her for a moment before speaking.
"My name is Glimmer, not Cherub, and my mom and I aren't literal angels, we just have wings. Just stay here for a little while. I'll go get Adora and tell her you want to talk to her." Glimmer said, ignoring the hand, not quite sure what to make of the cat girl in front of her. With that being said, the girl vanished in a flash of sparkles.
'Hm, she seems alright, I suppose. If not a little standoffish. And what's with the "Horde this and Horde that?"' She thought to herself as she laid back down on the bed. Thoughts filled her head regarding Glimmer's statement about angels.
'If she's not a real angel and neither is her mom, then where am I? Am I really dead and on that matter who exactly is Catra to these people? Adora seems to care a great deal, but on the other hand, Glimmer seems to dislike Catra immensely. If I really am Catra and not someone they've mistaken for her, then why do I know these things about Earth? Because last I checked Magic wasn't real. I doubt anyone here has any knowledge about it. I suppose I'll ask Adora about it when comes back." She thought with a pondering look on her face. Looking around the room, she could now see everything that it had to offer.
A vanity sat against the wall and another doorway that looked to be a bathroom. There were several open door frames that led outside that would never hold the wind back. It was a dumb design in her opinion. What if it snowed, or rained, or any bad weather in general? Disregarding the thought she took notice it was well into the night.
'If everyone is still up I must be a pretty big deal.' She pondered, looking out over the kingdom, noting the absence of stars once again.
Some crystals floated in the air and a bell sat near the bed, a dresser with teacups on it, and more crystals floating by the bed. The bed did not match the rest of the room. While everything else looked extravagant the bed looked flat and harsh. It was almost military. The type of bed you would find in barracks. It was a good bed. It also had one of those curtains that hang around royalty beds. There was also a desk. But what really caught her eye was the waterfall and . . .pool pond thing? Eh, who cares, whatever it was, she needed a good bath. Ignoring the waterfall for a moment, she noticed how stiff she was.
She stood up and took a second to stretch. A sort of sparking pain shot through her thigh and upper shoulder. Wincing, she rubbed her shoulder and thigh slowly, working the knots out of her body. Suddenly, her hand got caught on the sheet. As she went to get it off she saw, upon closer inspection, that her claws had caught it. She hadn't quite figured out the whole cat physiology yet, but seeing how she was alone, now was as good a time as any.
As soon as she went to remove the blanket, it was torn to shreds. Pulling her hands back, she marveled at her claws in awe. Looking at the bed curtain, she reached out and raked her hand down it. The curtain was shredded with ease, but she paid it no mind, what she did give attention to was how nice it felt. It was almost like her fingertips were stretched out. Standing up, she looked at the curtain and this time gripping it with both hands, she took a step back and dug her feet into the marble floor and arched her back, allowing every part of her body to feel it. The curtain stood no chance against iit's feline foe. Within minutes, it was reduced to ribbons. Unfortunately, the floor also had been damaged. Not realizing just how sharp her claws were, had gouged several slashes in the marble.
Feeling a lot better, she went towards the waterfall and reached out for the water. She immediately recoiled, pulling her arm back to her side. The water was almost ice cold. There was probably something around here to change the temperature of it somewhere, but she could find no thermostat or water heater anywhere. Shrugging she walked towards the door to the left. Her suspicions were proven right.
It was indeed a bathroom. It had beautiful tapestry hanging from the wall, a mirror hung above the sink, and the bathtub was built into the floor and it had a window directly beside it that gave her a marvelous view of the kingdom. It was quite enticing with many types of soaps and fragrances. Walking towards the closet, she opened it to find candles and incense sticks. There was also what looked to be a perfume bottle beside them. Picking it up she realized it was some sort of lighter.
"Oh yeah, this is exactly what I need." She said to herself. Turning the water on to an acceptable temperature of almost too hot, she grabbed some towels, several candles, crushed the incense sticks into dust, and closed the door. As the water slowly filled the tub, she lit the candles and sprinkled the dust into them. Looking at the soaps, she found several to her liking and poured a few drops into the water.
Stripping out of her clothes, she took a second to look at her body in the mirror. The reflection that stared back had tan skin with a very athletic build with very fine fur encompassing her entire body. She had sharp features, such as her pointed chin, a straight nose, and slanted piercing eyes. Her eyes caused her to stop for a moment and focus solely on them. They were sharp and very focused, with one eye being yellow and the other being a light shade of blue. Taking in the rest of her features showed she had freckles and soft eyebrows and her mouth showed that she had small fangs . Her hair was wild and spiky, like it hadn't been brushed in days. And it stretched past her shoulders towards the middle of her shoulder blades. Her catlike ears were darker than her hair, with two tufts of light colored fur hanging below them.
On her hands and feet, she had dark claws that seemed to retract. She had a long cat tail that matched the color of her hair. On her arms, legs, and back she had several light brown stripes that somewhat resembled a tabby cat.
She took notice of the bit of blood that had matted her hair. Reaching up to touch the bloody spot, she winced. It didn't hurt very much but the pain was enough that she'd rather leave it be. Noticing the bath was high enough, she slowly stepped in, getting accustomed to the water temperature. After a minute, she laid back and let out a deep sigh. The stress of the last couple of hours catching up with her. Pushing the thoughts of whatever these people were planning for her away, she allowed herself to relax. The tension slowly left her body. A soft sound filled the air, breaking the silence.
'What's that sound,' she wondered to herself before realizing it was her who was making the sound. 'I'm purring? That's kinda cool, I guess.'
As Glimmer made her way towards the throne room she noticed Bow off to the side tinkering with his tracker pad. Teleporting beside him, he looked up at her, noticing the stoic look on her face.
"So, how did it go? Did you guys get anything out of her?" Bow asked, putting his tracker pad away.
"No, we got nothing. Catra says she doesn't remember anything at all. She apparently didn't even remember her own name until Adora told her it." Glimmer said with a huff. "And she called me a CHERUB!" She exclaimed in annoyance.
Bow raised an eyebrow at glimmer. "So what's the queen going to do then? Surely we can't just let her go. It's Catra, she's too valuable to the Horde."
"No, we're not letting her go. My mom is calling Aunt Castaspella to see if she can figure out what's going on with her. She'll tell us if she's lying and for her sake she better hope she isn't." Glimmer said with a determined look.
Bow looked at her with an inquisitive look. "What if she's telling the truth? What if she really can't remember anything?" He said.
Glimmer stopped for a moment and thought about it. What if she was telling the truth? What would that mean for the Horde? On another note, how would that affect Adora? She never talks about it but from what she could gather, Catra was very important to Adora. So much so that she didn't even want to think about what it would mean if she couldn't remember her. She already looked nervous when Catra said she didn't know her back in the bedroom.
Glimmer looked back up at Bow and answered with a quiet tone, "I don't know, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But Bow you should have seen Adora when Catra said she didn't remember her. She looked so shaken it was almost frightening." Glimmer went quiet for a moment before gaining a determined look on her face, "If she really can't remember anything then we,ve got to be there for her." She said with a resolute tone.
Bow nodded in agreement with her. He kind of understood where Adora's mind was at. He could only imagine if Glimmer forgot him and everything they'd been through. It would probably tear him apart inside.
"Come on, let's go find Adora. Last I checked she was with the queen." Bow said. As he started walking towards the throne room Glimmer fell into stride beside him. Two guards stood in the hallway on both sides of the hallway. As they reached the door they heard the voices of Queen Angela and Adora.
"How long will it take for this woman to arrive? I want to make sure she's ok." Adora said in a concerned tone. Angela turned towards Adora, an eyebrow raised.
"Answer me this, Adora; What exactly does this person mean to you? She wears Horde clothing and a Force Captain badge, yet you say she will cooperate. She showed a complete lack of respect towards me, but you defended her saying it was the injury. And now you are asking for her not to be put in a cell. You may be She-Ra, but understand that my patience has limits, as do your privileges. So I want you to tell me who this person is and what she means to you." Angela said, her voice brimming with authority.
"Wait, I want to hear this, Adora hardly ever talks about Catra." Glimmer said, grabbing Bow's outstretched arm. Even the guards looked invested in the conversation, interested in the prospect of gossip. Bow turned to look at Glimmer's expectant look and sighed. Leaning against the door Glimmer, Bow, and the two guards listened intently, awaiting Adora's response.
A moment of silence passed before a sigh was heard, "It's hard to put into words. She's always been there. The one person I could count on. From the time when we were little kids to the moment I met Glimmer and Bow in the whispering woods. She knows me better than anyone and I know her just as well. We always had each other's backs. When I found the sword she covered for me. We would tell each other secrets and train together and. . .. Look, she means a lot to me, and if she can't remember anything," Adora's voice cracked, "well then I need to help her. Can't you understand that?"
There was no noise for several moments, until finally Queen Angela's voice broke through the silence, "Oh Adora, I understand. I really do," she spoke in a soft tone. Letting out a soft sigh she spoke, "Castaspella will be here within two days. I cannot put the kingdom in danger, Catra will have to remain in the cell until she arrives," Adora went to speak before being cut off by Angela, "But know this, If Catra is telling the truth. If she truly remembers nothing, she can stay with you in your room. You will be fully responsible for her actions. Be aware that this only applies if she is telling the truth about her memory. If she is lying then she will remain in the cells. Do we understand each other, Adora?" Angella asked.
"Yes, Queen Angella. Thank you." Adora said in a grateful voice.
"Good, now that we have taken care of that, perhaps we should go get her from your room. And my daughter and guard can stop eavesdropping?" She questioned in a matter-of-fact tone, opening the door, as she stared down at them with an expectant look.
Giving sheepish smiles, the guards went back to their posts and Glimmer and Bow stood up straight.
"Hi mom, how are you doing?" Glimmer said with a nervous grin. Angela looked at her like she would if she had caught her stealing a cookie before dinner.
"I know I have told you before that eavesdropping is incredibly rude, Glimmer." She said in a motherly tone as Bow fiddled with his tracker pad, whistling, looking anywhere but forwards.
"We weren't eavesdropping per say, we just happened to hear the conversation through this door. We thought it would be rude to interrupt, so we decided to wait." Glimmer spoke in a way that showed she was trying to get out of whatever trouble she may currently have gotten herself into.
Angella's face showed she was not too impressed by the excuse. "Hmm, yes, well come along. Let us go retrieve Catra," turning to face one of the guards, she spoke, "Guard, go retrieve some spare clothes. I doubt Catra would like to wear those filthy rags that the Horde calls clothes."
As Angela walked forwards through the hall, Adora looked down at her clothes, then glanced at Glimmer and Bow, "What's wrong with my clothes?"
Glimmer and Bow gave a sheepish smile before ushering Adora along towards her room. As they were walking Adora turned towards Glimmer with a look that seemed full of thought.
"Please tell me you took the blankets and curtains down like I asked you, Glimmer?" Adora asked, her tone filled with desperation. Glimmer's stride slightly faltered as she turned to look at her. Glimmer didn't need to answer the question, her face said it all.
"Now that I think about it, that may have slipped my mind, but I'm sure they're fine, though. But if, let's say, I had forgotten them, what would be the worst thing that could happen?" Glimmer asked with a wince.
"Oh nooo," Adora quickened her stride past Queen Angela and her guards, almost jogging down the hall. As they reached the door, Adora opened the door to find her room in shambles. The curtain that hung around her bed was in tatters, her sheets ripped to shreds, and there was pillow fluff everywhere. The marble floor even had gouges in them, as if a very sharp blade had sliced through the stone. Catra was nowhere to be found.
Adora let out a groan of exasperation, "I should have known the curtains and sheets were too irresistible to her."
The door opened behind Adora announcing the queen's arrival. Angela looked around the room in disdain. Her eyes focused mainly on the scratches in the marble floor.
"Hmm, well I suppose the damage could have been worse. Where is your friend, then, Adora." Angela asked with slight amusement at the sight of Adora balking at her room's state.
Adora stood up straighter and looked around, examining the trail of blanket fuzz leading into her bathroom. "I'd imagine she's in the bathroom."
Adora walked up to the door and knocked. "Catra, are you in there?" Adora waited for a response, but got nothing back. Looking back at Angella, Bow, and Glimmer, she asked them to wait there for a moment, "Catra, I'm coming in."
Stepping into the bathroom, Adora immediately took notice of Catra. She was in the bathtub, steam slowly rising off of the water, drifting across the floor. The candles illuminated the dark bathroom, giving it a sort of magical glow. It also smelled nice in the bathroom, almost relaxing. Catra laid against the back of the tub, her head tilted back, taking deep slow breaths. The light from the moons and candles kissed her skin, illuminating every curve and contour of her neck and shoulders. Water ran down her collarbone and through her breasts. Her body was hidden just below the water, barely hiding her breasts. The view was almost erotic in nature.
Adora felt a heat crawl up her body and to her face. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself she walked over to Catra.
"Catra, are you awake?" Adora asked her, keeping her gaze solely on her face.
Catra let out a deep sigh and without opening her eyes, spoke, "Yes, I am awake. Did you need something?"
Adora slightly frowned, "If you were awake then why didn't you answer when we called you through the door? I know your hearing is much better than mine and I can easily hear through that door."
Catra opened her eyes and stared right at Adora with a mischievous smirk. "I don't know. There could be several reasons, maybe I wanted to enjoy my bath in peace. Maybe I wanted to have a bit of time to myself to sort through my thoughts before the angel put me in the 'Brightmoon Prison,'" her tone turned sour for a second before Catra leaned forwards, the smirk returning to her face and a good portion of water spilling onto the floor, "or maybe I just wanted you in here with me, alone."
Adora cleared her throat, shuffling in place a bit. Her face quickly turning a shade of red. Adora had never been more thankful for the dark room then now. "Well, whichever reason it was, we need to talk to you. We'll have plenty of time to talk alone later. . . when you're wearing clothes. I'll be outside the door, so get dressed. I brought you some clean clothes to wear."
As Adora left the room Catra's gaze never left her form. Humming in slight displeasure, she went to pull the plug on the water. Stepping out of the water she grabbed the towel and quickly dried herself off. Wrapping the towel around herself she went to grab the clothes when her ear twitched, picking up the speech on the other side of the door. Stepping closer to the door, she listened, wondering what they were talking about.
"Why is your face red, Adora?" That had to be Glimmer, her voice had a distinct pitch.
"No reason, look she'll be outside in a moment. So let's give her a minute and then we can talk about what has to happen as we wait for your. . . friend?" Adora said confused.
"She's my aunt." Glimmer said. A moment of silence passed before another distinctly male voice she hadn't heard before, spoke. "You do know what an aunt is, right, Adora?"
"Pshh, of course I know what an aunt is, it's. . . yeah, I don't," Adora's voice took a sheepish tone, "I figured someone would just tell me."
A melodic giggle filled the air and then Angela spoke up, "An aunt is your parents sister. In Castaspella's case she is my sister through marriage. She was King Micah's sister by blood," Angella explained.
"Ohhh, okay, I think I understand. Yeah we didn't have those in the Horde. We had-" Adora suddenly cut herself off, silence filling the air.
Catra leaned in closer, wondering if they had walked out of the door, when suddenly Adora's voice came through the door much, much, much louder. "Catra, stop eavesdropping!"
As she flinched away from the door, she bumped into the dresser holding the candles and soaps. Stumbling away from the dresser, she slipped on the soapy water covering the floor. Trying to regain her footing had the unfortunate consequence of leaving gashes in the marble floor. Reaching out for something to catch herself, she gripped the dresser with her claws, leaving gashes in the door. This, unfortunately, had the outcome of breaking one of the hinges and knocking everything out of it. Quickly looking around at the mess of broken wood, scattered bottles and candles, and a soaking wet clawed bathroom floor, she quickly panicked.
"Shit, shit, shit," she whispered. Looking around for somewhere to put everything, She swiftly gathered the bottles and candles over the scratched floor and threw the towels over it all. Straightening the dresser door as best she could, she grabbed her clothes. "I wasn't eavesdropping," she said to the door, throwing the weird robe clothing on.
Adora's voice came through the door again, her tone somewhat smug, "Sure you weren't."
As she went to leave the bathroom, she turned and looked at the bathroom. Her pile of old clothing and towels hid the bottles and candles, as well as covered her scratches. The dresser also wasn't noticeable until you got really close to it. If one didn't know better, they would say it's a normal bathroom.
Nodding to herself she walked out. Angella, Glimmer, and a dark skinned boy with a cutoff shirt that showed his midriff, all looked towards the door as she walked out. Looking around she noticed Adora leaning against the wall with a slight smirk on her face.
A spike of annoyance shot through Catra at the sight. Narrowing her eyes she looked at Adora, "What are you smiling about?" She said to the blonde.
"Nothing, just a heads up, eavesdropping is bad," Adora said with a teasing tone.
Catra gasped with mock exuberance, "Why thank you Adora, I never would have guessed that it was bad. Thank you for this enlightening piece of advice. I shall treasure it always," sarcasm dripping from her tone.
Adora snorted a bit, "You're such a dork," Catra slightly smiled before turning towards everyone else in the room.
"So, now what? Do I have to go sit in a cell until this Castaspella person arrives?" Catra asked in a flat tone. Angella regarded her for a moment, scanning her up and down.
"Yes," Angella spoke in a tone of finality, "You will sit in the brightmoon prison until she can prove that you are telling the truth. . . and maybe she can find out why it is that you have lost her memories."
Catra pondered her words for a few seconds in silence before speaking, "If I'm going to be sitting in a cell for several days can I get some clothes that are more comfortable? Not trying to be rude, but these clothes kind of suck."
Catra eyed Adora for a moment. "Just give me some of her clothes. Those look like they'd fit better."
"Hm, If she wants to give you some of her clothes, that is Adora's choice. You are in no position to make demands." Angella said coolly. Catra let out a noise of indignation, "Well, excuse me,"Your Highness" I was asking, not demanding as you so put it," Catra said, mocking her accent. "Such a lowly peasant as myself would never dream of demanding anything of you." Catra said, glaring at the angel.
Angela's eyes narrowed, "You will watch your tone. You are in my kingdom and I will not tolerate disrespect, especially from a Horde soldier. Adora has vouched for you. She truly believes that you don't remember anything. But to the contrary, according to Glimmer's accounts, you are acting exactly as she remembers."
Catra's glare matched the queen's as she spoke. "I don't give a shit what your little daughter thinks, or Adora for that matter. I just met you all like an hour ago. If you think even for a second that I recognize your authority, then you've got another thing coming. And whatever this "Horde" that everyone keeps talking about is, they can go fuck themselves. I want nothing to do with you or your stupid castle."
The intensity in her words had slipped into her appearance. Her claws had come out and her pupils were constricted to slits, her tail swaying aggressively. Angella and Catra glared at each other before Adora and Bow stepped between them.
"Alright, I think we should all take a breather. It's been a stressful evening and maybe we all just need a second to cool down." Bow said calmly, trying to deescalate the situation. Adora had stepped in front of Catra trying to calm her down.
"Oh I was pretty relaxed until some blonde forest hippie decided I stole her fruit. How about you put me back in the forest, huh? That way I don't have to look at this bitch!" Catra exclaimed.
Glimmer whirled on Catra, "Don't talk to my mom that way! You should be thankful that you're even standing here. She healed you when you decided to eat a poisonous fruit like an idiot." She said teleporting past Bow.
Catra turned her aggression towards Glimmer. Shoving Adora out of the way, she got right in her face.
"Well maybe you should have left me there. If I'm such a horrible, fucking, person then maybe you should have left me to die. But noooo, you had to help this idiot," Catra points at Adora, "get her little friend back."
"Oh believe me, I would have been all too happy to leave you there. It wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest." Glimmer yelled. Bow, Adora, and Angela watched the argument unfold, all three of them forgotten.
"Let me ask you something. If what I'm understanding is right, she was in the Horde with me, so if she left me behind, then why the fuck should I care what she thinks? And for that matter, why the fuck would you care?" Catra, shoved a finger into Glimmer's chest. "You just want to shove me in a cell and throw away the key. All over something I couldn't give a damn about." Catra said, throwing her hands up in anger. Glimmer looked about ready to hit Catra, her hands clenched into fists, glowing magic radiating off of them.
As the argument got progressively worse Bow, Angela, and Adora noticed something. Catra's body was starting to glow. It seemed to be interacting with Glimmer's magic. Neither of the girls had seemed to notice it either. The guards looked at their queen, shuffling, unsure of what they should do.
"Glimmer, you need to calm down." Bow yelled, trying to break the fight up. Adora went to step forward as well when Catra turned on her, "Stay out of this!"
"Do you think that I would willingly come here? This place is shit and its people are even shittier. I can't imagine why anyone would join you," Glimmer went to interrupt when she noticed that Catra was bleeding from her nose. And glowing. "Catra, wait a second-" Catra cut Glimmer off.
"No you wait, I'm not finished." Her breaths were becoming shallow and her ears were leaking blood. Concern flew across the faces of everyone in the room. "I'm so…I'm so sick of this place. You all are…all are…ugh," Catra couldn't quite focus everything seemed so blurry. And the immense pain in the back of her head had come back. She seemed to be losing the strength in her body.
Glimmer went to grab her shoulder but she shoved her away. "I don't…need…your help…Sparkles," Catra was struggling to breathe, now. Taking breaths but getting no air.
She couldn't quite hear anymore, It sounded like rushing water in her ears, wind? Something like that. Somewhere along the line she had fallen. It was too bright, but dark at the same time. There were several figures leaning over her and someone had picked her up.
'If I wasn't dead before," Catra thought, her consciousness fading, "I'm sure I will be shortly."
This is my first story, so please go easy on my. I haven't written anything in almost seven years so let me know if anything should need fixing. Let me know your thoughts on the story. So, yeah, Enjoy
