Whilst she was lucky enough to avoid the green beam from Big Brother, Sparkles wasn't quite so fortunate. Bow had found her shellshocked. "Catra..." He mumbled. Catra turned to him, all the fight from her whole life, just gone. There was nothing left that she could give. She was spent. "Um... come with me. I'm- I can't leave you here," Bow grabbed her arm and hauled her away from the Fright Zone. They ran for a while, with Catra easily keeping up with his steps. "Adora's in trouble, she needs our help," Bow answered her unspoken question. Catra tried to make the bitter scoff sound genuine. "What, her tiara slip?" Bow ignored her. Catra didn't speak again in favour of following the archer to the castle where she'd tried to leave her former best friend for dead.

"I don't see her," Catra crossed her arms. "We can't go in... only she can," He whispered. Something about his tone set off all of Catra's warning bells. "What do you mean? If she's in trouble, shouldn't you be going to her?" She paused. "You're her bitch, aren't you?" Bow turned with a level, but irritated sigh. Catra twisted away and folded her arms with an eye roll. "A) If I was her bitch, I wouldn't be stood here with you. I'd be fighting you in her honour," Catra snorted. "B) I can't be her bitch because she's gay," Catra's ears pricked. "And C) I do want to be with her. But only She-Ra can access the temple... so I can't," He glanced up at the starry sky. "But I'm guessing its not going well,"

It wasn't.
Or rather, it didn't.

There was an almighty crack like thunder as the castle lit up a furious blue for a moment. It felt like the entire world was silent after. Even the animals had quieted in the forest. Nothing, not even the wind could be heard. It was as if they'd been stuffed in a cargo box. Catra found herself catching Bow's eye in the corner, her fur rising in anticipation. "What the hell was that?" She hissed. Bow stepped forwards, his tracker pad raised. "That was an incredibly large amount of power..." He glanced up with a gasp. "Adora!"

Catra followed him a lot slower, letting Bow approach the blonde... she frowned... the blonde who'd clearly seen better days. Her hair was down and messy, her face was taught and pale, her heartbeat was way too fast, her eyes didn't seem to be focussing on anything. "Bow," Adora breathed out, stumbling toward him. They wrapped each other up within a hug, though to Catra's eyes, it looked more like Adora was using Bow as a human crutch.

Perhaps it was both.

Catra remained a few paces behind. Adora glanced up. She gasped loudly, pushing Bow to the side and ripping out her staff in one very smooth movement. "Catra," She hissed. "What're you doing here?" Catra remained still. If she were right, a particularly strong gust of wind would take Adora out before she could. "Adora, relax, she-"

Catra took a small step back as Adora swung at her with the staff. She swung again, blinded by anger and frustration. The momentum of the swing pulled Adora into a spin. Catra's heart settled with something familiarly unfamiliar. A feeling she only ever had when she was with Adora. "Adora, are you ok?" Bow asked. Adora swung again, grunting loudly as it pulled her off kilter. She huffed and dug the point of the staff into the ground. "Why aren't you attacking?" The blonde panted. If Catra looked hard enough, she'd see the soft swaying. "Why aren't you using your pretty sword?" Catra retorted. Adora's eyes widened as she glanced at the staff. "You're using that like a sword," Catra continued. Adora stood up abruptly. She swayed unsteadily, putting a hand to her head with a soft groan. "Adora... what happened?" Bow asked quietly. She inhaled loudly. "I broke the sword,"

Catra blinked. Wow... ok. She wasn't expecting that. "It-Light Hope was using it... and me... to channel the Heart's magic. The only way to stop it was to break the sword," Catra took a hesitant step forward. Something caught her ears. "Arrows, there's something following us," She warned quickly. Bow glanced back and forth. "I-I can't leave her... and you can't fight," He gestured to her singed body. Thanks Hordak. Catra scoffed, gesturing to the blonde, who was still swaying and rapidly losing colour in her face. "I'm not being funny, I could sneeze and she'd go down. We're fine," Adora protested loudly, but both parties ignored her. "Don't leave," Bow warned, taking off.

Catra walked closer. "You look like shit," Adora hummed, putting way too much pressure on the staff in the ground. Her eyes screwed shut. "You would be too," She finally answered. Catra crossed her arms. "Why would Lightning-"

"-Light Hope,"

"-make you break the sword? Surely that goes against her whole shindig?" Catra continued. Adora grunted as she stood up straighter. Catra could see Adora was fading fast. She wasn't surprised. "She was using it-... me... to destroy Etheria. I had to break the connection," She said quietly. Catra stepped closer. "You need to sit. You're one sneeze away from passing out," She tried to keep the bite in her voice. "I'm not tired," Adora immediately argued. Catra sighed evenly. "Yeah, well, the whole fifty-shades whiter and dancing with the wind thing you've got going on says otherwise," She argued back. Adora shook her head. "M'not tired. Just... overused," She blinked slowly. Catra sat on the ground and tugged her down.

"What'd you do that for?" Adora's words began to slur a little. "Like I said. One sneeze, and you'd have a broken nose from face planting," She tried to act nonchalant. Adora hummed lightly. Her eyes became unfocused as she frowned at Catra. "Why... why did you come back?" She asked. Even sitting, she was swaying. Catra shrugged. "Beat Hordak... I needed a new challenge, I s'pose," Adora put her hands on the ground behind and leaned against them. Her arms shook dangerously, but they held her fine.

Catra immediately noticed the tightness of her white-compression shirt across her biceps and abs. She forced herself to look away with a thick swallow. Adora's breathing was heavy and laboured, the only sign besides her palor of skin, that she was exhausted. Catra didn't speak, wrapping her tail around her legs. She fell into her mind, chin on her knees, watching the forest for any bad things. It took her a while to realise that Adora had fallen down, out for the count. Her breathing had evened out, but th crease in her brow was prominent as it always had been.

Maybe some things would never change.