Something Different, Something Same

by katelynonice

Summary:

What if Catra convinced Adora to sleep off the visions of the sword, and Adora never went back out into the woods? Concurrent/similar canon to the show. A character study attempt, as Adora does not suddenly have different core values.

Chapter 1: Stay

Adora’s POV

“Adora.”

My name rings out through my entire being, but I don’t know who’s saying it.

“Adora.” 

It echoes. The voice is unfamiliar to me.

“Adora!”

I shoot up, gasping for breath. Whatever I was dreaming about, there was nothing but flashes. And a voice. I don’t know what it means, but I need to figure it out. I look down, Catra is sleeping below me. Curled up, my best friend. For a second, I think about going back to sleep, but the voice in my head was persistent. I slowly maneuver out of bed, I need to figure out what the sword was about. Standing up, I make my way out of the barracks. I make it two steps down the hallway when I hear Catra’s voice behind me.

“Hey, where are you going?”

I jump a little. Of course she’d wake up. “Back to the woods. There’s something I need to figure out.”

“What? You're not- '' I hear a night-time patrol bot approaching us, and place my hand over Catra’s mouth to keep her quiet. As it passes, she immediately pushes my arm down and continues with, “what is wrong with you? You've been acting weird since we got back. Are you sure you're not brain damaged?” She places my hands over my head, calling back to a conversation we had earlier today.

I gently and playfully push her off of me. “Look Catra, I know I saw something out there. It's ju- I just need to get another look. It feels important somehow.” I don’t know why, but I know things are different now. I just need to figure out how different they are.

Catra seems to consider it for a moment, and immediately grabs my arm. “Adora, come back to bed. We’ll figure this out in the morning, okay?”

It feels wrong, like I shouldn’t do what I’m to do, but I see the concern in Catra’s eyes and… I listen to her. “Okay. Fine. We’ll figure this out tomorrow.”

Catra doesn’t seem sure, but she smiles at this. “Good, I was worried you were going to just run off for a second. Now come on, before we get in trouble.”

I sigh, Catra's right. We head back into the room we just left, and we climb back into bed. I’m still on edge. Something is wrong . But I look over at Catra, now laying next to me, and relax. How could anything be wrong? The sword will still be there tomorrow, if it was even real. I close my eyes, Catra obviously so tired she fell back asleep instantly, and I follow suit.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

“Come on! Come on!” Bow says in frustration.

“Ugh! Please tell me we're not lost!” I reply, tired of us having been walking in circles for what feels like hours.

“No, this thing is just acting up. Looks like it's being overloaded by the tech's signal. We must be getting close!”

I look around, hoping that something would just click, and we’d be there, but it looks like we’re still going to be wondering for a bit.

“Which way does it say now?” I ask, trying not to let my annoyance shine through.

“I don’t know. I can’t get this thing to work right now.” Bow sighs, and puts his tracker-pad away. He looks up, trying to think of a plan. “Maybe… We don’t need it to work.”

“What makes you say that?” I ask, failing to keep from sounding annoyed this time. Bow doesn’t say anything, he instead just points up. I look where he’s pointing, and see it. Down here, there are thick bushes everywhere. Up top, you can’t see over the tree line. In the middle, though, there’s just a bit of space between the tree trunks. And something tore through a huge chunk of branches. “Huh,” I say, standing corrected.

We follow the direction of the crash, using where the branches landed to tell us which way the crashing object went. It isn’t hard to get through just a few short bushes, and there it is. Well, not the object. Whatever it was, it’s long gone, clearing having landed, and eventually turned off another direction towards, well, The Fright Zone? The Horde was here?

“Uh, Glimmer… I think I found the tech.” I look over at Bow, and sure enough, there’s a sword there, just laying in some brambles. 

I walk up to him, and he starts trying to pull it from its tomb. “What do you think it does?”

He manages to get it free, but the weight of the sword surprised him. “Huh, heavy.” he says, holding it with two arms. “It’s definitely the tech, it feels… powerful.”

“Well, then let’s get it back to Bright Moon! And since you made us walk here, I can get us back instantly!” I’m excited now, Bow was right! This is going to be a huge win for the rebellion, my mom can’t be mad at me now! I grab Bow, and think about Bright Moon. But the image is too hazy. I try the edge of the woods, and it's better, but still hard to make out the details. So I try a halfway point, a rock Bow and I must have passed 3 times a while ago, and the mental image is clear. Bingo. I imagine us there, as we are now, and when I open my eyes, we’re there.

“Uh, Glimmer, this isn’t out?”

“We’re further in than I thought. Give me a second.” I imagine the edge of the woods again, and Bow and I are there, much quicker this time. I’m a little tired already, traveling farther distances always burns me out faster, but it’s fine. We’ve made it far further on less, before. I imagine my room now, and we’re close enough that I can actually make it out this time, and we’re there. The whole trip back, in less than a minute.

“Well, you are getting better at this,” Bow says, excitedly, “Remember when you first got your powers, and we went on that trip to Mystacor?”
I smile at the memory, it was a good day. Bow and I have really been friends for a while now, it was getting harder to remember some of the details. “We need to do it again sometime, when I’m not grounded.”

“Of course. Don’t worry. With this tech, whatever it does, Angella will be sure to forgive you for… Whatever you’re in trouble for.”

“You’re right, thanks Bow. I guess I should get to sleep. Want to stay over tonight?”

“You aren’t worried about getting caught?”

“Nah, it’s cool. Like you said, Angella is gonna love this.”

“Of course she is. The power this was throwing off, I feel like this thing is strong enough to, if we can use it, help us win the war for good!”

I smile, grabbing the sword from him. I set it on the side of the room, against the wall. This is good, and I’m going to be ungrounded tomorrow. But first, sleep. Bow’s already setting up his spot near the couch, and I teleport up to my bed. Just to grab my pillow and blanket though. It isn’t the most comfortable thing, But we keep sleeping bags just under the couch, for exactly these nights. I think Bow was more tired than me, too, as he falls asleep way before me. I don’t know why, but I’m really excited about this. I feel like, finally, things are going alright for us.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

“Adora.” The voice is ringing out again in my ears. It won’t leave me alone.

“Adora.” What does it want from me? Doesn’t it know I’m working on it?

“Adora, wake up!” I open my eyes. Catra is on top of me, purring in excitement. “Come on, Force Captain. Let’s go!”

“What? Why? What’s going on?”

“Come on, Adora, don’t play dumb. You knew it was coming sooner or later, except actually, I just got news from Lonnie. She told me to tell you the invasion of Thaymor is happening today!”

“Today? What? But I needed to figure out-”

“Calm down and get ready. I know it’s sudden, but we have to get ready.”

I freeze up for a second. “Catra… Shadow Weaver said you all aren’t coming.”

“What? Of course we are. You’re leading the attack, Lonnie said so. And we’re a team. How can you lead the charge without us?” She sits back, clearly upset, probably angry.

“I don’t know. I’ll talk to her, okay? I need you out there.”

Catra sulks back, obviously upset still. “Yeah, whatever. Just… don’t do too good without me?”

“Catra, come on,” I extend my hand out, hoping she’ll take it. I’ll get you out there. I promise.”

She sighs, and looks back at me, grabbing my hand. “Okay, Adora. I’ll go wake up Rogelio and Kyle. You get ready, your hair is a mess. Honestly, you should really stop sleeping with your hair tied up.”

I get off the mattress, annoyed, but playfully. “Hey, don’t lecture me about hair care, you rarely even brush yours!”

“Hey, I take care of my hair!” She feigns shock, playing her hand over her chest and dropping her mouth.

“Sure thing. Alright, I’m going to go get dressed. See you in 10?”

“See you in 10,” she confirms, standing up and walking over to Kyle’s bunk immediately flipping his mattress over, knocking him off the bed. I can’t help but chuckle a bit, even if it mean, before throwing on my jacket and straightening up my hair. I didn’t bother changing out of my shirt or pants last night, as I kind of planned on heading back to the woods before Catra stopped me, but I guess it saves some time now, as I lace up my boots. I head out in the hall, I need to convince Shadow Weaver to let my team come with, and that requires finding her.

I start bounding down the halls, looking for any sign of her. It almost feels weird, usually I’m just trying to avoid her. I don’t need to look very hard, as she is right around the corner.

“Adora. You’re finally awake, good. I take it you have been informed of Hordak’s decision to move up the attack on Thaymor?”

“Uh, yeah. My team is getting ready for it now.”

There’s immediate tension in the air. Shadow Weaver’s robes and hair are flowing a little slower. “I’m sorry Adora, but I believe I told you yesterday that they are not ready.”

“No, they are! You see the training times, they’re all field ready!”

“No, Adora. Catra is too lazy, Rogelio too tame, and Lonnie too quick to act. Do I need to even mention Kyle?”

“Catra isn’t lazy, she does try! And she succeeds too! She keeps up with me in almost every metric. And Rogelio and Lonnie know what they’re doing, they have the heart and capabilities. Kyle, probably, just needs a chance to actually get out in the field.”

“It’s a shame you care so much about them, Adora. It’s unfortunate there are no other cadets your age more suitable for your guidance. But out on the field, it wouldn’t matter. You’d lead an entire squadron in your name.” I feel guilty letting her speak about my friends like that, but there isn’t exactly anything I can say to get her to like them. But to let me have this? I could do that.

“But… I don’t want to lead if they’re not by my side.”

“Adora, they will only slow you down.”

“Well, maybe that’s a good thing! Slow means time to think!”

“Slow means distracted, slow means sloppy.”

“How bad can Thaymor be? Just let them try out on the field. I promise, I’ll make sure they’ll keep up.”

Shadow Weaver pauses, looking down at me. I don’t know if she’s trying to tell me something silently, or thinking. You can’t exactly read someone through a plastic mask. Eventually, though, she does speak, “fine. However, I expect nothing but success out here. This is their one, and only, chance to be field-ready early.”

I gulped. If they messed up here, it’d be months before we were out on the field together. “Don’t worry, Shadow Weaver. We won’t let you down.”

“Adora, please. I already know you will succeed.”

“I-” I don’t know what to say. My friends… “Thank you.”

“Hurry back to your room, Adora. Make sure you’re prepared.”

I nod, and turn back towards the barracks. When I get there, Catra is all ready to go, as Well as Lonnie, who has been awake. I see Rogelio struggling into a suit of armor, while Kyle is struggling to even get out of bed. Catra immediately stops leaning against the dresser, and walks over.

“Well, what did she say?” There’s so much excitement in her eyes, but I can tell she’s holding back, dreading bad news. Thankfully, I have none to give.
“You’re all coming. Even Kyle.” Catra shouts in excitement, and immediately hugs me. I see Lonnie smile, and nod in my direction. Rogelio says something unintelligible, and Kyle isn’t listening. I hug Catra back, enjoying it while it lasts, before she pulls away.

“Thanks Adora, this is huge!” Lonnie says, turning around and grabbing her helmet.

“It’s fine, I only had to say please. A lot. Besides, there’s no point in being out there without you all. We’re leaving soon. Kyle!” He finally stands up, staring. “You’re running out of time. Get ready. Everyone else… We’ve got a rebel outpost to capture!” I can barely contain my excitement at this. This all we’ve ever wanted, for as long as we’ve been aware of our own thoughts. This is how it starts, climbing the ranks with my best friends.

“I can’t believe you were able to actually get through to Shadow Weaver!” Catra says, purring

“I know! I mean, there’s a bit more pressure on me now, but it’s going to be worth it!”

Catra pauses for a second, like I said something wrong, but doesn’t say anything about what I said, instead saying, “well, let’s make sure not to disappoint.”

We continue bustling around the room, grabbing whatever we feel we might need. Catra and I are going without the armor, both preferring the maneuverability to the defense, but we don’t get our own set of stun-sticks, we’ll grab those from the armory on the way out. Catra, Lonnie, and I are ready to go. After a few short minutes of everyone yelling at Kyle to hurry up faster, all five of us are heading down to the entrance of the building. Everyone’s excited, bustling with energy and livelihood. 17 years of my life, and I’m finally here. Force Captain, leading a team of my closest friends out to see active combat.

Taking a quick trip to the armory, we all grab a stun-stick. I don’t think Catra or Rogelio plan to use it much, but it’s always good to have. We’re on our way over to the skiffs when we notice the crowd. There must be two dozen other people ready to go. Huh, seems a little light for a fortress assault. Still, that’s nearly 30 people I’m in charge of, this is going to be a little tricky. To make things even more complicated, Shadow Weaver is there in front.

“Alright everyone. Many of you have been in the fields before, many of you have not. This should be a simple mission to establish an outpost within the Whispering Woods, hopefully making our future voyages through those woods less treacherous. You’ll be led by Force Captain Adora. The plan originally was for this attack to be a few more weeks out, but you will have to deal with it today.” She looked right at me when she said that. That’s right, I’m heading out into the field without even having attended Force Captain orientation, since that was next week. I hope I don’t let anyone here down. “You all know your roles on the field. The skiffs and transport vehicles are ready. Do not fail, Hordak will be hearing how this goes.”

The five of us climb into the center transport ship, taking the back. No one else gets in, as there’s still 7 more vehicles out there. I sit down, Catra and Kyle surrounding me, Lonnie and Rogelio across from us. We’re there for only a moment before the engine starts, and we feel the vehicle moving out.

“This is so awesome!” Catra says, breaking the silence since we were in the halls. “I can’t believe it, we made it!”

“I wouldn’t get too excited,” Lonnie says, “we need to be sure we don’t mess this up.”

Catra visibly calms down, shockingly enough. She turns to me, and says nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything about the pressure on me.

Kyle is the next one to speak. “I actually weirdly don’t feel nervous. I always thought I’d never make it out of the Fright Zone, but we’re actually going to see the woods, and a town!”

“This isn’t sight-seeing, we’re on a mission,” Lonnie again says. I’m relieved she’s here, it means I’m not the only one keeping everyone focused.

“I know, but… I’m just saying. I’m always nervous before training and,-”

“Kyle, you’re always nervous. Period,” I point out.

“I’m just hopeful, I guess.”

Catra puffs a little. “Please, we don’t need hope. I don’t know about you, but I’m certain this is going to be a piece of cake.”

“Exactly,” I add, “We’ve taken everything the horde has thrown us. They always say not to underestimate the enemy, and I don’t, but I’m not worried either. We got this!”

That being said, there is an air of uncertainty. Everyone agrees with me, everyone is so sure, but I still have that nagging feeling in the back of my head that I shouldn’t be here. I push the thought aside. The ride won’t be long, I need to be focused.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

“So, you found this sword, in the woods, out with Bow.”

“Yes, mom, I found the sword in the woods with Bow.”

“So you disobeyed my orders.”

“Yes! Well actually- no, I did. I just thought it would be a huge win for us!”

“Bow, do you know what it does?”

“No, your majesty,” Bow answers. “But, I think it’s powerful. It’s given off energy signatures like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I had to specifically code in my tracker pad to ignore it so it doesn’t act up whenever it’s near the thing.”

My mom says nothing, seeming to be lost in thought. “So you have no idea what it does, or why it was there, and thought it was worth risking the deep parts of the whispering woods in the middle of the night?”

“Mom, please, Bow didn’t not think this through.”

“Glimmer’s right. I have an idea. I know someone who’s been studying this tech for years, trying to figure out its secrets. Well, I don’t know her, know her, but the readings speak for themselves. Look,” he hands her his tracker pad, consisting of constantly fluctuating numbers and a graph going up and down in something.

“Bow, I have no idea what this means.” Bow pulls it back, seeming slightly embarrassed. “But, who is this person?”

“The princess of Dryl, Entrapta, of the Etherian Maker Community?”

“Oh, Princess Entrapta. Well, I’m not sure I can immediately approve of transporting this supposedly ancient and powerful relic all the way to Dryl, but I will look into it.”

“Mom, wait!” I shout. “What if we go? Then you don’t have to free up any resources for it. Bow can continue to hold onto it, and we’ll head over when we’re able.”

“Hmm… alright. Bow, thank you. I do not appreciate this working behind my back, but I will give you both some credit for immediately coming to me with this.”

“Yes!” I shriek, jumping forward and hugging her.

“Thank you, Queen Angella. We’ll figure out what this does. We-” Bo is interrupted in thought when the Bright Moon general storms into the room, panting.

“Queen Angella,” she breathes in, “scouts have reported an envoy of Fright Zone ships on their way through the woods.” She breathes deeply again. “They believe the target is Thaymor.”

“Thaymor? The horde has never marched that deep into the Whispering Woods before. Thaymor has no defenses, we barely have anything stationed there!” Angella is immediately separated from any thought about the sword. Bow and I look at each other, worried.

“What do we do?” General Juliet asks. “We won’t be able to muster up a response force that could reach Thaymor for an hour!”

I take a deep breath and step forward, “mom, look.”

“Glimmer, no. I will not send you out there without backup. You can’t take an entire team with you.”

“I don’t.. Look, I know I disappointed you yesterday. But please, you said it yourself. Thaymor has nothing, let me at least go and insist in evacuation?”

Mom looks down at me, thinking. She considers it, and looks at Bow, “you two will focus only on ensuring the town folks are brought out of harm’s way?” I clench my fist. Of course she’d ask Bow. Why would she make me a commander if she didn’t trust me?

“If that’s all you want from us, yes,” Bow responds. He puts a hand on my shoulder and looks at me as if to tell me to let it go, and I unclench my fist.

“Just an evacuation.”

My mom nods, and I turn back to Bow. It’ll have to do. His hand on me, I think of Thaymor. Of course, I can think an image of it up just fine, but there’s a different sense of it when I’m teleporting. I can feel it, almost. Feel it without being there. The air. Except now, when it’s too far, so I imagine the edge of the woods again. Thaymor isn’t actually too far from where we found the sword. Bow and I had a backup plan in case we ran into trouble. If I couldn’t teleport us home, we’d go there. Three teleports wouldn’t be too much so, and willing myself to be there, we’re at the woods edge. 

I concentrate more, trying to find a halfway point. The magic of Etheria is a tricky thing to ride, sometimes. It’s unpredictable, uncontrollable. Mostly. I find a suitable clearing, and we’re there. One more stop. Now, Thaymor is easy to imagine. I was right, just like last night, three long-distance teleports will do. They’re a little tiring in quick-succession, a lot trickier than teleporting a few feet over in the middle of a fight, but nothing I can’t handle plenty more of. So there we are, in Thaymor, on will and magic alone.

Bow looks around the clearing. “There is some sort of festival going on. No sign of the Horde.”

“Great, let’s get their attention. I don’t suppose you have a confetti arrow?”

Bow looks at me, and smirks. There’s no way. “Don’t worry, I don’t have one. Well, I do, but not on me, it isn’t exactly a war arrow.”

“That’s… so silly. I love it.”

“I’ll show you later? How charged are you feeling?”

“Enough. Light show?”

“Light show.”

I raise my hand, and with a little concentration, I shoot a quick burst of energy into the sky. It isn’t exactly loud, but anyone already outdoors will certainly have seen it. A few people are already turning to us, and I start speaking. “Attention citizens of Thaymor, the Horde is currently on route with a convoy of who knows what. We’re here on behalf of the rebellion. I’m sorry to say this, but the party is off. Grab your family members and head for the nearest Bright Moon relief outpost if you’re able, we’ll be here to make sure no one gets hurt.”

There’s a few collective whispers and murmurs, but thankfully it’s hard to not take the daughter of the queen seriously when the situation calls for it, and suddenly, people are scrambling for their homes. The chaos probably isn’t going to be great, but the more people are out of harm’s way, the better.

“Um, excuse me?” Someone asks, tentatively.

“Hi. Yes?” 

“How long do we have?”

“I’m sorry… I don’t really know. The queen got word from some scouts about a convoy, and I came as quickly as I could.”

The person nods, and they’re off, heading towards a tent a short while away.

“Glimmer, care to take me on top of that roof over there?” He points at a moderately tall building. It’s no tower, and everything here is one story tall max, but any vantage point is better than none. I nod, and we’re up there instantly. Of course, there’s no better time to be greeted by the oncoming row of smoke coming up through the trees. It’s more than I thought would be necessary for a place like Thaymor, but I guess the horde isn’t taking chances.

The first of the vehicles crosses the tree line, as well as two others like it. I saw these at the battle I fought just the other day, horde tanks. They’re followed by about six- no, seven trucks, and a squad of hovering, bike things. Bow pulls his Bow off his back, and draws an arrow of some kind. I raise my fist, charging them with magic. The tanks don’t aim at us, but they all charge up in unison. I have no way to stop the shelling, but I did the most important job, the people are leaving. If Bow and I were going to fight anyway, this was going to be tough.

“Glimmer.”

I pause, his calmness shocking me. “Yes, Bow?”

“Remember. Civilian safety first. Once everyone is out and we bought enough time, we leave, okay?”

“Of course. Civilians first.”

The first two shots fire out, hitting the side of the two closest buildings. Bow nods at me, and I get ready to teleport over to see the damage and if anyone got hurt, when the third tank pivots its aim. The shot fires instantly, and while it doesn’t come straight for us, the building we’re standing on collapses, the floor coming out from under us. I reach over to Bow, to grab him, but we already fell apart. There’s no time to think, and we hit the ground.

Notes:

Hi anyone still obsessed with She-Ra in 2023. I’m writing a fanfiction! It’s overly ambitious, and I can’t promise I’ll finish it anytime soon. It’s my first time writing one in years, and my first time planning something out in this way. I wanted to write a character exploration piece about how one decision can change so much, yet so little. Some text will be grabbed straight from the show, to establish the scene. If large chunks of the story are things that won’t be too different, I’ll gloss over those events. This story also might get darker, I haven't worked it all out yet. Feedback is much appreciated!

Chapter 2: The "Battle" of Thaymor

Summary:

Adora's role in the battle of Thaymor is a very different one, this time.

Adora’s POV

*Knock Knock.* 

Two simple knocks on the wall between us and the driver’s seat, and it says everything we need to know. Go.

Catra smiles, Rogelio and Kyle simultaneously take deep breaths, and we all stand up. Those of us wearing armor put their helmets on, and Catra, the closest to the door, presses the button to open us up to the action. Immediately, we’re out, moving around our side of the vehicle, at Thaymor.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that this is almost exciting, in a terrifying way. I’m here, leading my team, calling shots on a small offensive operation. I’m ready for this.

My second thought is that… There's no one here. I mean, there are people, running from the three different houses that just got hit. But everyone runs away. This is supposed to be a fortress right? Where’s the enemies?

Catra turns around to face me. “Come on Adora, don’t chicken out now. Let’s take down the rebels!”

I nod, swallowing my doubts, and follow after her, the rest of my team behind. Still, I’m supposed to direct. I press the button on my earpiece, and start slinging simple commands.

“Teams 1 and 2, flake left. Teams 6 and 7, flank right. Teams 3 and five, fall into the center with me. We aren’t here for lives today, just to make sure we secure the area. And if any princesses are here, you know what to do.”

We rush forward, Rogelio announcing a battle cry in his language we can’t quite understand, and race into the city center. For a second, all I hear is crying. It’s war, right? Then where is the opposition? This place was supposed to be fortified?

Immediately, I receive my answer. I’m knocked to the ground, something hit me in my center torso, hard. Catra turns back around, hearing me shout as I fall, and runs back over. 

“A net?” She asks, immediately cutting it off. I look down as she helps me up, seeing a device in the shape of an arrow on the ground.

“Lonnie, where did that come from?” I shout over the noise of the tanks and engines, she points at one of the ruined buildings. The doubt in my mind is there, it wasn’t lethal?

A warning shot. They won’t get another chance. I glance at Catra, and she nods. We head for the building and hear a noise behind us. There’s a girl? She just took out a tank with some sort of energy blast. I recognize her from some of the princess safety videos. The princess of Bright Moon? I touch the earpiece again.

“Sighted the Princess of Bright Moon. Everyone watch your sixes, she can be anywhere at any moment.” Catra and I rush back to the house, I can hear Rogelio’s footsteps behind me but I don’t take the time to check for the other two, they’ll be okay. We’re ready. Catra gets in first, and takes an arrow herself that knocks her back, covering her in some sort of green gel. She shrieks, and I hope through the rubble. There’s a man in a ridiculous outfit. Not a princess. He draws an arrow and aims it right for me. I need to be quick.

I race forward. He lets go. I’m ready for it. He misses. My adrenaline is high. I swing the stun-stuck forward, the archer blocks it. 

Close quarters combat. He’s trapped. But he’s not just an archer, there’s a… I freeze.

“Where did you get that!?”

“What?” The archer responds clueless. We’re struggling, our weapons pushing against each other.

“The sword! Where did you get that sword!?”

I’m confused. A vision flashes in my head. A woman. No, not a woman. A thing. The robotic voice. “Adora,” it says. I take one hand off the stick and grab my head, it’s spinning. The archer notices it, and plants his leg forward into mine, and I stumble back. 

He goes to draw another arrow, and Catra is there. She swipes the end of the arrow off, and flips up behind the archer, immediately noticing the same sword. She didn’t see it yesterday, but she heard me just now. She knows I’m not crazy. 

I’m back up, the archer is cornered. He seems unreasonably calm. “You guys know what this is?” He hesitates on firing at me. Catra doesn’t move, afraid he’ll change his mind. I can’t guarantee I can dodge again.

But I can’t give him the chance. I do the one thing I can think of, and duck. Catra knew before I did it that I would, and takes the opportunity to stun the archer. He lets go of the arrow, it flies over my head, and he’s on the ground. We’re all panting, already.

“Adora… is that…”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” I’m confused, my head still spinning. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to process what we’re looking at. Instantly, Catra tenses up. I can feel it, too. Static in the air.

“Get off of him!” Before I know it, Catra is hit in the side with a fist of pure magic. The princess of Bright Moon is right in front of me. I raise my stick. We trained for this our whole lives, but she doesn’t look at me. She reaches down, touches the archer, and is gone.

Rogelio caught up to us. He wasn’t that far behind, but it all happened so quick. Catra stands up, grumbling.

“What in Etheria was that?” She whispers. I turn around, facing Rogelio. He has no idea what just happened, and is staring at us.

 

---

 

Glimer’s POV

“Bow! Wake up! I need you!” I shout, tears in my eyes.

“Ugh… I’m fine. I’m fine.” He starts trying to sit up, and puts his hand to his back. He’s in pain.

“What happened?”

“Just tased. I’m fine.” He looks around, dazed. “Is everyone out?”

“I don’t know. There’s more here than we expected. I only managed to take down a tank, and maybe 3 people.”

“I only got 2. The other 2 I hit got right back up.”

“The two without armor?”

“The armor probably slows you down. So they’re quicker to react.” He stands up, I’m supporting his weight. “We need to make sure we buy enough time. We can’t fight them for long.”

“I know, that’s why we’re here. Evacuation.”

“Alright. Your choice. Get people out, or slow them down? Whichever you do, you’ll be better at.”

“I’ll keep slowing them down, you already got hit. I can buy you enough time.” I say, not quite believing it.

“Then go. I got this.” He heads out the back door, faster than I think he should be moving, but I don’t berate him.

I think back to the room I was just in. I could go for the tanks, I know, but the buildings are done for anyway. These people, though, they can hurt people. And I’m mad.

So I’m back there, and this time there’s a lizard in armor, too.

“Behind you!” I hear immediately, the blonde one shouts to the cat.

The cat turns around, fangs bared, and I raise my fists.

“What are you doing in Thaymor? This is a civilian town!”

The cat hisses in anger, “looks pretty fortified to me!”

The two girls immediately charge forward, the reptile seemingly unsure of his actions.

Bow’s words ring in my mind. I’m not here to fight. This time. I put forward a burst of energy, blinding all three of them temporarily, and I’m behind the cat. I go to knock her down again, like before, and it works, before turning around the blast the blonde.

She’s close already, too close. She’s bringing something towards my stomach, and instinctually, I’m on the other side of the room. Too close. I can’t keep up this much magic use.

“Stop toying with us and fight!” Shouts the cat. She knows I went light on her.

I squint my eyes. There’s a dynamic here, these people have more personality than the horde soldiers I fought last time. The cat is impulsive, the lizard is definitely big, an enforcer, but he seems like he is more worried about staying out of the way of the blonde woman. The blonde is focused. I see the badge on her red jacket. The leader… I teleport behind her, immediately putting my arm around her, and we’re outside before she can react or her teammate can finish shouting whatever, “Ado-” means.

She’s still quick, her hand was already bringing the taser behind her, but teleporting for the first time is always disorganizing.

“What did you do to me!” She shouts, pushing me back. There are too many other people out here. Both wearing helmets, one helping the other off the ground. They must have tripped, judging by the lack of any other rebellion members here. The tanks are closer now, I hope this is going to work. If the blonde is giving orders, and I keep her distracted, I can buy enough time for Bow.

“You didn’t answer me inside. Why are you here!?”

“Like I’d tell you.” She gets into a proper fighting stance, no longer dazed.

But I don’t need to move, I just need to buy time.

Whoever this is, she’s clearly thinking. Her stance relaxes. Either she figured me out, or she’s stupid.

“You’re stalling. How long until the reinforcements arrive?”

She’s close. I can work with this. “You wouldn’t like that answer.” She definitely would.

The blonde glances at the two behind her. I’m guessing they’re a… team within the team? She talks to them, completely ignoring me. “Find Catra. Tell her to call the flanks and approach cautiously.” The person in the back who helped the other one up nods, and two head for the building. I can actually make out that the cat is just climbing back outside, but she’s too far for me to read.

“You must be pretty confident, announcing your plans like that.”

“I don’t know what your game is, but I know you’re lying. There are no reinforcements.”

“You don’t know that!”

“You’re getting people out. We’re not here for prisoners today. Just the land. If you want to keep going, we can. I’d be happy to hand deliver you to Hordak. “

What’s her game? If she knows mine, why not speed up the flanks? The horde has never been known to spare the chance of capturing prisoners.

“A horde soldier with consciousness? I don’t buy it…” I raise my fists again, charging them with what magic I have left. I know I can’t keep fighting though. I’ve used a lot already.

The girl gets back into a fighting stance, and I see the rest of her team running up to her. “You already lost the land. Don’t drag this out.”

I grumble. I can not believe I’m about to listen to some horde scum! After everything they did, the people they took, how am I supposed to walk away! 

Then again, Bow is right. I didn’t come here to fight. I think to the other half of the village. Of course, there are some things my powers can’t do. I can’t track people, I only can get a… vague sense of the land. But I know he’ll be back there, leading people onto the trail towards the refugee camp that will get them sorted somewhere else. They didn’t come to occupy the citizens, they only wanted the land.

Fine. Even though I just snapped at my mom yesterday, saying we aren’t going to have any land to retreat to, today was not the day to change that. I glare once more at the blonde, her friends now standing on either side of her. And I’m gone.

Bow isn’t actually at the village entrance, he’s coming out of a building with an older woman.

“Bow! How’s it going?”

He looks up at me and smiles. “This might be the last one. She insisted I get the village horses out, first. There are a few of them out into the clearing, being led by a few villagers. Everyone’s out.”

I relax a little. We.. won, right? Bought enough time? Even if it cost a silent deal with a horde soldier. “Great. And no one’s hurt.”

The lady speaks up. “Thank you, dearies. I’m not sure I’ll make it to that relief station though, I’ve got a bit of a bad leg.” 

“Well,” Bow says, “We did grab the horses. I’m sure you’ll be alright. Glimmer and I will accompany all off you the whole way, to make sure you’re all safe.”

“You folks are so kind. Shame to lose our homes though.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. We’ll get them all back, one day.” he looks back up at me, having reached the path out. “Let’s get going, then?”

“Alright. I’m probably too drained to teleport home anyway.” I turn around, and Bow and I, with the lady, are heading into a small pathway. There are a few people here, where the path widens back up, and a few horses. Bow helps the lady onto on, and we end up on another. It helps after we fell into a collapsing building to not have to walk the whole way.

“Um, Glimmer…” 

“Yeah?”

“You know that crash scene near the sword, last night? The one we didn't speak about? I’m sure you saw it.”

“Yeah, I made a mental note of it. Something went through the branches. Hard and fast.”

“I think… It was those girls.”

I pause at this. I have no idea what to say. “What… are you thinking?”

“I don’t know. They got confused. Almost like they had no idea what it was either. But the blonde girl definitely knew about it, asking me where I found it.”

“How did they happen to stumble upon some magic ancient weapon deep in the Whispering Woods? Are you sure it was them?”

“I have no way to know, but I think we need to be careful.”

“You think it’s a trap? That they planted it?”

“I don’t know. What do you think?”

I think about the blonde girl. I have no idea what her deal was. “She let me go. Whatever her deal is, we need to be careful if she pops up again. There are very few reports of horde soldiers wearing non-standard uniforms, the ones who don’t are always important. Like that octapus-lady, or scorpion-lady, from the reports.”

“What do you mean she let you go? She had you?”

“No, she just… told the flanks to slow down. She said they weren’t there for prisoners.”

“That’s… strange. I don’t know Glimmer. Angella isn’t going to like this.”

“We’ll worry about that later. Maybe we just don't tell her that they recognized the sword, and go back to take it to Dryl?”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“No, but it’s the only one I got right now, other than have her lock the sword in a vault somewhere.”

“I guess so. Either way, we’ll figure this out. I mean, hey, technically, your mission was a success! And your mom didn’t seem upset about you sneaking out last night.”

“Yeah… Yeah, we did good today.”

The horses keep trotting along, people marching in front of and to the side of us. I already know they aren’t coming for us, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful in case the blonde girl was lying. If she does have something to do with the sword, we’ll figure it out. Eventually.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

“Yes! We totally did it!”

“I know! Not- not like there was much to do, there wasn’t very much fighting.”

“I think Catra and Adora did most of that, it wasn’t as defended as we thought.”

“That- that’s a good thing, right?”

Lonnie and Kyle didn’t stop talking much since the princess retreated. Everyone’s happy, except Catra. She mumbled here and there about taking too many hits. You can see the mark on her face from the first hit. Or the dirt on my shirt from when I took the hit from the arrow-rope thing. Or the gunk remaining on Catra’s clothes. Or the grime on Kyle’s armor from when he tripped. 

Messy. We won, but it was messy. There were two people. We had tanks, and 30 men. It should have been easy. We shouldn’t have gotten hit.

The truck engine comes to a halt, we’re back.

*Knock Knock.*

We stand up, from the same positions as last time, and exit the vehicle. There’s only three trucks back, and the two undestroyed tanks. The rest stayed behind to set up occupation. Now, I have to face Shadow Weaver. We’re standing in line, but no one is here, so I step forward, and face the group.

“I already gave the victory speech back at Thaymor, so I won’t give it again. You all did your part, even if there was way, way less fighting than expected. Head to your quarters, dismissed.” It feels weird giving orders. They’re superficial. Pre-planned, I couldn’t tell them anything that wasn’t in the manuals, but still. They listened, and dispersed. My friends are already walking away too, not exhausted, but tired. They’re all coming down from the Adrenaline.

I walk up to Catra, and grab her hand. “Come on, Catra. You did fine. Let’s eat, we spent a lot of time on the road today.”

“Adora, we fought for 5 minutes. Not like we burned a lot of calories.” She pulls her hand out of mine, and starts walking. Something is definitely up with her, but I can’t place it. Is she worried about Shadow Weaver? That sword? I shake my head, and follow everyone inside.

It isn’t long before I do find Shadow Weaver, though. She’s right at the entrance to the cafeteria, probably knowing we were heading there.

“Adora, congratulations.” She speaks, slowly.

“Thank you, Shadow Weaver.” I say moving into the Cafeteria. I really don’t want to talk to her right now. Of course, she has to go and grab my arm.

“I want you to give me the report.”

“You don’t want to wait for the report Lonnie is writing?”

“Oh, I will read that too. I want to hear it from you though.”

“Oh. It went great. There wasn’t exactly room for anything to go wrong. There was just some princess and her archer friend.”

“Really? You were up against a princess? What occurred?”

“Nothing much. There was a fuss with the archer, he went down, and she showed up. She got him out and came back, and separated me.”

“You were signaled out? You were separated?”

“The badge, probably. Not that it was a problem. She could teleport, including people she touched. Just took me outside.”

“Hmm… and what about your team?”

“Again, there wasn't much fighting. Why?”

“I meant, what about Catra?”

“Oh.” Of course. I know what she’s doing. She probably watched the whole thing with some dark magic. “She did good, took down the archer, was quick to react.”

“I see. Good job, Adora. Your team was not, in fact, “ready,” but the mission did suffice. I will have more for you to do soon. Rest up.” She turned to walk away, and I shuddered. Maybe she wasn’t watching us. I went into the cafeteria and scanned for Catra, she dipped as soon as we got inside and I haven’t seen her. Great. I do see Kyle, he must have been the only one hungry, so I go to check in for my daily rations and go to sit next to him.

“Oh, hey Adora. Great work back there.”

“Thanks, Kyle. Thank you for being there.”

“I-” I think he almost chokes. “Thanks? I didn’t do anything. I just tripped…”

“It’s okay, Kyle. It happens.” I can’t bring myself to pick on him right now. He does try, most of the time. I unwrap my bar, and it’s the brown kind. It’s a bittersweet day. I sit there, slowly chewing it down, Kyle and I not speaking much at all except for a little small talk about the mission. My mind is too preoccupied. The sword wasn’t a dream. Something is definitely up, and I’m going to figure it out. Eventually.

Notes:

Again, this is kind of the second half of chapter 1, they were written together, I just wanted to split it up for readability. Again, also, feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 3: Plumeria

Summary:

Following the Conquest of Thaymor, Catra is worried for Adora.
Glimmer proposes to bring back the old Princess Alliance to combat Horde aggression.

Catra’s Pov

It’s been a week since the invasion of Thaymor. Not that it was much of an invasion, it was more so a dumb test. I realized as soon as we got there that Shadow Weaver chose that outpost just to hand a win over to Adora, no wonder she didn’t want us going with. Not that I could prove that, but my mind has been stuck on it for a week.

I’ve been avoiding her. I don’t know why, not really. I know I shouldn’t be mad at her. She didn’t do anything wrong. But we’ve barely spoken a word since we got back. Adora received some praise, they’re saying it was an effective display of shock and awe. I even got a bit with how we “won” a fight against a princess, after all.

I was worried Shadow Weaver would be angry, and I still am, but she hasn’t spoken a word to me. I think that’s why I’m angry. She loves Adora, and all I ever got was thrown around.

Whatever.

I know what this is really about, even though I don't let myself think about it. Something’s wrong with Adora, and it has to do with this sword the arrow boy had on his back. She claims she saw it before, and to have seen it myself, with her recognizing it… I don’t like it. I have no idea what it means, and it has done nothing but stress me out. I guess there’s nothing I can do about it here, it’ll get figured out eventually.

I look out over the Fright Zone. It’s the best view in this dump, up here. Adora and I have spent many nights alone on this walkway, far above the noise of the constant coming and going cargo ships. It’s peaceful, even if it feels wrong being up here alone. I came up here an hour ago, because Adora wouldn’t leave me alone. I feel guilty, yeah, but really I just don’t know what to do.

We finally got to the field. I was excited, we were happy. Then I took that hit from the arrow, which barely bothered me. I mean, Adora got hit too. Then the sparkles princess got me twice, and took Adora before I could react. How could I have been so slow? She could’ve gotten hurt. And then… she let her go. It was obvious the princess was tired, she got worn out fast. I didn’t hear what Adora said to her, but I know she said something.

Why else would she tell Lonnie to give the orders to the flanks instead of giving them herself? Nobody lost their communicators. She just wanted to talk to the princess. Why?

“Catra? Are you up here?” I hear her voice from the ladder, she’s coming up. I sigh, I knew coming up here would just trap me. 

“Not now, Adora.” I say. I want to tell her to go away, I want to tell her to leave me alone. I try to be nice.

“Catra, come on,” I can hear her stop at the top rung of the ladder, I can almost feel her staring at me. I don’t turn to look at her.

“I told you, I want to be left alone.” I’m trying to keep my cool. Why doesn’t she listen? I hear her climb the rest of the way up, and feel the walkway shake a little as she gets closer. I half expect her to grab me and turn me around, but the movement stops.

“Look, I know you’re mad at me. And I don’t know why. No one else knows either. Is this about your performance? I talked to Shadow Weaver, everyone got good marks.”

“I don’t need you to smooth things over for me. I can handle it myself.” There's a bite to my words, but I’m still careful with my tone. I know I’m not really mad at her. I just… don’t know how to talk about why I’m upset.

“I know you can, I just thought, with the mark on your face-”

“It’s no big deal, it’s already gone.”

“I know, but I figured that since you’re always worried about how Shadow Weaver will rank you in things-”

“Adora, please! It’s fine.”

She doesn’t say anything for a moment. I can feel her concern. It’s only making me more mad, my tail slowly flicking back and forth. “I’m not leaving until you talk to me,” she says softly.

I don’t say anything. Why does she care so much?

There’s silence for a few moments, And Adora steps close to the railing I’m perched on. She leans on it, next to me. “Is it about the sword?”

“No!” I snap, quickly reeling back from it. “No.” I shouldn’t have yelled.

There’s more silence. I hurt her. Should I apologize?

“How’s your head?” I ask instead.

“What?”

“Your head? You were complaining about voices, and visions?”

“Oh. They stopped a few days ago. Whatever it was, I think going near the sword made them worse.”

“Well, as long as they’re gone.” I don’t know why I’m being weird about the sword. It’s probably just a piece of junk. “I just was worried it had cursed you, I guess.”

“Catra, that’s not why you’ve been avoiding me.”

“No, it isn’t,” I admit.

“So you do have a reason?” She sounds more hurt now. I’m making it worse. Tell her. Tell her what?

“... What did you say to the princess?”

“Really? That’s all?” There’s a snark to her voice. Seriously? I’m trying to take this seriously, and she thinks it’s a joke? I hop up off the railing, and walk to the far edge of the platform, away from the ladder. She follows me, because of course she does. “Sorry, I meant, I just made a sort of… deal.”

“A deal? With a princess? Are you crazy?” I’m shocked, if it wasn’t clear. How could she be so naive?

“No no no, it wasn’t like that. I told her if she didn’t attack, I wouldn’t attack. We only wanted the land, right? She wasn’t there to fight, or to defend the land. She was there to get the people out. I didn’t… I didn’t want anyone innocent getting hurt.

“Seriously? Adora, this is war!” I turn around, facing her for the first time. “There are no innocents. We had to leave behind half our men to set up camp instead of leaving a quarter of them to work with the natives.”

“Catra, people were going to get hurt? Why can’t we do our job and minimize harm!”

“Because that isn’t how the horde works! You’re lucky Shadow Weaver probably thought it would be too easy to bother watching us, if she knows you made a deal with the princess you’d lose your rank immediately!”

“I just… thought it would be better than way.”

“Better for your conscience? Come on, Adora, we can’t make a name for ourselves here if we fret over every blade of grass.” It’s harsh, I know, but this isn’t a game. Adora always took training so seriously, but this isn’t training anymore. “The arrow boy could’ve killed the two of us had he not gone for incapacitation. We were sloppy, Adora. We can’t take chances like that.”

“Sorry, Catra… I know. We can’t trust them.”

I don’t say anything again. She’s so dumb! We could’ve all been torched for that. “It’s fine,” I lie. “It was just a question. Thanks for answering me honestly.”

“I would never lie to you like that.” Her voice is so soft. I feel my heart tighten, guilty for raising my voice at her. She just wants what’s best for everyone, she only wanted to- 

No. She can’t put them before us. This is war. “Okay,” is all I say. Wrong move.

“Is that all?” She presses.

“Yes, that’s all,” I lie again. We’re very different people.

“Okay,” she sighs, relieved. It takes some weight off of my shoulders, too, knowing she’ll stop pressing me. “Do you wanna head down now? I have good news for you.”

“Yeah sure,” I force myself to sound more like I usually do, when I’m not being a jerk. “What is it?”

Adora starts walking towards the ladder, and I follow. “I think I’ll tell you when we get there, come on.” She motions me down, and I comply, sliding down the old thing probably too quickly, and Adora follows.

“Where are going?” I ask, since I’m in front of her.

“Outside our bunker, Shadow Weaver has an assignment for us.” She says, matter of factly. Which is fair, there’s honestly no real other way to state it, but the mention of her name makes me pause for a second. If she finds out about Adora’s talk… she won’t. I can keep a secret.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

Block.

*Ding.*

Swing, blocked, guard, parry.

*Ding. Ding.*

Focus, I can’t make a mistake here, not if it comes down to the wire like this. I swing the sword again.

*Ding.*

This time, she doesn’t block, and I’m parried. Before I can process it, the sword is on the ground, and her sword is at my throat.

“Better luck next time,” General Julliet says, but in a genuinely respectful tone.

“Yeah… Thanks…” I say, panting. I reach down for the sword, but suddenly Glimmer is in between it and me.e

“Bow, that was awesome!” She shouts, wrapping her arms around me.

“But, I lost?” I say, confused.

“It’s just sparring. Besides, you made it twice as long this time!” She points out, literally pointing at me with her one hand she took off my shoulder.

“It’s not like I could do much else. Your mom put our mission to Dryl on hold, after all.” I reach down, grabbing the sword.

“For once, I don’t blame her. We fell through a building, Bow.”

“I know, I still feel it in my back.” And I do.

“Well, when we head back out, we’ll be even better than we were at Thaymor! I mean, you’re learning a new weapon! I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Hey, I’m good at a lot more than just archery! Besides, I know I could keep it in your room or the armory, but last time we were kind of thrown into combat with it still on me. If that happens again, I want it to at least be more useful than a paper-weight.”

“Which is a very good idea! Besides, the gold matches your armor, it looks good on you!”

“Maybe if the heart was blue, it would match completely,” I note.

“No, never do that to yourself. The red works too well.” She seems shocked I even thought of the idea.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on it” We chuckle, it’s good to talk about nonsense sometimes, especially before a war room meeting. “We need to get going, the meeting starts soon.”

“Yeah,” Glimmer says slowly, thinking. “I hope my mom lets us back into the field now. I mean, I felt great the morning after!”

“I don’t know Glimmer, I took the fall a lot harder than you. You were back out fighting right when you hit the ground.”

“Don’t worry, we can handle whatever the horde throws at us.”

“Glimmer, I went down there. If they were out for blood-”

“Bow, I wouldn’t have let that happen. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I do. We’ll always have each other’s backs.”

“Yeah. Alright, let's get to that meeting!” She reaches her hand out, and I grab it. Before I can even blink, we’re in the war room. I remember when teleporting was nauseating, now I rarely even lose my balance.

“There you are,” the queen starts, “tell me, how did the general you were sparring with make it here before you?”

Glimmer stares for a second, debating a snarky remark, but before she can say anything, the queen starts chuckling to herself.

“I’m kidding, Glimmer. Welcome, we have a lot to discuss.”

“Oh… okay.” Glimmer relaxes, and I understand why, she thought she was going to get chewed out for talking for a moment. Angella’s knowing smile though tells me that was never the case. Glimmer and I take our seats, and look out to see a few Bright Moon guards, the general, and… Spinnerella and Netossa? That’s a bit of a surprise.

Queen Angella begins addressing the room, “as you all know the horde has been making quite a bit of ground these past few weeks. Commander Glimmer and I have spoken, several times, about how she believes we are giving up ground too quickly.”

Glimmer raises her hand, politely, but I can tell she’s bounding with frustration. I think they’ve argued about this every day since she got grounded, then ungrounded again.

Angella, however, does not call on, “I’m here today to admit that she’s right.”

Glimmer’s mouth drops in shock, and loudly proclaims, “what?”

“The horde is moving too quickly. Glimmer, you think we need to take the fight back to them. How do you propose we do that, when we are outnumbered and outgunned?”

“Oh, I have actually been thinking about this! I have a plan, a good one, I just needed a chance to tell you.”

“Well?”

“Okay, remember the old kingdom alliance?”

Angella freezes momentarily, “how could I forget?”

“Yeah,” Glimmer pauses, embarrassed. “Well, I was thinking about it. It’s been a while, and apparently that alliance was when the Horde was at its weakest, so I wanted to propose that we reach out to the other princesses! If we start working together again, it wouldn’t just be Bright Moon vs the Horde, but the Horde vs Etheria!”

“And how do you propose we’d make that work? The alliance fell apart last time without proper leadership,” Angella looks down at the table in front of her.

“I think I can work with it. You already approved our mission to Dryl, well, when Bow got better. And he is better!”

“Glimmer..” I say, not wanting her to oversell it. Landing on your back and then getting an electrical burn can really make it hard to work with your upper body.

“Bow, it’s okay.” She turns back to Angella and continues, “we already have the support of Spinnerella and Netossa, we have a good reason to approach Entrapta,” Glimmer reaches down and zooms in the map on Plumeria. “And, I saw the reports that Plumeria is facing crop failure and increased Horde sightings. So, I wanted to propose a-”

“Glimmer, I can tell you put a lot of thought into this, but I don’t think the princesses would be willing to abandon what limited neutrality they hold onto.”

“Wait, let me finish! I wanted to propose that Bow and I do a diplomatic envoy to Plumeria to reach princess Perfuma. No fighting, and it’s a much shorter distance than Dryl! Not to mention, The princess ball is only a few weeks away, and assuming everything goes to plan, it’d be a great way to contact Frosta!”

Angella says nothing, deep in thought, taking a deep breath before asking, “and what about Salineas?”

“Well, we don’t exactly have a good reason to go there, but as much ground as the horde is taking, it’s only a matter of time before they decide they need control of the eastern Etherian sea zones. They’ll be under fire too, and we can get to Princess Mermista first.”

Angella relaxes a little, seemingly willing to give the idea thought. Instead, she sighs, and turns to Glimmer. She gives a simple, “okay.”

“Mom, please- wait, okay? Yes!” She practically jumps out of her seat, and then teleports out anyway to hug her mom. She looks at me and smiles, before turning to the other two princesses and giving a thumbs up. General Julliet puts her hand to her forehead.

“You may lead the envoy to Plumeria when you see fit, but please, we were keeping notes in preparation to deliver necessary humanitarian supplies.”

“We can do that!” I say, instantly putting a plan together in my mind. “I actually rode this horse back to Brightmoon from Thaymor, we can take him, and get him to help carry a small cart full of food and medicinal supplies!”

“So you read the report in preparation, too? Well, today was supposed to be about perimeter defenses of the woods, but this will work, too. Bow, Glimmer, you are to bring the items listed in the report as aid for Plumeria, that is your main goal. As a secondary mission, you may approach perfuma about this new princess alliance.”

“YES! Thank you mom, you won’t regret this! Bow, let’s get started!”

“What about the rest of the-” she already has her arm on me, and we’re already down in the supply room. “-meeting…”

“Oh we’ll hear the summary later, come on! This is huge! Within a week, you’ll be ready for the longer trip, and we’ll talk to Entrapta about the sword! Bow, we can save the rebellion!”

I smile at her, she’s really excited about this. Better not let her down. I pull up my tracker pad, and we start rummaging through the shelves for everything we need. We’ll be out on the road soon.

 

---

 

Catra’s Pov

We’re standing in a line, in front of Shadow Weaver. No one has said anything, how long has it been? Five minutes? Two? There’s tension, and Shadow Weaver is using that. She’s glaring at each of us, one by. Rarely Adora, mostly me. I’m sweating. 

Does she know about the battle? My mistakes? Adora’s deal? Was that the last field op we’ll ever get? Adora said it was good news. I sneak a glance to my left, at her. She’s a statue, nothing to read on her face, staring ahead. I quickly put my eyes back on Shadow Weaver. She watched me glance at Adora.

My blood is cold. But I hold my resolve. This is a simple scare tactic, it’s going to take a lot more to actually cause me to crack. She couldn’t know.

Finally, she starts speaking, “as you all surely know, Hordak was impressed with the invasion of Thaymor. You five went up against a princess, and we only lost one tank. That being said, there were… concerns.”

She knows. I swallow what little saliva is in my mouth, it’s too dry.

“You five have spent your whole lives training to be field officers, or trying to train,” she singles out Kyle, who seems to visibly shrink, “or not trying much at all.” 

She turns to me, and it takes everything to suppress my instinct to push back, to yell, or hiss, or something . But I hold still. 

“That being said,” she continues, “our manpower in terms of chores and menial labor is stretched thin. We’ve taken a lot of territory, and haven’t had the chance to- persuade - many new Etherians to fight for our winning cause.”

Adora tenses up, Shadow Weaver finally said something that caused her to crack. Damnit, why did I put that doubt in Adora’s head?

“So we’re sending you out on your next mission. Our occupation force near Plumeria is working to stop that princess from being able to use her powers, by destroying her runestone. Of course, going up against princesses is a difficult task, so the team in charge of this operation was off-site, performing a land-contamination procedure. Adora, you read about this in orientation, yes?

Force Captain orientation, Adora had to be out late two days ago going through dozens of menus on certain operations of ours, briefing herself. She straightens up, and answers, “Yes, Shadow Weaver.”

“Good. Your mission is to oversee the task, our thin forces are struggling to manage on their own. This should be impossible to mess up. We will have actual field work for your team soon. You know where it is, Adora. Get your team there asap. I will be watching this time. Dismissed.” She turns to leave, and Adora relaxes. Kyle, to my right, sighs. I lean forward, Lonnie and Rogelio seemed pretty undisturbed, all things considered.

Lonnie speaks first, “Well, I guess I’ll suit up. See you all in 15?”

“Uh- yeah.”

Rogelio says something I don’t care to try and understand.

“Yeah, Lonnie, see you all soon.”

Lonnie looks at me, last. I don’t look at her. I don’t like how she acts like she’s second-in-command here. She’s not . Everyone takes off, but Adora doesn’t, stepping in front of me.

“Catra, are you good?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I ask, squinting at her.

“Well, you were… squirming.”

“No, I wasn’t. Let’s get ready.” I walk past her, then stop. “Adora, she doesn’t know. Relax, okay?” 

“I- Yeah. Okay.” She glances down, but pulls herself together almost immediately. “Let’s go, we’ve got a tree to kill.”

“Alright- Wait, seriously?” I turn back around to look at her, but she’s already heading down to the armory, given her and I don’t exactly go to suit up. This is going to be pretty dumb, but at least we get out of the Fright Zone again. This is going to be a long drive. I should tell Adora to get us a few skiffs, we’ll get there faster.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

It’s been a long trot to Plumeria. It’s definitely taking longer than it did to get back to Bright Moon from Thaymor, Glimmer and I don’t usually partake in missions that don’t involve us teleporting everything, but the scenery of Etheria is nice for a change.

Also, it’s funny. Glimmer has been practically bouncing up and down this whole time, ecstatic that her mom gave her permission for this alliance idea of hers. She’s been rehearsing a grandiose speech for princess Perfuma, practically since we loaded up the wagon and attached it to this horse that… doesn’t have a name.

“-and with you on our side- no, we shouldn’t make it sound like they're the lesser partner.- And with us on the same side- yeah, that works,- The Horde will have a much harder time expanding out of the Fright Zone!- wait, that sounds doomed to fail.- The Horde will have no chance against us! Is that too cocky, Bow?”

“I don’t think so, I think it’s more inspiring than cocky.”

“Great, thanks.” She goes back to verbally planning her speech to Perfuma of what the plan is, and I look down at my tracker pad. 

We’re close now. I hope this trip goes as well as Glimmer made it out to be. I mean, we weren’t supposed to fight in Thaymor, and we did. And reports say that there’s a horde outpost right outside Plumeria. I’m not against fighting, but I do consider myself to be a thorough planner. And if there’s one thing that never looks good when planning, it’s the manpower difference. Glimmer said the Horde commander told her to leave, that they were just there for the land. But it doesn’t fit the horde’s MO. Had they have done what they usually do, and gone for the kill, well, I don’t think Glimmer and I could have taken on 30 men. We took down maybe five people before the commander’s team made it to my position.

“Bow! Did you hear me?” Glimmer shakes me from behind, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, sorry, no. What’s up?”

“I asked how much longer we have. I think I know what I’m going to say, I don’t want to lose it.”

“Don’t worry Glimmer, the first house is just beyond the bend up there. We’ll be in and out instantly, just having to stop to help unload the wagon and hand out the supplies.”

“Great. I’m gonna teleport in, now, to let them know you’re here?’

“Go for it, I’ll catch up.” In an instant, her hands are off my shoulders and she’s gone, and the horse seems to stall for a second. He was confused when she decided to teleport onto him, too. I turn the reins, and we follow the bend in the road. Plumeria is a very different place from Bright Moon. Less mountains, no valley of water, the houses aren’t even houses, they’re more tents. And the trees are more spread out than in the Whispering woods, but they’re huge. I pull into the town center, and a bunch of people are already out and about, even without having been alerted. I see Glimmer come out of a tent near the central tree, followed by the princess of these lands.

“Oh, hello, you must be Bow!” Perfuma raises an arm in greeting, her voice cheerful despite the gloomy situation the report made me believe I was walking into.

I hop off the horse after we stop, and greet the princess. “Hi, princess Perfuma. Yes, I’m Bow. You talked to Glimmer?”

“Yes! She told me that you two arrived with aid from Bright Moon? We are very grateful for your donations! And please, just Perfuma.”

“Okay Perfuma. Yeah, we heard the call for aid. We bought a supply of non-perishable food, a little bit of perishables as an added gift, and medicinal aid.”

Perfuma nods in an almost bow, and waves her hand. I feel something that almost tickles slightly around my forehead, and I reach up. Petals. She made me a flower crown! “Yes, thank you. We’ve been experiencing,” she pauses, debating her word choice, “difficulties. Thankfully, the universe has come through! Thank you, this will allow us to hopefully have enough supplies to migrate, and find somewhere else to set up.”

“Migrate? You’re leaving? Why?” Glimmer walks up, concerned. “You can’t leave!”

“The Horde is killing us. We don’t know what they’re doing, but ever since they showed up, their machines have been damaging our land. The tree that gives me my powers is dying, and I can’t save it. My magic isn’t enough. We were hoping for the universe to send us someone who could help, and heal our land, but I don’t think the Horde is going to face its consequences today.”

“Perfuma,” Glimmer walks up to her, practically in her face, “You can’t just run away from the Horde! Believe me, that’s all my mom has been doing these past few months. Why don’t you come with Bow and I? We can take a look at whatever the Horde is doing, and stop them!”

“Glimmer, we’re not fighters. We just want to continue leaving, in peace and harmony. But with our calls for a savior, like the legends of She-Ra, unanswered, there isn’t anything we could do.”

“I don’t know who that is, but I do know that you can’t just wait or run until the universe comes to help you. Bow, back me up here.”

“Glimmer, we’re only here to deliver the supplies. We told Queen Angella that-”

“Ugh!” She shouts. “I don’t care, Bow. I told you and my mom, we don’t have the land to give up.” She turns back to Perfuma, and continues. “Look, I know you aren’t used to fighting, but the horde doesn’t care. They will keep coming, everywhere you go, until there’s nowhere left to go.”

“Glimmer, that’s enough!” I grab her arm, pulling her off of Perfuma, but careful not to hurt her. Glimmer glares at me for a second, before puffing.

“I… I’m sorry Glimmer.” Perfuma says. “There’s nothing I can do. You saw my powers.”

Glimmer looks at the tree, for a second, and says, “That tree there is your runestone, right? If you let it die here, how can you protect your people in the future?

Perfuma says nothing. This did, of course, not go as Glimmer and I had expected it to.

“Bow, let’s go. We can’t let these people lose their homes. Perfuma, we could use your help. Please. Your people here can start the unloading while we’re gone.”

I look at Perfuma. As much as I don't want to go against Angella’s orders right now, Glimmer isn’t wrong. Perfuma is lost in thought, and looks at the tree, staring at the withering branches.

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

It wasn’t a long drive, the skiffs really were faster. We partnered up, and Rogelio ended up taking his own. It was an uneasy ride, Adora and I wordlessly thinking about the other day we were on one of these. Except this time, I didn’t wrestle for control of the driver’s stick.

Surprisingly, this is another easy mission. We’re walking around, staring at the grunts as they maintain equipment and pump more of some sort of poison into the ground. Shadow Weaver was right, this isn’t something that gets messed up. I run my hands through my hair, making sure it's out of the way.

“Kyle!” I shout, over my shoulder.

“Yes, Catra?” He says, walking up.

“Shadow Weaver said this job is taking too long, but it’s routine. Go figure out what happens if we override the pumps, I’m going to talk to Adora.”

“Um, okay, on it.” He runs off, and I head outside. Adora is standing at the entrance.

“Hey Adora. How’s the field work looking?”

She looks up from a clipboard she’s holding, and over to me. “Hi, Catra. Fine. To be honest, I’m not sure how we can pick this up.”

“I had an idea, put Kyle on it.”

“Why would you do that?”

“He’s smart, he’ll figure it out.” At that, Adora takes one look at me, and we both start laughing. Good, a tension breaker, and she loved it. She doubles over a little, steadying herself against the wall, which makes me start laughing more, too.

Eventually, we straighten ourselves up. “Seriously, why?”

“He was following me, since Lonnie and Rogelio were already out back, and I previously told him to let you do your checklist work. But I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh? She sets the clipboard down to her left, on some crates. “What’s up?”

“I… I’ve been weird lately. Sorry.”

“Um, thank you?”

“I just, don’t worry about Shadow Weaver, okay? She doesn’t know, not really, she just has suspicions.”

Her expression drops for a moment, but she tries to cover it up. “I’m not worried about her. Besides, you were right. We can’t play soft.”

No, that is not the takeaway you’re supposed to have. “Adora, no… listen. Shadow Weaver-”

A horn, a loud one, is heard from over the walls. It isn’t our alarm siren. Which only means one thing: that was a battle cry. Adora immediately draws her stun stick, and I reach back inside the, well, poison pump building, to press the alarm button next to the entrance. The inside lights go red, and an alarm blares. Whatever that was, someone had enough of this operation and-

There’s a loud noise, a crash, to our left. Adora turns instantly, taking off towards the sound, and I follow. An entire section of the perimeter wall is gone. There are… flowers?

"It’s Perfuma, get ready,” Adora says back to me. There are a few other guards heading over, too, and I see Rogelio rounding the corner from behind the base. I assume it’s Lonnie with him still, that person already has their helmet on. Again, nothing happens, and another section of the wall comes down on the front entrance. A diversion. Instantly, there’s people pouring in through the wall. At least 10, already close to the numbers we have here. They’re all civilians, why are they here?

Then, I see them. The boy with the arrows, and the glitter princess. This is a joke, right? I lock eyes with the boy, and he pauses for a second. He probably thought the same thing. Adora looks annoyed too, especially when I see her eyes drift just behind the boy, he still has the sword.

“Catra, defend the machine, I’m going for the archer,” she says, already sprinting forward. She’s going for the sword, isn’t she? Well forget it, I’m following her, I need some payback the hits I took at Thaymor.

I’m following Adora when the glitter princess is in front of me, with a slight poof sound, and a flash of pink. Seriously?

“Miss me?”

“Out of my way, Sparkles.”

Her eye twitches, she didn’t like that. “Sorry, but you’re actually in our way. What’s in the building?”

I unsheathe my claws and move forward, I’m not in the mood to talk. I get close, and she’s gone. I pivot on my front foot, immediately turning around, and there she is. I was ready this time. She takes a swing, and I duck under it, using the downward momentum to push into a jump, driving my knee into her stomach. Finally, I connect with her, and she goes back. For a second, I consider going back in on her, but I need to back up Adora, so I turn around.

They’re fighting, she managed to close the distance on him, and neither one is getting a hit off on the other. Until, a vine wraps around Adora’s foot, and she’s pulled away. No . But she’s fast, already getting herself untangled. She’ll be okay. I have a few questions for the boy. 

Unfortunately, I was distracted by her, and I get hit by an arrow. This one was concussive, but it hurts, and I place my hand over my shoulder where it connected. I hiss, and close the distance before he can draw another one. Just like last time, I push off my legs and jump over him, this time not waiting for him to be cornered. I turn around, and slash at his back, and his quiver drops to the ground. Good. 

He’s already around, and sees his arsenal on the floor. He knows he’s in trouble. If he knew how to use that sword, he would have when he was cornered in the house. I smirk, but he narrows his eyes and draws it. Okay, I was wrong. 

“How do you two know about this sword?” He asks.

“The woods. How did you find it?”

“Why didn’t you grab it? You didn’t plant it.”

“A mistake. Hand it over.”

“Take it.” He gets into a fighting stance, definitely not one a swordsman would use. I see Adora running up, she must’ve separated from the flower princess. He’s cornered again, until Sparkles is there, because of course she is. They’re nearly back to back, in an L formation. Adora shoots a quick glance at me, and we charge forward. Unsurprisingly, the guy has little idea what he’s doing, and is using the sword solely defensively, blocking my swipes. I try to glance at Adora, another mistake, and I get hit in the side by the flat of the sword. Stupid, that could’ve been it . 

“What’s wrong, too scared to do anything that would actually work?” I taunt, grabbing my side. Adora saw the swing, and moves for the boy, ignoring Sparkles. Another mistake, and she gets hit. We are not going out to these two. I got the boy again, but fake out the claw swipes, knocking him off balance with a sweeping kick, and put my full weight onto him, knocking him over, and I leap at Sparkles. She turns, and since I’m midair, I need to twist to avoid a blast she sends off instantly, and I roll when I hit the floor.

The boy switched his attention to Adora, so I kick my focus on Sparkles, and go for her again, this time dodging her blast without being above ground, and she teleports away. I take a look around, and see that the boy has Adora pinned, and I leap into him, freeing Adora.

The boy reaches for the sword that fell out of his hand, and recovers instantly.He swings at me, a slow one, but he’s tired. He’s not aiming with the flatside anymore. I’m still on the ground. No time to think. I kick his stomach since he’s practically on me, and he stumbles, but he gets ready for another swing, but from farther away. 

This time, Adora tackles him, and the sword goes flying. I go to help, and Sparkles is suddenly in front of me. This girl is annoying. We’re all tired, there’s been no room to think for a second. I take the chance now, since Sparkles, Adora, and the boy are all panting.

We’re losing. The whole of the guard force is being wiped out by the flower princess and her entire town, we’re outnumbered. And Adora and I are wasting our time with this distraction force. Shadow Weaver is going to kill us. But we need to get out of here, before the whole of the town comes back here.

The boy moves first, backing up, and grabs an arrow and his bow from two feet behind where he was standing. Adora moves instantly, not wanting to give him time to draw, and Sparkles moves for Adora. So I move for her. She isn’t facing me, and I leap at her, managing to wrap an arm around her throat. Everything next happens in an instant.

He draws, she steps close. She smacks the side of the boy, and he drops it, and the arrow. Adora, quickly, grabs the arrow out of the air. No. She drives it towards him, and I push myself off of Sparkles, as she screams. She teleports in between Adora and the boy.

The impact is quick. I slam into Adora, and the two of us roll away from the rebel soldiers. Sparkles looks at me, confused, but they don’t make a move.

“Wh- what did you do!?” She screams at me.

“Adora, we’re losing, we need to get out of here while we still can. Our team was in the back, let's go.” I grab her arm, and pull with as much force as I can to get her to her feet. She quickly glances at the sword, but with those two standing right there, I don’t let her chance it. 

I know we lost, we let ourselves get distracted with those two, but I’ve never felt so relieved. In this instant, I don’t care that Shadow Weaver is going to kill me. I kept Adora from doing something I know she’d have regretted forever. I should never have yelled at her this morning.

We’re running, I quickly knock a random guy out of our way, and we make our way to the back of the building. Thankfully, our team is all still conscious and fighting. Except Kyle, who is already at the skiffs. Looks like they decided to retreat, too.

“Get on the skiffs, we’re leaving, now!” Adora shouts. Lonnie looks relieved, and Rogelio throws one more man away from the two as they start following us. Adora quickly shoots me a glance, before getting the skiff Kyle had turned on. Ouch. I hop on another, while Lonnie and Rogelio take the third, and we’re off.

I can’t believe it. I turn around as I set my skiff to “follow,” and look at the wreck of plants everywhere. She took care of most of the base while the other two were busy with Adora and I? So much for a low-level threat princess, we’re going to need better intel. I try to shoot a glance at Adora. How can she be mad at me for stopping her like that? She always had a child-like naivety about how the two of us were going to conquer the world and the Horde, so why did she have to let that shatter so quickly? What happened while I was ignoring her this week?

 

---

 

Bow’ POV

“So, that’s it then?” I ask, holding my hand to my stomach. I took a kick from the magicat back there, and for once I’m feeling the consequences of my abless-shirts life, seeing five parallel scratch marks running down the left side of my stomach.

I reach down, studying the machinery. Yep, it’s pumping poison straight into the land. The root network of these trees must be incredible.

“Every single one has retreated by now. The ones that are unconscious probably will as soon as they come to.” Glimmer says, taking one last look at the machine.

“Well, I guess it’s time to finish this.” Perfuma says, visibly coming down from what was probably the most adrenaline she’s ever felt. She raises her hands, concentrating, and two massive roots that the machine were pumping into suddenly shoot up, and wrap around the machine. Perfuma rotates both of her wrists, and closes her hands into fists, and the roots start crushing the machinery.

I draw my bow, and knock the explosive arrow I picked up off the ground before coming in here. No one here knows how to work these machines, so we can’t afford to try and power them off. So as Perfuma is crushing the pumps, I fire the arrow at the vat of poison to the side, and a small section in the bottom of the vat blows open. I planned the shot right, and it flows straight for the draining system instead of back towards the roots.

Perfuma lets go of the roots after returning them to their near original position, and wipes some sweat off her forehead. “Thank you, Bow. Glimmer. You were right. I still believe the universe is just, but for now, I accept that I needed to step up for my people.”

“It was great working with you, Perfuma!” Glimmer says loudly, “I didn’t get to see much of what you were doing, I was a little preoccupied, but like, wow! That’s some good plant magic.”

“Thank you, Glimmer, I really like your magic too. Your energy looks beautiful when it’s knocking people out.”

“Thanks, Perfuma. Listen… There’s a lot more Horde out there. I had this whole speech planned, but basically, we want to enter into an alliance with you, for combatting the horde. Are you in?”

“Would I… get to hit more people with flowers?”

Glimmer tilts her head, smirking. Another mission, successful, even if it didn’t exactly go as planned and ended up being a lot more punchy than a diplomatic mission would lead you to believe. I turn around and head outside, leaving Glimmer to discuss alliance terms with Perfuma. 

Unfortunately, now I have to go and collect all my arrows, and make a makeshift strap fastener for my quiver. This fight wasn’t exactly great in terms of an easy win, that blonde girl was acting completely differently than how she did at Thaymor. And to run into them again… I pull the sword off my back, looking at it. What is this thing, really? I shake my head, putting the sword back. So much for the Horde’s change in policy.

Notes:

Nothing really new to add, but heads up: I have already updated previous chapters. chapter titles, and the story tags. Don't be surprised if more changes occur, or if the story one day receives a new title overall.

Chapter 4: Salineas

Summary:

Glimmer tries to expand her new alliance. Shadow Weaver, now tracking her, sends Adora's team after her.

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, Shadow Weaver 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 Mystacor. 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 in 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.

Notes:

I managed to make this one even longer, somehow. The next one will probably be much shorter, due to how "System Failure" won't change much outside of getting rid of Infected She-Ra (At this point in the story). From here on out, there will probably be more divergences from the canon timeline, although with how I want to take a shot at this being a sort of parallel story to the canon timeline, there will likely be a few contrivances. Then again, even the actual show got meta with how often the rebellion and Horde were always at the same places at the same times.

Chapter 5: Fact or Fiction?

Summary:

Bow And Glimmer recruit princess Entrapta for the rebellion, as everyone races to learn more about the sword.

Bow’s POV

It’s been a long few days. Ever since the Sea Gate fell, we’ve been struggling to maintain any sense of defensive ground against the horde. They haven’t dared to partake in a land invasion of Salineas, but their ability to transport supplies between the northern and southern seas has gotten much more efficient now that they can’t enforce a blockade, allowing their front to be much better equipped whenever they plan an invasion.

We’ve been struggling. Mermista has been doing what she can to get the gate fixed again, but none of us know what we’re doing. It got Angella to finally send us out to Entrapta, hoping that since she’s the best First One understander there is, that she might be able to figure out the technology that is powered by Runestones.

The trip up here has been exhausting, Glimmer and I have both been on edge ever since we realized we were being tracked. Angella was initially incredibly worried, calling all stops to figure it out. She’s still looking into it now, actually, but approved the mission anyway after pointing out that the horde vehicles won’t be able to effectively transport any troops up these mountains.

So Glimmer and I have been slowly making our way to Entrapta’s castle, taking time here and there where needed to keep the path from falling apart. It took a while, and Glimmer and I are already feeling the pain in our legs, but Glimmer is in no rush to be caught without magic again. At least I was able to restock my trick arrows after using most of them at Salineas, but Glimmer doesn’t think my sonic one would be very useful.

We round a quick turn on the cliffside, and see Dryl in all its glory. I’m immediately greeted with something I’ve never seen before, as lightning strikes the top of the tower, some sort of attracting rod.

“Whoa, she’s got lightning!” I exclaim, Entrapta is someone I’ve been dying to meet forever, now. The things I could learn from her…

“Something's wrong.” Glimmer teleports away, and I see her appear on top of the castle’s gate walls. “ The castle's distress beacon is lit. Was that Adora girl able to beat us here?”

“I don’t think so, it isn’t like they can fly,” I raise my voice, so it can carry to her.

“Either way, we need to be careful. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

“Of course, I’m not going to let them get the jump on us if they are here.”

“I’m sure you are, now come on, let’s get in there.” She teleports off the wall, somewhere into the city square, when suddenly I feel the floor shift below me. That means…

I stop moving immediately, and in front of me the ground opens up to a pit with spikes in it. Of course she would build defenses for when the castle was on lockdown. I need to warn her.

“Glimmer! Okay, we need to be careful. Entrapta has traps set up all over her castle.” I run into the clearing, stopping to take a deep breath, and straighten up again. “They're supposed to be really cool.”

Just then, I see a sewer drain pop up from the ground. That’s strange… A head pops up, but I can’t make it out. “They’re coming, get out of the square!” Just like that, the head slides black down, leaving only more questions.

“So… someone is here?” Glimmer asks, confused.

“I’m not sure, but we definitely need to be careful now.”

“Ugh, this was supposed to be a simple, safe , mission.” She pauses, turning around quickly. “Did you hear that?”

“No, what?” But I see it as I look past her. A bot coming out of the shadows. I try to get a look at it, but it starts moving forward, and I guess the noise Glimmer heard must have been it trying to exclaim an attack noise, because that is not friendly bot-demeanor. I draw my bow right as Glimmer readies her fists. She puts a concussive blast into it, knocking it back, and while it’s down my arrow finds its target in the robot’s core.

“One of Entrapta’s? Why would it attack us?” I ask, able to look at the thing, now.

“I don’t know. Let’s just try the door, maybe find her?”

“Yeah, but we still need to be careful.” I turn to walk towards where Glimmer is, and as she approaches the door, I notice how her foot sinks slightly into the ground. Uh Oh. I run forwards, grabbing her arm and pulling right as the ground opens up to a hole that seemingly goes much deeper, before it’s already closed.

“Geez, thanks Bow. That was close.”

“I told you, be careful. Now let’s get in here and find Entrapta, this can still be an easy mission.”

Glimmer smiles, and I approach the door from the side. “No real way while it’s in lockdown, Glimmer, think you take us to the main tower?”

“I don’t know, Bow. Something’s wrong. There’s something here interfering with my magic.”

“Interfering how?”

“Everything is a little more blurry than normal, I think if I teleport, we’re going to need to keep it short-ranged.”

“Alright. Just the other side of the door, then?”

“That, I can probably do. Let’s go.”

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

I’m no closer to figuring it out. I’ve spent all of my free time, when I wasn’t training with my team or reporting to Shadow Weaver, on figuring out this sword. 

It was easy to get all the files I needed. I have papers on what limited knowledge the horde has about Runestones, as well as everything Shadow Weaver was willing to give me on her Black Garnet. She didn’t want to, but I learned a thing or two about persuasiveness from her.

I lied, with partial truth. I told her I believe Glimmer’s plan is to bring the princesses together for some sort of alliance, according to Shadow Weaver it’s been tried before, when she was younger. What I didn’t tell her is that I don’t care about the princesses right now, and this information won’t help me beat them.

It’s always the sword. Every time I see that thing, I have visions and dreams for the next few days. I need to figure out what it means. I could go to Shadow Weaver, and tell her about it, but… I’m worried about the repercussions of that. Instead, Catra is helping me. I can tell she doesn’t want anything to do with the sword, but she’s helping me, and I’m grateful for it.

So far, we haven’t managed to get much of anywhere. 

“Runestones seem to be connected to princesses, in all cases except the Black Garnet. And this sword.” Catra says, holding up a file on the Black Garnet.

“I don’t think that’s true. The Black Garnet has a family tied to it, they just don’t show any of that connection.”

“Who is tied to the Black Garnet?”

“Um, Force Captain Scorpia?” I answer, putting one folder down and moving on to another.

“What? How?” She shouts, shocked.

“You’d have to ask her, I don’t know the details.”

Catra goes through he Black Garnet file more “No, there it is. It belonged to her family, alright. We’re fighting on the side of a princess?"

“I don’t know if it counts, with the whole no connection thing” I look closer at what I’m holding, information on the princess of Dryl. Her hair contains fine nerves and motor functions? “But this Entrapta doesn’t have an elemental power either, and she’s still a princess, so who knows… I think that sword has a princess, and we just don’t know who it is.”

‘Pfft, maybe it’s you. It’d explain the visions.”

“What? No. I am not a princess.”

“Hahah! Imagine it, you in a tiara!”

“Please, it’d still look better than whatever that thing on your face is.”

“Hey, you told me you liked it!”

“And I do, it suits you well.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Catra has dropped all pretense of reading anymore, intently watching me. Her tail is swishing back and forth behind her.

I put down the document on Entrapta. “It means, take that back.”

“Heh. You’re a princess…” Catra smiles, she shifts her posture, no longer sitting on the ground, and I do the same. I know what this is, a game we used to play when we were younger.

-

“Hey, Adora, you be the evil princess, and I’ll be the brave Horde Captain!”

“It’s Force Captain, Catra. And why would I be the princess?”

“Because you’re always getting pampered by Shadow Weaver, and it seems like everyone loves you despite how evil you are.”

“Catra, if the horde loves me, that’d make me the Force Captain. Hahahaha, Princess Catra!”

“No!” She’d scream, throwing her weight onto me. “Take that back!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll be the Princess. But only this time.”

Catra’s expression changes into a smirk. “Then I already have you beat!” She says, all of her weight on me, still.

“Not likely!” Thus, the thrashing and rolling would start. Usually, I’d end up on top. Catra was faster than me, but I was always stronger. Sometimes she’d give up and let me have it. Sometimes…

“No!” Catra maneuvers her leg free, and drives it into my stomach. I don’t feel her claws, but the impact still reels me. I stumble back, and she’s on top again.

“Cheater…” I whine. I’m not really in pain, but seeing her eyes flash for a split second always helps to remind me it isn’t real, that I don’t need to win this time.

“You’re a princess, remember? Princesses always cheat! I’m just leveling the field!”

-

“Got you!” I shout, keeping Catra’s arms to the ground.

“Ugh! Fine! You win! You’re not a princess,” Catra shouts.

“Thank you,” I reply, smiling, backing off of her. It’s been a long time since Catra and I have done anything like that. One time we were messing around like this, we got caught by Shadow Weaver. Catra took all the blame that day… We haven’t done it since. Until now. 

There’s a look in Catra’s eyes, almost soft again. But also, like she genuinely wants to say something more about what we were doing, but she goes back into the papers.

I do the same. So, if the sword has a princess, who could it really be? Entrapta’s? Maybe Peekablue? There are a lot of possibilities here. Who knows, maybe Catra’s right. It would explain the visions… No. I put the files down again, and stand up. Maybe we just need to get the sword, it’ll make figuring all this out a lot easier.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

Panic. Shear, unfiltered, panic. The good news: Glimmer and I found Entrapta very quickly. The bad news: Entrapta was experimenting with something that corrupted all First One’s Tech in Dryl. Why is that bad? Entrapta’s robots are powered by minimal amounts of First One’s Tech, her being the most advanced tech-creator on Etheria, she’s the only one who understood their tech, and now we’re fighting everything she’s built, on our way towards her main workshop, to destroy it.

Glimmer is genuinely annoyed, too. Even when it isn’t the horde, we still have our, “simple easy plans,” ending up going haywire. Oh well, at least we’re getting good at improvising and adapting.

However, things get even stranger the longer we’re fighting, and the closer we’re getting. A lot of my incapacitating arrows are useless, and I’ve already fired off a stun arrow and net arrow that proved to be completely ineffective, and then the three of us came across this massive… cleaning bot?

“Okay, run!” Glimmer shouts, and we take off down the hallway behind us.”

“Isn’t it adorable!?” Entrapta asks, beaming with excitement.

“I don’t this it the time-” I’m cut off as the bot starts making some sort of noise, but I have no idea what it could be.

“What… is it speaking?” Glimmer asks, unsure.

Entrapta pulls out a voice recorder, speaking into it. “Fascinating. Bot 329 is attempting to communicate…” As she talks, the bot’s spinning brushes under it trap her hair, and Glimmer and I move forward instantly. I draw the sword off my back, swiping at the brushes, and Glimmer pulls Entrapta back. I drive the sword into the bot, and something happens that nearly horrifies me as a red… something- spirals out of the gem on the sword. 

“What in the…” 

The bot takes a hit from Glimmer, straight into the hole I made with the sword, and the bot powers down.

“What happened to the sword?” Glimmer asks, as I pick the sword up.

“I… don’t know…”

Entrapta comes up to it, moving her hair towards it to grab it, and I let her. “This is incredible! The sword must be First One’s tech!”

Really? I know the symbols on it matched the patterns that were on the Sea Gate, but Mermista didn’t really know what that meant. I resolve to talk about it more later, but there are more bots coming, and we need to destroy that disk.

Grabbing the sword back, we continue moving through the halls. Entrapta doesn’t seem to have any idea where we are, and Glimmer is still struggling to focus on her teleports, probably due to whatever energy interference this disk is throwing off. This is going to be a long mission…

-

After a few more encounters with random bots, we reach the outside of Entrapta’s lab. 

“Oh, we're here. I mean, uh, of course we're here. We were never lost.” Entraptra doesn’t really try to mask how not serious she took that sentence, and Glimmer just stares at her.

“I’m really tired of always being down to the wire like this,” Glimmer complains, and understandably so.

“It’s okay Glimmer. We’ll break that disk and do what we came here for, we just need to get in there.”

Entrapta goes to open the door, and the panel electrocutes her, sending her reeling back in shock as she recovers her senses.

“Entrapta, are you okay?” I grab her as she falls back, keeping her up.

“Wow,” she starts, “the door is infected too, it won't let us in. That is so smart. And awful. We're all going to die.”

“No. We’re going in, how bad could it be?” Glimmer places a hand on mine and Entrapta’s shoulders, and focusing a little bit to grab all three of us, we *poof* and are inside of the workshop.

I look up. The bots are over on the other half of the room, and slowly, it starts to dawn on me just how many of them there are. I draw my bow, and one of my few remaining arrows. “Glimmer, they’re no noise activated, how much magic do you have left.”

“More than enough this time, I was careful.”

“Can you draw them away from that computer?”

“Of course. Good luck, you two.”

She teleports off to the side of the room, throwing a burst of magic into the air, and Entrapta starts moving forward. “How fascinating,” she says, looking at what I’m assuming is the disk. It’s covered in a system of red spiraling roots, like on the sword. “It has completely protected itself!”

We run up to the disk, and and unsurprisingly, I can’t use an arrow or the sword to pry it off of the computer. “This isn’t working. Entrapta, how do we shut down the computer?”

“The power conduit, over there!” 

I look at a cable running into the side of the computer, the roots have completely surrounded it. Sorry Entrapta, I owe you a cable. I draw the last pointy arrow I tried to pry the disk out with, and fire it at the cable, severing it. Suddenly, A loud noise rings out from the disk.

“No, wrong way! Bow, look out!” I turn around, Glimmer was warning me that some of the bots have started moving to the disk. The disk must have its own distress beacon.

“It’s not turning off!”

Never a good thing to hear, Entrapta starts laughing, before collecting herself. “It's running on its own power now! That's it. We need to get outta here and burn this place to the ground. Experiment officially failed!” She wraps a length of hair around me, putting the other half up to the roof and pulls us away.

“Wait!” I draw my last trick arrow, aiming it at the disk. The robots are attracted to noise, right! “Sonic arrow, don’t fail me now!” I let go, and the arrow flies into the disk. Immediately, the bot that was closest to me starts slamming into the disk, its programming overridden to see it as a threat, not a request, and the disk smashes under the intense pressure of the hydraulic arms.

Entrapta sets us down near Glimmer, all the robots ceasing their hostility.

“Well…” Entrapta starts, the relief audible in her voice. She turns to face us. “You mentioned recruiting me for the rebellion, right? I’d be honored to join you, princess and fan of my work.”

“Um… you’re welcome?” I respond, completely unsure how I should feel about that.

“Actually, we have a few questions for you, too, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Really? What with?”

I pull the sword back out, handing it to Entrapta, the red roots continuing to disintegrate. “We… We found this sword in the woods. We think… We think it has something to do with the Runestones, and it’s powerful, but we have no idea how to use it.”

Entrapta takes it out of my hands, studying. “Well, A Runestone that is also First One’s tech? There’s not much information on these things that aren’t myths, but… well, my computer is offline, but I have some ideas.” She pulls out a data pad, a very similar design to my tracker pad, as I actually had mine inspired by hers. “How’d you find it?”

“Energy signatures, it just started throwing off a ton of energy a few weeks ago, and Glimmer and I immediately tracked it down a few hours later. We think some people in the horde were looking for it.”

“Well… This is interesting. I can see the readings you’re talking about. Wow, I’m going to have to tune out those frequencies just to keep using this.” She is studying her data pad, already collecting a lot of information on the sword. 

“Yeah, I had that issue, too.”

“Well, there are actually rumors of Runestones created by the First Ones. Have you two ever heard of the myth of the Spirit Ember?”

“Oh, I know that one!” Glimmer shouts. “The story of the corrupted Runestone and the fire princess?”

“Exactly! I have reason to believe that the issues that arose from that Runestone connection is that it was artificial, a prototype for something bigger that the First One’s were working on!”

“Wait, you can do that?” I’m confused, “I thought the runestones were like, always here.”

“Most of them were. There are the major one’s like the Moon Stone, and the lesser ones, like what Spinnerella draws her power from. But there were also at least 2 that the First One’s made. The Spirit Ember was a prototype, an excuse for the First One’s to experiment with the connection between Runestone and Princess.”

“Wait, are you saying this sword-” I start

“Is an artificial First One’s Runestone!” Entraptra finishes.

“So it isn’t, like, powered by a Runestone like we thought?” Glimmer asks, for clarification.

“No! The amount of energy this thing is throwing off, it’s something special. I don’t have much data on it, mostly because I always wrote it off of myth, but it’s entirely possible that this sword belongs to a forgotten, “honorary” princess.”

“Who… who could that be? I mean, there aren’t many princesses that don’t have Runestones,” Glimmer further questions.

“Technically, there’s no way to know who it is for, if I’m even right. If it was for a First One, it is entirely possible that they disappeared with the rest of their people.”

“So where do we start?”

“The First One’s supposedly had a strong ally on their side back when they were here. Have you ever heard of the legend of She-Ra?”

“I… I don’t think so?” Glimmer thinks. 

“Wait, I do! Well, not really, but I heard the name before. From Perfuma.”

“Okay, well don’t worry, I never looked into it, either. Scientific theories are one thing, legends are another. But… if this sword is really as powerful as these readings suggest, it would need someone pretty strong to be able to use it. I’ll keep running research on this data, are you… keeping it?”

“I, well… never really thought about what to do after we asked you about it.”

“Well, I’d love to study it more. How about you leave it here? I can drop it off for you at the Kingdom of Snows, assuming the princess here and I both are invited and it doesn’t get rescheduled, in two weeks.”

“Um, my name is Glimmer…”

“I think… that is a very good idea. Sure. Just let me know what you can figure out then, okay?”

“Okay! This is going to be awesome!”

Entrapta holds out her hair, as hands, for us to shake, and glimmer and I both accept.

“Welcome to the rebellion, Entrapta,” Glimmer says. “I guess we can officially chock our win-rate up to 50 percent?”

“I don’t know, we did what we set out to do at Thaymor. 75?”

“Alright, fine, I guess we aren’t doing too bad after all.”

“No, not at all. Now, about that sonic arrow…”

 

Notes:

I really struggled with making this one interesting. How do you write a compelling narrative around a story that all of your readers will already know?
I don't have an answer, but I'm trying a strategy of changing the order of information, waiting to see how long it takes the characters to catch up to what the reader's know.
This chapter was pretty hard to write for. Nearly all of Dryl would likely remain unchanged, and all I had to work with was why Glimmer struggled to teleport out of that cage and back to Bow in the show. I heavily debated just cutting out the Takeover plot, but again, contrivances. I have a plan for how this world's Northern Reach event would unfold, which means the disk needs to be in play.

Chapter 6: The Princess Prom Plan

Summary:

Catra feels like she's growing distant from Adora.
Glimmer feels like she's growing distant from Bow.

Catra’s Pov

“You’ve always held her back. Ungrateful wretch!”

“I told you, it wasn’t like that!” I shouted. But she never listens. I feel as her powers start to encase me, feeling as the static of the Black Garnet’s powers lock me in place.

“Consider this your final warning. Your training is lax, your manners are nonexistent, you respect no one! You sabotaged your team in Plumeria, and you continue to try and fill Adora’s head with lies about how I’m using her.”

Rich, coming from her. I want to retort, to talk back, even if it puts me in a worse situation, but I’m still paralyzed. And afraid. I’ve always hated when she did this, and she knows that.

“This is your last chance, Catra. Straighten up, or I will make sure you are removed from Adora’s team. Who knows why she is so fond of you, but when I make it clear to her that your only options are to be removed from her or disposed of, I think we both know what she’ll choose, even if it isn’t what I would choose.”

I feel the enclosing force tighten around my throat, and the world slowly starts to fade from me. “No… please…” I manage to choke out. She can’t do this, we’re going to Salineas! I can prove myself! No!

-

“No!” My heart is racing, and I sit up quickly, shaking. That’s right… that didn’t happen at the end.. I’m still here… I try to bring my breathing back under control, and I look around the bunker. Good, no one stirred, not even Adora. I take a look over at her bed. She isn’t there. That’s right. Shadow Weaver gave her her own room after Salineas, said the barracks were “unbefitting” of a Force Captain. I take a deep breath in, and lay back down, still coming down from the panic. 

We barely squeezed out a win at Salineas… and Shadow Weaver acts like Adora won the war. At least she didn’t think the mission reflected poorly on me, but I’m still not in a good spot, I need to fix things. If Adora keeps getting all the credit for the successes, while I get dragged for the failures… I’m going to be left behind. I need to fix this. 

It should be almost morning. The others will be awake soon. I get off the mattress, stretching as I stand up. I know an early riser, she isn’t the person I’d most like to talk to, but I need a plan, and I… can’t go to Adora right now.

I take off, exciting the barracks. Good, the curfew bots are already offline for the early risers. I guess I’ll wind up part of this crowd now, there isn’t much reason for me to lay in bed all morning when she isn’t next to me. I shake the thought out of my head, so she has her own room? We’re still friends, there’s nothing wrong between us, and only recently she came to me for more help about that stupid sword.

Things were almost like they used to be, there. The laughing, the jokes, the quick heartbeats… We’re part of the war now, on the frontlines. We don’t get that luxury much anymore.

Continuing through the halls, I find the room I’m looking for. Force Captain quarters. Wow, right next to Adora’s, how great for me. I think about going in, of talking to her about my concerns with the sword, or with Shadow Weaver, but decide against it. I need to prove I still have a place with her, before she leaves our whole team behind.

I turn back to the door I came here for, and knock. And… nothing. Huh, maybe I’m still a little too early? I guess I’ll just take another lap and-

The door slides open, and Scorpia looks at me confused. Then, her face seems to light up a little as she shouts, “kitty!”

I shudder at the word. Adora used to call me that when we were kids, when she was trying to get under my skin, or win an argument, or get a rise out of me. I don’t care for it.

“Hey, Scorpia. Can I… come in?”

Her smile slightly drops, the confusion returning. “Uh, absolutely. I mean, yes, you can. If you want…”

“I… I just asked… whatever. Thank you.” 

She steps aside, and motions for me to enter, so I walk in. So this is what the Force Captain's rooms look like? Adora’s been wanting to show me hers, but I… kept refusing.

“So, Catra, what’s um, what’s going on?”

“Scorpia, can you… I need advice.”

“From me? Why not go to Adora?” Her expression changes again, and she speaks as if she thinks she said something wrong, “I mean, not I’m ungrateful you came here, just, we don’t exactly know each other, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just… You’re a princess, right?”

“Doesn’t everyone know that? I mean, I know all the Force Captains do.”

“Well, yeah, I found out through Adora.”

“Oh that… makes sense. Yeah.”

“Well, I wanted to ask you about that. So, you’re a princess without powers?”

“I… guess?”

“Is there anything that makes you feel like a princess, or is just a hereditary title?”

“I don’t really think I’m any different, other than well, these,” she holds up her pincers, clinking them together. “Why do you ask?”

“I just… don't tell anyone about this, okay?”

“Sure, I’m great with secrets.”

“There’s this sword the rebellion has, you’ve probably seen it, on the back of the archer that’s always with the Bright Moon princess?”

“What about it?”

“It’s a runestone. And we don’t know how, but it’s important.”

“Who’s we, who else knows about this secret of the sword?”

“Well, it’s-” I pause. I don’t know if I can actually trust Scorpia. “It’s not important. But I need to figure something out.”

“Who the princess is that it’s connected to?”

I blink at her, she put that together really fast. “Um, yeah.”

She looks lost in thought for a moment, before she seems to beam with excitement, “maybe it’s the archer!”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Oh… well if you want to get the sword, why don’t we just go find them?”

“We can’t. Adora said the princess tracking mission was called off, they figured out how Shadow Weaver was doing it at this place called Mystacor, which isn’t on the map, and warded themselves off.”

“Well… if we need to find Glimmer and that archer… we could do it when they’re on their way to Princess Prom, assuming he’s her plus one.”

“What- what is that?”

“Okay, I wasn’t going to go, but there’s this thing held every so often by the Princesses. They gave me an invite, probably as a formality since they don’t exactly like me, but the Ball is tomorrow and we could always head over there, all the princesses usually go.”

“You… want us to go to a fancy dance party surrounded by Princesses?”

“Well, we can’t just go. We’d have to run the plan by Shadow Weaver, who will probably tell Adora.”

“I… I think that’ll be fine, but Shadow Weaver can’t know about the sword, okay?”

“Then we tell her it’s subterfuge. Wait, not that one… spying!”

I think about it for a second, this could work. I can get the sword for Adora, and maybe at the same time prove my worth to Shadow Weaver. “What if… what if we don’t go to spy?”

“Well, I don’t have any other non-sword ideas.”

“Leave it to me. We’ll need a diversion and a quick exit. Can you get us the Horde airship?”

“Catra, we don’t use that thing for a reason, it’s hard to work with and can’t even hold that many people, the horde doesn’t have the resources to build good air-vehicles.”

“Just… try, okay? I’m going to work on the plan, and then we’ll present the idea to Adora before going to Shadow Weaver.”

“Okay, Wildcat. I’ll try.”

I turn to walk out of the room. This, “Princess Prom,” is going to be my chance to make everything right. Still, I feel like I’m missing something… I turn back to her and say, “oh, and Scorpia?”

She picks her head back up, “Yeah?”

“Thank you. This is… I mean it when I say it’s important.”

She smiles, and only says, “Of course.”

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

“What!?” She shouts, as if she didn’t quite make sense of what I just said to her.

“She asked and I said yes. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal,” I try to reason with her, she clearly isn’t taking the news well.

“It’s not a big deal, it’s fine. When… when did you two talk about it?”

“Oh, she was super slick. Back at plumeria, once Adora and the magicat started retreating, and we ran to regroup with everyone inside the factory-building thing?”

“Yeah…”

“She just asked, “do you wanna go to the ball with me?” And I said yes.”

“Do you… know what slick means?” I don’t respond to that.

“I thought it’d be fun! And she seemed cool,” I didn’t get to speak with her much, like I did with Entrapta. Even Mermista kept in touch a bit since we’re still trying to keep the Sea Gate situation from devolving.

“Yeah, she’s fine, but like, we always go to events together. What about our thing?” I thought about this for a moment. She’s clearly hurt.

“There’s nothing wrong with a new thing. We’ll hang out with you there, okay?” I try to convince her, maybe the three of us could go, and if Entraptra shows up too, there’s nothing wrong with everyone getting along as a group.

“I’m just supposed to head in alone?”

“I… well… We’ll meet up with you, I promise.” I think of a way to get more time with her, even though I have plans today, “ I know the ball is tomorrow, but I’m planning on heading down to the market to pick up a suit piece. Do you… wanna come?”

“I… already had a dress picked out. But I’ll take you there?” I smile slightly, she’s probably going to wear the same thing she always does.

“Actually, now that I kind of own a horse, I was thinking we could take him into town? Maybe use it as an opportunity to pick out a name for him?”

“Oh, okay, fine. I’ll take us to the stables?”

“Sure, ready when you are.”

She nods her head, but seems hesitant. I need her to know things are okay, that this can work. I reach my hand out, and she.. moves past it, grabbing my shoulder. We’re down at the stables now, and instead of talking about it, I get to work readying my horse. I still think it’s funny that the Thaymor citizens felt the urge to let me keep the guy, but I guess they didn’t need him. After a few moments, with Glimmer taking the time to brush the horse’s head, we set off, much to the confusion of the worker at the entrance as to where we appeared from. Some of the people outside of the castle forget Glimmer can just show up to places.

We haven’t had the time to take the horse out much since Plumeria, what with the Sea Gate attack and being tracked by the Adora girl. But a few days ago, we decided to just take a trip to Mystacor, to relax and view the Eclipse Ceremony. 

While there, we mentioned to Glimmer’s aunt, Castaspella, how someone from the horde was tracking us, but figured Mystacor was safe due to having stronger protections than we have at Bright Moon. Thankfully, she immediately figured out some sort of magic ward spell, and said she’ll remember to recast it when needed, thankfully not needing us to be there. We don’t know how they were doing it, but Castaspella had this idea that it might have had something to do with a former teacher.

After a few minutes of trotting, I decide to try and break the silence. “So… Any idea what you’re going to say to Frosta?”

“Not really, no,” She responds. She must not be feeling very talkative.

“Glimmer, come on… let’s talk about this. We’re best friends, we need to work through these things.” 

She seems annoyed, I must’ve seen right through her. “I told you, I’m not mad at you for wanting to go with Perfuma.”

“But… you are disappointed?”

“I… I guess, yeah. I’m disappointed.”

“Glimmer, there’s nothing stopping us from all hanging out together. And Perfuma and Entrapta will almost certainly be there, too. I’m not sure about Mermista.” Thinking about it she’s still adamant about making sure no passing horde ships try to disembark. And take over her kingdom entirely.

“Yeah, but… but it isn’t going to be the same.”

“It doesn’t have to be the same. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to hang out with you.”

“I know, I know you said we can all hang out together, but… I want it to be the same.”

“I’m sorry Glimmer, but I already made up my mind. Please, understand that I’m allowed to have more friends.”

She says nothing for a moment, before letting out a quiet, “I know.”

“Good.” I say. I don’t think this is the right time to push her, we can always talk more later. “We’re at the market. Come on, okay? It’ll be alright.”

He move to help her down, but she just teleports on over to my side with a *poof.* “So, did you think of a name yet?”

“No, there’s too many options. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to get a pet, just because of that.”

“Heh, I’m sure it’ll come to you. You’re usually great with names. Now, let’s go get that suit top,” I sigh a little. I have a bad feeling she’s going to be really weird about this all night, and even tomorrow, too. Still, she’s at least here, talking sometimes. Glimmer has a tendency to either be very verbal when she’s frustrated with something like this, like with her mom, but on the very few occasions we’ve been upset with each other over the years, she tends to get quiet. Just like she is now.

We make our way through the marketplace, stopping every now and then when we see something exciting, but not really purchasing anything or even talking to each other. I keep trying every now and then. I’d make small talk, she’d give short, closing responses:

“So, Angella’s a lot less stressed after Castaspella helped us out.”

“Yeah, it’s good.”

Or:

“Entrapta and I got to work on some long-range communication prototypes, we are able to send sort of, well, voice memos to each other using my tracker pad.”

“That sounds cool.”

“It is, if we get this perfected the way we want to, we might be able to talk over any distance in real time.”

“Exciting.”

She’s, suffice to say, very frustrating when she gets like this, and I’m trying my best to get her to stop, but she probably isn’t going to budge today. Once we get to a building selling tailored clothes, I decide to drop it.

I’m sure we can fix this before the ball, tomorrow.

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

“Okay. And by the time the heat bombs go off, the chaos will be so large, we’ll have a chance to send Kyle and Lonnie into the armory and grab the sword.”

“And how do you expect to get them in?”

“The guard uniforms are restrictive, hiding most identifying features. None of the princesses will recognize them, they wore helmets every time except on the boat, so we just keep them away from the archer.”

“And so we grab the sword, separate Glimmer, and get out using an untested, unreliable horde airship?”

“If Scorpia can get it for us, yes.”

“Shadow Weaver will let it happen for this. Catra, this is amazing. But… what makes you sure the princess and the archer will separate from the main ball?”

“Scorpia and I will be there in the open, Sparkles hates all of us, they’ll follow us if we split off.”

“And if we have to fight literally all of the princesses?”

“We won’t. They’ll get their people out first.”

“I… so you know?”

“Know what?” I ask, looking up from the paper I’ve been reading off up and raising an eyebrow at her.

“I… I don’t think the rebellion people are as heartless as Shadow Weaver says they are. Like the Thaymor deal, or how they don’t seem to use… lethal attacks.”

“We don’t either.”

“Because prisoners are more useful than bodies. Bargaining. That’s what your plan here relies on, right?”

“I guess, yeah. Bargaining. But there’s one thing I can’t place.”

“What is it?”

“We want the princess of Bright Moon, right? To force a surrender? How do we contain someone who can teleport?”

“Hm… Let’s leave that part to Shadow Weaver. If anyone can use Runestone powers to contain Runestone powers, it’s her.”

“Ugh… I kind of wanted to avoid talking to her.”

“Then I’ll do it, it’ll be fine.”

“No, you’re right, it will be fine. I need to do it. Just… come with me?”

“Of course.”

We both stand up, and collect a few bits of paper and work on the princess that will be useful for this, and leave the barracks. 

“So,” she starts as we begin our walk to the Black Gernet chamber, “How long have you been working on this?”

“Just… this morning.” 

“When did you talk to Scorpia?”

“Also this morning.” She turns her head forward, looking slightly down. She looks a little upset. Is that because I still haven’t gone to her room?

“Huh, you’ve had a busy day.”

“There’s a lot that went into this.”

“Can I ask why you did it?”

“Because I could, it’s simple.”

“Doesn’t sound simple.”

“Whatever. We need another win, and if this works, we win the war. It doesn’t get simpler than that. Do you know how good we’ll have it if we pull this off?”

“ When we pull this off. I know, we’re going to conquer the earth, like we always said,” she says with absolute certainty.

I slow down a bit. That’s always been the dream but the dream was to conquer the world together. And she’s always said the conquer part quieter, I always thought our friendship was more important than that. I’m not upset that she said it like that, but I am surprised. I pick back up the pace, not wanting to fall behind. I’m done falling behind.

We reach the Black Garnet Chamber, and Adora knocks her knuckles on the door four times, like she always does. It’s weird, it’s like she does it so Shadow Weaver knows to answer. It takes a second, but she does open the door relatively quickly.

“Adora,” she says with pleasant Surprise. “Catra,” she says more coldly, and my hand immediately tenses into a fist. “What’s with the visit? Training isn’t for another hour, and I’m not scheduled to oversee it today.”

“Catra and I have an idea, we’d like your permission to embark to the Kingdom of Snows.” It stings a little, given that this is pretty much my plan, but this isn’t Adora taking credit. It’s making sure Shadow Weaver gives it a chance.

Shadow Weaver’s mask eyes are as motionless as ever, but after a second, she gestures with her arm saying, “Come in, then.”

We step into the room, her gaze burning as she turns her head, keeping her eyes on me.

“What do you have for me?”

Adora just looks at me, so I do my best to recite the plan without looking back at my papers. “Once a decade, the princesses get together for this little song and dance ball, and this year, it’s being hosted by the princess of the Snow’s kingdom. Provided we get access to the experimental horde airship, I believe that Scorpia and our team will be able to-”

-

The explanation isn’t long, but it isn’t exactly something I glossed over. I needed to show this is serious.

“Adora, you believe this could work?” Seriously? Everything I just laid out, every way I’ve thought of incase something goes wrong, and she still doesn’t like it?

“Yes, Shadow Weaver. Even if we don’t manage to secure the princess of Bright Moon, making it out of there with a single High Value target will give us a bargaining chip we could either end the war for, or flip vast amounts of territory to our side.”

“... okay. Your plan will go almost completely as you say, but you mentioned Scorpia’s invite only contains a plus one, and I’m changing a detail. Adora will go as Scorpia’s plus one, instead of playing the role of an overseer from the airship. That will fall to you.”

“What? Shadow Weaver, with all due respect, I need to be in there. I won’t pretend Adora isn’t better in the field than me, but I’m quicker. Whoever distracts the princesses in the ballroom while Scorpia draws the attention of the Bright Moon princess is going to need to be able to quickly get out of danger and scale the castle.”

“Adora will figure it out, Your role will still be important, Catra. Do not argue this, you are lucky I am giving your mission approval.”

Adora looks at me, a state of concern in her eyes. She’s warning me. 

I sigh. “Okay, Shadow Weaver. I’ll go prep our team.” I turn around and exit the chamber, and Adora starts to follow me.

“Adora, remain for a moment.” I turn back to Adora, and she nods at me, turning back around to face Shadow Weaver. I hang my head slightly in frustration and anger, and turn back around to leave.

Walking back to the barracks is a much slower trip without Adora here, talking to pass the time, and as I round a corner, Scorpia manages to not only be right there, but has slammed into me.

“Ow, watch it!” I shout at her.

“Sorry Wildcat, but I was looking everywhere for you.” She pauses, placing her hands on her knees, breathing. “Wow, jeez, this place is big, you know? Anyway I couldn’t find anyone to talk to about the airship, but here, I found the flight manual.”

“Oh. Thank you, and don’t worry, Shadow Weaver okayed the mission. We’re going to Princess Prom.”

“Really? That’s awesome! Good job, Catra!”

“I… Thank you. I’m gonna give this manual to Rogelio, he’ll stand out more than anyone else so I figured he’d fly it.”

“I thought we were trying to stand out?”

“We are, not the heist part.”

“Oh, okay. So, does this make me a part of Adora’s team, then? Since this is my second mission with you guys?”

Ugh, why is she so excited to be with us? “Sure, whatever, or I don’t know, ask Adora.”

“Alright, teammate, see you tomorrow?”

“Sure. Thanks for the manual. And here, this is the plan I came up with, make sure you know your general beats and what to do if things go wrong.”

She takes the folder, nods, and heads on her way.

I keep walking back to the barracks, and upon entering, see Rogelio panicking as Lonnie is on top of Kyle for some reason, looking like she’s trying to break his arm behind his back.

“Knock it off guys, I have news.” They all turn to face me, Lonnie not letting go of his arm. I don’t care to ask what they’re fighting over, so instead, I just decide to start filling them in. “Okay, I came up with a plan to gain huge leverage in the war, because apparently Scorpia is a princess.”

There’s a, “really?” and a, “seriously?” from Kyle and Lonnie, respectfully.”

“Yes, we’re going to this princess ball thing tomorrow and we’re going to draw out the princess of Bright Moon, and hopefully, capture her for the rebellion.”

“Just like that?” Lonnie asks, letting go of Kyle’s arm and standing up.

“Just like that. So, here’s the plan.”

-

A few more hours later, and night is upon us. I’m laying in Adora’s old bunk, tossing and turning. This needs to go right. This needs to work. It can’t afford not to. I can’t be left behind even more.

I turn, facing the marked drawing on the side of the bed. A random scribble Adora and I left there of our faces. We were supposed to do this together, but Shadow Weaver seems determined to pull her further and further away from me. It isn’t fair. I put in so much, I push myself just as much as her, and it’s never good enough. Even now. Hours of planning this out today, and she seems so willing to rip it all away from me for her precious Adora.

No, that isn’t fair of me. This isn’t Adora’s fault. I get up, leaving the mattress. Unlike this morning, I have to be careful as the curfew bots patrol the halls. Thankfully for me, careful just means hopping up to the support beams along the ceiling. I start crawling along, making my way to the Force Captain quarters, and after scouring for any bots, I drop down in front of Adora’s door.

I knock, and wait. I hope she’s awake… I think I hear stirring, but the walls are too thick for me to pick up anything other than the bed creaking. I start to feel like she didn’t wake up, but then the door opens.

“Catra?” She asks, rubbing her eyes.

“Hey, Adora. I… Can I sleep here tonight?”

“Um, sure. Of course. Is… everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just… couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh, well no problem. You’re always welcome here.”

“Thank you.” I go inside, and we make our way to her bed. I notice the bed is actually a lot nicer than what we deal with in the barracks, and also that Adora is actually wearing sleepwear. Well, a tank top and a pair of shorts, but still. Usually we just wear clothes to sleep, changing the uniform every 24 hours. “Your room is nice.”

“I guess… I don’t know.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s… lonely, I guess.”

I pause for a moment. Seriously? “So, why did you take it? I mean, I can’t exactly make this a regular thing, not with Shadow Weaver being so strict on me whenever I break policy.”

“Pretty much that. She told me I pretty much had to accept the offer as part of the promotion.” So she’s still just trying to pull us apart.

“Promotion?” This is the first I’m hearing of this. She sits down in the bed, and I go to lay on it too. It feels a little different than us sharing the bunk-mattress, but… it’s nice. More comfortable, but not soft. Just nice.

“There is… a slight tier system to the Force Captains. Everyone falls somewhere. I got promoted from last place up to right behind Scorpia. I wanted to explain that to you, but well, you exactly talked to me about anything other than this mission of yours, or when I asked you for help with figuring out that sword a few days ago.”

“I… I’m sorry. I had a lot on my mind.”

“So talk to me.”

Talk to her, Catra. “I don’t want to talk. I’m tired. Maybe tomorrow?” 

She seems disappointed, but nods, and closes her eyes, letting us lay in silence. The sleep still doesn’t come quickly, given the unfamiliarity of this room, but before long, I’m out too.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

The road to the Kingdom of Snows was a long one, far too many hours than I was comfortable with it taking. I didn’t really speak to Bow much since the market. I feel guilty, but I don’t know how to exclaim to him how much it sucks coming here alone. I spent the last few hours in silence, in a carriage. I’m honestly tired from the ride, and the air got progressively colder the more north we went. Still, the carriage does come to a stop.

I exit the carriage and approach Frosta’s castle. This… is a big castle. I make my way up to the entrance, and after a quick screen by the guards to ensure I don’t have any weapons, I head inside. It’s a bittersweet sight. On one hand, the sight is gorgeous. There are so many people here, all dressed up nice, having a good time. I immediately notice Spinderella and Netossa, the only princesses who have ever actually made it to Bright Moon for the meetings. 

Other than that, there’s just a sea of faces. I don’t see anyone else I know. Although Bow and I left Bright Moon at the same time, he had to go pick up Perfuma. Which is why this isn’t so sweet. I know Bow and I never talked about it, I just always thought we were going to come here together. I mean, we did everything else together…

I start walking through the main ballroom, looking around nervously. If it wasn’t for me needing to greet princess Frosta to try and recruit her, I don’t think I would have come to this. I push down my nerves and move forward. This is important, Glimmer, keep your focus. I walk up to Frosta’s throne, partaking in the proper ball-greeting etiquette. 

“Revered hostess, I come into your halls under the ancient rules of hospitality, bringing greetings from Bright Moon.” 

She glances down at me, a stern, solid look on her face. “You are welcome in the Kingdom of Snows under the ancient rules of hospitality. Leave at the door, and please, enjoy the ball.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” I express the proper closing, and move back into the main area of the hall. I take a look around, trying to figure out what I should do, when I see Glimmer up on the upper level. I head on over, but not up deciding not to teleport just to pass the time a little more, and approach her. She slides down this column she’s been hanging up on, to the lower floor, and looks at me.

“Hi Glimmer! Are you here to watch the social Experiment?”

“What…?”

“Different groups are thrown together and forced to mingle. Hierarchies form and break. It's the perfect place to observe behavior. And they have tiny food!” She pulls her pocket open a little, showing me that they do indeed have… tiny food… okay then. “Where’s Bow? I need to tell him what I found out about the sword.”

“He’s coming later,” I say. I’m not really surprised, I came up here to say hi, but, what would the two of us even have to talk about? I certainly don’t know what she’s talking about with this, “social experiment.”

“Why didn’t he come with you? Aren’t you two friends?”

“Why would you think we’re not!?” I ask, a little offended she would ask that.’

“There he is! Bow!” She shouts, waving.

I turn and see him and Perfuma slowly moving down the stairs near the entrance. She’s got her arm through his. He is wearing the suit top he bought when we were at the market yesterday, but it looks like he modified it to show his stomach. But… that’s why he chose pink. They’re… matching…

“But… that’s our thing…” I whisper to myself, feeling betrayed.

“Feelings seem to be getting hurt…” I hear Entrapta whisper as she moves past me.

Bow and Perfuma start heading over, having seen Entrapta and I. They’re still talking, laughing about something. Just how close are these two, they only spoke for like, an hour before this!

“People are just walking in circles…” Entrapta whispers into her recorder again, as Bow approaches.

“Hi, Glimmer. Great to see you!” Perfuma says, sounding so cheery.

“Perfuma was just telling me about this story from when they were cleaning up that horde base, about this horde guy who woke up and took off screaming.”

“That’s great,” I say, not really listening, or even looking.

“Bow! Your sword is in the armory for when you want to leave,” Entrapta starts talking to him. “I couldn’t find out much from what little there is on it, but you’re right about it being powerful, and a Runestone. Look, I couldn’t figure out more, but I did learn something useful.”

“What would that be? And thank you so much for the help.”

“I don’t know how it works, probably magic, but the Sword seems to be receiving some sort of message from this unmarked place in the woods. Here, pull out your tracker pad.”

I sigh, not listening any further. I look around, seeing Frosta near the food banquet, and head on over, deciding to try and get my mission accomplished so I can leave.”

“Frosta?” I call out, as I approach.

“Hello, Glimmer. Are you here to invite me to your rebellion? Because I’m not interested.”

“I- well- you know about that?” I ask, stunned.

“I heard from Entrapta, she’s been here a while. Princesses talk, you know.”

“I know, it’s just… we need your help in the war. Salineas isn’t in good shape, your magic is the strongest of all of us, with the largest kingdom. Your help could be exactly what we need to win this war!”

“The Horde hasn’t threatened us. My responsibilities here are to my subjects first.”

“The Horde has made it clear it doesn’t care about neutrality when it attacked the Sea Gate, you won’t be safe for long if the Horde is able to successfully gain control of the northern seas.”

“The Kingdom of Snows has done just fine for centuries. We weren’t part of the last alliance, we won’t be part of this one. Enjoy the ball.” She says firmly, as she takes off.

That was… very unexpected. Everyone was so quick to join, this is probably going to be difficult.

I turn to look back to Bow, he seems like he’s having fun at least. I’m not. It’s not that I don’t like Perfuma, she’s really nice, I just… What if he moves on? What if he leaves me behind? I can’t be left behind, I don’t have any other friends. I sigh to myself again. I need to fix this. I need to forgive him, right? I can’t let this push us apart. I hear the door open again, and look over to see… Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Two Horde women just entered the hall. Adora and Scorpia. Ugh! At least Mystacor wasn’t ruined, because I am really getting sick of this Adora girl. But I thought they weren’t tracking us anymore? I shake my head. How were they let in?

They approach Frosta, who has returned to her throne. I can’t let this happen, that girl and her team have caused far too many issues for us already.

As they bow to Frosta, I run up. “Hostess Frosta, you can’t let them in, they’re Horde commanders!” I shout, urgently.

“Revered hostess,” Adora says, “Princess Scorpia was invited to this ball.”

“Invited!?” I shout, surprised.

“Princess Glimmer, As per the rules, Scorpia and her guest are welcome here.”

“Um also,” Scorpia looks to me, “we’re, “Force Captains,” not, “commanders.” I stare at her, my mouth dropping. Is that seriously what she decided to say!?

“Frosta, No, these are the people that took down the Sea Gate, we can’t let them in, they’re up to something!”

“I am not going to throw away the respect I have worked too hard for to break centuries of tradition for your feelings. Scorpia is a princess, princesses get plus ones, they stay.”

I look back to Scorpia, my mouth dropping again. “You’re a princess!?”

“You didn’t know that? That’s weird, most of the rebellion knew that, I thought.”

I don’t say anything. I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders, turning to see two guards behind me. This isn’t right, they shouldn’t be here. But I can’t get thrown out just yet, so I allow the guards to escort me back to the ball.”

“Wow, Glimmer,” Adora says, approaching me. “I knew that princesses didn’t carry a sense of respect or honor, but this?”

“What- what are you talking about?” What on Etheria does she mean princesses don’t respect things?

“You know, I’m a bit shocked that Frosta, for being like, 10, was so willing to show Scorpia and I hospitality, and you want to kick us out over a feeling?”

I glance over at Scorpia, who just seems to be standing there.

“I read the invite, thoroughly. Maybe you should’ve too.” Adora says, as her and Scorpia begin walking away. 

“I… You’re going to get away with, well, whatever you’re doing! I’ll stop you?”

Adora turns back over her shoulder. “Like you did at the Sea Gate? Good luck, princess.” She turns back around and keeps moving. Unfortunately, they split up now, I can’t just let them go. I look over, seeing Bow. He’ll listen to me, he has to. 

“Bow!” I shout, running over. “Wait up!”

“Glimmer, hi.” He says, confused.

“Bow, I…” I want to ask him for help, but I feel like there’s tension between us on his end, too. I guess I need to fix this first. “I know things have been weird between us, and… I just wanted to say…”

“It’s all right. I accept your-”

“I forgive you.”

There’s silence for a moment, and I see a flash of annoyance in my best friend’s eyes. “You forgive me? Glimmer, I’m allowed to hang out with other people.”

“But- But don’t you see? That’s how it starts! Suddenly, You’ll have new friends, and won’t need me anymore! You’re all I have!”

“What? Glimmer, you have me, plus the entire princess alliance, everyone who joined the rebellion.”

“You know that’s all different, though, right? I don’t actually know Entrapta or Perfuma. I don’t want you to leave me behind!”

“I’m not leaving you behind. I wanted to hang out with you and Perfuma. Or, anyone else we know here. But you’re the one who keeps walking off, or ignoring me. I know change is scary Glimmer, but you don’t get to take it out on me.” 

I pause. Stunned. Did I really… I don’t know what to say. How do I fix this?

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to get my cummerbund. It’s freezing here! We’ll talk later, okay?”

He doesn’t wait for me to collect my thoughts, he just turns around and starts walking. I hang my head down, feeling like I just lost control of everything. All I did was mess things up. Wait, I needed his help! I start moving forward, but already lost him in the crowd. No…

I turn around, both Adora and Scorpia being nowhere to be seen. I spin, turn around, looking all over the ballroom for anything I can see to tell me where the two horde “Force Captains” went, but I see nothing. No Adora, no Scorpia… no Bow… I’m definitely too upset for this right now… What should I do? 

Okay, think… Perfuma and Entrapta. They’re here too. I can fix this. I need to find them. And thankfully, I have a pretty good idea on how to find Entrapta. I just need to find which part of the second level she’s on…

It doesn’t take long to see her, and… oh no. There Adora is. She’s standing right behind Entrapta, definitely contemplating something. Is she going to push her?

* poof * 

“Get away from her!” I shout as she appears not three feet away.

Entrapta screams as the noise makes her foot slip from under her. 

Immediately, Adora reaches her arms out under Entrapta’s, catching her as she falls forward, and struggles slightly to pull her back in. I… what?

“Oh, thank you, you were right, this is a much better vantage point. Oh, hi Glimmer, have you met my new assistant?” Assistant? Did she not hear that confrontation in the middle of the hall?

“I told her I like her weapons work and long-range communication projects. And suggested a view not blocked by a chandelier. You know, she’s spying on people, watching their every move. Sound familiar?”

I tense up at this. “Yeah, you didn’t confirm it on the boat, but we were pretty sure anyway.” I walk up to Entrapta, pulling her away from Adora.

“Entrapta, that is the horde commander of the team responsible for the poison attempt at Plumeria and the destruction of the Sea Gate!”

“Huh-” Adora interrupts, “I guess that is going to be fixed anytime soon. Is that why the Salineas princess isn’t here?”

Entrapta talks almost over her, saying, “Oh, that sounds bad.”

“Uh, yeah. We need to keep an eye on her, I don’t know what she’s up to but it can’t be good.”

“Oh, okay, that’s kind of what I’m doing anyway. But uh… she did just walk away, so we’re not doing a good job.”

I turn around, seeing her head slowly moving down the steps and move after her, but quickly lose her in the crowd.

“Ugh!” These people are so difficult.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

Okay, everything is going to Catra’s plan so far. Well, except for how we switched places. She was understandably upset, but it seems like everything went well so far. I already saw Lonnie give me the hand signal saying it was her, and we already have the Bright Moon princess on edge. Good, Glimmer took the bait, and Scorpia was able to sneak off.

I keep walking, feeling incredibly out of place. I mean, I’m dressed the part, wearing a simple, modest black dress, but I definitely don’t belong here. I mean, it’s not that I’m not actually kind of enjoying it. The music, the atmosphere… I wish the horde had something like this, but a little less princess-y. 

I sigh. Catra probably wouldn’t be enjoying the atmosphere, but… I still wish she got to be here. This is something we could have fun with. Although half the time Catra and I do anything outside of training or cleaning, I get the sense she doesn’t even like what we’re doing, she just follows me.

I start moving off into the center of the ballroom area. I hope everything else is going well. No alarms have been sent off, no one came or went screaming. By this point, Lonnie should have the sword, and Scorpia should have the heat bombs ready to go off. When they do, I just need to make sure Glimmer sees me, and lead her to the landing platform. The horde had old, outdated blueprints of several rebellion kingdom castles, including the Kingdom of Snows, which is technically still neutral for, well, any second now really.

As I’m waiting for the heat bombs to go off, Frosta’s voice rings out over the room. “It is my solemn duty as hostess to now announce it is time for the first dance of the ball.”

A bunch of people start moving to the center of the hall, right where I am. Great. People are pairing up, dancing. I read a little about the moves we’re supposed to make here from Scorpia’s invitation, but I’ve never really danced before. I take a quick glance around, something striking me as odd, the Bright Moon princess is standing at the side of the room. She isn’t even looking at me, she just looks… sad?

I get an idea, and walk over to her. She sees me approach, anger appearing on her face. She says nothing, just glaring, and I hold my hand out to her. Catra told me we would be out of here before the dancing started, but I’m guessing someone got held up after all. But it’ll work. This has to work, that sword and the opportunity for my team is too important.

She takes a quick glance at me, the anger fading and replaced with utter confusion, and she decides to play along, grabbing my hand.

“I don’t know what your deal is, but it isn’t going to work.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, pulling her into the crowd with me. Part of me feels like this is something I shouldn’t be doing, but also, it won’t be long before she realizes I’m only a distraction. “I mean, do you even know what’s going on here?”

“You and that horde princess are planning something, I know it.”

“Well, of course we are. But you aren’t exactly doing a good job at stopping us.” I say, the two of us both awkwardly moving in a circle as we pretend to be invested in the dance.

“Where’d the horde princess go?”

“Because I’d tell you that.” The dance shifts beats, and a few people switch partners, but she holds onto my wrist.

“You know at Thaymor, I almost thought you’d be… different.”

“And I thought you were supposed to be dangerous.” It’s true, there’s definitely something not right with everything I’ve been told about these princesses. I mean, I spoke a little with Entrapta. She didn’t really seem like anything we’ve been taught.

Suddenly, Glimmer pulls away, I got to her. As she does, as her eyes go from shocked and confused to angry, the princess from Plumeria, Perfuma, approaches us. She doesn’t even register that I'm there, it isn’t like I got as close to her as I did Mermista. She whispers something into Glimmer’s ear.

“What?” Glimmer asks. “I thought Bow was with you?” Hmm… the archer isn’t here, but he’s supposed to be? And his name is Bow? That’s… I’m not even surprised. But that’s strange. He must’ve gotten a lead. But if we were made, something would’ve been done about it. That can only mean… “He’s been gone this whole time?” Glimmer asks again, not bothering to whisper like Perfuma.

She turns back to me, the anger prevalent, and Perfuma finally seems to recognize me, her face also dropping. Go time.

“Your friend Bow is missing?” I ask. “Do you think he’s okay?”

Glimmer shouts in frustration, and I watch as the hair decor in Perfuma’s hair begins to grow, connecting and twisting into a vine of some sort. Glimmer moves forward, her fist sparkling. I decide, just this once, to let the hit land, and I take the hit, hard, being knocked back off my feet.

“Where is he, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything, I’m just as shocked as you are!”

“Don’t lie to me!” Her fists keep sparkling. 

I get to my feet, brushing off the dress I’m wearing. “Careful, Princess,” I say calmly. “Don’t want to get kicked out, do you?”

“Where is he?” Glimmer asks, as Perfuma finally decides to take an offensive stance, too. A few dancing pairs around us start to stand still and stare.

“Well, probably still in one piece.” I taunt, trying to get them to actually do something.

Glimmer has more patience than I thought, though. 

“Adora… I swear, if he is in any way harmed…”

“Relax princess, I didn’t do anything. I’m just stalling,” I admit, deciding it can’t be long now.

“What?” She asks, and Perfuma starts moving to the side to flank me. By now, half the dance room is standing still, when the music finally stops.

I hear Frosta’s voice next, as she approaches us. “Princess Glimmer, princess Perfuma, guest of princess Scorpia, what is going on here?” She says, putting on a facade of toughness and control.

Glimmer immediately launches into these absolute truths that sound like total fabrications. “She and the horde princess are planning something big, and they’ve got-”

“Glimmer, I already told you to watch yourself. The ball is a ceremony of unity, no violence allowed. Perfuma, this is your warning.” Perfuma seems upset, and undoes the vine rope she did, putting her hands together. Okay, so that one's a bit easy to push. Glimmer’ however, seems furious.

“They have Bow!”

Frosta opens her mouth, but actually seems to listen and turns to face me. “Your name is Adora, right? What do you say about these accusations?”

“Your highness, princess Glimmer is clearly-”

“She told me she’s stalling!”

“-being paranoid, there is no indication of any wrongdoing-”

“Scorpia isn’t even here,-”

“-on my part. But I'd be happy to direct your attention to  the mark on my face-”

“-and my friend is in danger!”

“-from when she hit me moments ago.”

“Enough!” Frosta shouts, as an ice wall appears between Glimmer and I as Frosta stomps her foot. “Adora, Glimmer, you two are clearly determined to ruin this ball for everyone here, and for that reason-” 

The castle halls are rocked with explosions, heard from the surrounding hallways. Immediately, I take off running, knowing I need to be fast to get out of here before the entire alliance is on my back. I don’t turn around, only processing the sounds of screaming, gasping, and Glimmer shouting something at me.

I hit the door into the outer halls so quickly, I bash my shoulder before I turn the handle enough to open it. I’m moving quickly, and suddenly, I hear the telltale poof sound as Glimmer is in front of me, clearly furious.

“Where is he!?” She shouts, readying her sparkle powers.

I don’t stop moving. I close the distance fast, and I guess this catches her off guard as I reach her before she moves her hands to do anything at all, and I slam into her. We both sprawl across the floor, and I’m standing up quicker. You’d figure someone who could teleport would be used to reacting quicker in combat, but she clearly relies on the surprise factor that’s wearing off already. 

I feel something wrap around my ankle, and I’m pulled back towards the hall. I look down in panic, and see a vine, immediately pulling a decorative piece out of my hair and using it as a makeshift knife to cut the vine, and scramble to my feet. Perfuma is standing at the start of the hall, and Entrapta is there too. She must have been signaled. Entrapta stays put, and Glimmer is now standing to my left as Perfuma steps over to be in front of me. I’m cornered by three princesses, and need to think quickly. I make my choice to go for the flower princesses, not wanting to get close to whatever Entrapta’s hair is doing with… giant… hair fists?

The building is rocked as a pillar down the hall comes down, as well as a large chunk of the ceiling. The distraction is enough for me to decide to move.

I close the distance on Perfuma, as she whips a limited vine through the air to wrap around my arm. If I get closer, I’m at too big a disadvantage, and go to cut the vine again when I take a blast of magic in my left side. I fall over, almost going to clutch my side, when I remember the vine. I sever it, and quickly move back away from the two elemental princesses, when I feel Entrapta’s hair wrap around me in a locking maneuver, holding me in place. The other two approach, fists raised.

“Where is Bow!?” Glimmer shouts.

I laugh a little, and struggle against the hair wrapping my arms and torso. I’m stuck. This isn’t good. “I wasn’t the one who grabbed him!”

“Then where’s the horde princess?” Perfuma asks, with way less anger than Glimmer, almost like she doesn't know how to shout.

“Already gone, most likely,” I lie, but it isn’t impossible. I was only supposed to have 3 minutes to get out, and while I’m not counting, it’s probably getting really close.

Glimmer steps closer, holding a fist close to my face as it sparkles, “Not a good enough answer!”

I struggle a little against Entrapta, realizing she’s gotten closer than she needs to be to maintain better control, but she’s too close. I could get to her, but not with these two in front of me.

“You princesses are so spoiled. Well I’m not going to just hand you whatever you want!”

“And I thought you were nice!” Entrapta says behind me.

Glimmer seems to be growing more frustrated, and a new concern enters my mind. These people clearly aren’t blood-thirsty killers… they’re all inexperienced. However, she seems to have decided on going forward, and puts both her hands together, charging her magic I suppose? I actually pull my face away. I need to make a move, now, or-

“Ah!” Glimmer shouts as she gets hit from behind, as her attacker quickly turns on Perfuma. Catra?

I drive my foot backwards into Entrapta’s shin, causing her to stumble, giving me enough give to turn around and push forward, knocking her down as I throw my weight clumsily into her. Immediately, I’m pulled up.

“Catra, What are you doing here?”

“You were taking too long, clearly things went wrong. Let’s go!”

We take off down the hall as the princesses reel from the hits, and I turn to see Perfuma helping Glimmer. We turn the corner, and the castle shakes again as the debris starts… pulling itself back together? This whole castle really is made of ice, then.

“Adora, I have an idea.” She hops up onto a large piece of rubble that is slowly rising to the roof, and I hop on. As it starts rising faster, I see Glimmer appear on the floor beneath us.

“Get ready for her.” I say. This wasn’t exactly the plan, but it works for me.

* Poof *

She’s on the rubble with us, no room left for any real movement, and she instantly raises her hands, one at each of us. This time, I duck instantly as the blast fires, and Catra moves forward, leaning to the side, and drives her foot into Glimmer’s stomach. She stumbles, and I move forward and throw a punch. She was ready for this though, and she’s suddenly behind me. Too much momentum, I stumble as I stop myself.

Glimmer seems to get an idea, her eyes drifting down, and suddenly charges her hand again. Nice tell. Glimmer drives her hand down, and the rubble cracks apart instantly. Even though it’s being magically repaired, it still shatters enough for us to fall through it, and Catra and I each jump to another piece of rubble as Glimmer falls, her plan being smart but not executed fast enough.

I grab some sort of siding detail. Whatever is pulling this place together is strong, and the piece doesn’t react to my weight. I see Catra hop off the side of a piece of rubble quickly, grabbing the ceiling, pulling herself up on the roof. As I near the top, I struggle to pull myself up and raise my hand to her. She helps me get onto the roof, both of us panting and tired.

“Thanks for the rescue. Where are the others?”

She says nothing, just nodding, and turns towards the side of the roof. We start moving forward, and go to slide down the slanted wall to the landing the aircraft was landed at. Rogelio probably flew Catra here, so it means it must’ve worked. As we slide down, I hear the poof of Glimmer teleporting again, and turn my head to see her looking around for us.

As Catra and I touch down on the landing, I hear the poof again, and she’s next to the airship. I see what she does, Bow is unconscious and being dragged into the ship by Lonnie and Kyle, and Scorpia is standing there holding the sword. They actually got it! 

Catra and I charge forward, going to meet Glimmer, and she makes her move, instantly knocking Kyle down as she turns her attention to Lonnie. Scorpia moves in, and Lonnie draws a stun-stick as she drives it for Glimmer. Glimmer is instantly behind Lonnie, and knocks her forward with a concussive blast. Scorpia moves her tail for Glimmer, and she’s gone again.

Catra and I reach Lonnie first, and I lean down to help her up as Catra leaps forward to where Glimmer appeared. Kyle is slowly getting up on his own, but doesn’t seem to be trying too hard. 

“Get him on the ship!” I say to Lonnie, and move to support Catra as Catra goes to help Kyle the rest of the way.

The two of us are doing everything we can, just as she is, to take each other down. Me not being in a uniform, however, is really restricting me, while Catra manages to be as quick and agile as ever, but Glimmer is taking this much more seriously than in some of the other fights. Serious, but also definitely desperate.

As the fight drags on, Glimmer is leading us farther and farther from the airship, towards the edge of the landing platform.

Catra and I keep up the pressure, as the airship starts a slow vertical takeoff. We need to get back there, but Catra seems more focused on taking Glimmer down. Her mission. She moves forward, and Glimmer only sticks out her tongue. She’s gone, and Catra moves forward too quickly. 

No!

I push forward with everything I can put into my legs as Catra finds herself over the edge of the landing, and as she tries to get her foot to connect with the platform, I reach out, grabbing her. Time stands still for a second as I pull her back up, her eyes wide in shock of how she almost flung herself to her death. We just stare, as we hear Scorpia shout out.

“Get on the ship, we need to go!”

We start moving, seeing a blast of magic fly out from the still open cargo bay. This thing really was experimental, it’s only four feet off the ground. By the time we reach it though, it’s already four feet. Catra leaps up no problem, turning around to grab my hand, and helps me up. We notice Scorpia and Glimmer in combat, Lonnie and Kyle having probably moved up to the main cockpit already. As I steady myself, I watch Glimmer dodging Scorpia. Not teleporting, she really does have a battery.

Catra is already moving forward, and Glimmer needs to make her move. The airship lurches, and I look out of the closing hanger to see that Perfuma found us, which makes perfect sense given the noise of the engine and how we weren’t far from the door out here.

“Catra, tell Rogelio to power the thrusters!” I shout, as we all struggle to stand up. Glimmer was quick thinking, and is moving to the cargo door, having made it to Bow, and reaching down. However, Glimmer let herself get distracted, and as she’s going for Bow,  Scorpia's tale hits Glimmer’s back leg.

She looks up at me as I hit the button to close the hangar, and as she stumbles forward, she picks Bow up enough to push him as she falls down, and he falls out of the hangar. I’m initially horrified by this, as he isn’t conscious enough to catch himself or roll the fall, but look down as the hangar is pulled up enough to barely see that Perfuma dropped the ship and made a cushion of flowers. 

I move for Glimmer, as she tries to fight the paralyzing agent coursing through her, crouches down in front of her as the ship manages to start its quick course to the Fright Zone.

“Now, our plan is done.” I’m a little bummed about losing the archer, but this is exactly what we came here for. She takes one last look at me, and her head drops, unconscious.

I’ve been tense this whole time, ever since Scorpia and I walked into the ball, and I feel like I can finally take a breath. I head into the cockpit to speak to Catra as Scorpia starts securing Glimmer.

I enter the room the other four members of my team are, taking stock. Kyle is holding the sword now, seemingly confused, as Catra and I didn’t really explain why it was part of the plan. Catra actually walks up to him, and holds her hand out. He hands it to her, and she immediately says, “Shadow Weaver doesn’t find out about this. You two only worked on assisting Scorpia and securing our exit, okay?”

Kyle nods, and Lonnie seems confused, but does eventually also nod. “Can I ask why not?”

“No,” Catra says, walking over to me. I watch as her eyes drift into the cargo room, and then at me.

“Uh, Catra?”

“The dress is nice,” she says, as her eyes go slightly wide and she seems to stutter, “I mean, good job, we… actually did it.”

I glance at her a little, unsure of how to respond. She likes my dress? But then my mind turns back to what hasn’t really sunken in yet, but… yeah. “Catra… we did it!” I shout, hugging her.

Kyle speaks up from the seat he’s in, “Catra, your plan worked almost perfectly!” Rogelio roars in agreement.

Even Lonnie voices support, saying, “Yeah, I was worried for a moment you two weren’t making it back. But good job all the same.”

Catra seems to tense up slightly, and I put my hand on her shoulder. Those two never have gotten along…

“Well… I’m going to sit down. I’m going to have to speak to Shadow Weaver as soon as we get back, so hold onto the sword, okay?”

“No problem, we won’t actually be too long in this thing.”

Scorpia enters the room now, carrying Glimmer, carrying rope. “Hey, uh, I went to secure Glimmer here, but uh… I can’t exactly tie knots very well.”

Catra sighs, putting her hand to her head.

“Scorpia,” Lonnie starts, “That one can teleport. We either get back with her still unconscious or she just leaves if she comes to.”

“Oh, I guess… Um… I’m just gonna… set her here.” She sits Glimmer down in the seat closest to her, putting Glimmer two seats over from Kyle, and I go to at least buckle her in so she doesn’t fall about during transport.

“Well,” Catra says, “You all, umm…” she clears her throat. “Thanks for the hard work.”

I smile at her, she really isn’t the best at the addressing part. I’m sure she’d be great if she actually did it more, but it’s usually just left to me. I walk over to her, smiling again, but also mostly watching the sword. I already feel a sort of… call… as I’m this close to it. I think about reaching out for it, trying to figure out why it’s so important.

But I can’t risk it knocking me out again, so I decide to just wait until we get back and I’m done debriefing Shadow Weaver. As Catra stands there, looking at me, I just kind of watch my reflection in the gem on the sword.

I was so worked up over this, spending so many nights wondering why I had that vision, what that voice I kept hearing is. Is this a good thing? A bad thing? I have no idea, but I guess we’ll figure it out. Here it is.

I guess that feeling I had that something was wrong was just paranoia. I guess Catra was right, staying that night those few weeks ago was a good idea.

Notes:

This was a long one again. Especially the Adora part. I actually wrote more from Adora's perspective, but it felt too unbalanced, especially with how little I could work with Bow this chapter. He'll have more to deal with next time! Also, not many chapters will have everyone's POV present, I only did it because I needed Catra at the start and Adora at the end. Also, I'm going to admit that writing Adora is actually starting to become difficult as she moves farther and farther away from her nature and more towards her sense of responsibility, as she pushes down her guilt. I hope I'm doing it well.

Chapter 7: Desperation

Summary:

Bow tries to navigate the fallout from Princess Prom, Adora and Catra struggle with the rising tensions placed on them.

Catra’s POV

“Okay, I got you. We’ll get you there, don’t worry.”

“Scorpia, stop talking to the unconscious prisoner.”

“Sorry, I know, she’s just a little heavy.”

“You’re the strongest one of us, Scorpia, how are you struggling with this?”

“I mean, I don’t want to hurt her. More, I mean, she’s already out.”

“Leave her alone, Catra,” Adora says to me. “We’re almost there. We give the report, see if Shadow Weaver figured out how to contain her, and we can all go and celebrate.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I look away from her. At least this will be over. This whole mission felt off, I had it all figured out Shadow Weaver didn’t trust me to carry it out. And Adora had to go pull the mission off almost perfectly.

The ride back here ended up quiet, and took a while. I had a lot of time to think. Unloading was easy, and we sent the other three to get the sword to Adora’s room without it being seen. Now, Adora and I are getting ready to deal with Shadow Weaver’s response. I have a feeling I know exactly how it’ll go.

“Okay, Scorpia, it’s this one,” Adora says, knocking on the door to the Black Garnet Chamber. Shadow Weaver opens almost instantly this time, looking across the three of us.

“Force Captain Scorpia, Adora. Catra. Come in. I take it the mission was a success?”

We step into the room, Adora and I first as we were walking side by side, Scorpia slightly sumbling in after us. She speaks up, asking, “So, where do I put her?”

“Adora, would you assist me in moving princess Glimmer over between those two pillars, next to the Black Garnet?” Adora nods, her and Shadow Weaver each taking an arm of the princess as Scorpia holds her out, and she is dragged over to whatever that is. “Hold her hand up towards the pillar. Catra, come grab her other arm.”

I step forward, assisting Adora to hold Glimmer in place. Shadow Weaver holds a hand up to the Black Garnet. She draws energy from it, channeling it into the pillar. Immediately, it powers up, and Glimmer is surrounded by the Black Garnet’s red energy. Adora and I back up at the same time, and as Adora goes to stand back next to Scorpia, I follow.

“Congratulations, Adora. You have guided your team to a victory that is sure to impress Hordak, and possibly even bring Bright Moon under our full occupation, should the Queen see fit to it. I will inform Hordak, and have him send a message to Queen Angella. But first, I feel it would only be fair to increase your ranking among the Force Captains, putting you only behind Octavia.””

“I… Shadow Weaver, this was all Catra’s idea,” Adora says, looking at me, seeing how annoyed I appear.

“Of course, Adora. I know the work Catra has put into this mission, but this is how being a Force Captain works. You are your team. Who will be delivering the report this time?”

“Um, I will,” I say, quietly. I’m unwilling to look at Shadow Weaver, she isn’t willing to even speak to me.

“Hmm… I expect to hear your full report by tomorrow night. I am going to speak to Hordak. Adora, get changed, and keep an eye on the princess.”

“Yes, Shadow Weaver…” Adora looks down a little, also not thrilled with this short conversation, as Shadow Weaver exits the room.

“Well, I think I’m going to get changed, too, you know,” Scorpia says when the door closes. “This was a great time, you two. Lots of fun. Great plan, Catra.”

“Uh, thanks…” I say, at least someone acknowledges it. Scorpia heads out, and Adora turns to face me.

“Well, I’m going to get out of this dress. I’ll be right back,” she says to me, before leaving as well. I’m left standing there, alone with the princess, in the Black Garnet chamber to her. She’s still with the princess. She’s still out cold, but she’ll be waking up soon. Especially since whatever Shadow Weaver did, it doesn’t look too pleasant. I walk over to her, looking down at her. Wow, they really aren’t all that.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

Sick. That’s the only word I can think of to describe everything I feel. It took a long time for me to wake up after having been ambushed by Scorpia at the ball. I was in a carriage with perfuma, She was racing to get me back here while Entrapta made sure the poison was working its way out of me, trying to keep me hydrated.

When they told me what happened… I don’t even know how I was supposed to react. Glimmer’s gone. We got in a fight, I pushed her away, and she tried her best. She actually saved me… at her own expense. And now… I’m in the war room with her mom. I told Perfuma I’d fill Angella in myself, and her and Entrapta are waiting outside.

But when I walked in, she had already received a message. I can see it in her eyes, she knows.

“Bow… you’re okay.”

“Yes, your majesty.” I say, unsure of how to broach the subject.

“I… have received a demand from Hordak while you were on your way back.”

Oh no. She never got out. “What kind of demand?” I ask, my voice coming out with none of the fear or sadness that it should.

“I’ve been given until tomorrow morning to surrender myself, and the rebellion, for Glimmer’s release.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s an impossible decision. If I accept, the rebellion surrenders. Sure, the other kingdoms could continue to resist Hordak, but at too great a cost of life without Bright Moon’s resources. But… Glimmer is all I have.”

I try to think. There’s got to be something we can do here, some way to help. “We can’t accept their terms. We’ve never seen Hordak, but we’ve interacted with more than enough horde commanders and soldiers. They can’t be trusted.”

“Then what would you have me do, at the expense of her?”

It stings. She didn’t mean it to, I know, but… there really isn’t that much of an option, is there? “Let me talk to the princesses. All of them. We can… we can get her back.”

“Bow, there is no way you would be able to storm the entire strength of the Fright Zone. Even with every other princess in the alliance, and the entire Bright Moon guard, we wouldn’t have the firepower.”

“No, but… what if we don’t barge in? We ambush a patrol, get information about some quiet entrances we could use, and we leave the Bright Moon guard. Just the princesses and I, we’ll head it, find what you need to find, rescue Glimmer, and get out.”

“Bow… that is a pipe dream. We don’t have any real data on the layout of the Horde.”

“Entrapta and I can figure it out. She’s good with tech and networking. We can find an access terminal at an outpost of theirs, or at the edge of the Fright Zone, something. We’ll figure it out. We can get Glimmer out, I know it.”

“And if we lose all of you in the process?”

“You won’t. We’ll get in and out, quickly.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, but I can't leave her there just as much as you can’t. We can’t just give in.” Angella hangs her head in defeat, saying nothing. I’m going to figure this out. “You have until tomorrow’s moonrise, right? That’s enough time to figure something out. Let me contact the princesses, I promise, I’ll get her back.” She says nothing, so I turn around and exit the war room. This is not a good situation. Glimmer is gone, the sword was taken, Frosta refused to join the rebellion, and Mermista is going to be hard to convince to let her guard down and leave Salineas.

I look down at the ground. I know I slept most of the way back, but… I’m so tired. 

I need to get her back, though. I’ll get in touch with Mermista, grab who we can… we’ll fix this.

As I turn the corner, I see Perfuma and Entrapta still waiting for me.

“Did you… tell her?” Perfuma asks, concern in her eyes. Entrapta isn’t saying anything, she just looks like she’s lost in thought about something.

“She already knew. We’re on a tight schedule, we have until tomorrow to get her back.”

“How do you expect to do that?”

“I… I don’t know. But we need to try, or the Horde wins, and nowhere on Etheria will be safe.”

Perfuma thinks for a moment, before looking down at Entrapta, and back to me. “We’re going to need more people.”

“I know. I’ll figure it out.”

“Ooh!” Perfuma says excitedly. “I’ll find Spinerella and Netossa!” She says, and starts moving down the halls. I go to tell her to hang on, turning around, as I have absolutely no idea what they do. That being said… we really do need all the help we can get. So instead, I turn back around.

“Entrapta, come with me. You know the communication devices you installed for us when you joined the rebellion? We need to reach Mermista. I know the system isn’t perfect so you might have to troubleshoot for us.”

Entrapta finally looks up, her eyes containing their usual gleam, “Okay, we might need to boost the power a little more to carry the signal that far, and I don’t know if she’ll be able to transmit back. I mean, they’re still early in development, but… I can do it!”

I nod my head, and Entrapta and I turn to head to the war room, which I just left. Walking in, Entrapta walks up to the holo-table, and Angella picks her head up from her slump. “They’re… already here?” She asks, her voice sounding hollow.

“Entrapta and Perfuma never left,” I say, as Entrapta sits on the floor to start messing with wires under the table.

“What… what is she doing?”

“Oh,” Entrapta starts without looking up from under the table, “I’m temporarily rerouting power from this holographic projection table to boost the range of our transmissions in order to reach Salineas, since right now it can only barely reach Plumeria and Dryl.”

“She knows what she’s doing, we need to contact Mermista without spending 4 traveling there and back in a boat. It’ll be easier if we get her to reach us at the Fright Zone in a little over an hour.”

“I… you’re really going to try?”

“It’s the only way, we’ll get her back” I say, trying as hard as I can to make my voice sound reassuring. I’ve always put my best foot forward, in a way. Always wanting people to get along, to see the glass half full. Sometimes, though, I don’t believe in what I’m saying. This is one of those times. It’s not that I think we’ll fail, it’s that I don’t know how to even start. The only thing I know for sure is that I can’t give up on Glimmer.

Angella stands up, and approaches Entrapta and I. “Bow… I believe in you.”

I look up at her, feeling the slightest bit of a tear threatening to poll over. “Thank you, your majesty.”

“I… I want to hear this plan of yours.”

“I definitely don’t have a plan already, but… You said it earlier, we have no information on what the Fright Zone really is, outside of a collection of factories and one pretty big building in the middle.”

“We believe it to be an entire living facility, for who knows how many people.”

“And I bet they have a prison, too. But to find where it is, Entrapta and I will need to figure out how to gain access to a map, or some old blueprints or something.”

“Ooh! I have an idea!” Entrapta shots, pushing herself out from under the table. “We know the horde has technology that vastly surpasses our own, even if it isn’t quite that of the First Ones. Perfuma actually sent me some of the destroyed equipment from the horde camp that was set up near Plumeria, and as it turns out, they have a complicated interconnected network of information stored on tablets like my data pad or Bow’s tracker pad, but they can communicate! And I bet if we had access to a device connected to their main network, we could search through a sort of digital library!”

“So… why weren’t the devices you captured connected to that… main network?”

“I’m going to assume distance, radio signals are perfectly capable of traveling vast distances, potentially forever if there was something out past the atmosphere to receive them. However, unlike the Runestones, not all magic can work in harmony with technology, and there are also different types of signals constantly being sent out by First One’s tech! Bow, remember how I said the sword can act as a receiver?”

“Uh, yeah, something about a source in the woods?”

“Well, between our technology, the horde’s, the First One’s tech, and just raw magic, everything tends to get a little degraded over time. I’m working on a solution to this, fine-tuning the frequencies and all, but it’s trial and error. But basically, we need to be close, like, within Fright Zone territory.”

“So… if you get close to the Fright Zone-” Angella says, piecing it together. “As in, if you sneak into the Fright Zone, you’ll be able to figure out how to sneak into the Fright Zone?”

“Precisely!” Entrapta says, plugging two cords together, as the holo-table turns off.

I look back to Angella, “Entrapta is the best there is at understanding how tech and magic work together.-”

“They're not even totally separate things!” She interrupts, “I’m learning new stuff every day, just wait until I’m able to pinpoint the location of whatever was communicating with the sword.”

When she’s done, I continue, “-take the magic out of that, and it’ll be easy. We only need one port connected to their system. We find a terminal outside the main complex, and we’ll go from there.”

“And you think the princesses and you will be able to fight through the entire Fright Zone?”

“No, not even close. We’ll need a way to draw a large portion of them outside of the complex. I’m thinking if we send the heavy hitters, or the elemental Princesses, they’ll be able to create a large enough diversion for us to find a terminal, and find out how to sneak in.”

Angella considers this for a moment. We don’t have any real plan, but Entrapta seems to know a decent way to move forward. Angella finally hangs her head down, and says, “They’re going to know you’re coming.”

“Of course they will. But they can’t know the how if we don’t.”

Angella’s lips turn up in what might be the smallest smile I’ve ever seen, and she says, “okay… please, get my daughter home.”

“Yes, your highness,” I say, saluting her just for the sake of relieving a bit of tension.”

Angella nods, and turns to leave the room, “I’ll let you work. Good luck, Bow. Entrapta.”

Entrapta gives a quick thumbs up, and goes back to working under the table. “Don’t worry, a few more seconds and I’ll be able to put enough juice into the communicator to hopefully reach the one I shipped to Salineas.”

“Wait… you have no idea if it’s installed there?”

“It isn’t hard, and I’m not just saying that because this stuff is second nature to me. As long as someone is nearby, this should work.” She pushes herself out again, standing up.

“So… moment of truth?”

“Nah, I’m sure that’ll come later. This will work.” She presses a button on the holo-table, turning it back on, but only slightly. Only a few red lights turn on, the holographic map does not, neither do the actual backlights. However, the transmitter she installed into the table is on, and I walk over to it.

“So, we just…”

“Okay, basically, I made it really simple. We only have so many places we need direct communication with. The first slot is Dryl, obviously; there’s Plumeria, although Perfuma made that one pretty difficult for me to install due to how her kingdom has very little in terms of developed buildings by her choice; That one is for Salineas; and then there are a few unprogramed buttons as of now. Eventually this thing will be obsolete, I bet even your tablet has the tech to receive these signals once I’m able to figure out how to amplify them.”

“Okay, that is pretty easy,” I respond as I press the Salineas button, and the light to the left of the speaker starts blinking red.

“While you’re waiting for this, I’m gonna need a cable that can plug into your tablet from mine. I already have one that connects the Fright Zone style of ports to mine, but it isn’t like there’s anything standard yet. Do you have a room here, where I can look for a cable that’ll work?”

“Kind of. I live in the woods, actually, but do spend a lot of nights sleeping on the couch in Glimmer’s room. There’s a room one down from hers, I use it as a workshop though. It’s down the right exit from the main hall, about four doors down.

“Alright. She’ll pick up, don’t worry,” she says as she quickly moves out of the room, walking on her hair.

I look at the blinking light. I really hope Mermista managed to install this properly at her castle.

The blinking does give me time to think. I haven’t really done much of that outside of panicking since I woke up. Who knows what they’re doing to her right now…

“Hello, hel**? Is this Br**** **on” a voice comes in over the speaker, but it’s too staticy to make out. It definitely isn’t Mermista…I try to mess with the fine tuning by turning the two knobs on the panel, but it just makes it worse. I guess it makes sense that this wouldn’t be great on the return, given the power boost we needed just to send this one.

“Bow speaking. Do you read me?” I say, turning the knobs back to what they were. As I speak, I swear the lights in the room dim a little. This really is going to draw too much power to be reliable.

“Bow! Oh, it’s ** **** ** hear your voi**,” and I can make out enough to know it’s Sea Hawk.

“Sea Hawk! It worked! You’re too far from us to respond with the power you can send, but are you able to understand me?”

“Perfec*** **ear!”

“Look, we need your help. You need to get Mermista to meet us outside the main Fright Zone complex, the Horde has Glimmer!”

“What? How? I ******* *** two were at the pri***** **om ?”

“Look, it’s difficult to explain, but we need her back. If we don’t get her, Angella is going to surrender, and the horde wins! You need to tell Mermista that this our top priority.”

“Of course, I wi** ** **** *** at once! Whe** ** ** ****?”

“What was that?” The call must be dropping, we’re going to burn out our transmitter and receiver.

“*** do we me**?” 

Okay… ‘where do we meet?’ good question Sea Hawk…

“Um… Can you set sail from Salineas?”

“* **lieve **” This is officially getting difficult.

“Okay, well, We’ll be about half an hour’s walk up along the southern shore, towards the river.

“Sure *****, *** you the**!  TO ADVE*****!” 

The call drops from his end, he must’ve already hung up. Okay, I’m not certain he’ll be able to convince Mermista to stop her constant standing guard of Salineas, but… I’m feeling a little better about this. We’ll have just enough time to reach the vague meeting spot, assuming the Salineas waters are fine today and they don’t run into any hostile Horde ships. Now, I just go find the other princesses, and we move out. 

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

Finally, the dress is where it belongs: buried deep within the bottom drawer of my dresser. I don’t know how people can wear clothing so restrictive. Catra always liked suits a bit more for that reason, but I never really got the appeal of those, either. I’ll stick to my combat pants, thank you.

Okay, that’s that. Now, the other three were asked to hide the sword here, so where did they put it? I spend a few minutes looking for it: under the bed, behind the dresser; the horde isn’t very materialistic, we aren’t left with much space to hide anything. I check under the mattress, and there it is. I’ll have to do way better than this, the weekly contraband sweeps will find this instantly. I reach out for it, I’ve been waiting to figure out what happened in those woods for so long…

No.

My hand stops just before I grab the hilt. I need to get back to the Black Garnet chamber. There will always be more time for the sword. Shadow Weaver didn’t appear certain that her containment field was sound. If I’m right about Glimmer tiring out, and it really seems like she does given how she fought at Salineas and Princess Prom, she probably won’t be able to get far in a weakened state. Still, we can’t take that chance.

Walking back through the halls gives me more time to reflect on the last day. We really won. And I’m exhausted, and I’m going to be stuck up all night watching the princess, probably. Not my idea of a celebration. And Catra… she’s going to be really upset that the credit mostly keeps going to me, and that she was pulled out of her own mission. She’s going to take it out on me. Should I have tried harder?

I need to find a way to make sure Catra is okay. Shadow Weaver has always seemed so determined to… get rid of her? Or just push her, I honestly can’t tell. No amount of me trying to reason with her works either. If it’s not enough to appease her… maybe I keep going. Keep getting closer to what Catra and I always talked about as kids. If I get enough respect from Shadow Weaver and Hordak, they’ll have to listen to me, and Catra will actually get what she deserves. 

I guess it makes sense, Shadow Weaver, as my commanding officer, has always taken a… close role with me, far more than she ever did the rest of my team. But Catra and I were inseparable. She never showed Catra the affection, only the punishments. It’s almost as if she just wanted Catra to get sick of being around her, and by extension me. It never lasted, though.

I reach the Black Garnet Chamber now, and step inside. Sure enough, Catra is just leaning against this table, watching Glimmer.

“Hey, Adora. Welcome back.”

“Hi Catra. Look… I-”

“Save it. I figured this would happen. It’s okay. So you’re just, even further ahead of me. It’s not like Shadow Weaver was going to make me a Force Captain, too.”

“You… never said you wanted that.”

“Yeah, I know…”

She isn’t telling me something, or multiple things, but I have no idea what it could be. I just walk over to her, and stand next to her against the table. I guess she isn’t angry at me, so it isn’t too bad. Although she definitely is unhappy with the outcome of her mission. 

“Ugh…” A quiet whine comes out of Glimmer, and Catra and I both look over at her. “What? What’s going on?” She picks her head up, looking around the room. Her eyes narrow as she sees us. Immediately, she starts struggling, fighting against the restraints, as she screams out in discomfort. It’s hurting her…

“Careful princess, you’re not getting out. There’s no use hurting yourself for nothing.” I say, slowly walking up to her.

“Save it, Adora!” She spits out. It’s clear there’s a lot going through her head, a lot she wants to say to me, but she’s biting her tongue. Okay, encouragement.

“You know, I thought it would be a lot harder to capture  the literal heir to the throne of Bright Moon. You really let your guard down, didn’t you?”

“You know what you did. You went after Bow. It was cruel and heartless!”

“It was war. Something you haven’t seemed to realize yet,” as I finish this sentence, the door behind me opens up, and I almost feel the room get darker. I know who it is without turning around, and keep looking at Glimmer.

“Oh I know full well how you see things. You’ve already been a part of the attempted destruction of two entire kingdoms for the horde.”

“And now, I’ll succeed fully. Your little rebellion is done, especially after the deal Hordak sent to your mom.”

“What did you…?”

“She’s been given until tomorrow morning to surrender herself for you.”

“The rebellion will stop you!”

“How?” I ask, a slight crack in my voice appearing. No, Adora, who cares if these people do actually care for each other? This is the job. “You think your archer friend, the tech geek, and someone who can grow flowers will be able to stand up to the entire might of the horde?”

“You don’t know them. You don’t know us. They’ll figure it out. Because unlike for you, we don’t use and manipulate, like you did with Entrapta and Bow at the ball. They actually teach the concept of friendship outside of the Evil Horde!”

This isn’t supposed to happen like this. She’s supposed to be under pressure right now. Of course I know about them. I read the files, I know they’re cruel, ruthless, and manipulative. Right? I mean, that’s what Glimmer is trying to do, I think. And it… does cut through me, and I can’t help but glance back at Catra, who hasn’t moved from the table the whole time. How dare she act like I don’t know what a friend is? 

Adora, keep your cool. She’s watching you. Don’t break. 

“Evil Horde? Seriously? You guys sure go to great lengths to convince yourself you’re in the right. You know, I hope your friend does show up, I’ll finish what I started in Plumeria!”

I tell myself it’s a bluff, just like I told myself I was in control at Plumeria. And I’ve always been told by Catra I’m not a good liar. But I guess… when you aren’t sure, no one else can read you. Glimmer’s eyes narrow in hatred, and I feel Catra’s hand on my shoulder, as she pulls me back.

“Adora, enough!” Catra practically hisses, as she turns me to face her. She’s whispering now, so Glimmer doesn’t hear, “where did that come from?”

I look to her left, finally acknowledging Shadow Weaver’s presence in the room, and she seems immediately very displeased with Catra, and my mind flashes back to the Plumeria misunderstanding. “What do you mean?” I’m whispering too, but a little less quietly, “I’m keeping her on edge; she’s a prisoner, not a guest.”

“No, you lost your cool. I know you well enough to tell you that between the two of us, you’re not the one who’s supposed to snap like that.”

Catra, why do you have to do this? I appreciate it, but Shadow Weaver won’t stand for that. I sigh, if I don’t take care of this, Shadow Weaver will, and it will be worse. “Back off, Catra. I know what I’m doing.”

Her eyes flash in anger, but it’s quickly replaced by a look of… hurt? Her grip on my shoulder tightens slightly. “Look, I get it. I know what you’re doing here, but we talked about this.”

“Catra, not now. Let me handle this. Why don’t you go join the rest of the team on patrol?”

She lets go now, taking a step back, looking absolutely shocked that I would even suggest it. But I meant it, my gaze doesn’t break. She seems to put her head down, and leaves the room, purposefully not looking at Shadow Weaver as she goes.

Shadow Weaver takes it as an opportunity to move closer, nodding slightly to me, as she moves to speak with Glimmer. I let her, deciding not to get involved in this.

“Princess, how are your bindings? I hope they aren’t too uncomfortable.”

Glimmer looks up at Shadow Weaver, a look of slight horror appearing on her face, “I was… I know you… I learned at Mystacor… it was your magic following us to Salineas, wasn’t it!”

“I suppose my reputation precedes me. As does yours. Did Adora here tell you about your mother?”

“She did, I wasn’t impressed.”

“I wouldn’t be impressed either. I would be worried if I were you. First your father, now your mother… the toll this war has taken on your family…” I bite my tongue at Shadow Weaver’s comment. Did I sound too much like her? And Glimmer’s father was a casualty? “You only have hours left until the rebellion falls, and the Horde reigns supreme over Etheria.”

Glimmer starts squirming, fighting, trying her best to teleport out of her binds, but she can’t manage it. After a moment of her screeching, she lurches forward in exhaustion.

“Ooh, *tsk-tsk*, Careful Now. It would be a shame if we had no princess to exchange for the Queen.” She turns around, walking near me but without stopping, “Follow me for a moment.”

I nod, and follow her out into the hallway. We exit the black garnet chamber and as I turn around I watch Glimmer. She doesn’t take her eyes off of me until we’re separated by the door.

“You did good, Adora. As did your team. You can expect far less in terms of drills and training exercises and more field work in the future.”

“Thank you, Shadow Weaver,” I say, not quite looking at her. Her words almost ring hollow.

“So, what else about the mission can you tell me?”

“Glimmer proved to be a little more than we expected. She was running circles around all of us for a little, but she slowed down fast. I think her powers work off of some sort of charge bases, unlike the others.”

“Well, that’s entirely possible. It is not unheard of for Runestone abilities to need to be charged.” She’s talking about the Black Garnet, Catra and I have seen her charge up at it before one day.

“So we just had to wear her down, eventually, she stopped teleporting. It helped that we altered the plan a little. We used her friend, the archer Bow, as a distraction.”

“You had the friend?” She asks, puzzled.

“Yes. The last thing Glimmer did was get him out, it’s what let Scorpia get her.”

“Hmm…” Of course, she isn’t happy we lost Bow. Probably would’ve helped to take that one off of the field, given how capable he is. “Anything else? Anything else you managed to accomplish?”

The sword. She knows already? “Nothing of note, no. The plan went almost exactly like Catra said it would, she spent all of yesterday working on it.”

“Yes, I’m sure a plan like that was done entirely on her own, all in one day. I understand you wish to aid her, but you do not have to lie to do it.”

“Shadow Weaver, it isn’t a lie. I only found out about the plan right before we presented it to you. The only one else who knew anything was Scorpia, who was simply asked to find out if we could use the airship. I mean, we got permission from you, but she did find it, and the manual.”

“Yes, Scorpia seems to be a useful asset for your team. Just know Adora, I always know when I’m being lied to.”

She opens the door to the chamber again, and we head back in, continuing to watch Glimmer, but no more words are said now, as I’m left to ponder her words.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

“Are we sure he was able to convince her?” Perfuma asks in a hushed voice.

“I’m sure, he said the transmitter worked well enough and that Sea Hawk understood the urgency,” Entrapta answers her, noticeably not trying to keep her voice down.

“Even if they don’t show up, we owe it to Glimmer, to Angella,” Spinnerella says.

“Yeah, the horde isn’t going to take us down that easily. Bow, do you see them?” Netossa asks me. I’m standing a little off from the group, maintaining a small fire a little further north than where I told Sea Hawk to meet us. We couldn’t get much closer while also staying in one place, there were too many patrols.

“Not yet, but we need to give them a little longer. It won’t help us if they got held up and engaged a horde ship in combat on their way down here. We need all the help we can get.”

“I know,” Perfuma says, walking up to me, “they’ll make it. Do you… need more fuel?”

“No, the fire is fine. They’ll be looking for us, they’ll see it. But we can’t make it any bigger without the horde taking notice themselves.” I stand up, turning around to face the other four. So far, nothing really went wrong. Entrapta is messing with my tracker pad, applying some sort of software to it from her datapad, since we all have to have different names for things. Spinnerella and Netossa are standing guard mostly, I’m actually shocked they were willing to come. They’ve always avoided field missions, in favor of helping out around Bright Moon. I guess the stakes are too high for them. Besides, when you need all the help you can get, why wouldn’t you ask for it?

“Wait, somethings wrong,” Entrapta murmurs.

“What is it?”

“Nothing serious, I’m just getting readings from the Fright Zone I can’t quite make sense of. But I can confirm, they have the sword.”

“Well, we aren’t here for the sword. We have no idea where it can be, and it’d be too risky to change the plan for a piece of tech we know nothing about.”

“Really? Well, I'll grab it if we come across it. The horde doesn’t know how to use First One’s tech, after all, it’d be a paper weight to them.”

“I’m sure it’s fine, it was basically just a weight for me, too.”

“Bow, look!” Perfuma shouts, grabbing my shoulder. I turn around, and sure enough, a Salineas ship is moving up towards the shore. Perfuma and I run down towards the shoreline, and watch as the ship comes to a stop. Sure enough, there they are.

“Bow!” Sea Hawk shouts from the deck, grabbing a rope and flashily swinging down, landing a few feet away from us. “You’re almost right where you said you’d be, sorry we were late.”

Mermista jumps off of the deck herself, falling straight into the water, and then shoots back out of it, having used it to propel herself up to where we are. “You know, this is very late for this, right?”

“We only have until tomorrow morning, we didn’t exactly have time. Some of us would have gone to bed 4 hours ago already.”

“Well, let’s hear this plan of yours. It’s fine, I took a nap while Sea Hawk took us here.”

“I will admit,” he says, “I am a little rusty when it comes to late-night sea navigation, but we were barely late!”

We head back towards the fire, the seven of us working through the rough stages of the plan Entrapta and I came up with on the fly.

“So…” Mermista says after a while of Entrapta and I bouncing off of each other, “we hit this guard tower that Spinnerella and Netossa saw when they scouted this place, you two download a map, and then we split off into a diversion, and an infiltration unit?”

“It’s going to need to be a big diversion,” I say, “Which is why I was thinking Sea Hawk, Entrapta and I will go through the Fright Zone. The more pressure we put on them, the more they pull out of their base. And, I have an idea that would give us a huge edge.”

“And what would that be?” Sea Hawk asks, who has been absolutely beaming this whole time.

“Well, Mermista, you know how impossible it has been for you to take much time away from Salineas?”

“‘Impossible’ almost sums it up. I missed Princess Prom, worrying the Horde would use it as an excuse to finally land their armies at my front door.”

“Well, what if we take back the advantage? While we’re infiltrating the Horde main complex, you lead your team to the docks. As you slowly, and I do mean slowly, fight your way towards the complex, try and take some time to wreck the Horde’s docks, shipping supplies, everything down there. You sink enough ships, they’ll have to give up control of the waters for months, which should buy us enough time to get the Sea Gate back online.”

“Do you have any idea how wishful that sounds?” She asks, looking lost in thought.

“Very!” I admit, “but even if there’s only a chance it works, it gives us a secondary objective that directly aids the first objective.”

“I’m just saying, grabbing the sword would do that too,” Entrapta says.

“I disagree,” Perfuma starts talking to her, “we need to focus on getting Glimmer, we can’t split up the infiltration part of the-”

“Speaking of Shimmer,” Sea Hawk interrupts, “How do you expect the three of us to actually get to the complex? You’ve been very detailed so far.”

“Oh, that’s the easy part-” Entrapta shouts, excitedly, “-to explain! We have no idea.”

Sea Hawk turns to face her, and then me, like he just lost all faith in this, but his resolve quickly turns back into pure excitement as he says, “well, I’ve never been scared of a challenge.”

Mermista looks like she’s finally done thinking, and says, “no, this is a good idea. For me, I mean. I know this is about Glimmer, but if this can protect my kingdom, too, I’m all in.”

“Well I’m obviously in too!” Sea Hawk beams. The two of them turn to face the rest of us, and Spinnerella and Netossa just look at each other, seemingly confused.

“We’ve uh.. been in for a while, the rest of us,” Netossa says.

Mermista looks at them for a second, and simply says, “I don’t think I know you two.”

“Oh, I’m Spinnerella, and this is Netossa. I can manipulate wind.”

“I toss nets. We know who you are.”

“Oh, well then. That sounds… useful,” Mermista says, clearly unsure of what to say to Netossa, who quickly appears to become frustrated.

“Okay…” I say loudly and slowly to get everyone’s attention, and keep whatever was about to happen there from happening. “We all have the basic premise of this plan down, right? I’m thinking we will move for the lookout tower as a team, Perfuma, Entrapta and I will head into the tower, while you guys clear out any surrounding horde soldiers before getting them out of sight. After that, our teaming will be very limited before they find out about us, probably. They’re going to be on alert, this isn’t going to be easy.”

“After that,” Netossa starts speaking, “We split up into the two groups already discussed. We hold them for as long as we can while they infiltrate the complex to find Glimmer. This… is not a guaranteed win. After an hour, we’re going to have to retreat if we last that long.”

“It’ll work. Once we get Glimmer and make it outside, I’ve got an arrow that will act as a flare, you won’t miss it. It means head for the boat. Whichever side gets there first, probably you all, hold for 15 minutes. We’ll get there, and we leave.”

“Just like that?” Mermista asks.

“Just like that.”

There’s an air of tension. Everyone I look at, it’s obvious that there are different ideas on whether we’re all going to die or not. Still, everyone is at least willing to try.

“Alright Bow, lead the way,” Spinnerella finally breaks that silence, and we all start getting up as she snuffs the oxygen from the fire, putting it out.

“Alright. The tower is a few minutes west of here, we have more than enough time for all of this.” We start making our way towards the nearest lookout tower, being wary of any patrols that may come across us. No one talks much, except for Spinnerella and Netossa making small talk with each other, and Perfuma is humming to relax herself. Sea Hawk every now and then goes around trying to get someone to respond to his enthusiasm, but even Mermista seems to be too fed up with it.

“Bow!” He shouts, placing a hand on my shoulder, “I can tell she appreciates it, how you thought of a way to help her while she’s helping you.”

“Oh, Mermista? Yeah,” I respond, surprised. I thought he would continue with telling everyone to cheer up, but I guess I’m a little more cheerful than the rest of them. Except for Entrapta, who is absentmindedly following us while continuing to mess with my tracker pad, a wire connecting it to her datapad, which I assume she is currently holding in her hair. “She needs a break. She hasn’t been able to take a breather for like, three weeks.”

“I know, she’s been so stressed she hasn’t even been pretending to dislike me!”

“I… that’s great… I think.” What are you supposed to say to that?

“Well, sorry again I didn’t get to speak to you at Princess Prom, I tried to convince her to take the time off, nothing even happened at Salineas during the ball.”

“I think that’s probably because their attention was on the ball itself.”

‘Of course, it makes sense. Well, we’re almost here. I uh… don’t go up into the tower with you?”

“Um… no, just Perfuma, Entrapta, and I.”

“Great, time for adventure!” He picks up his pace slightly as the tower gets closer to view.

“Spinnerella, can you kick up some cover for us?” I shout, as we get closer to the spotlight.

“We aren’t in a desert, I’m not sure if I can do that with just some dirt,” she responds.

“I got it,” Mermista says, stopping her movement for a second to grab an impossibly large amount of sea water off the shore, and covering the space between us and the tower with a surprisingly thick mist.

“They’re gonna know it’s us,” Netossa says, as several of us start moving faster.

“It’s okay, they won’t have time to react!” Perfuma shouts, as we’re now running through the mist. It’s hard to see through it, which is the point, so we all relatively lose sight of each other.

“Entrapta, are you with us?” There’s no response, and I slow down, trying to figure out where she is, but she actually managed to get ahead of me. But… way too far to the right. I move faster. I make it up to where she is, and start speaking, “Entrapta, wrong way, we need to head for the gate with Perfuma!”

“Oh! Okay, Which way?”

“Just follow me,” I turn back towards where I saw Perfuma going, and the two of us head over as everyone else starts clearing out everyone on the ground.

“Okay, now, before they figure out what’s going on!” Perfuma places her hands towards the ground, and pulls vines out of the ground under our feet to lift the three of us up towards the tower. Instantly, I draw my bow, and see that there are two people in the top of the tower. I fire a net arrow for the one closest to the terminal, and perfuma simply uses a vine to toss the other one over the edge of the tower, dangling him from the railing.

“Thanks Perfuma, we got this, go help the others!”

She nods, “We’ll get it sorted,” and lifts herself back over the tower to the ground.

“Entrapta-”

“Already on it!” She pulls out both my tracker pad and her data pad, setting both of them on top of the terminal, before plugging hers in. “Okay we were right! This is incredible! I could tell from the tech I salvaged that the horde had a complicated system, all these devices communicating with each other despite the interference of Etheria’s atmosphere!”

“So, about that digital library?”

“It’s all there! Well, a lot of stuff, I don’t know. It's disorganized.”

“We just need a map of some sort, any kind.”

“I know! Uhh, there system feels slow, like they know how to get it to work but without it running smoothly. And I figured there would be some sort of protective software to have to get through, but, uh…”

Something hits the tower hard, there’s definitely still fighting going on down there.

“Well what stuff do you see?”

“Um… expansion plans?”

“Anything else?”

“Order logs… material logs, information about the foundry… Oh! There it is! Old schematics!”

“Awesome, how’s it look?”

“Readable. The rooms are unlabeled though. But if I were designing a prison for the horde, I’d guess it’d be this room. It’s tall, has multiple floors, and a large tower structure in the middle watching all sides.”

“Anyway to confirm it?”

“Nope! Not without shifting through the expansion plan back-log through dozens or hundreds of files to find when it was built.”

“Then it’ll have to do. Upload it my tracker pad, and let’s get going.”

“But there’s so much here!”

“We’ll get it all later. We’re here for Glimmer, not data.”

“I know, I just… fine. Let’s go!” She wraps half her hair around me, and with the rest of her hair, she uses it to almost repel us down the side of the tower. There are about 8 unconscious horde soldiers laying about, and it looks like our team is waiting for us.

“Bow! Did it work?” Perfuma asks.

“We have a layout, yes. Are you guys ready for the distraction?”

Mermista looks over back towards the water. “Of course, I’m going to make sure their shipyards are irrecoverable.”

“That’s the spirit!” Sea Hawk shouts. “Okay, Bow, Entrapta, off we go!”

“Good luck everyone,” Spinnerally says encouragingly.

“Get into position near the shore, I’m going to study this map to find a way in. We’ll head in as soon as we hear the noise start, then we leave in an hour.”

“Stay safe,” Netossa says.

“We’ll be safe, a good plan never goes wrong!” Entrapta says enthusiastically.

“Yeah, good plan…” Mermista echoes, slightly annoyed at the optimism.

“Alright,” I turn to start moving towards the side of the Horde base, away from the shoreline. “Let’s go get Glimmer.”

Notes:

This chapter was getting way longer than usual for me, taking a long time to write, and I'm not happy with how I wrapped it up yet. So instead, I have once again split up a chapter. And also I'm tinkering with the world's unexplored background lore just a little bit, for fun, so I'm going to explore a little bit of tech progression through Entrapta.

Chapter 8: Princesses: Lost & Found

Summary:

The Rebellion's rescue attempt is in full swing, Adora and Catra are pulled further into their complicated situations.

Catra’s POV

“No! I told you to stop asking about it!”

“Sorry! I just, you seem upset. And we’re all friends, so I thought-”

“Kyle, drop it… I told you, nothing happened.”

“But, you came out for patrol. You never do.”

I turn to glare at him. He doesn’t understand a single thing I say, does he?

He doesn’t take the hint, “and then you pulled me away from Lonnie and Rogelio, I just thought you wanted to talk.”

“Well, I don’t. I’m here to patrol, and I didn’t want to do it in one big group,” I’ve never been a fan of Lonnie, really. But I also didn’t want to patrol on my own. I have no idea why Adora likes her so much.

“Well, if you didn’t want to talk, why didn’t you grab Rogelio?”

“Kyle, I’m really trying to be patient here. Stop speaking to me.”

“Okay Catra. Understood.” He says, continuing as we patrol the outskirts of the complex.

It is way too late for this. I’m cold, tired, and fed up with whatever is going on with Adora. I make empty threats all the time, but she’s starting to sound like me, like Shadow Weaver. I’m starting to think her becoming a Force Captain was the worst thing for her. The amount of work she took on… But the worst part wasn’t even that she snapped at Glimmer, it was that she sent me off. As if I was getting in her way.

Ugh. “Fine. I’m worried about Adora.”

Kyle picks his head up, seeming surprised. “Really? Lonnie said she’s doing better than ever.”

“I- she isn’t. There’s a lot going on with her, stuff I don’t think she’s talking to anyone about.”

“Is this… about that sword?”

“You- Kyle, you don’t know anything about any sword, remember?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess. Is it about the… thing you wanted to get for her?”

I sigh at this, he isn’t as clueless as I thought, “I don’t know, maybe. We… We snuck out a few weeks ago, went into the woods. She saw this ‘thing,’ but I made us go home. The next day, she said she… I don’t know. She saw it on that Arrow Boy at Thaymor, and has been beating herself up about not grabbing it in the first place.”

“Oh… wow. So it’s like, important to her?”

“I don’t know what it is to her. But between that, and her promotion… she’s acting confused.”

“She’s probably just stressed. She’s had to talk a lot more with Shadow Weaver since the whole Thaymor thing. I don’t really know her, but she creeps me out.”

“Yeah… you’re lucky she never paid you much attention. I’m not sure though, Adora hasn’t exactly seemed stressed.”

“I know, that’s what Lonnie said. That Adora has everything under control. Do you think it’s an act?”

“I don’t know… I feel like I don’t get to talk to her much anymore outside of helping her with her work. She uh… told me to come out here. She didn’t want me bothering her or something.”

“What? But you two are like, best friends?”

“Yeah, I guess…”

“I’m sorry. I hope you figure it out. And Adora.”

“Thanks Kyle. And just so you know-”

“If I tell anyone, you’ll make me do all your chores for a month, I know.”

“Well, yes; but… thank you.”

“It’s no problem, Catra. I know you’re like, Adora’s friend, and she’s our friend, but that makes us friends, too.”

I stop walking. I… really needed this. I never was one to talk much, especially not with anyone other than Adora. So why won’t she talk to me? She acts like she needs to be there for everyone else, but will never let anyone be there for her. I’m starting to think she knows something about this sword that she isn’t-

*BOOM*

“What was that?” Kyle asks, jumping.

My left ear twitches- that hurt - trying to source what was left to the noise. “The south shore. Must be the Rebellion making their move.”

A lot of alarms start sounding, you can almost hear everyone move as the Fright Zone goes into lock down.

“But… we just came from that way, which means Lonnie-” *Thunk* “- and Rogelio-”

“Shhh!” I hush him. That noise was behind us, a lot closer.

“What?”

“There’s something else.” I’m looking out over the various heaps of scrap, tubing, a parked skiff, and who knows what else. I don’t see anything.

“What, more of them? Oh, we’re in trouble… what if they get-”

“ADVENTURE!” Some guy hops out from behind a pile of rubble, holding a gold rapier sword and posing as if he was some sort of action hero.

“Who the he-” I see Arrow Boy next, quickly rolling from behind the skiff with his bow drawn, and fires an arrow that immediately lands square in the middle of Kyle’s forehead, electrocuting him, as he drops to the floor. How many of-

I get hit in the side, rolling a few feet over, and turn around to see- I don’t know, one of the princesses. She used her hair to swing down into me, kicking me square in the side, and I never even heard her coming.

“Ow…” I mutter, standing back up.

“Sea Hawk, what was that? I said on three,” Bow speaks to him, drawing an arrow aimed at me.

“I got excited…”

He seems momentarily confused, or annoyed. I can’t read Bow’s face. He turns back to me, “Where is she?”

“You’re going to have to try harder than that!” I say quickly, looking at the three of them. Looking around, no one else comes out from anywhere. It’s just these three? The rest must be where that noise came from. Still, I’m outnumbered, and Kyle is down. They won’t hurt him, he’ll be okay. I need to get to Adora.

I quickly spin around on my back foot, and start sprinting for the nearest door.

“No, don’t let her leave!” The princess shouts, as an arrow narrowly misses my leg. When it lands, it exploded into a gel. I leap over the mess and round a corner.

Thankfully no one in the rebellion seems to be able to give chase without Sparkles there to move them faster than I can run. I reach the door, and open it, noticing the interior warning lights are all blinking red. Then, another arrow flies into me. This time, it’s another net arrow, and I’m knocked down immediately.

“Good shot!” Sea Hawk shouts, and the three are quickly on top of me.

“Thanks for getting that!” The princess says rather cheerfully, and she steps inside to plug a tablet into the door’s control system. Okay, maybe they aren’t as unprepared as I thought they’d be.

I feel Bow’s hands on my side as he rolls me onto my back, my senses still disoriented from landing without being able to catch myself.

“Where is Glimmer?” He asks, aiming an arrow straight for my head.

“You don’t have the guts!” I hiss.

Surprisingly, this makes him do the one thing I would have never expected him to do: he puts the arrow back in his quiver. “We’ll find her either way. Entrapta?”

“Hmm… hey, cat lady, you wouldn’t happen to know what cell our friend is in?”

“I meant, ‘is the information in the complex system any newer.’”

“Oh! No, no it is not.”

I think about my options here. Sure, I could cut through this rope, easily get a good hit off on Arrow Boy before he can react, and make an exit as the other two don’t have anything ranged to work with. Or…

I do something far worse. I do something that I’m going to regret, that’s going to come back to make my life awful in multiple ways. “You’re not going to find her in the prison.”

“What?” Bow asks, looking back down at me.

“You heard me.”

Bow looks confused, visibly now. He reaches behind his back and pulls out his own tablet. “Where?” He turns it around, showing me a map. 

Not like this. I make my move, using what little movement I have to drive my nails through the ropes, freeing myself, as I swipe upwards with my hand. I’m very careful though, very careful that only a bit of my fingers touch the bottom of my target, so I don’t break the device. I scramble to my feet, and as Arrow Boy panics to catch his tablet, I take off, easily dodging Sea Hawk’s attempt to make contact with me, as Entrapta is too buried in the terminal.

I’m moving again. Not as fast as I could, this needs to be a chase. Either way, I really hope this works.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

*boom*

The sound is quiet, muffled, but the fact that we heard it at all means it was big

“What was that?” Adora asks, looking over at the lady that basically confirmed herself to be Light Spinner, but I don’t really think the name fits.

“I am unsure. The rebellion no doubt.” The imposing figure turns to look at me, floating across the floor just slightly, lowering herself to get closer to me. “Looks like this is the moment of truth, for your petty little rebels.” 

As she does this, an alarm of some sort starts sounding out through the building, and the lights in the room, as well as probably everywhere else, start flashing.

She backs up again, turning back to Adora, “Stay here, keep your eyes open. I am going to investigate.”

With that, the older woman leaves the room, leaving Adora and I alone.

“I don’t suppose you’d know what that was?” She asks, not turning her attention to me.

“So much for your perfect victory,” I say with just a little premature gloating.

“It’s not like we weren’t prepared, this isn’t over yet,” she says, moving to stand near the door, pulling a Horde stun-baton off of her hip.

“I don’t know, you seem really worried all of a sudden.”

“I’m not stupid, that noise was loud on purpose. They’re drawing our forces out.”

“Well, it’s not like I would know, given how you have me in whatever this is.”

“Your friend, Entrapta, isn’t the only one who knows about Runestones”

“That’s one of them, then? The Black Garnet?”

She doesn’t say anything, only watching the door. I could try to throw her off more, but… I’m not sure this is the right person to poke at.

Adora suddenly seems to tense up as she goes to stand against the wall, out of sight.

“You know, you can’t hide too well if I just shout out for them to look right.”

“Shh.” She says, forcibly. I don’t intend to, but the door is already open.

Adora moves forward with the stun-baton, but the person who opened the door isn’t anyone from the rebellion, it’s Catra, and Adora stops herself just before the stun-baton connects with her.

“Watch it!” Catra shouts, closing the door.

“Catra? What’s going on, what did you see?” Adora pulls Catra away from the door, and they step to the middle of the room.

“Something happened down at the docks, but Kyle and I were on the East Side. We were ambushed, I got away.”

“Who?”

“Arrow Boy, some guy named Sea Hawk, and the tech princess.”

“None of the heavy hitters? They must be down at the docks. What about the team?”

“Only Kyle was with me, he got taken down instantly.”

“Were you followed?”

“So many questions, are you kidding? You know I’m way too fast to-”

The door is flung forward, blown open, as a small amount of smoke billows out from what I could only assume was one of Bow’s explosive arrows at max charge.

Bow and Sea Hawk pile into the room, Catra and Adora immediately getting ready for the fight. Adora charges straight for Bow, swinging her baton at him as he blocks with his bow. Meanwhile, Catra seems like she’s been disoriented from her proximity to the blast, allowing Sea Hawk to close in on her. 

It’s a strange sight in a way. At Plumeria, Catra was fighting very aggressively while I forced Adora on Defense. Now, Catra is fighting defensively, almost seeming like she isn’t even trying to fight Sea Hawk, while Adora is really going for Bow.

“Glimmer! Are you okay?” He asks, as he and Adora have their weapons pressed against each other.

“I’m fine, worry about her!”

Bow manages to push Adora back, and swings his Bow at her like a weapon. Meanwhile, Sea Hawk is continuing to keep Catra busy with multiple swings from his sword.

This isn’t going to work… I need to get out and help them… but how? I barely have any magic in me, and everytime I move this thing zaps my whole body.

“Where’s Entrapta?” Sea Hawk asks while looking around.

“I thought she was behind us? Bow says, as Adora dodges a quick-drawn arrow and steps into him.

The first real hit is landed as the stun-baton comes into contact with Bow’s side, and he screams out slightly as his entire body tenses up. Adora then drives her foot into Bow, and he falls back.

 No…

Sea Hawk looks behind him to Bow, and Catra finally goes on the offensive, lunging into him, pushing both of them to the ground. Adora moves to be standing on top of Bow, and crouches down as she charges the baton up again.

No! I pull hard against the electricity-like magic flowing around me. It hurts. I’ve been shocked before, but never by anything that hurt. This? It’s the single worst pain I ever felt.

I put everything I have, trying to picture myself next to Adora. It’s so… blurry. So much… pain…

“Glimmer!” Sea Hawk yells, pushing Catra off of her, before looking back to Bow. He moves to get up, and Catra is on top of him again.

I close my eyes and grit my teeth, trying with everything I have to will myself to move despite the pain I feel. It’s getting clearer. I can do this.

I feel as my magic starts to course through my body, and can every little piece of me as my body begins trying to phase over to where Adora is, but the energy keeps pulling me back.

It’s getting weaker.

I hear Bow struggling against Adora, he’s holding his hands against her wrists, they’re in a reverse tug of war challenge over the stun-baton. I need to get out.

I scream now, as the electricity cuts deeper, into my core. I feel every muscle, every tendon and bone, every inch of my skin light up, and finally, I snap through.

In an instant, the pain is gone, and I’m next to Adora. She turns in shock, and Bow gets this opportunity to breathe and actually manages to push the baton off of him, as I put what little magic I have left into a hit that connects with her face.

Adora falls over quickly, to the side, and I help Bow up just as I feel myself collapse, for him to help me up. He quickly picks his Bow back up, and fires a stun arrow at Catra, knocking her down too. Sea Hawk manages to get up on his own, brushing himself off.

“I- um- thanks guys.”

“No problem, now let’s go!” Bow shouts, putting his Bow over his back. We go to leave the room, and I feel like my body is fighting against me. It’s like… I’m still in the field. Bow notices me stumble again, and puts my arm over his back. It doesn’t exactly work, given how much taller he is than me, but it’s enough. We start moving along, and I turn back slightly to see Adora already getting up.

“What’s going on?” I ask, as we start moving as fast as we can.

“We’re getting you out, obviously”

“Who else is here?”

“Everyone. Entrapta took off though, probably got left behind. We were moving pretty fast.”

“What was that noise?”

“Mermista probably, but let’s focus on getting out please?”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Uh, not to interrupt, but,”

I turn to look at Sea Hawk, and he’s moving with his head over his shoulder, too. Adora and Catra running up to us, I should’ve known this wasn’t going to be easy.

Bow gives me a quick look, and I let myself sit down against the wall as he moves me over to it, and he draws his bow again.

“You’re not getting out of here! Half the horde will be any second, it’s over!” Adora shouts.

As soon as her sentence finishes, the section of the wall opposite me is suddenly blown open, and a Horde bot rolls through. Bow panics, quickly turning, when the bot turns to get in between us and the Horde soldiers, staring at them.

“Is that a training bot?” Catra asks, confused.

“What is it doing?” I ask.

Entrapta suddenly moves through the hole in the wall, absolutely beaming. “Bow! I tracked your signal!”

“Where were you, where did he go?” He asks, stunned at the Horde bot between us, and Adora and Catra.

“Where did you go?” She asks verbatim, before turning to look down at me. “Oh, hi Glimmer! This is EMILY.”

I turn to look at the bot as she gestures to it. I… have never been more confused.

“Catra, we don’t have time for this! Move!” Adora shouts, and the two of them move forward as the bot- or, EMILY, fires a beam from its eye that puts a line straight through the floor in front of them, and they both stop, shocked.

“Okay, let’s get out of here!” Sea Hawk shouts, him and Bow helping me back up, and the four of us go back to moving, but Entrapta just stands there for a second, looking at her datapad.

“Entrapta, let’s go!”

Entrapta doesn’t seem to hear me. She just looks up at Adora and says, “It’s you…”

Bow pulls off of me, giving full support of me to Sea Hawk. He grabs Entrapta’s shoulder, “I said we’re leaving, Entrapta, let’s go!”

“What?” Adora finally says, staring back at Entrapta as we all start moving down the hallway.

Entrapta doesn’t answer, and instead heads to a terminal, pressing a button.

“What was that?” I ask.

“Keep moving, I’m making it so they can’t follow us!”

“She turned on the purge sequence, we need to move!” Catra shouts, going for Adora.

“Not yet!” Adora moves forwards quickly, and we’re all moving down the hallway.

EMILY seems to panic at how fast Adora runs past… it? Her? Going for the terminal Entrapta activated, as Sea Hawk, Bow, Entrapta and I keep moving down the hall. But I keep my head turned back., watching as EMILY slams into Adora, knocking her down. 

The lights in that segment of the room turn on, now. Catra looks at Adora horrified, as Adora gets up readying herself to fight the bot. Similarly, Entrapta turns around, and shouts, “EMILY!”

Entrapta runs up and grabs Emily’s arm, as Catra pulls Adora back too, as the door closes behind them. Catra pulls Adora off into a side hall, and I watch in horror as EMILY only now starts to move, but it’s too late, and a door comes down between us and Entrapta.

“No!” I shout, urging myself with everything I have to pop in there and pull her out, but I have nothing left. 

Bow barely turns around, noticing Entrapta is gone, and we all stop for a second as we hear the flames of the purge sequence activate.

“Entrapta!” He shouts, running up to the door. But as the lights in this section turn on, Sea Hawk quickly grabs Bow's arm.

“We need to move!”

“Sea Hawk manages to start walking back while supporting my weight and with Bow fighting against him, and we barely make it into the next section as another door slams down again.

At this, Bow finally turns around, and we all start moving. We need to get out of here. We keep moving for a bit, and I fight against the tears working into my eyes. No one else says anything. After about a minute or two, with me fighting against my utter exhaustion, we reach an exit door.

As soon as we’re outside, Bow immediately fires an arrow up into the air, and after a few seconds, the tip of it explodes, sending a small ball of fire high into the sky. 

“We need to move fast now, that just gave us away.”

We were already moving fast, but now Bow has my other arm, and he and Sea Hawk are practically running. I have no idea where we are going, or what any of this was about other than getting me out. I try to look back at the maze of corridors we just ran out through, still in shock about everything that happened. I’m not even processing as my legs practically stop working, Sea Hawk and Bow doing everything they can to basically carry me.

And my mind is running on a loop. They got me, but Entrapta…

It feels like we’re running through water. Like this isn’t real. The only thing holding me to Etheria right now is the constant, aching static I feel, shuddering every now and then as some residual energy surges through me, trying not to let it show how much pain I’m in.

Eventually, I feel myself being shifted wordlessly, Sea Hawk and Bow slow down, and work to actually lift me off the ground entirely. I guess my legs did stop working.

Even later still, my mind still not focusing on anything, I feel as if we're being lifted up off the ground. Are we floating?

I’m set down now, and the whole world is rocking.

“Glimmer! Glimmer, are you there?”

“Perfuma?” I turn my head, pulling myself back into focus. We’re… on a boat now…

“You’re okay!”

“You actually did it! I mean, good job.” Mermista says.

“We took down the whole shipyard, Mermista used a wave with enough force to blow open a fuel silo-” Netossa starts.

“And I made sure to pull the water back off into the sea to avoid any spillage-” Mermista says, the two bouncing the story off of each other.

“And after a little trick with straight up setting the dock on fire-”

“Spinnerella used her powers to create a sort of fire tornado, and we tore apart the entire dockyard.”

“It was a little loud, but-”

“Hey,” Spinnerella interrupts their story, looking at Bow’s defeated expression, “where’s Entrapta?”

Sea Hawk hangs his head and turns away, unable to bring himself to be jovial.

“She’s… she’s gone…” I choke out.

“What? What do you mean she’s gone?” Perfuma asks, still in front of me, trying to see if I’m okay. She turns and shouts, “Mermista, turn us around!”

“No, she’s… really gone…” Bow whispers, looking down.

The silence that immediately hangs over everyone’s heads as they realize exactly what this just cost us brings everything back, and I can’t hold back the tears anymore. Perfuma joins me in crying softly, everyone else just seems like they didn’t quite get it yet, getting either sad, or in Mermista’s case, seeming to get actually angry.

No one else says a word, as we slowly make our way away from the Fright Zone.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

There’s an uncomfortable silence. Catra and I are just standing there, off in the side room. That princess… she turned back for that bot… the bot I held up… I didn’t want that to happen. I didn’t mean it, not like that…

“Adora, come on. We need to go,” Catra’s voice is in my ear, her hands on my shoulder.

“But- I didn’t-”

She puts her other hand on my other shoulder, and turns me so I’m looking at her. “I know, I saw you move for the terminal. That isn’t on you. Now let’s go.”

“We had them… We had her…”

“Yeah, Shadow Weaver is going to be mad, we’ll deal with it. Let’s get back there before she comes for us.”

I look back at the door she pulled me through for a second, and nod. We start moving, heading back for the Black Garnet chamber, and I’m left wondering about how exactly we go about explaining this.

My thoughts are racing, as Catra practically pulls me by my wrist through the halls, back to where we’ll meet Shadow Weaver. I… am I at fault for that? I shake my head, she activated the purge sequence, she turned around for that stupid faulty bot. I can’t blame myself… right? Besides, it’s war… 

We make it back to the chamber and unsurprisingly, Shadow Weaver is already there. She wasn’t gone very wrong.

“Catra, Adora. Why is it that I leave for only a moment to inspect the damage caused by that explosion, only to find the princesses tore apart our naval dockyard, and come back to find an empty princess when I specifically told you to stand guard.”

“We did,” I say, “we were ambushed, they blew open the door.”

“Ambushed? And how did they find this room, we would have assumed they would have fought for the prison, but they knew where to look.”

“I- I don’t know.” I look at Catra, she says nothing. She led them here? She was followed? Shadow Weaver doesn’t know that… she can’t.

“I see. Catra, what happened when you were on the perimeter?”

“There was an ambush, I took off and lost them.”

“Clearly not. Sloppy, ridiculous work Catra.” No… “There will be consequences for this.”

“Are you kidding me?” Catra finally speaks up, “I did everything that was asked of me and more! We wouldn’t even have had this chance without me!”

Shadow Weaver says nothing, only glaring back at Catra behind her unmoving mask.

“Screw this,” she lets go of my wrist, which I didn’t even realize she was still holding, and she storms back out through the hall.

I just stare… I don’t-

“Adora, come with me. We are going to- explain - this entire situation to Hordak.” She moves past me, motioning for me to follow her out into the halls.

“Hordak?” I say, tensing up. None of my team has ever seen him, he’s been this imposing threat our whole lives, a threat of what we would face if we ever screwed up. And I guess… I just screwed up…

“Don’t worry. You are not the one in trouble here, Catra will be dealt with-”

“No!” I shout. I can’t let her get in trouble for this, “it isn’t her fault, I let my guard down and they got the best of me, and Glimmer teleported right out of your field and knocked me down.”

She just turns to look at me, as if I also tried to pass the blame onto her, and I think it worked. “Adora, you know better than to raise your voice at me... Consider this her final warning, after Plumeria and everything else before now.”

“I… okay,” I say, not wanting to push it. We keep moving, getting closer and closer to a room I’ve never been in before.

“I expect you know how to conduct yourself?”

“Yes, Shadow Weaver,” I take a deep breath and push down the nerves that are currently telling me to not go in this room, but I don’t exactly have a choice. Shadow Weaver opens the door, and we walk in.

Hordak’s sanctum is dark, so dark that I don’t see him, I don't know where he is. So when Shadow Weaver stops moving at a certain spot, I just move up next to her and wait.

“Shadow Weaver. Force Captain Adora.” I hear the booming voice echo across the room, and feel myself gulp. His tone is emotionless. “What exactly just happened out there?”

“The princess I told you about has been rescued,” Shadow Weaver answers.

“How? You know how this works. They were always going to make an attempt, did you really think that one life in a cell would end this war in a surrender? No.”

“Lord Hordak,” I speak up, “They must have interfaced with our systems. Have you read any reports from my team? They have an archer, Bow. He and the princess, Entrapta, had their own tablets they were using for navigation.”

“Our network is a closed system, where could they have interfaced to learn such information?”

“I don’t know, I’ll have my team open up an investigation.”

“Hmm… But why were our complex and detailed operations not enough to stop a few intruders? Our shipping yards are decimated, squandering the advantage Force Captain Adora had achieved for us at Salineas. Our high value prisoner is free, despite Force Captain Adora’s mission in the Kingdom of Snows. These two attacks have put us into direct conflict with every kingdom on Etheria, only for our advances to be pushed back months.”

Shadow Weaver speaks up now, “Adora knows very well what she is doing. I am going to look into the possibility of them having- someone - on the inside, and will make sure to increase the intensity of cadet training programs so our soldiers will be less of an embarrassment.”

I glance over to Shadow Weaver. She really is just going to throw everyone under the bus except the two of us here, isn’t she?

“The embarrassment here is that you weren’t training your proteges well enough in the first place. Do not let anything like this happen again.”

“Yes, my lord,” Shadow says, bowing.

“Sorry, Lord Hodak,” I add.

“Is there any good news to come out of this fiasco?”

I pause. The sword is good news, right? No, it isn’t time for that. I think, trying to make this better, “The tech princess is gone.” I say. Shadow Weaver looks down at me, and I really wish I could see how she reacted to that. Hordak just stares at me, his glowing red eyes piercing through my skull.

“I… suppose that will put a damper on their technological capabilities. This is not an even trade, however, expect much more direct intervention from my part from now on. Now get out. It is far too late for this headache. Force Captain Adora, your team will be responsible for the damages within the Fright Zone walls. I will have Octavia’s team begin cleanup at the docks.”

“Yes, Lord Hordak,” I say again, and Shadow Weaver turns and exits the room. As soon as the door closes, I breathe out a huge sigh of relief. He… didn’t do anything, not really. But Shadow Weaver is going to set Catra up… this is going to get bad.

I wordlessly split off from her, and head for my room. I’m exhausted, we’ve probably been up for nearly 20 hours. I move through the halls, and find myself thinking back to Entrapta. They’re going to think I… I shake my head, pushing down the thought. But others fill the spots left behind just as quickly. Entrapta’s words when she looked up at me. “It’s you…” her voice twisting into pure shock. What could that have meant? She saw something on her tablet before she looked up… maybe she was just surprised to see me again after Princess Prom? No, of course they’d know I’d be there. So… that means she must be referring to something her tablet told her… something…

Oh no. I start sprinting through the halls, trying to get to my room as soon as possible. The visions… the voices when I sleep… no, no no no. Catra was supposed to be joking!

I turn the corner, quickly, into the Force Captain hall, and I actually see Catra waiting against my door. “Hey, Adora, what took- Adora?”

I’m up to my door in a heartbeat, pulling it open, taking a quick second to glance at Catra, but I can’t form any words. I run into my room, Catra following me, which almost surprises me given how she's avoided being here.

“Adora, what happened? What did she say to you?”

“Nothing,” I say, picking the mattress up and pushing it, as it slides off the bed, and look down at the sword.

“Adora…”

I say nothing again, and I reach out and touch the sword. Sure enough, just like the first night, the gem on the sword shines brilliantly, blindingly so, and-

I’m not in my room. I’m standing on nothing. Did it knock me out again, that fast? Am I dreaming?

“Hello, Adora,” a voice says behind me, and I turn around in shock. It’s a woman… but definitely not a real one. A robot? Some magic creature? Nothing actually real? The room is suddenly lit up, the walls a spectacular arrangement of blues and purples and pinks, and reflective like Crystals, and there’s a floating image of the sword in between us.

“Who are you? What’s going on?” I demand, suddenly feeling as a little bit of panic surges through me. It’s her voice… the one who whispers Adora!

“My name is Light Hope. The sword is meant for you. Etheria has need of you, Adora. Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?”

I’m so confused. She definitely speaks like a robot, but this doesn’t tell me anything. “What are you talking about? What’s Grayskull? I don’t understand!”

“You will,” she says cryptically, as her form begins to fade into nothingness.

“Wait!” I shout out. This doesn’t explain anything! Oh no, I really am crazy, aren’t I? The void I’m standing in slowly appears to be getting darker, despite having already been nothing, and in a moment, I can’t even see myself as everything goes black. Then, from behind Light Hope, there’s a blinding flash of light again, in a sort of explosion that instantly knocks me off my feet, and everything fades away.

Notes:

Ooh boy, real shocker that Glimmer was saved and Entrapta was "left behind," right? Who would've seen this coming.
There's a lot of setup in this chapter. I just didn't want to refuse the She-Ra community a bit of Entrapdak, and this chapter wasn't done to be subversive of the cannon itself, but to set up a few more subversions to come that I needed to put things into place for.

Chapter 9: Legend

Summary:

The rebellion and Adora's team are both left picking up pieces, as well as piecing together the looming puzzle.

Glimmer’s POV

“She… she turned back around?” Netossa asks, sitting down next to me.

“Yeah, she turned back around,” I whisper, looking down at the deck. “I don’t know why. To stop Adora from canceling the purge sequence? She… she gave us time to get out…”

“There was… nothing we could do…” Sea Hawk mumbles, he’s been looking out over the edge of the boat the whole time.

“This shouldn’t have happened…” Mermista says, as she uses her powers to pull the boat over to the shore, now that we’re far enough away from the Horde. “I shouldn’t have come out here…”

“Mermista...” Bow looks over at her.

“I mean, I’m glad you’re okay Glimmer, I am… but this only happened because there were too many of us together. You got captured at Princess Prom, and now Entrapta…”

“Being together like this… it makes us vulnerable,” Perfuma echoes the sentiment, and I’m just staring back and forth at them.

“N- No!” I shout, “Perfuma, you know what we were able to do at Plumeria when you united most of your village to join you!”

“And it did save our land, which I am grateful for, but it was a very, very risky move. If we failed, I would have lost everything…”

“But we didn’t! And Mermista, you can turn the war in the seas against them now! They can’t put pressure on Salineas anymore without their tooling yards, fuel, and docks!”

“And what, just because it was good for me and you, that means it was good for all of Etheria? Entrapta is gone because I was too worried about getting revenge with all of you!”

Sea Hawk finally turns around, walking over to Mermista, “My dearest Mermista, she didn’t say that Entrapta was-”

“Don’t! We’re going home. Everyone, out of the boat! Please…”

“This whole thing was a bad idea…” Netossa murmurs.

“Dear, no,” Spinnerella says, “Bow made it very clear what the stakes were.”

“So we’re supposed to be okay with trading lives?” Netossa glares up at Spinnerella now.

“No one is okay with this…” she says softly.

“We didn’t trade lives, that’s what would have happened if Angela gave herself up. We saved Bright Moon,” Bow speaks, but he doesn’t sound like he believes in his own words this time.

“Because we aren’t able to take care of ourselves without Bright Moon?” Mermista places her hands on her hips, “My home was just fine before the Horde got word that you two were trying to reconfigure the Princess Alliance. Maybe it fell apart for a reason.”

“Mine- mine wasn’t,” Perfuma says, looking down. She’s as unsure of which side to pick as Bow is, seemingly. “No one really was.”

“Oh, really? Because both times, when Salineas and the Kingdom of Snows got dragged back into this war, it was because of them-” she points at Bow and I, and I feel my heart twist a little. This really is my fault… I look up at Bow. I should never have things push us apart at Princess Prom.

“Mermista!” Sea Hawk shouts.

“That isn’t fair,” Spinnerella adds.

A few more people turn to glance at Mermista, except Bow, Netossa, and I. 

“I- I’m sorry. You’re right,” she says to Spinnnerella. “I’m sorry.”

I stand up now, feeling as the remaining static charge of the prison I was held in surges through me in pain, and I think Bow notices it, as he raises an eyebrow in concern. “No, this only happened because of Adora. She attacked us at Salineas, she was there at Plumeria and Thaymor, she led the sabotage at the ball. Every move the horde has made in the last 2 months has been because of Adora.”

“And her unwillingness to give up when outnumbered cost us Entrapta…” Bow says, looking down at his tracker pad.

“This is exactly what she did at Princess Prom, she got in my head to keep me off of Bow, and tried to even befriend Entrapta for a bit.”

“What?” Perfuma asks, “when?”

“At the ball, it’s like this is her whole plan, to drive us apart.”

“And when we resist, that gets us killed?” Netossa says.

“Death… is always a risk of adventure…” Sea Hawk says quietly.

“Stop acting like this is a game to you, Sea Hawk!” Mermista shouts at him. “I… I can’t…”

Perfuma looks at Sea Hawk and Mermsita, then at Spinnerella and Netossa, and finally at Bow and I before saying, “oh…”

“What?” Bow looks up, hearing her speak.”

“I- I think Glimmer is right. We… There's so much more going on here. We can’t let this Adora person push us all apart.” She looks around again, like she realized something no one else did. “We… We are vulnerable together, yes… But… we can’t all fight this as a one-person army. We aren’t figures of legend like She-Ra, we can only win here if we don’t give up on each other.”

Bow looks down at his tracker pad and murmurs something to himself, and I realize it was, “it’s you…” He looks up. “Guys… I think I just made a very, very big mistake when I didn’t listen to Entrapta about that sword…”

“Wait..” Sea Hawk looks over at him, “I heard her say that too. She said she was tracking the sword, right?”

“She did say she thought it was a bad idea to leave it behind or something,” Spinnerella says.”

“Bow…” I look over at him. “You aren’t trying to suggest-”

“Wait, the sword you tried to use at Salineas?” Mermista asks.

Perfuma looks confused, as if she forgot what she casually just name-dropped. “Wait, what are you talking about-”

“Perfuma, you know how I asked about She-Ra on the way to the ball?”

Her eyes widened in shock, “You asked about that sword, if it could be that of the She-Ra…”

Bow puts his tracker pad away. “Adora recognized the sword at Thaymor, she saw it before we found it in the woods.”

“Bow…” I say, really, really not liking where this is going.

“I think… I think we’re in trouble.”

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

“Adora, Adora, please wake up!”

I open my eyes. “Catra? Ugh… What happened?”

“I don’t know! You came sprinting over out of who-knows-where, barged into your own room, flipped your mattress over, grabbed that stupid sword, and swoosh! You were out cold!”

I look over at the sword on the ground. Oh yeah… that happened…

“What… are you okay?”

“I’m okay, I’m fine.” I say, standing up, and moving over to the sword.

“No, don’t touch it again, idiot!” She grabs my arm, pulling me back.

“No, Catra, let go, it’s fine,” I say, struggling for a second before breaking her grip and picking it up. There’s no flash this time, no bright light, no… Light Hope…

“What… What happened? Your turn now.”

“I… I’m not sure. I touched it, and I had this vision, or dream, or something. There was a woman. Well, not a woman, but she looked like one. Probably a… hologram?”

“What? Adora, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“I told you, every time I got near this thing the last few weeks I’d spend the next night or two having strange dreams, hearing my name. That was her, this… Light Hope person.”

“I don’t know what that means!”

“She said… I had to answer a call. That Etheria needed me.”

“Wow, someone sees herself as important.”

“Catra!”

“Jeez, I’m kidding! Sorry,” she says, looking down a little.

“She said… she said the sword belongs to me…”

“Wait, you don’t think-?”

“No, no no no… it can’t be right…”

“Okay, okay. What… what do you think it means?”

“I think… I think it means that I’m going to get in… a lot of trouble…”

“What? How could you get in trouble? Besides, how do you know any of that is true?”

“The princess… Entrapta… you heard her…”

“You have no idea what she was talking about, maybe she just remembered you from Princess Prom?”

“No, Catra… I don’t know, I just… You Kyle, and Lonnie never felt any of what I felt… maybe it really is mine…”

“I… is this because I called you a princess the other day? Adora, it’s… I’m sure it’s fine. Whatever this is, we’ll figure it out.”

I look up at her, my voice sounding unsure and anxious, “How?”

“I don’t know. I… maybe we go back to where it was found? Explore the woods?”

“We could spend days in the woods, you know how dangerous that is, we’d never find anything without knowing what we’re looking for.”

“Yeah… maybe we… what if we… what if you just keep trying to talk to this… Light Hope?”

“I don’t know,” I say, looking down at the gem on the sword, “I don’t know what makes her appear.”

“Well, maybe you need to like, meditate?”

“Catra, I never relaxed a day in my life, I don’t think that’s going to help me figure out what any of this means…”

“Hey, I’m just brainstorming here,” she holds her hands up, almost defensively, with a hint of friendly mockery.

“Hmm…” I’m still thinking. I really don’t want to, but, “What if I… what if I go to Shadow Weaver?”

“What!? Absolutely not! You can’t trust her with that, who knows what she’ll do!?”

“Or if she and Hordak will decide to kick me out of the horde…”

“Yeah, could you imagine, you running around, holding hands with the Bright Moon Princess, and her night in ab-less armor?”

“Catra…” I glare at her. “This is not the time to be joking about this.”

“I-” Her face softens a bit in guilt, “sorry.”

“I… Catra, I can’t not do something to figure this out, I mean, I don’t know what this thing does, or why it’s calling to me. It’s… my sword, but what does that mean? What do I do with it?”

“I know, this is way more serious than I thought it was. I mean, I always thought it was serious, it’s not like you wanted it just because it was shiny. But we need to figure this out without her.”

“I… what if we go to Scorpia?” She’s kind of a princess, or is, she might have something to say.

“We?”

“I… can’t do this alone, Catra. Please…”

“I know, I just, of course I’ll help. I just… you haven’t- nevermind. Look, I hear you, but you were only actually out for a few moments. Scorpia is almost certainly sleeping now that the alarms are off and everyone not on night-shift went back to bed. I know you yourself were up at the normal rising time, so you were up for, what… 20 hours now? Let’s sleep on it, okay?”

“Wait what? Catra, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Here, come on and stand up.” She stands up, handing her hand out to me, and I let her help me off the floor.

“Catra, you can’t just drop this.”

“Tomorrow, okay? You need to sleep, I do too.”

Hmm… I walk over to the dresser, setting the sword beside it. “We’re… gonna need a place to hide this that isn’t in here.”

“I can handle that, there are vents and hiding spots everywhere, even ones the contraband smugglers don’t use.”

“What?”

“Nothing, here,” she walks over around my bed, leveraging it up to slide it back onto the bed.

I walk over, picking up my pillow and sheet, just kinda tossing them on the mattress for now. “Catra…”

“Yeah?”

“Can you… stay here tonight?”

“Adora, I don’t think Shadow Wea-”

“Catra, please.” I don’t try to hide the urgency. I… I won’t be able to sleep tonight with everything going on. And she seems conflicted.

Finally, she looks up at me and nods her head. “Okay, Adora. Okay.”

I take a step forward to her, wrapping my arms around her, “thank you…”

“Don’t get sappy, dummy. Let’s go, we can at least get three, maybe four hours of rest before we’re due for clean-up.” 

I smile at her, momentarily, and I can see that she sees through it. Her eyes are filled with… pity. And I hate it. But I don’t say anything, I just spread the blanket out, and lay down. Catra climbs into the bed, and shockingly, doesn’t go to the foot this time like she normally does. 

She just lays down next to me, and there’s a period of time between then and sleeping where it’s just… silence. In each other’s presence. And her presence does help me, as I just allow myself to think about my best friend, and not… everything else.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

It’s a bit before noon, Etheria’s largest, brightest moon glowing down on us from overhead. The last few hours were unnerving and awful. First, our entire alliance is now in damage control mode, and the entire team followed Bow, Spinnerella, Netossa and I back to Bright Moon. Bow’s idea has put a looming shadow over all of us, as if we’re now on a countdown timer until armageddon. 

Secondly, there’s these weird static shocks I’m getting. They aren’t bad, but… it’s like the magic from that sorceress is still coursing through me. And it’s keeping me exhausted, on edge, and in slight pain.

Third, when we got back to Bright Moon, my mom was waiting at the entrance. She swarmed us, embracing me, demanding to know everything. The air of silence from everyone was tangible, and she made note of two things: that I didn’t teleport out of her hug, and that Entrapta wasn’t with us. It was a miracle everyone else came with, I think Bow’s idea forced those of us that were reconsidering the alliance to instead be more drawn into it, but we didn’t tell my mom about that part.

After getting everyone situated with temporary rooms for the night, Bow and I got to talking about the static shocks he noticed I was getting, but we don’t exactly have any way to deal with that, and I assumed I just needed to sleep it off, and so everyone did.

Now, Bow and I are standing under the Moon Stone, trying to recharge, because the shocks did not, in fact, go away.

“Ow! Ow ow ow!” I shout, as soon as I stand up off this stone bed under the Runestone.

“Glimmer!” he moves forward, grabbing me as I stop glitching.

“It didn’t work…” I say, gasping for breath.

“Work? It made it worse!” He shouts, helping me steady myself.

“We’re… gonna need to try harder to figure this all out…”

“Glimmer?” My mom’s voice calls out, “Are you up there?”

Oh no. “Bow, we can’t let her see me like this!”

“Uh… Um..!”

My mom flies up and over the ridge and I’m already laying back down on the stone. “There you are, Glimmer. Are you feeling better?”

“WHOA, Mom. Can’t a girl recharge in private?” She opens her mouth to speak, so I cut her off immediately, “anyway, we were just leaving. Bye!” I hop off the stone again, and start walking for the physical exit so Bow and I can descend the Moon Stone tower, since I sort of still can’t feel my powers. 

“Is everything alright? Glimmer?” Glimmer, do not walk-”

Once we get inside, I try for a split second to use them, to get us to my room quicker, but it just triggers the shocks again.

Bow looks over at me in panic again, making sure I don’t fall over right now.

“I’m fine!” I lie, “I’m fine. Let’s just get back to the others.”

Bow definitely sees through it as I steady myself, but we keep moving. The rest of the alliance is in the war room, going over theories and ideas and even myths and legends. We descend the Moon Stone pillar, and head into the castle. Surprisingly, my Mom doesn’t even try to bother us as we’re heading up the walkway.

We make our way through the halls, stopping once outside the war room as I let the static shocks pass, and we head in.

It’s a mess. Spinnerella and Netossa aren’t here, but Mermista and Perfuma are both standing over the table while Sea Hawk is off in the corner digging through boxes of papers and books on something.

“None of this makes any sense! Eight feet tall? This girl wasn’t even close to six!”

“She also didn’t have a magical companion animal! Unless the magicat counts. Oh, hi Glimmer, Bow!”

“I don’t think that cat person showed any magic abilities when they were attacking the Sea Gate,” Mermista says, not looking over at us.

“Hey everyone!” Bow says, after he woke up he’s been doing his best to maintain upbeat, like Perfuma. They’re both trying to hold everyone together.

“The magicat’s name is Catra, and no, she’s just temperamental,” I say, walking over to the table.

“Hey Glimmer,” Mermista says as I stand next to her, “how’d the recharge go?”

“Not good, I’m still glitching,” I say, looking at some of the papers they’ve compiled on this She-Ra myth.

“So, what do we know so far?” Bow asks, walking up to us all.

“Well,” Perfuma starts, “nothing concrete. We know Entrapta said the sword was First One’s tech, and also that it was a runestone, right?”

“That’s… pretty much the only facts we know for sure…” Bow acknowledges.

“Well, We’ve been thinking about everything Entrapta could’ve meant when she said, “it’s you,” like you said she did,” Perfuma continues.

“Yeah, it was as if she was tracking more than just my tracker pad’s signal.”

“So…” Mermista says, “what if this Adora girl has magic in her, what if she’s actually a Princess?”

“That’s… a little out there, though…” I think out loud. “Two horde princesses?”

“Bright Moon has three princesses and a queen living in its walls,” Mermista says to me. 

Which is a fair point, but, “actually, Bow and I genuinely don’t know what Spinnerella and Netossa are even princesses of, or how their runestones work.”

“I- that doesn’t discredit my point.”

“Wait, so…” Bow says, “this Adora girl could be this princess of legend? Who hasn’t been seen for hundreds of years?”

“More like a millenia,” Perfuma corrects. “We asked Queen Angella if she heard of She-Ra before, she said she thought it was a legend. A bit more concrete than a myth, unlike the Spirit Ember.”

“There’s a difference?” I ask her.

“Well, I can say with near certainty that this She-Ra person is real, but it means almost everything about her is likely conjecture.”

“Which is the basis of everything we’re now running with, which is a stupid idea to get this worked up over,” Mermista says, being a little more cynical about this all.

Sea Hawk finally walks over to the table, plopping down a few files he found, “Here, I think this is the rest of what is actually useful for this. But if I’m being honest, I think we should probably just ask Adora.”

All four of us turn to look at him in a mix of confusion and disbelief.

“I’m serious. You all know we’ll meet her again on another adventure, let’s just ask her then!”

“Yeah, everytime anyone tried to talk, it wasn’t exactly constructive,” I think back to her threatening Bow in the Black Garnet chamber, and shudder. Almost as if through association, I’m rewarded with this thought for a quick burst of glitching.”Ow!”

“Is it still happening? I thought you recharged?” Sea Hawk asks.

“Tried… Didn’t work…” I force out, before the glitching stops, Bow standing closer again.

“Great, more problems. Why aren’t we working on fixing that instead of this nonsense?” Mermista asks.

“Because I did look into this, there’s nothing on Runestone conflicts at all, it’s like whatever that sorceress did, it wasn’t something that’s supposed to be done,” Bow responds, and Mermista goes back to reading.

“Seriously? Lifting Mountains? Defeated armies with one swing of a sword? Perfuma, this stuff is a children’s fairy tale.”

“Hey, most of our, “fairy tails,” are based on truths. We just need to root this out to understand if this Adora person really could be the She-Ra.”

“Wait!” Bow shouts, as he pulls out his tracker pad, opening up a map of the woods on the holo-table. “The sword and possibly Adora weren’t the only two things giving off this similar signal. Entrapta told me the sword was acting as a… receiver for some sort of message, a message being sent from somewhere in the woods.”

“Was she able to intercept it?” I ask, trying to look at what he’s looking for.

“No, First One’s tech is still way too advanced to decode. Huh- that’s odd… the radio signal she was tracking isn’t transmitting anymore…”

“Does that mean this isn’t a lead?” Mermista asks.

“No, we still have an energy signal of First One’s tech, but it’s too deep in the woods, it’s gonna take me a lot of time to try and figure it out, but maybe… if it’s related to the sword, it can help us learn more about this She-Ra.”

“Then what does it mean that the transmission stopped?” Sea Hawk asks, holding his hand to his chin.

“It means… a message was received…”

“And what does this mean for us?” Perfuma asks.

“It means… we need to follow this signal, go wherever this is. There’s a good chance this transmission was received by Adora, meaning she could possibly be on her way too. Either way, whether we find Adora or not, we can turn it into a win.”

“What do you intend to do if we run into Adora? She won’t be alone, and she’ll definitely be on edge if she’s in the woods.” I ask.

“Besides, Bow, this is way too many ifs and coincidences and maybes.” Mermista says.

“Look, it’s still our best chance to find out real information about She-Ra. And… we can’t just sit around waiting for her to show up, or to magically figure out how to cure Glimmer.”

“Simple, right?” Mermista says, “Just track a faint tech signal through the shifting landscapes of the Whispering Woods. What could go wrong?”

“Exactly! But, that does mean we have to find the signal first… It’s way too vague in where it pops up. I know Entrapta could… probably write a probability algorithm for it… but I’ll do what I can,” he says encouragingly, as mention of her name causes everyone to tense up.”

“Well, good luck with that. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to help, though. I need to get back to Salineas and take charge of the seas while we can,” Mermista says, looking at Sea Hawk, “you ready to go?”

“Sure thing! The woods wouldn't exactly be my strong suit anyway. Goodbye, Princess Alliance! And Bow!”

“Goodbye, guys,” Bow says, looking over at Perfuma, “and you?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be any help with this tech stuff. And I need to head home, too, my village is still on the current front lines. Goodbye Bow, Glimmer,” she says, following the others out of the room.

“So…” I slowly say, completely unsure of what to actually say.

“Let’s just… rest for a little. I’ll work on this later, you shouldn’t be on your feet right now.”

“I’m fine, Bow, really. But… I wouldn’t be opposed to just resting in my room anyway…” I admit. Bow powers off the war table, and we head out for my room.

The walk is completely quiet, Bow just follows me in silence until we’re in my room. Of course, as soon as the doors are closed, he starts speaking about everything more.

“You know you’re gonna have to tell your mom about this.”

“I don’t need to worry her, she’s worried enough now that Mermista and Perfuma told her we think the Horde has a super-weapon.”

“We don’t… really know this.”

“Bow, you’re the one most in on this idea, don’t try to play it down now.”

“I know, I just… you’re getting worse. You’re glitching more, and I can tell it’s hurting more.”

“Yeah, I think it’s connected to when I try to use my magic… sometimes it even happens when I think about it…” as I say that, I brace myself for the shocks to come, but they don’t right now.

“So… when do we tell her if we can’t get you better? We have no idea how to go about helping you!”

“It’s probably just… like a cold. It’ll go away.”

“It didn’t after hours of rest or recharging. We don’t know what this is at all.”

“Maybe my aunt Casta can help?”

“I doubt we could get you to Plumeria from here, let alone Mystacore.”

“Then we send for her! But we can’t tell my mom.”

“Why? You don’t have to protect me from this.”

“I’m not… what?”

“It’s obvious! I couldn’t fix things between us before Princess Prom, and you got captured because I almost did!”

“Bow, no! I’m the one who was being a jerk! You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t take your concerns more seriously! I was being a bad friend!” He says, tears forming in his eyes, which just makes them well up in mine.

“I’m sorry I made you wanting to hang out with all our friends a problem for you!”

“You can’t be sorry when I’m saying sorry,” he says, wiping his eyes a little.

“Well, your sorry is wrong and mine is right. Let’s- let’s just hug?”

He nods, and we lean into each other. Why is he trying so hard to blame himself? This isn’t about me… is it? I’m guessing he’s blaming himself for Entrapta’s death. Me being sick shouldn’t be enough to-

The glitching kicks in as my mind wanders to it, and I clench my teeth as I squeeze my arms around Bow, tighter. Except it’s different this time, it feels… way less intense. Almost like…

“Bow?” I grit through my teeth.

“It hurts… so much…” he says, struggling to get the words out as he keeps holding me.

The pain passes, and I let go, pulling back. “What… what do we do?”

He breathes deeply for a second, “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. I promise.”

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

We’ve been sweeping up debris, clearing out the damages, and working on taking out the damaged walls for a while now, and I’ve just been burying myself in it. Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio were working near where that horde bot attacked us; Catra, Scorpia, and I are working near the Black Garnet chamber.

“So… the sword is yours, and you might be a princess?” Scorpia whispers, picking up another large chunk of the door.

“No, and be quiet!” I say, working on the wiring within the wall to make sure we can work without it hurting us. “It’s just… a maybe, I guess.”

“Wow, I never would have thought. Dang, I guess Frosta missed an invitation…” Scorpia says to herself.

“Scorpia, this isn’t a joke! Please take this seriously,” Catra says, as she’s removing damaged side paneling.

“I know, I’m not joking! I just don’t really know how to react to this information, you know?”

“So you don’t know anything?”

“Why would I? I’m only a princess by blood, I don’t know how it works.” She points over to the Black Garnet, “I’m not even allowed near that thing.”

“What? Then why are you here?,” I look over at her, “not in a mean way, but in a, “you weren’t told to be here,” way.”

“I know, I know I’m not really on the team, but… Okay, don’t laugh, but I kinda like you guys,” she says, looking over towards Catra. “I don’t exactly have any other friends, so…”

“Yeah, friends… thanks Scorpia,” Catra says absentmindedly, pulling off another panel, and sticking her hand in, “okay, powers off on this side. Now what?”

“Um… just see if you can spot any scrap that blew out from the door into the space between,” I instruct her, turning back to what I was doing.

She nods, and Scorpia speaks up again with a, “So, I heard you got to meet Hordak. How is he?”

“What!?” Catra shouts, pulling her arm out of the wall.

“I- Well- it was fine. He actually seemed more mad at Shadow Weaver for all of this…”

“Why didn’t you tell me this morning?” Catra asks, walking up to me.

“So… he’s actually scary? I mean, I’ve seen him before. He doesn’t spend all his time in his sanctum, but like, you actually spoke to him.” Scorpia is saying while Catra is talking to me.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal. I didn’t get in any trouble,” I say to her. But also, I couldn’t tell her about how Shadow Weaver seems to think she’s a traitor…

“I- it’s not. Whatever. It just means you’re further ahead than you realize…” she says, looking down. She turns to walk a little away, standing back near where she was working.

“I…” I don’t know what to say to her, she’s clearly upset with how I didn’t tell her about this, but I genuinely didn’t think it would be important, I was much more worried about the sword. “Catra…”

“Wait…” she says, turning around. She looks… focused….

“What is it?” Scorpia asks, walking up to her, as Catra moves out into the hall.

“I… I feel like… we’re not alone.”

“What, like scopaesthesia?” Scorpia asks. I look over at her, confused, “you know, like we’re being watched?”

“It’s probably just Shadow Weaver…” I say, but Catra starts looking up into the air… sniffing? I pull my hand out of the wall finally, and Scorpia and I both walk out into the hall after her.

Scorpia walks over to her, holding her own head up, “Yeah… yeah. That’s- that’s concrete.” I stare at her again. How does she flip so quickly between saying something that actually makes sense and being one of the… not aware people? 

Catra crouches down, and starts prowling down the hall, still sniffing, and I follow behind her. “Catra…” She moves all of three feet, stopping at a vent that had us in view the whole time… and she swipes her paw at it.

“Woah!” Entrapta’s voice screams out, as she just rolls out of the vent cover in front of Catra, Scorpia and I. She looks up at us, Catra sits back in confusion, Scorpia looks absolutely confused, and Entrapta just… waves her hand and says, “hii.”

I… she’s not dead? Immediately, I dart forward, grabbing a bit of her outfit to hold her still.

“Princess!?” Catra finally speaks, and Scorpia just watches.

Entrapta shouts slightly, but makes no move against me as I pin her to the wall.

“What’s going on!? How are you here!?”

“Um… the vent…” she says, as if I asked a question with an obvious answer.

“No!” I place my hand to my forehead, and Catra stands up and takes a step close. “I mean, how aren’t you dead?”

“Why would I be dead?” She asks, her face again showing nothing but confusion.

I look over at Catra, who just shrugs.

“What do we do?” Scorpia asks.

I pull my stun-baton off of my hip, powering it on. “You’re coming with us. If you don’t resist, I won’t use this.”

“Ooh, what is it?” She asks, her hair moving to grab it from my hand, and I reflexively drive it forward, tasing her, and she slumps unconscious.

“Seriously?” I ask to no one, “What was that? What is this?”

“I- I don’t know. What do we do with her?” Catra asks.

I think for a second, motioning for Catra to come closer. “Grab an arm, we’re taking her to a cell, but… we’re gonna need a way to restrain her hair… Scorpia, go find Shadow Weaver or submit a report to Hordak!”

She nods, and is already moving through the hall, our task at the Black Garnet chamber is definitely not going to be finished anytime soon.

Catra and I lift Entrapta, moving her through the halls.

“Where are we taking her?” Catra asks, as we’re dragging this princess by her arms.

“I don’t know. The interrogation room?”

“This is…  but… how?”

“I don’t know, let’s just get her there.”

We keep dragging this woman who is probably a decade older than us, through the halls. Her hair alone is weighing us down so much that Catra and I are struggling, but we get her to an interrogation room. We don’t use these too much, the horde hasn’t actually had the resources to maintain in-complex prisoners for long-periods of time, but it’ll do.

After getting her ankles and wrists into these locks on the wall, keeping her in a standing position, I look over at Catra. “We’ve definitely going to need something to do with her hair.”

“Adora, I’m not sure how you expect to… contain hair.”

“I… I don’t know, Catra, I’m not sure what to do here. I thought she was dead!.”

“Yeah… I did too…” she says, hanging her head down. “I’ll go hook up more cuffs I guess, maybe just having it held above her will be enough.”

“I doubt it, but since I’m not sure what else to do…”

“Duct tape?”

“You- you want me to wrap her hair in a ton of duct tape?” I ask, completely unsure of what her thought process was.

“So maybe it’ll be a pain to take off, it’s better than chopping it off.”

“Yeah, I’m… not sure if she ever cuts the stuff. I mean, it has to have nerves, right?”

“I’m not a princess biologist, and I don’t think anyone else is, either.”

“Just go get the cuffs, I’m going to wait near the chamber for Scorpia.”

She shrugs as if she couldn’t care less about all this, and heads off to the back supply closet. I turn around and sprint back for the Black Garnet chamber, since Scorpia probably wouldn’t know where to look for us elsewhere.

Not surprisingly, she’s already there. ‘Hey Adora, I um… buzzed for Hordak.”

“Oh, okay,” I say, waiting for her to say more. 

After a second she notices she should probably continue, and says, “I told him the news that we have the Entrapta. He said through the intercom something like, “Don’t disturb me, have Force Captain Adora deal with it.”

“Wh- deal with it how?”

“Jeez, I uh… I didn’t even ask. Didn’t think of it. I figured you’d just put her in the prison and we’d keep her there for a while.”

“No, wait. She saw something on that tablet of hers, I need to figure out what. No, prison, yet, file her into the system, but I’m going to try and figure some stuff out from her.”

“Ooh! You think she knows about the sword?”

“I have no idea,” I say, then muttering to myself I add, “I feel like I said that 30 times today…”

“Well, it’s a lot to figure out. Do you want me to come with for it?”

“Sure, I guess. Shadow Weaver is going to need to find someone else for this, then.”

“You have the rest of your team, they can get to it tomorrow. Besides, there are dozens of other soldiers in this place. Strange that you guys are like, the only ones who seem to do anything.”

“Yeah, try telling that to Shadow Weaver,” I mutter, as we head back to where Catra is.

I go slower this time, Scorpia following as she struggles to write down an information slip to file later on a clipboard. I… didn’t even know she could write. Catra said she’s seen her draw before, though, so I shouldn’t be too surprised.

Whatever I’m about to learn here… I hope it at least gives me something constructive to go off of. Scorpia and I walk back into the interrogation room, and Catra is finishing drilling the other cuffs into the wall, Entrapta’s hair already in place.

“You didn’t drill them first?”

“I’m being careful, I’m not going to drill through her hair…” She says, finally finishing up. She hops off a step stool, moving it aside, and stepping back over to Scorpia and I. “So, what’s the mission?”

“Well, Hordak dismissed it to Adora, and we’re going to question her,” Scorpia tells her.

She looks over at me, “You’re getting directly assigned to missions now through Hordak? That’s… awesome!”

I smile at her, but it was clear she hesitated for something.

“Uuuggghhh…” Entrapta groans, waking up.

“Oh she’s awake!” Scorpia almost bounces in excitement.

“Scorpia… do you know what we’re doing here?” I ask.

“Oh, yeah, sorry!” She whispers, standing at attention.

“Prisoner-” Catra shouts, turning to her.

“Uh, her name is Entrapta…” Scorpia whispers to her.

“I- I know that! Why-”

“Scorpia, let us handle this, just work on the report please?” I ask, pulling her back from Catra, and stepping forward, raising my stun-baton. “Princess Entrapta, you’re going to answer every question we have about the rebellion-” I look up, she’s completely ignoring me in favor of… using her to unlock the shackle her hair was in with a mini-screwdriver? What?

She looks down at me, chuckling slightly, as if I didn’t just watch her, and she sees the stun-baton and gets curious again, “Ooh, how does it work!” Her hair moves forward, going between my body and the baton, as she pulls it from me, stepping out of the shackles.

“Knock it off!” Catra shouts, moving forward and grabbing the stun-baton from her, and as they wrestle from it a blast of energy fires off into the ceiling, and I finally manage to push her back to the wall.

“Are you crazy! Stop doing things and listen to us!” I shout.

Scorpia turns back over to us, and says, “wait, what’s going on?” Catra sighs, walking over to Scorpia.

I turn back over to Entrapta, “can you stop being- whatever this is- and let me interrogate you before I zap you unconscious again?” I threaten, but then look down at my hand and realize Catra is still holding it. Ugh!

“Oh, okay. What do you want to know?”

This is not the same person I talked to at the Kingdom of Snows… “I-uh… how are you alive?”

“Oh, that’s easy. EMILY got us out.”

“… that doesn’t explain anything! Why were you in the vents, are you spying on us!?”

“Oh, no, I’m just waiting for my friends to pick me up. I ran off and got lost, and tracked this signal back to him, and he didn’t seem happy I left, so I figured I’d just wait for the Princess to come back.”

“I-... It’s been over half a day?”

Catra and Scorpia are now walking back over, apparently Catra was saying something to her because Scorpia actually looks calm and focused right now. “They left you? Not really surprising, those idiots were only here because Bow needed his best friend back.”

“I... no, they’ll be back…”

Catra smirks at me, stepping forward, “I mean, they left before they even got his sword back… It’s clear what his priorities were, they wouldn’t risk an invasion like that for anyone other than Bow’s precious Glimmer…”

Entrapta pulls her mask down with her hair, looking down, and pulls a small device out of her pocket. I raise my hands ready to snatch it, but… it isn’t a weapon. She starts speaking into it, “Fright Zone log hour… 14? 18? I’m not sure. It’s been hard to count in the walls… That… no, maybe they just need to regroup.”

“It’s okay, Entrapta…” I say, stepping closer, “You can just hang out here. If they come back, great. I mean, we’d have to fight them again, and I’d really rather avoid that. You see, I have another question, one that isn’t about the rebellion, or you hiding in the walls.”

She looks up at me, slowly, keeping her mask down.

“I think you know something that could help me out. Remember that sword?”

She pulls her mask up, her eyes suddenly sparkling in excitement. “I told Bow we needed to grab it! He didn’t care though, but yes! I know that sword!”

“You know that sword, huh? Say… would you mind sharing?”

“Why would you need to know? It’s your sword.”

The words ring out through my ears… just like that vision last night…

“What?” Catra asks.

“Oh, this Adora person gives off a similar energy reading to the sword, but it isn’t that of the sword’s tech or magic. It’s… subtle. And you look like a person, so I gave myself an 80% probability that you are, which means there’s about a 97% percent chance that the sword is connected to you somehow! And the sword is connected to what might be a First One’s treasure trove of tech and knowledge hidden in the woods that was sending signals to the sword.”

I look over at Catra and Scorpia, and everyone seems shocked. I mean, we all had been assuming this by now… but… “What do you mean I give off… energy?”

“Magic, silly! You’re another princess, probably, assuming the sword’s Runestone really is yours. I’d have to see it again, and run some tests on it and you to be sure.”

“Hey, no running tests on Adora!” Catra shouts.

I don’t say anything. I’m just… stunned. “I- I’m… a princess?”

“You really don’t know? Ooh… Fascinating! I… probably shouldn’t be telling you this then. If you figured out that you might just be a long-lost Princess of myth named She-Ra that had something to do with the First One’s then the rebellion would really be in trouble.”

Everyone stops speaking. Scorpia seems like she hasn’t understood anything, Catra looks like she’s seen a ghost, and Entrapta holds her hands over her mouth.

“Oops…”

“You… you mentioned signals? What kind of signals?” I say, my breath growing shallow as I start to feel overwhelmed with everything Entrapta is saying.

“Oh, the sword was receiving these radio signals until sometime right around after I went into the vents last night.”

Light Hope… she’s real? This is all… real? “From where?”

“The woods, I haven’t got an exact location though. Say, if I give you this-” *she reaches behind her back with her hair, holding us a tablet… the same one she was holding in the corridors yesterday, “-and you go out into the woods and find the transmission using that sword of yours and this map, I’ll be able to write an algorithm to better predict any future endeavors! I know the transmission signal is gone but it still gives off First One tech signatures, so…”

I just stare at her, I’m pretty sure this princess has… no sense of awareness. I reach up hesitantly grabbing the tablet, looking at this rough map of the woods. I can… actually go and learn something about what any of this means? I raise my hand, and shake Entrapta’s… hair in the shape of a hand…

I turn to face the others, “Scorpia, Catra, I’m heading out to figure this out-”

“No, way, if you’re going to trust this princess and rush out into the woods on a hair-brained fetch quest, I’m at least going with you,” Catra cuts me off.

I stare for a few seconds and nod my head, “Okay, Catra. Scorpia, keep an eye on Entrapta, will you?”

“Of course! Um… What do I tell Shadow Weaver when she inevitably asks?”

“Ooh… secrets…” Entrapta whispers to my side.

“Um… tell her parts of the truth. Catra and I obtained a lead on powerful tech that will help us in the war against the rebellion and are going out to retrieve it.”

“She isn’t going to be mad if we don’t run it by her?”

“Scorpia, I technically got promoted again, to a higher rank with the Force-Captains. Shadow Weaver barely has authority over my team anymore.”

“But… she does over me, right?”

“For all intents and purposes, you’re on my team.” Catra looks at me, slightly confused, but it’s not like I’m wrong.

She beams in excitement, “really?”

“Sure.”

“Adora,” Catra leans closer to me, grabbing my shoulders, “we can’t do whatever we want here, which I know is rich coming from me, but are you sure about this?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. We’ll deal with Shadow Weaver later, you’re the one who said she can’t find out about this sword, and especially not… all of this.”

“Who’s Shadow Weaver?” Entrapta asks. Oh… I almost forgot she was here.

“Don’t worry about it. Scorpia, watch the Princess. We’re heading out.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Scorpia says in solute.

I turn to Entrapta and say, “behave yourself, and I’ll give this back,” I say, moving her tablet slightly. She doesn’t seem phased, and just nods.

“No problem, I’ll just work on EMILY some more.”

“Okay, seriously, who or what is EMILY?” Scorpia asks.

“Oh! How rude of me! Let me introduce you!” She claps her hands together twice, and I just barely hear the sound of something… charging up?

A large blast of energy flies into the room from behind us, hitting the wall to my left. Instantly, I feel a large weight on top of me as Scorpia charges into Catra and I, tackling us both to the ground. 

“I got you! I got you!”

“Get off of us!” Catra shouts, pushing her back, as we get to our feet after waiting to make sure no other blasts come through, as that giant training bot from yesterday walks into the room through a massive hole in the wall.

I look back at Catra, who has the same look of shock as I do. That blast was way more powerful than what happened yesterday, this time tearing a hole into the opposite wall too. And she also handed us a map to something huge?

“Those princesses have no idea who they left behind…” Catra says, looking back at the bot as it crouches down before the four of us…

Notes:

As I get more into what I'm doing here, I'm finding that everything I'm writing is just... getting longer as I have to write more to do the connecting-story I want to tell. So uh, I didn't split this chapter, because otherwise I'd probably end up splitting everything from here on out.

So, comment-bait here: should I stop or keep splitting these into two?

Also I'll be honest, couldn't do the dinner scene. It would be verbatim and a lot more text rewrite/copying than I can in good faith do, so I'll have it be in the background I guess? Idk I think a few sentences is fine, or can be seen as a fun nod, but... I'm not trying to reupload half the transcript.

Chapter 10: The Dream

Summary:

Adora and Catra enter the Crystal Castle in search of information about She-Ra.

Catra’s POV

“I’m telling you, she sent us out here to die!”

“You don’t know that,” she says back to me, slashing at some vines that were blocking us, with her sword.

“We’ve been out here for hours now, and we’re not any closer.”

“You don’t know that, I’m the one with the map.”

“Yeah, because you think I’ll throw it in a rage?”

“Because I know you will. Besides, you didn’t have to come.”

“I’m not going to leave you to figure this out on your own.”

“And I’m grateful for that,” she says as we start climbing over a fallen trunk.

“But?” I ask, hopping down on the other side of it.

“But, you’re clearly not having fun out here.”

“I’m fine,” I say, brushing off her concerns. “Which way does the stupid thing say to go?”

“I’m… not sure. It’s… still changing. It feels like every time we get closer, it moves further away. Yet, also like it’s always a set distance away from us.”

“So what, the magical shifting woods won’t let us there?” This whole thing sounds so  unbelievably stupid.

“Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. Maybe we need a new strategy.”

“Oh yeah, great. A new strategy. Want me to try and climb up these massive trees again just to not be able to see over the foliage? Or ask the woods nicely? Maybe we ignore the map that clearly isn’t taking us anywhere?”

“What do you mean? We’ve been moving forward this whole time.”

“We saw that log twice! This rock here? Probably four times,” I say, walking up to a decently large rock, and I scratch it with a nail as a mark, as if to make a point.

“I’m trying, okay! I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m trying!”

“I know you are, I’m just saying… we might be in over our heads here.” Then, to myself, I mutter, “Shadow Weaver is going to find out about this…”

“I know I’m in over my head! I don’t know anything about this princess stuff, or this stupid sword!” As if to prove the point, she tosses the sword to the ground. We’re not walking anymore.

“Look, Adora-”

“I don’t know what any of this means. I don’t know who I’m supposed to be. Our whole life we were told that we needed to be afraid of princesses. That they were violent instigators who couldn’t control their powers. What if- what if I do something terrible?” She sits down, setting the tablet down, and hangs her head.

“Adora… did you really believe all that?” I ask, walking up to her.

“What?” She looks up at me, staring at me with eyes that give no indication of what she’s thinking.

“The- the princesses. You still think that?”

“I- yes. No. I don’t know. They don’t… no, I don’t think that.”

“Then why are you beating yourself up over the idea that you might be like that? Adora, you’re not a bad person,” I crouch down next to her, placing my hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to think anymore. I- I’m scared, Catra,” she whispers, looking up at me, her face showing more raw emotion than she’s let herself show in weeks. And this… it almost hurts me.

“I know. I- I’m sorry for doubting this. We’ll figure this out for you.”

She nods her head, looking back down at the tablet, and looks confused. “Do you hear that?”

“No?” I say confused, as she suddenly looks focused again. She gets up, moves forward, and grabs her sword.

“Come one!” She says, suddenly running towards something. 

“Adora, wait up!” I shout, moving after her as moves through brushes and cuts more vines.

She runs through another bush, and I run after her only to realize we’re now in a big, open clearing. With one structure in the middle of it. A tower? No, it almost looks like-

“I think that’s it,” Adora says, in wonder. She goes back to walking forward, and I follow her.

“What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know, but there’s a lot of stuff here. A clearing, a bunch of small buildings. Maybe an old First One’s settlement?”

“Like… a kingdom? Is that a castle?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

We approach the front of the structure, it’s definitely big enough to be a castle. “Heh, maybe it’s your kingdom.”

“Shut up,” she says, not even bothering to go with the joke. Noted, don’t joke about that stuff right now. We get up to the door, except, there isn’t actually any sort of door here.

“How do we get in?”

“I don’t know, it’s… there’s something written there.”

“What? That’s a word?”

“Yeah, I think. It says… Eternia.” As she speaks the word, a strange light in the shape of a triangle begins to grow, from below the scribble to the ground. The entire part of the wall starts to move, revealing a passageway beneath it.

“That was the door? How did you read that?”

“I- I don’t know. Let’s just go inside.” She moves forward again, leaving me to have to collect myself and follow after her yet again as we head into this weird, glowing, triangular structure.

As we head down, getting farther from the door, we hear the same noise from earlier. The door just closed behind us, leaving us in near complete darkness, except for the subtle vibrant glow of the walls.

“Adora, can you even see in here?” I say, feeling as my eyes adjust to the low light level. Perks of being a magicat.

“Barely. You… might have to lead the way.” I watch as she holds her hand out to me. She can’t see at all, great. Almost begrudgingly, I grab her hand, and keep moving forward as she follows me closely.

“Do you see anything?” she asks after a few moments.

“Um… we’re in a big circular room. Lots of other branching pathways… There’s a mural here, I think. And more writing.”

“What’s it about? What’s it say?”

“I don’t know, it’s in scribbles. And… a lady. Wearing a tiara and a cape. Maybe it’s that lost princess Entrapta said.”

“She-Ra?” She asks, and suddenly, every light in the room turns on at once. Adora shields her eyes for a second, readjusting, as I take a look at everything in better detail. The walls are… brilliantly vibrant. “Huh, these walls look just like those ones in my vision.” Turning back to the mural, she adds, “I hope I don’t have to wear that…” finally deciding to try and crack a joke.

As we’re looking around, my eyes glance over this platform in the center of the room, and I start heading over. As I step closer, a strange half-translucent woman appears.

“Greetings, Administrator. What is your query?”

“Oh wow, that’s her! I think. Not exactly.”

“That’s who?” I ask, turning around. This is weird, and I don’t like any of this anymore.

“What is your query,” the voice asks again.

“Um… I am Adora. This is Adora. Um… who is She-Ra?”

We look over at the hologram, which only once again asks, “What is your Query?”

“Adora, try being a little more succinct. It uh… it said, “greetings administrator,” right? Maybe… She-Ra is an administrator,” I whisper to her, keeping my eyes on… the thing.

“Um… Okay, got it. I am… I think anyway-”

“Adora!”

“Okay, okay!” She takes a deep breath. “I am She-Ra. Princess of… something…” she says, not quite sure what and not quite believing her words. “I… I want to speak to Light Hope.”

“Light Hope?” The voice acts. Finally, something different!

“Yes. Light Hope is here. She has been… waiting for you.”

“Cool, great. How do I talk to her?”

“You are not ready. You must let go.”

“Let go of what?”

“Adora, maybe it’s broken. Let’s just go see if we can find anything without the use of this… thing…” I say, hesitantly reaching up and poking it. As I do, the tinge of the walls change color a bit to a more reddish hue, and the hologram shifts as well.

“Unauthorized Presence Detected. Security Protocol Activated.”

“Uh oh… is that bad?” Adora asks.

“What did you do?” I say, looking at her. “Tell it to stop.” Adora looks around quickly, various doors are now closing into the center chamber.

“Run!”

She takes off, and I sprint after her to one the corridors. We stop dead in our tracks, though, as we start to see red eyes illuminating from the halls.

“What are those?”

“I don’t know. New hall!” She shouts, quickly turning to another one, but the door shuts down in front of us. Adora goes as if she’s actually going to have any chance at lifting it, but quickly turns back around. “Nevermind, we’ll take our chances!”

I nod, turning back to the last open hall as three massive mechanical monsters crawl out from the shadows. They’re large, black spider-like creatures with a plethora of glowing red eyes. “Adora…”

“Just move!” She shouts, running towards them. I follow, and the spiders turn to attack us. Instead of fighting, though, Adora just runs through the legs of one as it tries to get her, and I bound off of the side of one to follow as we get past the spiders, and start sprinting through the hallway.

“Can you tell it to stop!” I shout in desperation.

“I have no idea, let’s just keep going!” 

As we keep moving we realize quickly that we’re in a dead end. The spiders from behind us are closing in, as two more head up from behind those ones. We’re trapped.

“Adora, we’re going to die here! I knew Entrapta couldn’t be trusted!”

“It’s fine, the horde throws robots at us all the time, we’ll be okay!”

“Ugh, I hate this!” I shout, readying my claws as Adora pulls the sword off her back.

The spiders move forward, and I Adora and I head forward at the same time. As the first spider moves on us, its pincers closing in on me, I jump up avoiding the attack, and go to take it out, as Adora thrusts the sword into the front of the thing's head.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to do much of anything, so I smash my hand down on one of the eyes, looking at it. Definitely robots, lots of wiring. If I can just find something that looks like it provides power…

Something grabs my foot, and I look down to see a strand of green goo wrapped around my lower leg. “What the…” Suddenly I’m pulled, and I jam my hand down into the broken eye of the spider I’m on. “Adora!”

“I got you! She shouts, moving for the webbing when one of the new spiders drops between us from the ceiling, immediately pushing her back. She uses the sword to keep the pincers from closing on her, but now she’s pinned, and I turn to slash at the goo on me. 

But they’re too close, and I have to put both my hands up as a spider tries to bite down on me, and I’m able to manage just enough resistance to pull myself up, so that this spider slams its mouth into the one I'm already on. I turn back to face Adora when I feel something else connect with my side, there’s too many of these things. I’m flung off the top spider, and slam into a wall, as this third one and the damaged one start closing in on me.

I take one more glance over to Adora, who seems to be struggling as the fifth Spider begins moving down the wall she’s pinned against, towards her head. “Adora!” I shout again, looking up in horror.

Adora barely looks up, she just… takes a deep breath, and I watch as her eyes seem to glaze over. No! I move forward, when the damaged spider spews more goo onto me, knocking me to the floor. This can’t be it, we just got here… Think, Catra… Something needs to happen, something needs to give… Then, I hear Adora’s voice over the mechanical noises of the spider robots.

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

“Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?” The voice rings out in my ears as I’m struggling to hold this monster off. It’s too strong, way too strong, and I’m only alive because this sword is made of something incredibly strong, too. But the words ring through me, and I’m not sure what they mean, but right now? If that’s what it takes? I say the words.

I feel as if something awakens in me, something I’ve never felt before, and I feel myself being fueled by this near-overwhelming sense of energy. That, and raw, primal power. I’m still holding the sword, but it feels… lighter. And suddenly, I’m not even trying to hold this spider back. I look up, seeing the one closing in above me, and reach my hand up to stop it from closing around my head.

Something’s wrong. This isn’t adrenaline. I can’t think about that. Catra is in danger. Changing my grip on the top spider’s pincer to grab it, I almost feel my fingers dig into the metal, and I pull. Hard enough to yank the spider off the wall, and crush the second one in front of me. I don’t know what this is yet, but I can’t stop to think.

The spider’s are large, and I need to get past these two. So instead of going around, I just… jump. Way higher than I should be able to, clearing the two spiders and half the room around me, when I notice how off-balance I am. Still focused only on Catra, I turn the sword, as gravity pulls me back down to the three spiders around her.

I land on the middle one, the weight of me seeming to crush the back of the spider as I drive the sword into the head, and I see Catra look up at me, her mouth hanging open. I turn quickly to the spiders on either side of us, and hop off the middle spider. I decide to… put some faith in whatever I’m feeling, and drive my foot into the side of the now broken spider. It takes the hit, had, and slides across the hallway into the Spider closest to Catra, and in one smooth motion, I turn and throw my sword, as if swords were weapons made to be thrown, and it impales the last Spider between the body and head segment.

I turn back to Catra, who is still just… staring up at me, in pure shock. I walk up to her, crouching down, and go to help her pull the green webbing off of her. “Come on, Catra, we need to-”

I see it. I allow myself to look at the gold bracer on my wrist, and I pause.

My words were enough for Catra, though, who suddenly seems a lot less shocked and a lot more confused. “Adora?”

I stand up, my eyes almost tunneling in as I visibly trace the lines going up my arm. These aren’t my muscles… I look over slightly, looking at the gold and white emblem across my torso, with a blue gem that matches that sword resting in the center, and my eyes look down. The skirt I would never wear, the shorts under them, the exposed legs…

I look back up at Catra, who has pulled the last of the fake webs off of her and is standing up. “Adora?” She repeats, slower this time. She’s… smaller? No, I’m taller…

I feel my breathing starting to pick up. It’s like my mind is now racing to put everything I’ve heard the last two months, especially yesterday, together. “I-” Is all I can say. Then, the tension snaps all at once. 

“What did you do!?”

“I don’t know !”

“What is this!?”

“I don’t know!”

“Is this She-Ra?”

“Stop asking questions!”

“How do you turn it off!?”

I look back over at the sword, my breathing still fast, and everything feeling wrong. I turn back to Catra and just… feel myself go a little dizzy. This is too much. I feel the energy leaving me, I can almost feel my shrinking as my vision flutters, and I fall forward. Catra catches me instantly, and I don’t actually faint, so I’m able to catch myself.

“Adora, what’s going on? I thought the sword was magic, not-”

“Catra,” I say, using her shoulders to steady myself. “Stop. I don’t know. This is why we’re here, remember?”

“I… yeah. Sorry. It’s just… that isn’t… I didn’t think it would be that .”

“We don’t even know what that was,” I let go of Catra, walking over the fifth bot and pulling my sword out of it. It’s buried deep, it’s almost too hard to dislodge. How strong was I?

“Well then, let’s keep going back to looking, even though I’m starting to really think we should get out of here.”

“No, we’re fine. We’ll keep going. We walked into a hallway, not a spider storage closet. We must have missed something, come one.”

I start walking back the way we came, keeping an eye for any passageway on the walls we may have overlooked in our panic. Catra runs up next to me, following. “Adora, wait, we aren’t going to talk about that?”

“I don’t have time to think about what that was, or what it means. We need answers, not speculations.”

“Seriously? You don’t even know how you did that, do you?”

“No. But it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s just the words…” I pull the sword off my back again, and say, “For the Honor of Grayskull.” I turn back to face Catra when nothing happens, and shrug.

“Great, so we’re just going to keep moving through these halls forever?”

“I don’t know, maybe. We need to figure out how to stop the castle from freaking out. Here, I was right, a side hall. Definitely smaller, but it’s here,” I say, grabbing Catra’s hand and us down it.

“Yeah, I’m not sure I like walking through a magic death trap.”

“Relax, Catra, we aren’t going to die here.”

We keep moving down the hallway, just like the larger one it’s long and empty. The patterns on the wall are intricate, sometimes there’s more of these words Catra can’t read. Come to think of it, when did I ever learn this? I don’t know, I shake the thought out of my head and we keep moving.

“Oh great, another dead end,” Catra murmurs, as the end of the hall comes into view.

Hmm… No. You don’t just have hallways that lead to nothing. I look around, looking for anything that stands out. A button, a lever… another word.

“There’s that word again. Eternia,” as this strange word leaves my lips, another small triangle door opens up, revealing another room. I look at Catra, and we head in. The room is dark. Too dark. I look over at her.

“No way, I’m not leading us through this room.” I just hold the stare, my eyes pleading with her, and she sighs. “No.”

I shrug my shoulders, and just start walking into the room. There’s bound to be something eventually.

“Adora, what are you doing?” She shouts, running up and grabbing my arm. “I don’t like this, let’s find another way.”

“No, wait… I think I see something,” I say, still moving into the unseeable abyss.

“Adora, let’s leave… please,” she turns around, quickly adding, “where’d the door go?”

“Hello? Light Hope?” I ask, approaching a small red light, just floating, spinning, further into the darkness. As we get close enough, it almost casts enough light to show just a bit of the floor, and I reach out to touch it.

“Wait!” Catra shouts, but I already have my finger on it, and the light suddenly gets far brighter, highlighting both of us.

“What’s it doing?” I ask, and suddenly. The light turns off. For one second, darkness. Then, the lights suddenly turn on and… we’re in the Fright Zone… “What is this? How are we back here?”

“I have no idea what’s going on, even less than you do. We can’t really be in the Fright Zone.”

“Did Shadow Weaver find us? Is this a trick?”

“I doubt that, she has no idea this place is here. Let’s just… take a look around.” Catra reasons, turning around to head over towards a different part of the room.

We take a few steps around, in different directions, scouting out everything. I don’t know what I’m looking for, but we have to find some way out of this, right? I mean, what is this place? How could it know what the Fright Zone was if this thing is really centuries old?

“Hey Adora! This isn’t real!” I hear Catra shout. I turn around to head over to her when I hear something that shakes me completely.

“Catra?” I hear my voice ask. But it isn’t my voice, not now. It’s younger, much younger. 

I turn towards the voice, seeing a much younger me, staring at me. But young me said Catra… I turn around, seeing a young Catra standing on the other side of me. Like the young me, she also looks 10 years younger, this was before she started wearing that mask of hers.

The young Catra shouts out, “Adora!” She runs towards me, towards the younger me, coming straight for me. I brace myself for the impact, as this Catra doesn’t seem to recognize my presence here, but she just… phases right through me. A hologram… and way more advanced than the Light Hope secretary thing.

“Hey Adora?” Catra starts, walking up to me. “There’s something about-”

“Shh.” I say, watching the young her run up to the young me. Catra follows my eyes, and freezes.

“Ahh! Does it look broken to you?” The young Catra asks.

“It’s not broken, you’re fine!” The young me responds, almost playing off the panic on our friend's face. She wasn’t hurt here, she really was okay. Wait… was?

“I’m bleeding!” Young Catra had asked, looking down at her hand after rubbing it under her nose.

“You’re not bleeding! Why would you try to pick a fight with Octavia anyway?” I asked her, knowing how much older and tougher Octavia could be.

“I didn’t do anything! All I did was exist near her,” she lied, and I leaned in as if to pry for more. She obliged, adding, “and scratch her on the eyeball. And call her a Dumb Face.”

I remember this almost as visibly as it’s being presented back to me. I remember as I scoffed at Catra, following her to where Octavia was recovering, and joined Catra in continuing to make her day worse. Not that she had deserved it, and I’m sure Catra started it, but… I wanted to support my friend. And Catra did take a hit from a much larger person, and I wanted to make sure Octavia knew that Catra wasn’t a lone target.

As Octavia roared, Catra and I had started running through the halls to get away, our hands together, laughing.

We’re running, our hands locked, just genuinely enjoying ourselves despite how upset Catra was moments before. It’s only when we stop to breathe that I realize that I was running myself. When did that happen? Did we become projections of our past selves? How did I not realize this?

Catra stops laughing too, looking at me, her normal self, too. She looks as confused as I feel, and when she feels as I squeeze her hand, she seems almost… embarrassed.

Although we had already been doing it a lot today, like both times when it was dark, she actually pulls away this time. “What… happened?”

“I guess it was a simulation. I don’t really know why or how, but… I guess this place knows our memories.

“Great… This place is so weird.”

“I know, but we’re trying to figure it out. We still have a lot to learn about She-Ra. How to use her, how to turn her on and off, it’s a lot.”

“Yeah, I know. This… must all be hard on you.” She says, moving forward.

“Why do you say that?” I ask, following. She suddenly seems a lot more upset, like that memory was something she’d rather not have seen.

“You’re stressed, busy all the time. Outside of our missions, you’re drowning in training and paperwork.”

We walk into an open room of sorts. A chasm, with a pillar spanning the hole. She looks back at me and easily hops on. I follow, and we start moving across.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” I say, wondering why she’s so upset about this. I try to ping it off the memory we saw… does she think we’re not that close anymore? “Is this because I’ve been too busy for us?”

She seems to pause for a second, bingo. “Why would I care about that? We make time when we can.” She hops off the other side of the pillar, me seconds behind her.

“Catra, I know when you aren’t telling me something. You’ve acted like things were weird between us for weeks, when all I’ve been doing is working harder for the Fight Zone.” As I step off the pillar, the rocks crumble beneath my foot, “whoa whoa whoa!”

Catra grabs my hand quickly, as my foot slips down towards the chasm, pulling me back in. “I’m not being weird, I’m just… worried you’re stressed.”

“Thanks,” I say, as we continue walking forward. “But I’m fine. Lonnie and Kyle have both approached me too, where is this all coming from?”

“You really don’t know?”

“Not exactly. I… I feel it too, you know. The distance.” I smile, stepping closer to her, “I’m sorry, Catra. I’m still learning about this whole Force Captain thing, and now this She-Ra thing.”

“It’s not that big of a deal Adora, really. So you’re moving closer to your goals, that’s a good thing.”

“It was our goal, Catra,” I say, knowing full well what she is referring to.

“ Our goal? Get over yourself,” she says teasingly.

I wrap my arm around her, pulling her into me, “you know it’s true!” I laugh, as she pushes me off of her, towards a pillar. I brace myself for the impact, but instead I fall through it, into more sudden darkness.

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

“Adora!” I shout, banging on the once again solid pillar. What is this place? Why did it take her? “Adora!” I shout louder, before I just rest my head against the pillar and close my eyes, feeling frustrated.

When I finally open them, we’re not at the edge of the chasm room. Instead, I’m in what appears to be… the Black Garnet chamber?

“Adora?” I ask, hesitantly, looking around the room. And there she is, standing in the middle of it, in front of Shadow Weaver. I walk over, that isn’t really her, it can’t be, but I feel my fur sticking up along my body either way, willing myself to keep my tail from flailing up like I always do when I see her.

“Adora,” Shadow Weaver speaks in that low, drawn out cadence of hers. “I don’t see why you’re so upset with this, you know she’d just mess it up again.” Great. Talking about me. But… When was this? Adora looks like herself here.

“Shadow Weaver, I don’t think that’s true. My team may not be perfect, but all of them give their all, even Catra. She spent hours working this out with no breaks to get this right.”

I gulp. The conversation I missed before Princess Prom, the one where I was sent to go see if Scorpia figured the airship out. Adora did try to change her mind?

“Your team, I trust to handle this. Catra, I do not. I have watched your missions, from Thaymor to Salineas. I have seen her failure to keep up with you, and we already discussed her outright betrayal at Plumeria.”

I gulp, Shadow Weaver was still watching us? Was she watching me that whole time? Did she know I disobeyed and helped Adora out of that situation with the three princesses? Oh no… the sword…

I feel like I shouldn’t be watching this, like I should grab Adora, if this is the real her, and try to pull us out of this. Why am I being shown this?

“She- it wasn’t what it looked like. She misread my intentions, and opted to make sure I didn’t do anything I would regret.”

“And yet, she took away the one edge you had that would have let you win there. You were a second away from taking the Princess of Bright Moon off the field. This is your chance to rectify the mistake of letting her get away.”

“”Shadow Weaver, the plan isn’t an assassination.”

“Adora you are not here to befriend the enemy, you are a soldier in a war for the future of Etheria, to liberate the good people from the Princesses’ tyrannical rule.”

Adora pauses, or, paused, at this. “I- I know. They won’t hold back on me, I shouldn’t on them.”

“You have a good heart, Adora. You want to play the part of a liberator so well you would rather try to reason with those who cannot be reasoned with than do what needs to be done to keep them from hurting others.” 

“I know, but-”

“ But ,” Shadow Weaver cut her off, “heart is a weakness you cannot afford. Your fondness for Catra is apparent to every person on your team, in the Fright Zone, and in the field. When they recognize it, they will use it against you.”

Adora looked down in hesitation. Seeing it makes my heart skip a beat, and my face falls into a frown, before she finally looked up and said, “She can handle herself.”

“That may be true, but it will only take one slip up for you to lose her, and then what? What will happen to that heart of yours, then.”

Adora paused again, like she doesn’t know how to respond. “I… I’ll do what needs to be done.”

“Good. Whether it be the enemy or your own distractions, you can not allow her to interfere with your mission.”

“Yes, Shadow Weaver…” Adora responds, looking down, and I finally had enough. I move forward, out of this sort of trance I was in, and move to grab Adora’s arm. Surprisingly, it’s real. This was her, and I pull her away from Shadow Weaver.

“Adora, let’s go.” I say forcefully, trying to hide how upsetting this conversation was for me. Adora’s eyes go wide as she looks at me, then back to Shadow Weaver, finally out of the trance of the memory.

“Catra, you weren’t supposed to-”

“Whatever,” I say. Who cares if Shadow Weaver turned something about Adora’s hesitations into an excuse to pit me as weak? Who cares that Shadow Weaver is able to so effectively use leaps in reasoning to get people to arrive at the conclusions she wants? Who cares that Shadow Weaver is trying more and more to turn Adora into her perfect soldier?

“Catra, wait-” Adora shouts, desperation in her voice, but I cut her off.

“We need to get out of here, I’m done here,” I say, we’ll learn more about She-Ra some other way.

“No, Catra, stop!” Adora shouts, breaking my grip on her wrist and grabbing my shoulders. “That- that wasn’t real.”

“Adora, you’re a terrible liar. Let go of me,” my voice is stern, cold. Probably a little too mean for the situation, but my mind is racing and connecting dots I don’t want to connect.

“No, I mean, of course I didn’t really listen to her,” she seems to be begging as she says this, as if she really needs me to listen, but I only kind of do.

“You didn’t? You told her what she wanted to hear? You’re still going out into battle with your heart on your sleeve like you always did before we made it to the field?”

“Catra, it isn’t like that!”

“Of course it isn’t. You’re not sucking up to Shadow Weaver, sticking up for me only as far as you can remain in her good graces. You’re not listening to her, and closing off your emotions in battle like you did every time you ordered or fired a shot at Salineas.”

“Stop! You aren’t listening to me!”

“Why should I? You haven’t been listening to me. I’ve been trying to tell you for weeks not to let her get to you, but apparently she is.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You don’t remember when you threatened Glimmer? I told you you were taking it too far, and as soon as I’m not a hundred percent with you, you push me away. Send me to run useless patrols with the rest of our team.”

“You- I- Ugh! I needed you out of there, or Shadow Weaver was going to remove you herself. She practically gave you a death glare through her mask when you pulled me back. She thinks you’re sabotaging the team.”

“No, say it how you always do now,” I snap, her use of words suddenly making something click for me.

“What?”

“It was always our team, Adora. As in, equals among all five of us. Ever since you got told you might be a candidate for the Thaymor invasion, especially since you got promoted, you joined Shadow Weaver in saying it was your team. She thinks I’m sabotaging your team.”

“I- I didn’t- I don’t-” I got her, and she knows I did. Something changed when she got promoted. “What is this about, really?” She asks, trying to turn the conversation off of her.

“Don’t change the subject. She’s getting to you, and you know it.”

“She is not getting to me!” She shouts. Now it’s a real argument.

“Then why did you really push me away! Why have you been so afraid to keep me close!”

“You’re the one who’s been pulling back! You don’t come visit my room, you slink away when we’re in the cafeteria, you don’t talk to me after training!”

“Because you never want to just be . It’s always work this, the sword that. I tried to bridge the gap, when you asked me to help you in going through our files on Runestones, but you always pull back away. You’re too busy trying to get ahead!”

“I need to get ahead to keep us safe!”

“Don’t pretend this is for my own good, don’t use her words!”

The scene shifts again, suddenly, and we’re in a different place in the Fright Zone, the locker room. After only a second, the entrance opens, and I watch as a younger me storms in. This must be… a few years ago. Early teens. And It’s not a good memory.

That much is clear by how as soon as I entered the room, I ripped the training harness off of myself and threw it to the ground. 

“Catra, wait!” Adora had shouted from behind me, following me in. I see the limp in her leg, and wince in self hatred.

“Leave me alone!” I shouted back, in anger. Not at her, just in general. I remember this day clearly, even without the simulation digging up the deepest details. We were running a training regimen just prior. I made a mistake, one mistake, and it brought both our scores down as a result, and that means it’s only a matter of time before she would show up.

“Catra, it’s okay! I’m not mad at you, you were just trying to help.”

“I said leave me alone!” I turned around, getting in her face. I feel myself cringe a little at how much of a snarl there was in my voice. I needed her to leave, because I didn’t want her to be there when I got in actual trouble.

But she didn’t leave. Her expression dropped, her face of concern and pity becoming one of pure focus, as she just stepped closer. She was never afraid of me, she’s seen me at my lowest.

“I’m not leaving, Catra,” she had said, forcibly. Yet all the same, her voice still carried just as much support as it always did.

“Then you’re an idiot, you know what comes next!”

“I don’t care what comes next, I’m not going to let you do it alone,” she placed her hands on my shoulders, and I finally started to calm down. I’d survive, of course I would. What could Shadow Weaver possibly do to me?

I let the anger fall from my face, knowing the whole time I should never have even showed it to her, but of course, even just thinking the name of the witch is enough to make her appear, as the door opens behind Adora.

“Move,” Shadow Weaver says simply, firmly, and Adora immediately obeys, letting go and stepping to the side, next to me. Shadow Weaver just hovers closer, coming right in front of us, right in front of me. “What do you have to say for yourself, cadet?” She says, her mask turned down at me.

I take a step back, do what I always do. A deep breath. Let the fur on my back stand, focus on keeping my tails and ears under my control. Hide the fear, show the calm. “I screwed up,” I admit, immediately, knowing better than to try and defend myself here.

“You screwed up, how ?”

“I… I didn’t trust my team. I didn’t trust Adora.” She was pinned on a raised platform, and had three bots on her. I couldn’t get to them, I could get to her. I made a choice, one she was too stubborn to do, and pulled her back. Only we lost our footing on the platform, and fell. I was and am good at falling, I know how to land properly. To roll, to use my knees as cushions, my tail for balance. Normal Etherians aren’t as graceful. She took the hit hard, landed on her left leg. She’d be out of commission for at least a week because of me.

“Because of you, you turned a tricky situation into a total loss for your team, and Adora has paid the consequences.”

“I- I’m fine,” Adora said next to me, almost forcing the words out, but you could read the pain on her face. She shouldn’t have even been standing.

“Adora, I will hear no excuses for her behavior here,” Shadow Weaver says, her attention shifting behind us. “Rogelio, Lonnie, get her to the infirmary for a leg brace. Kyle, go with.”

Adora hangs her head in defeat, there was no way I wasn’t being left with her now. The others come over from the back of the locker room, Rogelio and Lonnie each hesitantly grabbing one of Adora’s arms to keep her weight off her injured leg.

“Let’s go, Adora,” Lonnie whispers. She turned to look at me, one of the very few moments Lonnie and I had ever shared a glance that wasn’t filled with malice either way, and then everyone else was gone, and I was alone with Shadow Weaver.

“How many more times do I have to tell you cadet, you are not here to get in Adora’s way, you are not here to keep her safe from things that would not harm her, only to help her succeed.”

“I- Shadow Weaver, I-”

“You don’t even think you made a mistake, do you? Just that her getting hurt was an accident?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” I murmured, lowering my head.

“Catra… I understand your concern for her, I do. But your lack of faith is a detriment your team can not afford. There is no use worrying about keeping her safe if you’re the one who ends up hurting her anyway.”

“What about the risk? Those bots could’ve seriously hurt her, I couldn’t let that happen.”

“That’s why you fix it before it’s a problem. If you’d have taken your training more seriously, you’d have been fast enough to intervene before she was in danger, or to keep her out of danger entirely. Your job is to know how to handle emergency situations, yes, but first and foremost to keep them from happening.”

“I- yes, Shadow Weaver.”

“Do not mistake my tone for mercy, Catra. This is still a warning. If your actions ever cause Adora harm again, I will inflict the same injuries back on you tenfold. If you put Adora in a cast for a week, again, I will make sure you stay in one for months. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. Go back to the barracks, Catra, don’t let me see you before tomorrow’s drills,” she had threatened, before exiting the room, not giving me a chance to say anything further to call her out or defend myself.

It was a bad day. A really bad one. I was basically told I was to be confined to my room, and the midday time meant no afternoon rations. There were good moments, like later that day when Adora finally walked back into the barracks, she actually guessed the damage well enough and had smuggled in a ration for me, but the rest of the week was a nightmare of looking over at Adora, seeing her unable to do the one thing she knows- being a soldier. Shadow Weaver got one part right, I never let it happen again.

But as soon as the doors closed behind her, they open again, and Adora comes running right back in, her older self. I look down, noticing that at some point I had started perceiving the simulation from my own eyes. How did that happen again? I was waiting for it this time?

“It- it made me hear that. I’m sorry,” she says, placing her arms around me, but all it does is make me more frustrated at everything.

“Sorry? Like you didn’t know what happened, like you don’t know how awful Shadow Weaver always is to me, always has been, always will be!” I shout. I shouldn’t shout, even now I recognize that, but everything I’m seeing…

“Of course I know that. Do you know how many times she’s told me you’re only still here because of me? I know what she does, and I really am sorry.”

“Of course I know, I fully remember the day we got caught in the Black garnet chamber, where she chewed me out and you barely lifted a finger.”

“Well I’m lifting a finger now! If I don’t do this, if I don’t prove that I can do my job despite what we think of each other, she’ll, well, who knows what she’ll do!?” 

“What we think of each other? Adora, you’re acting like I’m some scared little pet who needs to be doted over. I can take care of myself!”

“Is that why you’ve been pushing me away, to prove a point I know is true? You’ve never been a pet, Catra, we’re equals!”

“No, we aren’t! I’m pushing you away because you’re giving her what she wants and are leaving me behind!” I shout, louder than anything said so far. She finally pauses, finally stops trying to argue back.

When she speaks again, it’s quiet. Soft. Like she knows I’m at least partially right. “You didn’t like that I got a direct assignment from Hordak… So what do you want from me? To have you be a Force Captain too? I can’t make that happen.”

“You know that second place suits me just fine,” I lie, as I want more than anything to be… equals… “But right now, I feel like you’re winding up ten steps ahead of me, and moving too fast for me to catch up. And if you get far enough ahead… What if you do decide you don’t need me? What if you listen to Shadow Weaver too much?”

“Catra…” she puts her arms back on me, pulling me into a hug. I let it happen. “That is never going to happen.”

“Easy to say, harder to prove. What if you don’t have a choice?”

“I’ll always have a choice, Catra, and I am never going to choose to leave you.” She says it with such certainty, such drive and commitment, like I was stupid to think any of this. Maybe, at least, I can let her have that part.

“I- I know,” I say, but this isn’t a win. This doesn’t fix everything. But I’m still not happy with her appeasement of Shadow Weaver, but she refuses to budge on it, like she doesn’t see how she acted at Plumeria or just the other day towards Glimmer is wrong, or how she felt like she needed to push me away right after what she said to Glimmer to… protect me? At least, I guess I can let myself calm down a little if she’s going to be more careful about… making sure I’m not left behind.

I pick my head off of her, stepping back, when I realize that the scene is different again.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

We’re outside now, at a Fright Zone complex entrance in the scrapyard. We only have a few memories here… but I quickly become confused when I see A simulation of Catra at her current age walking. When was this? We haven’t been out here in years, not since we got stuck outside after missing curfew…

“No! I told you to stop asking about it!” Catra shouts, or shouted. Is this the past?

“Sorry! I just, you seem upset. And we’re all friends, so I thought-” Kyle’s voice…

Interrupted by Catra shouting, “Kyle, drop it… I told you, nothing happened.”

I look over at the real Catra, who is standing next to me, mouth open. She’s… she knows this. She’s shocked. “Catra?” I ask her.

“No, no no no…” she murmurs, as the simulation of her and Kyle appears in view, walking straight towards us.

“-stop speaking to me.” I tune back into this past conversation.

“Okay, Catra. Understood.” Kyle says, hanging his head in defeat. 

“Adora, we need to go now-” Real Catra grabs my arm, her face desperate, as the simulations walk through us. It’s strange, I actually see the instant the simulation seems to… take control of Catra, as she lets go of my arm and starts walking next to Kyle. What doesn’t she want me to see?

“Fine.” She says after a moment, “I’m worried about Adora.” Wait, this was really recent. Was this just the other day?

I keep following, feeling like I’m eavesdropping on something I shouldn’t, but also like I don’t really have a choice, like I’m supposed to listen. There are a few things they say that stick out.

Kyle asked if this is about the sword.

Catra thinks I’m confused, Kyle thinks I’m stressed. 

Kyle said Lonnie thinks I’m fine.

Kyle asked Catra if we’re best friends, and for some reason… she hesitated. I don’t know why, but it hurts to see that split second of hesitation, even though when she said, “yeah, I guess,” she said it with utter certainty, yet also… disappointment?

The conversation ends with Kyle being sappy about us all being friends, and Catra actually… smiles? Catra has been opening up and talking to not only Scorpia, but Kyle too? Have I been… that busy for her? I mean, it’s a good thing. I’ve been telling her for years that everyone is friends with her too… But I feel like she’s listening for reasons I shouldn’t have let happen.

* Boom *

I pause with Catra and Kyle, this was the night after Princess Prom… 

“What was that?” Kyle had asked in surprise. 

Wait, but why then did Shadow Weaver seem to think-

Catra explains her theory, but then turns around seemingly after hearing something else. Her hearing was always good…

“There’s something else.”

“What, more of them? Oh, we’re in trouble… what if they get-”

“ADVENTURE!” The sailor guy shouted, I don’t know his name yet.

“Who the he-” Catra started to say, having whatever obvious obscenity she was going to say being cut off as Kyle takes a… suction-tipped arrow to his forehead, electrocuting and knocking him out instantly.

Catra then took a hit from Entrapta, out of nowhere, and muttered, “ow…” as she stood back up. Bow said the guy's name is Sea Hawk, they taunted each other for a moment, and Catra took off. I give chase after her, just as the other three rebellion people did, when something seems off.

I’m keeping pace with Catra.

She’s supposed to be faster, way faster. Did the hit she took hurt that much? I follow her as she ran to the door, punching in the code, before… hesitating… why did she…

She took a hit from a net arrow, knocking her down. The rebellion members rush into the hallway, and as Entrapta starts messing with a terminal, Bow tries to interrogate Catra. Catra refuses, but when Bow looks up… I watch as Catra’s face twisted as if she was thinking of her way out, but… she wasn’t. Her claws were already primed to slice straight through the net… she’s waiting… but Bow was already distracted? 

She already had her plan… then she said, “You’re not going to find her in the prison.”

I feel my face drop from confusion to… something blank. If she said that…

Catra made her move, getting free instantly, and I can tell she made sure not to break Bow’s tablet.

I follow, even though I know how this ends, but only to catch up to Catra so I can grab her arm. This immediately breaks her out of the simulation, and she looks around for a moment, stunned.

“You led them to her,” I say, but my voice has no sense of an accusation in it. Her actions were clear enough.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She says, immediately collecting herself and pulling off of me.

“You sabotaged us! Shadow Weaver was right…” I say, my voice reeling in shock.

“What? Shadow Weaver was right?”

“You leading them to us was sloppy, even for you, Shadow Weaver figured something was up.”

“Did you just call me sloppy?” Catra says, still trying to steer the conversation, but it doesn’t matter. We’re both mad now.

“You… you don’t want to be second in command, do you? You’re jealous!”

“You’re delusional!”

“The looks you gave me the whole time at Salineas, the incident at Plumeria, the distance, and this?”

“Adora, you’re not listening to me! It’s not jealousy!”

“Why are you trying to hold me back? Even outside, in the woods, and the whole time in here, you were trying to get me to turn around.”

Catra pauses for a second, she’s thinking. Choosing her words carefully, for once. “I’m trying to keep you from losing yourself!”

“What?”

“Use the context, Adora. I already told you you’re listening too much to Shadow Weaver, devoting yourself more and more to this mission, or this sword-”

“How is pitting us against each other, and against Shadow Weaver, helping with any of that? You’re supposed to have my back!”

“I do! That’s what I’m trying to do! We’re looking out for each other, just like we promised all those years ago. And me looking out for you? Is keeping you honest with yourself, and keeping you from losing yourself to fear.”

“You think I’m not being honest? You think I’m afraid?”

“I think we have no idea what we’re doing, and you admit it, but you aren’t acting like it. You’re trying to control everything, trying to keep everything the way you need it to be so you don’t snap under the pressure of being a Force Captain, because this She-Ra stuff is really getting to you.”

“Why do you think so fully that the sword is wrong with everything?”

“Because… that night you found the sword, I was scared. I don’t know why, but I had this feeling. This awful feeling that everything was going to change if you went back out there. But you didn’t. You stayed. And everything was perfect, for that short bit of time, until you saw the sword again at Thaymor.”

“I thought it was important and I was right. This sword is the key to everything somehow, I just need to figure it out. Then, I can win the war for the horde. Shadow Weaver looses all sway over us, and we’re safe.”

“But this sword became an obsession. Over what it meant. Every fight we had with the rebellion I swear you were trying harder to grab it than finish the mission. And when you made that move against that Bow person, I… that wasn’t you.”

“Oh for the love of- I told you, I wasn’t going to kill anymore!”

“And you aren’t one to maim either. There’s a key difference between you and I. I don’t feel bad about hurting people. You do. You’re supposed to be the one with the heart, because you’re a good person, Adora.”

“What- what are you-”

“Even when we were cadets, when we’d all play tricks on Kyle, you’d almost always be the only one to go up to him, to make sure he was okay. You always apologize after sparring sessions no matter your partner, even Rogelio, whose thick skin meant he rarely felt a blow. You told me years ago you never wanted to hurt anyone, even in war. And that day you found me, abandoned in a box in the rain, you did everything you could to help me, to convince Shadow Weaver to give me a home. Even if it was messed up…”

“Catra, I don’t go out in the field wanting to hurt people. What, do you think I’ve become some sort of monster just because I got a sword and a badge?”

“No, I get it, you’re doing your job. But you’re putting more and more aside to do this job. You didn’t have to threaten Sparkles as a prisoner, we already had her, but you decided to be cruel and twist the knife that was her friendship with the Archer even deeper. That’s something I would do, never you.”

“I’m going to do what I need to to make sure we accomplish our goals.”

“You speak like you’re being noble about it, but those goals were always supposed to be a fantasy.”

“You and I together, best friends on top of everything, a fantasy?” I ask, not believing how cold she could be about the idea, and I realize it’s the first time we’ve stopped talking long enough for us to actually think. She… she’s right in a lot of ways. Am I losing myself?

As I hang my head slightly, the scene shifts. We’re on the roof of the Fright Zone. Catra and I, together. On top of… everything… How could she not see it? 

“So, what are we gonna do when we’re all grown up, and we defeat the princesses?” I hear myself ask, from the ledge, and Catra and I turn to see ourselves as kids again, overlooking the Fright Zone.

“Hmm… Well once we conquer the world, I think we’re going to have to make sure we’re the ones actually ruling it.” Catra responded, chuckling.

“What, overthrow Hordak? We can’t!” I said back, surprised. How could Catra have suggested something so stupid?

“What if we get so strong, he wouldn’t be able to stop us?” Catra asked, looking to the left to watch my shocked expression.

“Seriously? Why would we do that? It’s a lot of responsibility…” I said, my childlike mind actually considering the possibilities.

“We’re best friends, right? I’m pretty sure that means we’re supposed to give each other the world,” Catra had said, it again sounding so simple. So possible.

“I- okay!” I agreed in a playful way. At the time, this was all play, just us coming up with ideas of power fantasies.

Catra stood up, holding her hand down to me, and I joined her. “Yes! Adora, we’re going to conquer the world!”

“And we’re going to do it together, and with our team, and we can make the Fright Zone better for everyone!”

I feel my heart break at those words. Catra was right… I did used to say “our” team. And there was that unbridled optimism, that naivety.

I watch as the two of us hugged each other, and when I pulled away, I pull away.

I’m looking into Catra’s eyes, and I can see the sadness in them, just as I feel it in me. Things aren’t that simple anymore… things aren’t easy. They’re complicated, confusing, and just… overwhelming.

“When… when did you start taking that seriously…” she asks, all traces of anger between her and I are gone.

“I… it was always the plan, just not like that. I was always pushing, to make myself better. Shadow Weaver says your place in this world is what you make of it, and I wanted to make a place for us. So she and no one else could hurt us,” I say, pouring my heart out into my words to make them as honest as I can.

“But then you found the sword…” her eyes behind me, to the sword hilt sticking over my shoulder.

“I guess… I guess I did have an idea or two…”

She looks back at me, into my eyes, “like?”

“I… this sword complicates everything. Things are going to get worse, I know it. It’s only a matter of time before Shadow Weaver finds out-”

“Adora… she watched all our missions up until Salineas.”

“I know, and-”

“She already knows about the sword.”

“... what? I mean, she implied she did, but I thought she just knew something .”

“Do you know why she stopped?”

“Something about warding spells…” I say, fuzzy on the details.

“Warding spells… on the rebellion? Adora, that means she could be watching now.” Catra looks around, as if trying to sense her presence, but relaxed. “I don’t think she is. I usually… if I try to feel it, I usually do. But still.”

“Then… then I need to tell her. Maybe she can help me understand this thing.”

“No! After everything she’s done to us, how she’s still manipulating you, she’ll just try to turn you into a weapon.”

I pause at her words, this time it actually sinks in, “that’s all she ever wanted from me, so what changes?”

“Wait, so your plan is to let her use you like a cannon? She points, you swing?”

“It doesn’t have to be that way. Entrapta implied I was trouble, real trouble, for the rebellion. You saw that strength I used against the spiders earlier. This sword is powerful. Real power. Somehow, maybe… if I can learn to use it, even from her, eventually we won’t have to listen to her anymore. I can finally…” keep you safe from her, for good.

“FInally what? What are you trying to imply?”

“Maybe… maybe our dream doesn’t have to be a fantasy.”

Catra’s eyes yet again narrow, yet again as if her mind is racing. “Adora…”

“We wouldn’t have to be afraid of her, we wouldn’t have to be afraid of Hordak, or this war… I could fix everything.”’

“Adora…” she says, like she can’t put her thoughts into words about what I’m saying.

“She-Ra could be the real key to making things better for everyone! We could be… liberators!”

“Adora! Liberators from who? You know the princesses aren’t tyrants, you know this war is just a battle for power between two sides. These aren’t the thoughts of a liberator, these are the thoughts of a conqueror.”

I pause, biting my lip slightly. She’s… what are the princesses? But if Shadow Weaver lied about so much, what else did she lie about? “I- I know. I’m not a hero, Catra. But I can make the world better for us.”

“At what cost!?” She shouts, and for once… I don’t have an answer.

“Catra… I don’t know what’s really going on with everything. I don’t know how much of anything I know is a lie, and that terrifies me. The only thing I know is that I’m here, now, with you. That’s what matters.”

“I- Adora, this isn’t something you come back from…”

“I know, change is scary and bad and can ruin everything. But… I don’t mind the change, not when I’m with you. Maybe this is just part of us growing up,” I say, struggling to make sense of everything I’m feeling. Why is everything so intense? I’m just expressing my desire to keep being friends… right?

“Adora… you’re right. Things have changed a lot these last few months. And I… I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m okay. Now, I don’t suppose we’re going to find this Light Hope person after all, so let’s just go find something that gives off an energy signature,” I say, pulling Entrapta’s tablet off my back for the first time since we got here, and turning it on. The screen is bright, and I wait a few seconds to adjust before looking at the energy readings.

“Wait, that thing gives off that much light? Why were you holding my hand in the dark, then!?”

“Uh…” I say, looking over to our right. Sure enough, the tablet was right, and there was a lot of interference. Standing right there, just a few feet from us, stands Light Hope.

Catra turns, seeing Light Hope, and she shrieks, jumping back a foot, out of my view. I’m guessing her fur is probably standing every which way.

“Light Hope?” I ask, hoping this is actually her.

“Adora,” the figure says, in the same voice I’ve heard so many times since touching this sword, “you are making it very difficult to reach you. You must let go.”

I turn around at Catra, not even sure why, she’s just standing right behind me, a step to the side. Then I realize what this place was doing. It was trying to drive us apart. I turn back to Light Hope.

“I’m not, “letting go,” of anything until you tell me what’s going on here.”

Light Hope stares at me for a moment, as if calculating. “Very well. I… shall explain,” she says, waving her hand. 

Suddenly, the scene of the Fright Zone shifts, and the ledge of the roof that Catra and I were standing at moves out from under us. Before either of us can react, we’re both falling, as the simulation turns off the Fright Zone. Everything goes black, as Catra and I scream out.

Notes:

Bow and Glimmer couldn't make it today, but She-Ra finally could, for a moment.
Also dialogue heavy chapters be like, "time to overuse ellipses and dashes," sorry not sorry.

Chapter 11: Etheria's Savior

Summary:

There are many questions you could ask Light Hope, let's hope she knows how to answer them!

Bow’s POV

“Hmm… what if I just… overlay all the past signals?” I ask out loud, but no one is here. I’m in the war room, overlooking the holo-table, staring at a projection of the woods.

Ever changing, always different. I’ve spent so much of my life in these woods, especially when I actually go home once in a while. I haven’t called the woods home much recently, preferring instead to stay in Bright Moon, but even when I lived there the woods were always strangely unfamiliar.

I’ve spent the last two days just trying to work through this strange signal Entrapta kept talking about. It’s like I’m missing something obvious. I’m sure Entrapta would have already figured out an algorithm to track it down, but… she’s gone.

And I’m not her.

I’ve always been more in touch with the technical aspect of tinkering, Entrapta had an edge for patterns, code, and software. I’ve been looking at some of the work she sent me to my tracker pad, but I haven’t made sense of everything yet.

This radio signal that was transmitting to the sword hasn’t come back, which means I’m working only on First One’s tech signatures, and I barely made any progress.

“Bow!” The doors to the outside halls slam open, and Glimmer comes running in. I look up from the map.

“Glimmer?”

“She knows! She knows!” She says, running straight up and throwing herself around me for a hug.

“Woah! Glimmer, what happened?”

“Mom knows, I glitched in front of her…”

“Are you okay? What did she say?”

“She- it wasn’t a bad thing… you were right…”

“Really? What did she say? Does she know how to help?”

“Not sure… she said… we need to keep going. That she was sorry, and- and that we both feel like we failed.”

“Oh, that’s… actually really sweet,” I think, pausing. I’m grateful that Glimmer actually seems happy sad instead of sad sad.

“But… we don’t know how to fix it yet. My… my powers might be gone.”

“We’ll figure it out, Glimmer, I know we will.”

She finally lifts her head off my shoulder, wiping a tear from her face, and smiling. “So, how’s the treasure hunt going?”

“Another “not sure.” I feel like I’m close, but without knowing how to write a probability algorithm, I’d be walking through the woods for hours,” I say, letting go of her and turning back towards the table.

“What do you mean,”I?” You can’t seriously be thinking of looking for whatever thing might be alone.”

“Glimmer, you’re in no position to go anywhere with your glitching. Besides, I was thinking of using the trek as an excuse to bring the horse out, again.”

“You still don’t have a name for him?” She asks, stepping closer to the table.

“I haven’t had the time to think of one.”

“Well… I’m going with, regardless.”

“Glimmer-” I start, turning to her, before she cuts me off.

“No arguing! Do you… have you made any progress?”

“That’s the thing, there’s no pattern to this. It shifts randomly, and I don’t know how the woods work that deep out. I couldn’t even explain how the woods work around where I live, It’s like instinct.”

“I mean, the stories say the woods are alive, in a sense. That’s where the whispering comes from. They let us through, but not the Horde, as if it… knows, somehow.”

“What, you want to take a chance trip that the woods wants us to find this place?”

Glimmer looks at the map, studying it for a moment, “Wait, wasn’t the signal still there before I left to talk to my mom?” She asks, pointing at the signal's current location.

“Uh… yeah. Why?”

“It’s been quite a while, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean much. It’s random. I’ve seen it move after 15 minutes, and after an hour.”

“But it’s been three since it moved there.”

“I… yeah, it has been a bit. What are you thinking?”

“You said a few things about the radio signal, the sword being the receiver, and Adora owning the sword? What if she’s already there.”

“Like… the woods can’t shift if someone is present?” I think it through. It wouldn’t make much sense, but since I have no idea how the shifting landscape works, I can’t exactly disprove it.

“Which means Adora might be there, right now.”

“Adora… yeah, Adora! It has to be! We have to take the horse now, we don’t know how long she’ll be, let’s go!” I grab Glimmer’s arm, as we move for the war room entrance. 

I still don’t want to take her, but truth be told I’m hoping this Adora person knows enough about the magic that was used on Glimmer to maybe, possibly, help us.

Not that Adora would help us, but assuming she went alone, who’s to say I can’t get her to give me any useful information? A way to cure her, to get rid of the glitching. And if Adora isn’t alone, well, I’ll be ready. Her and her team haven’t exactly been able to fully win any encounter, even if we haven’t either.

We’ll be in over our heads… I could get Spinnerella and Netossa to help, too, but Netossa is still upset at everything that happened the other day.

Besides, I really want to prove myself wrong about this whole She-Ra thing. Maybe she won’t be there, maybe the signal will move and it will mean I’m overthinking all of this.

But as Glimmer and I move through the halls, heading for the exit, the dread I feel only grows. It’s going to take us a long time to get to where the signal currently is, if it both doesn’t change or shift the path that leads there. Navigating the woods is always tricky, but hopefully if we take the horse we can get there before Adora is gone.

“Bow, if you’re right about her being She-Ra, this is a really, really bad idea.”

“She didn’t exactly use the sword when she could have at Princess Prom or our rescue attempt, and our intel says her team is still relatively new to the field. She’s as inexperienced as the rest of us, we just need to keep our focus.” I say, as we finally reach the exterior of the castle, and start making our way down to the stables.

Glimmer stumbles for a second, glitching, and while I let go of her earlier, me turning around and grabbing her to keep her up means I spend a few seconds feeling the pain too. It… really hurts. How is she handling this constantly? Glimmer’s stronger than I thought.

“I’m okay, I’m okay! We need to get there… keep moving.”

“Yeah, yeah. I don’t know if we do or do not have any time, so let’s hurry.”

We make it to the stable, and I rush as I get the  horse ready for travel, Glimmer and I are able to get the saddle on in moments, as I climb on top.

“I don’t want to hurt him…” Glimmer says, not following me on.

“Then- then we walk, or-”

“No, hang on…” Glimmer closes her eyes, and starts glitching again, as she groans out in pain.

“Wh- what are you doing?”

“It’s- static,” she grits out. “I let it dissipate… It takes a little longer to build up.”

“That works? Glimmer, I don’t like this, stop!”

“Okay!” She says, sighing as the glitching stops. So she can’t stop it when it comes on randomly, but she mentioned she could think it into effect if she thought about the pain… “I’m good, let’s go!”

She reaches for my hand, and I help her up onto the saddle. “Alright, let’s go find this signal!” I say, moving the reins to on this lovable unnamed horse as we start heading off for the woods, hoping this signal doesn’t change again.”

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

“ Etheria has need of you, Adora. ”

“We’re gonna see the world, and conquer it!”

“Administrator access granted to: Adora, of Eternia.”

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

“It’s you…”

“Temporary access granted to: Catra, of Etheria.”

“-You are a soldier in a war for the future of Etheria-”

“The sword! Where did you get that sword!?”

“Heh. You’re a princess…”

Voices. Memories. Words from the palace I can’t focus on. Echoing around me, taunting me, stirring up emotions and thoughts I’m too dazed to understand.

Then, silence. Utter darkness. Exhaustion.

I don’t know how long it is before I finally open my eyes, except I’m… just standing there, in the middle of the room. The walls are back to the brilliant blues and purples of the main entrance, and not the dingy greens and browns of the Fright Zone, and there, just ahead of me, is Light Hope.

“Hello, Adora. You’ve come at last.”

I jump back at the sudden noise, shrieking slightly, before composing myself. “Light Hope, right? I’m… actually seeing you? I mean, I’ve seen you before, in my brain, when I touched the sword, I think. But… this is real.” I chuckle nervously, suddenly having no idea what I should actually be saying here. “Is this real? Wait, am I dead? I fell… we fell… Catra! Where’s Catra!” I shout, turning around frantically, not seeing her.

“Your Catra is asleep next to you, you are not really awake, but this is very much real.”

“Oh… um… okay… that doesn’t explain much. Is she alright? How do I wake up? I’m sorry, I’m freaking out.” I clear my throat, holding my hand out to shake hers, “I’m Adora.”

She looks down at my hand, and I’ve never felt like more of an idiot than I do now.

“Yes, I know. And I am Light Hope; Etheria’s Facilitator, and your guide. I have been waiting for you since you were an infant, but I could not reach you. I could not protect you from the Horde. I have-”

“Protect me? From the horde? Sorry, Light Hope, but I don’t exactly need protection from them.”

“Very well, I understand that you may not feel threatened by them.”

“Threatened by- why would that be the case? They’re… kind of my home. My family.”

“Adora, the Horde are the destroyers of Etheria. You are She-Ra, Etheria’s champion”

“Destroyers? Champion? I don’t even know what a, “She-Ra,” really is! I’m not sure you know what you’re talking about, how could you even know about the Horde? They’ve only been here for so long.”

“I have been watching, Adora. I see more than anything living ever could. She-Ra is the one destined to protect and unite this planet, and the Horde stands between you and that mission.”

“You have no idea what my mission is! I am working to unite this planet, but not for the princesses.”

“Yet, you are the Princess of Power. Everything on Etheria is connected. The Princesses are granted power over their elements through their Runestones,” I pull the sword off my back, that’s apparently still there even in this dream world. It… is a runestone… “As She-Ra, it is your duty to bring the princesses together/ Only then can balance be restored to Etheria.”

“No! I’m not here for your mission, I’m only here to learn She-Ra. So She-Ra is supposed to be one thing. I don’t care,”

“You are behaving erratically. The Horde is destroying Etheria in their quest for power-”

“Power, really? You’re the one who said that’s what I’m apparently a princess of, and that’s what princesses love, right? Their power? The ability to rule over others? I’m not here for that, I’m just trying to keep myself and my friends alive.”

“Your… friend?”

“So that’s what this whole mind-trip was about? Getting me to give up my friends? Sorry, but I’m not going to let go of Catra.”

“Your purpose is to protect Etheria, your main concern can not be only to your friends.”

“Why not? What’s so important that it needs me to turn my back on everything you know?”

“Adora, you do not yet realize what it means to be She-Ra.”

“It means power, right? Maybe a load of responsibility, too? But why should I turn on the horde?”

“Destiny and duty are not reason enough to do what is right?”

“How do you get to decide what’s right, then? My whole life, I was taught about the princesses being oppressors.”

“Yet, you admit you do not believe that?”

“I…” I pause, looking down. I don’t believe it anymore. 

Shadow Weaver, Hordak, the horde, it’s all lies. But still, I’ve seen the looks of anger in Glimmer’s eyes, too. Most of the princesses seem fine, though, except I’m sure Mermista wouldn’t hesitate to take me out. They are… just people, too. But that doesn’t change the fact that 

“All anyone’s ever done is push me to be their weapon. You’re not giving me enough of a reason to be yours.”

“Adora, you are distracted. There was one before you who could not let go. Her name was Mara.”

I pick my head, looking back at her, “I have no idea what that means.”

“Mara was the She-Ra before you. She struggled with a power she could not control. Until it became too much for her mind.”

“... She snapped? You think I will, too?”

“She was compromised. She gave into fear and faulty reasoning. Her desperate actions led to devastation. Mara stranded us in the empty dimension of Despandos. She broke the She-Ra line. She nearly destroyed us.”

“Us? There is no us . You haven’t explained anything other than asking me to drop everything I know to fight for you!” I raise my voice. And Light Hope says nothing, only raising her hand, and suddenly there are numerous holograms around me.

The first thing I hear is Glimmer’s scream from the black garnet chamber, and I turn around. Why is she showing me this?

“Adora, you must do a better job of keeping her under control,” I hear Shadow’s Weaver voice next, from a memory that Catra had referred to earlier, but we weren’t forced to relive, and I can’t bring myself to look at it.

“No!” I turn again, hearing Mermista’s voice just inches from me, a hologram of a half-broken energy cannon between us, as Mermista uses her powers to summon a wave to wash over where Catra and I… were. But I don’t get knocked, instead turning around instinctually to see Entrapta.

“And I thought you were nice!” I hear Entrapta’s voice next, in the halls of the Kingdom of Snows. I had manipulated her to get to Glimmer, only slightly, but…

“Stop…” I say, quietly, turning around again.

“Wh- what did you do!?” I hear my own voice shout in anger, turning to see a hologram of Catra standing next to me.

“Adora, we’re losing, we need to get out of here-” The hologram says, reaching for my arm, but the touch isn’t there.

“Stop,” I say again, louder, but every time I turn there’s another memory, another reminder that Catra was… right… I put my hands up to my ears, trying to block it all out, to stay in control.

“ -I’ll finish what I started in Plumeria!”

“Stop!” I shout now, throwing my hands back down and looking straight at Light Hope. “You don’t get to throw all of this in my face and act like it means I’m on the wrong path. I’m not oblivious to how manipulation works, that’s what’s going on here. You want to use my guilt against me, to turn me into something I’m not.”

“Adora,” Light Hope finally speaks up, “you are this. You are destined to stop those who are hurting us, to save Etheria from the Horde-”

“So that’s what this is about? Just two sides both trying to use me for their own victory, both sides telling me that their side is right and the other is wrong? No, I’m done. Let me out of here, I’ll learn about this on my own.”

“Adora, you can not turn your back on destiny, She-Ra is-”

“She-Ra will not be a tool!”

“She-Ra is not a tool, She-Ra is Etheria’s savior.”

“It’s my power, right?”

“The Sword of Protection is not designed to be used in such a way, I-”

“You don’t get to decide my purpose! Besides, “Sword of Protection?” For a weapon of untold power or whatever, that’s a very ironic name. Save your pleading, I’m done here.”

“Adora, you are not in control here. Listen to me, allow me to explain-”

“It’s very clear that I’m not in control, and I’m starting to realize I never was! Shadow Weaver, the Horde. You, and the Rebellion, and these First Ones… I’ve never had a say for anything! And I’m done with that.”

“Adora, She-Ra is your destiny.”

“Oh, I know. She-Ra is my ticket to finally making things right. But not for you.”

“I will not allow you to corrupt our purpose, I will not allow you to turn She-Ra against us.”

“For the last time, there is no us!” I shout. I need to get out of here. I need to wake up, to grab Catra and go. Entrapta’s side quest can wait, or- I’ll grab something on the way out. I have to wake up…

“Adora, you will find no peace on this path.”

Wake up.

“Destiny will win in the end.”

Wake. Up.

“You cannot override what you are meant to be, the part you are meant to play.”

I open my eyes, laying on some sort of hard flat surface, raised off the floor. Like a table, with no legs. Just a solid mass of… crystal, I guess. I sit up, looking around. Catra is on the floor, but it isn’t like this rock I’m laying on is any better.

I move off the table structure, and lean over Catra.

“Hey, Catra, can you hear me? I need you awake.” 

“Mmm… hm?” She opens an eye, her ear twitching as she comes to. “What happened? Are we dead?”

“Just a fall, we’re okay. We need to leave, now. We aren’t learning anything from Light Hope.”

“She… talking to you?” She asks, sitting up slightly. “My head hurts… was any of that real?”

“Unfortunately. Here,” I hold my hand out to her, and she takes it, so I pull her up to her feet.

“And, that tech? Shadow Weaver will know something’s up… if we come back without any.”

“I know, we’ll grab something. And figure this all out. We need to find a way out.”

“Alright, then. Let’s move,” she says, still slightly groggy, and we start heading out. Not that I know where we are…

I pull up Entrapta’s tablet again. “Okay, good news. This thing was mapping our path this whole time, to make a more accurate map of the woods.”

“Lucky us. Let’s go home, I don’t like this place.”

“Me neither. Light Hope isn’t a fan, and all I learned is that there’s some sort of training wheels on this sword, because she said she wouldn’t allow me to use it against her.”

“Great, more questions than answers. That’s how it usually goes.”

“I wouldn’t say that. I have a lot of answers now. I know what She-Ra.”

“A princess? I thought you wanted to learn how she worked.”

“I’ll get there. I learned she’s a tool, and that I’m done letting other people use me.”

“I- yeah, okay… I guess that’s a good thing to learn.”

I don’t say much else, and neither does she, so we keep moving through the halls, making our way back to the entrance. I guess it doesn’t do Light Hope much good if I’m dead though, because the spiders never come back to stop us. As we reach the main room with that stupid She-ra mural, Catra and I decide to spend a moment looking around.

The tablet doesn’t help much, this whole thing is First One’s tech after all. There isn’t too much to look for, it must be the walls, the crystals themselves.

“Adora!” Catra shouts, from nearer the entrance.

“Yeah?” I ask, walking up to her.

“What does this say? There’s a little crystal thing here.”

“Hmm…” I step closer, looking at a little diamond-shaped crystal in a podium. “It’s not a word, the script goes through the line, not under it.”

“Oh, so what is it?”

“I don’t know a pattern.” I hold the tablet up to it, and the tablet screen goes slightly haywire. “It’ll do. Let’s grab it and go.”

“Okay, then, one random crystal for Entrapta.”

“I suppose so,” I pull it out of the pedestal, and we head straight for the exit.

There’s so much more to learn, so much I don’t have figured out, but I’m not going to learn anything useful here. So as Catra and I head for the exit, I take a deep breath, and decide to just take it as it goes.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

“Stop, stop!” Glimmer shouts, as we’re moving through the woods, and I immediately pull the Horse’s trot to a stop, and turn around.

“What is it?”

“Need… a second,” she climbs off, dropping to the ground off the horse, and immediately starts glitching.

“Glimmer!” I get off the horse as well, leaning down to help her up as she stops glitching again.

“Sorry…”

“You don’t have to apologize, I’m just worried about you. You should’ve told me to stop sooner.”

“We need… to get there…” she says, as she gets back up again.

“No, it isn’t worth you forcing yourself to the brink.”

But she doesn’t listen, getting back on the saddle, and I sigh. It’ll only be another moment anyway, she really did try to hang through it. I climb back up too, and we get back to moving forward.

“I’m serious, you can’t drag it out until it bursts, we’re going to get there either way.”

“I know, I know…” she murmurs.

“Please, don’t hurt yourself. Don’t make me regret allowing you to come along.”

“Fine, I’ll tell you before it gets that bad again,” she huffs, leaning forward to rest against me.

“Just a moment or two, we’ll figure this She-Ra thing out, and maybe even get Adora to tell us how to help you.”

“Yay… I’m sure that’ll work…” she mumbles quietly, that glitch must have taken a lot out of her.

After only a little more riding, we actually manage to reach where the signal vaguely is. “It didn’t change! We’re actually going to luck our way into this!” I exclaim, excitedly, causing Glimmer to pick herself back off of me.

“Oh, yay, we’re here?

“I… not quite.. Keep your eyes out for a clearing, or something.”

“Like that?” She asks, tapping my right shoulder and pointing over towards a path through some trees.

“Yeah, like that,” I say, turning the horse to move through the path.

What we see next is a massive open clearing that I have never seen before, despite my time in these woods. There’s a huge structure in the middle, and a few small buildings spread out.

“Wow… it’s pretty…” Glimmer says, as we ride up towards the big structure.

“And old, real old,” I say, looking at the vegetation everywhere, as we head over to a small building with a broken fence out front. “I’m gonna hitch him here, it should hold enough for us to take a look inside, I say, stepping down and moving his reins over and tying them at the post.

“Yep,” Glimmer says trying to sound cheerful despite how she collapsed earlier, “he’ll stay here and continue to be upset that you won’t name him.”

“I’ve suggested several to you, you don’t like them! And you don’t say anything back!”

“Because he’s beautiful,” she hops down now, glitching for a fraction of a second as she lands. “Ow!”

“You okay?” I as, finishing the knot.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

We turn around, heading over for the structure, when a massive door on the front of it begins to move.

“Wait, this place still works, and has motion activated doors?” Glimmer asks, mouth agape in shock.

“I guess so. We don’t know what to expect, or if Adora is here, so let’s-”

As the door lowers, Adora and her friend Catra are strolling right on out. Catra has something in her hand, and Adora has the sword on her back and… Entrapta’s datapad?

“Oh for the love of-” Catra starts, instantly moving into a fighting stance.

“They’re here!” Glimmer shouts, filling me in on this amazingly unknown information.

“How do you have that?” I ask, drawing my Bow and motioning my head towards the tablet.

Adora puts in behind her, drawing her sword. “How did you find us?”

“Great, another game where everyone asks each other questions the other side won’t answer,” Glimmer mumbles, she seems unsure of what to do herself.

There’s a long tense few moments of the two of us staring at the two of them, no one making a move, when finally Catra breaks the silence.

“What do we do?” She whispers, but not very quietly.

“I’m not in the mood for this, let them look around, they won’t find anything,” She murmurs and they start sidestepping away, Glimmer and I turning to watch as I keep an arrow aimed at them.

Adora’s eyes are still scanning the field, keeping her sword ready for if I try anything. But I don’t, as her eyes glance over to our horse, and somehow this heartless Horde soldier who aided in the torturing of Glimmer and death of our friend seems… shocked?

“What. Is. That?” She says, pointing at him with her sword.

“Adora, we don’t have time for this, let’s go,” Catra says, grabbing the arm she’s pointing with and pulling it back.

“It’s… majestic!”

“Is this a joke? It’s a horse,” I say, feeling like I’m missing something.

“Catra, I want one!”

“Are you insane!?” Catra scoffs at Adora, starting to pull Adora away.

Glimmer and I look at each other, sharing a glance of utter confusion. We turn back, and Adora is just staring at the horse, whispering out, “bye Horsey!”

“Um… Adora?” I ask, deciding I at least need to try to talk.

“What?” she says, turning back to me, Catra still pulling her back towards the trees. They’re now a few yards away.

If there’s any chance she’d help, I owe it to glimmer to try.. On the boat, and back in Bright Moon, a few people spoke and acted like Adora was directly responsible for Entrapta’s death. I don’t think she was. Glimmer said Adora let us go at Thaymor, and she’s letting us go now. I only saw one slip from her, at Plumeria, but… something about her isn’t like the rest of the nameless Horde grunts, besides the She-Ra thing.

“Your friend made mine sick. How do I fix it?”

Adora looks over at Glimmer, confused again. “Sick?”

“She’s in constant pain and her powers are glitching.”

“Bow!” Glimmer shouts, “they don’t need to know exactly!”

“Shadow Weaver…” Adora whispers, looking down at the sword in her hand, before looking back up and saying, “why would I tell you anything?”

“Because you two seem like the type of people to understand wanting to help those you care about,” I say, thinking about all the glances those two have shared on the field.

Then she looks up at Catra, who seems conflicted about something. Worried, even. “I- I don’t…” she says, looking back at me. “I- I didn’t know.”

“Adora…” I keep going. There’s something up about her, I know it. Almost like she isn’t in it.

“Bow, stop! We can’t trust her!” Glimmer says, pulling my arm.

“I’m not asking you to trust her, just if she knew anything.”

“I- I…” Adora is mumbling something, but Catra keeps guiding them away.

I look back at them one more time. We’re not going to get any help here… “I don’t suppose I can have that sword back? Or Entrapta’s datapad?”

“Don’t push it, Arrow Boy!” Catra shouts, dragging her and Adora further from us, until they reach the tree line, slipping through a slight passageway as Catra makes Adora turn around, and neither of them say another word.

“Pfft. Arrow Bow?” Glimmer chuckles.

“Yeah, no, that was bad,” I say, letting out a quick laugh with her. “Sorry they couldn’t help with the glitching, though.”

“We’ll find another way,” she says simply.

I stare at the tree line for a few more seconds, but decide not to dwell on any of what just happens. I was expecting a fight, not that. I turn back to the castle. “Let’s hurry up, the last thing we need is that door closing on us,” I say, and Glimmer and I move to enter the massive structure.

“Alright, let’s see what they learned from this place,” she mumbles, as we make our way through the door.

It quickly gets dark though, and it isn’t long before the door completely closes behind us. We head into the open room, taking a look around.

“Wow, it’s huh… big. And also, very empty,” I state, trying to look for anything useful.

“Uh… Bow?” I turn to see what Glimmer’s looking at, a mural of some sort on the left wall from the entrance.

“Is that-”

“She-Ra…” she murmurs, following my same train of admittedly straight forward thought.

A depiction of a strange figure, and in the middle of it she holds the sword. There’s no real proof it’s this She-ra princess in particular, but there’s writing. First One’s writing, a dead language. Only a few words are known by a few people,and those are mostly speculation. I actually know the word for love, from a tattoo my dad had, but I can’t read this.

“What do you think we should do?”

“I’m not sure. This whole place is First One’s tech, which means I’m out of my lead.”

“Well maybe if we managed to get back Entrapta’s datapad-”

“Well, I was kind of outnumbered,” I mumble, feeling a wave of guilt wash over me again. Everytime her name comes up, I feel like I led her straight to her death… I take a deep breath, recentering myself.

“Yeah, I know, I wasn’t exactly useful out there.”

“And that’s okay, we’ll get you fixed. Somehow. And learn about She-Ra, and stop Adora from potentially destroying Etheria.”

Glimmer smiles a little at that, “you make everything sound so easy.”

“Someone’s gotta keep the spirits up,” I say with a light tone, and turn around to walk back to the center of the room when-

“Agh!” I shout, being face to face with a weird hologram lady.

“Agh!” Glimmer mirrors me, raising her fists as if to fight. I assume she instinctively tries to charge her magic, because she immediately screams out a second time, as she starts glitching.

For once, I don’t shout in reaction, instantly turning around ready to catch her, as the hologram lady starts speaking.

“I am Light Hope, Etheria’s Facilitator, and you are trespassing through the Crystal Castle.”

“Oh, hi, I’m sorry, we don’t really know what this place is.”

“You claim you wish to, “stop Adora from potentially destroying Etheria?” What are you to Adora?” She asks, as Glimmer finally regains her composure.

“She’s, well, we’re enemies. She’s with the Horde, we’re not. What’s going on here?”

The hologram does not respond to my question, instead asking, “What are your natures?”

“I’m sorry?” Glimmer asks, walking up next to me.

“I shall rephrase. Who are you, and what do you seek?”

“Oh. I’m… Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon. This is Bow! We’re here to learn about She-Ra, we think she’s a threat.”

The hologram, Light Hope, moves her position back a few feet, before stating, “then I will need to make an alteration to my plans, as I would have to agree. Temporary administrator access granted to: Queen Glimmer, of Bright Moon, and: Bow, of Etheria.”

“Uh… thanks?” I say, not really understanding what that means.

“Apologies. It is highly irregular for Etherians to be granted access to the Crystal Castle, but unforeseen circumstances are forcing me to take unforeseen measures.”

“Unforeseen circumstances? What does that mean?” Glimmer asks for us.

“Adora is She-Ra, but Adora is behaving erratically. It is her destiny to fight for Etheria, protecting it against dangers. But currently, she fights with the dangers.”

“Destiny? Like, Adora isn’t supposed to be with the Horde?”

“Adora is She-Ra, champion of Etheria, Princess of Power, but, yes. She is on the wrong path, and will not listen to reason. I am unable to effectively reach her outside of these walls.”

“The signal,” I whisper to myself. “You’ve been sending a signal to the sword?”

“The Sword of Protection is She-Ra’s extension of herself. I used the sword to reach Adora, but she refuses to honor my calls.”

“Yeah, she seems real stubborn,” Glimmer mutters.

“Wait, so, what are we supposed to do about this?” I ask Light Hope, my brain not really following her vague words.

“I am unsure. I was not trained on the scenario of Adora turning against her nature.”

“Great. Even the answer machine has no answers…” Glimmer is still muttering.

“Adora is a threat to Etheria, and to herself. If she does not see the error of her ways, she must be stopped.”

“Great, so use our feelings to convince her of the importance of good? Or stop the strongest person on the planet? I should have guessed,” I say, with a lighthearted tone of voice because I can tell Glimmer is frustrated.

“It will obviously not be easy. I have bought you time, by activating a failsafe on the sword that will not allow her to use it. Her mind is clouded, and that will keep her off balance. But she made it out with a data crystal containing much information on the people you Etherians call the First Ones. If the Horde has access to anyone who could read that data, they may be able to unlock the sword.”

“Well, that will take them a while. There’s not very many people on Etheria who know anything real about the First Ones, and there was… only one who understood their technology at all.”

“I would not relax. If Adora is compromised, the consequences would be devastating, even if she is untrained to handle the sword.”

“Yeah, we already had that idea,” Glimmer says with a lot less muttering, but is clearly still frustrated.

I understand why, this robot lady has barely told us anything we didn’t already suspect. I mean, it’s nice to have confirmation, but the only thing we got so far is that the little crystal thing Catra held is loaded with information they could use.

“Okay, we don’t exactly know a lot about who She-Ra is, though. It’s… been a long time since there was a She-Ra, and a lot of what she was is lost to history.”

“Yes, the She-Ra line has been dark for a millennia. What about She-Ra would you like to know?”

“Um… so She-Ra is a fighter, a protector? Just… What does she do? What does any of it mean?”

“She-Ra is Etheria’s guardian, channeling magic through the Sword of Protection. She-Ra is the cornerstone of Etheria’s Runestone Princesses. You are one of them, Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon.”

“Uh… yeah, I am.”

“Etheria is unbalanced. She-Ra is the key to fixing this unbalance. But without She-Ra, this will not be possible.”

“So we need to either get her to listen to you, or-” I trail off, could we even take this Adora girl down? We almost had them at Plumeria, and Perfuma mentioned they almost took her down at the ball, but if she figures this sword out, what could we do?

“-or stop her.” Glimmer finishes.

“I doubt either will be easy to accomplish, but the Horde must be destroyed, and Etheria must be balanced. How we get there matters little.”

“Why does Etheria need to be balanced?” I ask Light Hope.

“That information is not important, but I will acknowledge the danger the Horde presents to all of us.”

“Great,” Glimmer speaks this time, “If Adora does figure out this She-Ra stuff, how exactly are we supposed to stop her?”

“The balance of Etheria must be turned against her. But there are… failsafes, should a last resort be needed.”

“That… doesn’t give us anything to work with,” Glimmer says.

“There is a delicate balance between Etheria, its magic, and the princesses. No single person or peoples on Etheria could best a fully-realized She-Ra, but lucky for all of us, Adora is inexperienced and likely unable to use the sword at all if not allowed.”

“Like training wheels? And your advice is to just… fight her?”

“I have some understanding of the world above. Adora has been working to take down an alliance of kingdoms in opposition to the Horde, yes?”

“Uh, yeah, Glimmer here has been uniting the other princesses behind a common goal.”

“Good. Use it. With help, you may be able to overpower her, even in her She-Ra form.”

“Wait, I can’t fight her until I’m cured!”

“Oh, um, Light Hope? Glimmer here was cursed with this, uh…”

“The Fright Zone had a runestone, this person, Shadow Weaver I guess, used it to take away my powers.”

“Hmm…” Light Hope says, it’s fascinating, she isn’t just a robot, is she? This is full-on artificial intelligence! Light Hope holds up her hand, a faint light shining over Glimmer, as if she is being scanned. “It appears your connection to your runestone was disrupted. You will have to reestablish it.”

“I tried that! I always recharge, but recharging last time just made it worse!”

“Then the magic afflicting you must be acting against you, trying to turn your own magic against you. You will have to dispel it.”

“Wait,” I interrupt, “kind of like you’ve been doing, like before we got on the horse?”

“Kind of, but it always hurts too much to dispel it completely. I’d pass out before I could push through it.”

Light hope thinks for a  moment more, before saying, “then it will need to be channeled out of you. She-Ra could, with training, but perhaps there are other options. I can not help you myself, but perhaps if you were to find a staff that could channel the other Runestone’s destructive energy, you may be able to push it out of you, and then your abilities will be open for possible combat against She-Ra.”

“Um… okay, it’s a place to start. Thank you,” Glimmer says, finally seeming a little more relieved.

“Wait, how do we fight against a possible She-Ra when we don’t know anything about what she can do?” I ask Light Hope.

She responds by, again cryptically, saying, “what she can do will be entirely up to how combat proficient she is. Suffice to say, a lot. Even without understanding the magic that She-Ra can perform, you will need to be careful due to her strength alone.”

“Great. This sounds… a lot worse than I thought it would be initially,” I say, looking down slightly. Maybe… maybe I should have gone for the sword too during the rescue attempt. But… how many more people would we have lost? Or how many are we now going to lose…

“It is in fact, bad,” Light Hope says casually, exactly what we needed to hear right now.

“Let’s just get back to the Princess Alliance with what we know, Bow,” Glimmer says, placing her hand on my shoulder.

“That we haven’t narrowed anything down at all?”

“No, that we know for sure that Adora is a much bigger threat than we thought. My mom will need to hear this.”

“Yeah, I guess… we really have our work cut out for us.”

“We always did. Thank you, Light Hope, I guess.”

“Do not thank me, it is as much my duty as all of Etheria to prevent a rogue She-Ra. We must work on the assumption that it is not too late.”

I nod my head, turning to face Glimmer, “Let’s go then.”

“Yeah, maybe Perfuma has more stories about what exactly She-Ra can do.”

And with that, we turn to leave, only for me to immediately stop. “Uh… how does the door work?”

“It is coded to your, “First One’s,” language. A word, Eternia.”

“Oh… thank you. I guess we’ll… come back if we have more questions.”

“Do not hesitate, Adora must be dealt with before she becomes too destructive for Etheria’s own good.”

“Yeah, we understand that,” Glimmer says, sighing, and we head for the exit.

We make our way outside, heading back to the horse, stopping for a moment as Glimmer forces herself to “de-static.” I don’t feel the need to overly react anymore, she’s strong, and handling everything well, but I always turn, ready to support her if needed.

“Bow?” She asks, after calming down.

“Yeah?”

“What do we do?”

“I don’t know… but we’ll figure it out. She didn’t really tell us what Adora could do, which is fair, she has no reason to trust us. But she said it isn’t hopeless, we’ll talk with the Princess Alliance and your mom and… figure something out.”

“Okay, okay… Yeah, the alliance will help us. Besides, it isn’t like the Horde has ever shown any capability of understanding First One’s tech, and if the sword really does have a failsafe in it they can’t remove, we’re probably just over-reacting.”

“Yeah, Etheria lost its best hope at that…” I whisper, as I untie the reigns on the horse.

“So, Horsey?”

“What?”

“Adora called him Horsey. And since you won’t pick a name…”

“You want Adora to name our horse?”

“Did you see her face? I thought it was cute.”

“Okay then… you thought her reaction to seeing our horse was cute?”

“That’s what I just said. So I think his name is Horsey.”

I sigh, not bothering to argue. I wasn’t going to think of one, anyway. I climb up onto him, and reach my hand down for Glimmer to help pull her up. Back to Bright Moon we go, at least we have an idea for how to help Glimmer get better.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

“Because you two seem like the type of people to understand wanting to help those you care about,” his words echo in my ears. He… after everything I did to him, why did he take the time to talk to me like that? We aren’t friends, half the people I know think I tried to get rid of him at Plumeria.

And there was that stupid horse. I can’t believe I allowed myself to show excitement at a wild animal like that, Bow thought I was weak didn’t he…? It was majestic, though…

“Hey, Adora, how are we looking?”

“Almost out. For some reason the woods don’t seem to be making this part difficult.”

“Good, we had enough to deal with…” she says quietly, before continuing with, “how are you holding up?”

“Fine. Why?”

“Arrow Boy spooked you.”

“He did not,” I say, not looking up from the tablet.

“Sure. And you didn’t freak out at the horse.”

“It- it intrigued me.”

“It sure did… Why did what he said bother you?”

“It didn’t , It’s fine. I just didn’t expect it.”

“Okay, Adora. Whatever you say.”

We keep walking in silence, but it doesn’t take for Catra to again start speaking, “Why couldn’t we bring the skiff into the woods again?”

“Because last time we almost died falling from the tree tops.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I just… nevermind, walking is fine.”

“What, too many sticks and rocks digging into your feet?” I chuckle, Catra was never one to understand the appeal of socks, shoes, or even gloves.

“No, my feet are fine, the Fright Zone floors aren’t exactly spotless.”

“I suppose not,” I admit, thinking of the littered scrap metal that rests all over the place, until the cleaning bots do the nightly sweeps. The Horde wasn’t exactly built to not fall apart, it seems.

“Besides, I step lightly. I could probably walk on a bed of nails.”

“Please don’t try that,” I say, wincing at the idea.

“Wasn’t planning on it. Now come one, how long until the skiff?”

“Just a bit longer, you’re so impatient.”

“Uh huh, cause that’s not a trait we share.”

“I can be patient!”

“Adora, you can’t sit still for five minutes without wanting to get up and hit something.”

“What can I say? Some of us like to keep busy.”

“Not on the nights we’d sneak up to the roof and lay there for hours.”

“That’s different.”

“Sure it is,” she chuckles, and we finally push out of the tree line. 

The big open field in front of us that slowly gives way back to the dingy wasteland that leads up to the Horde is almost a welcome sight. At least compared to the cramped nature of the woods.

It’s nice to bicker like this, keep our minds off of the stresses of late and instead focus on how things used to be. Just Catra and I making the best time we could in a world where we’ve only ever known war. We’re laughing, joking, bringing up the past and the times we had that weren’t too bad, as we head over to where we parked the skiff, and make our way back to the Fright Zone.

-

Of course, once we reach the Fright Zone, it isn’t long before we’re greeted with Shadow Weaver, waiting in the skiff bay as we pull in and park.

Almost immediately, the mood drops, as Catra and I hop off.

“Force Captain Adora, Catra. Where were you?” Her voice calls out, and I look over to where she’s standing, she’s actually just leaning against the wall, not floating like she usually does. She’s been here a while, then.

“Scorpia should have told you,” I say, as Catra and I start heading for the entrance to the complex.

“Scoria, “told me,” you were out looking for, “magic tech,” which- what is that?” Shadow Weaver points over my shoulder, and I turn around to see nothing, only for it to then click.

Oh, shoot, I forgot about that. “Magic tech,” I say dismissively.

“I meant that rhetorically, I know what that is.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“To confirm to myself what I already knew when I watched your fight in Plumeria, or how half your team attempted to sneak off as soon as you landed the Horde Airship. Do you really think it wise to lie to me, Adora?”

“It is magic tech, I didn’t say that it’s what we are out for. Catra?”

I turn to her, and she’s already holding the crystal thing out to me, so I grab it and show Shadow Weaver. “First One’s tech. Something powerful. And we have someone now who knows how to use it.”

“I know what the First Ones are, Adora. But this changes nothing, a lie of omission is still a lie. I expect such tactics from her , but from you?”

To my side, I hear a slight growl escaping Catra’s throat. It’s quiet, but I knew what to listen for.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. My-” I look over at Catra, before looking back and saying, “our team is working on something huge for the Horde. Hordak gave me orders to gather information from our newly captured rebellion princess, and I followed up on what she gave me.”

Shadow Weaver's face moves slightly, slight enough that even behind her mask I can tell her eyes are moving between the two of us, “Adora, I am not a fool. I will not allow you to cast me out. You are under my command, not Hordak’s.”

“Then take it up with him. Let’s go, Catra,” I say, walking straight past Shadow Weaver. I can feel the tension here, I might have just made a huge mistake. But I press forward, Catra following, as we make our way back to the room where Entrapta and Scorpia should still be.

“Adora… What was that?” Catra asks, as we’re finally out of earshot, “you’ve never spoken back to her before!”

“I know, I was buying time. She’ll come for me soon, but first, we figure this out,” I say holding the crystal up, “and this, too,” I tap the sword on my back.

“Adora, I- she isn’t going to like this.”

“I’m…” I sigh, turning to face her. And I realize something. Catra was always weary of Shadow Weaver. We had nightmares of the things she’s done, and knew what she could do. But Catra was never really afraid . Tense? Cautious? Yes. Afraid? Never. And I always was. Always afraid to stand up to her in any way that would put me on her bad side. Always afraid of having her do to me what she always did to Catra. But now? “I’m not afraid of her anymore.”

Catra finally smirks, and for the first time in what feels like weeks, I see Catra as she used to be. No stress, no concerns for me, just her. She just looks back at me, the grin slowly growing, as she says, “it’s about time.”

Notes:

(Light Hope was not that useful.)

Chapter 12: Etheria's Conquerer

Summary:

Adora's team establish themselves as a collective force within the Fright Zone.
Glimmer receives a gift a chapter early. (So I can make room)
Both sides plan their next moves.

Catra’s POV

When Adora and I reach the interrogation room, there’s an immediately obvious situation. Entrapta is out, and she and Scorpia are just… chatting… Entrapta is working on the bot, who knows what, when Scorpia looks over at us.

“Oh, wow, you guys are back! It’s been hours, I was starting to get worried. Are you two okay?” She starts rambling heading over to us, but Adora just holds her hand up.

“Scorpia, we’re fine. How was Entrapta?”

At this, Entrapta bolts up, and uses her hair to span the room in an instant, coming face to face with Adora.

“How did it go? Did you find anything?”

Adora holds up the crystal thing, and as she does, Scorpia closes the distance and wraps her arms around me.

“You two look exhausted, are you okay? Was it dangerous?”
“Scorpia, let go of me!” I shriek, and Scorpia lets go of me.

“An intact data crystal? Ooh… I have never seen one so perfectly preserved! This alone could be a game changer! But what about the sword!?”

“Oh, um…” Adora pauses, pulling it off her back. “There’s some sort of safety program on it, I need you to find out what it is, and remove it. And uh, here’s your tablet back.”

“Really? You’re giving me the sword? Oh, I’ve missed her!”

“Adora, what are you doing?” I ask, walking up to her.

“It’s safer in her hands than Shadow Weaver’s. Whatever magic that thing did to me back in the castle, it was powerful.”

“Wait, it’s real? She-Ra is real!? What happened, tell me everything! ”

“Oh, we can be like, a secret princess team! Catra, are you a princess?” Scorpia asks, looking over at me.

“No! What is wrong with all of you!? And she’s not on the team!”

Adora looks back over at me, “Technicalities, Scorpia isn’t either, but right now Entrapta is able to help us, and we’re able to help her, right Entrapta?”

“Wait, are you… asking me to join you? I kind of thought I’d just… go back home now that we helped each other out slightly, well, after I take another look at this sword for you.”

Adora looks over at me, and I know immediately what she’s asking of me. I sigh.

“Entrapta, the alliance isn’t coming back for you, they didn’t value your opinion on going back for the sword, they don’t need you. But think of all the good you can do for your uh, science, here in the Fright Zone.” I look over at Adora, I can practically see the guilt on her face, having asked me to do this. So she isn’t all gone, but Adora is right. Better Entrapta than Shadow Weaver. 

So I step closer to Entrapta, who seems… visibly agitated. I keep going, “the Fright Zone could give you everything you need to perform whatever experiments you perform, and in return, you could build us weapons the likes of which Etheria has never seen, or uncover the truth of who She-Ra is.”

“I- you want me to stay? Here?” She pulls her mask down, like she did yesterday when Adora and I talked to her.

“Hey, I think it’s a great idea!” Scorpia chants, walking over to between Entrapta and I, putting a hand on each of our shoulders, “We could be like, a Super Pal Quad!”

“Scorpia, there’s… three more people on the team.”

“Oh. Well, then. We can be the, uh… Super Pal Sept- quin- no, septuplet?” Uh…”

“Stop it!” I shout, “Entrapta, we can get you whatever you need for your work, whatever projects you want to work on.”

“I could… I guess I could make a lot of progress here… so much technology here that the Princess Alliance doesn’t have…”

“Hey, just saying again, we have, like, our own Princess Alliance here, I suppose.”

“Scorpia…” I say slowly, looking over at her.

“Okay, fine! Sorry! Just trying to boost morale!” She chuckles, looking over at Adora’s admittedly nonchalant face.

“Entrapta, will you help us understand this sword?”

“I- um… yes! I will! I mean, what kind of scientist would I be if I didn’t try to figure this sword out? It’s a scientific enigma! So… what else did you learn about it?”

“Um… it unlocks some sort of transformation, I guess,” Adora says, and I think back to what I say in the castle. “I was taller, stronger. wearing… a cape, and a tiara. It was dumb, but I was strong. Really strong.”

“Yes, that’s what Perfuma believed She-Ra was, but I didn’t have the chance to talk to her much, Bow learned a little more, and I’m sure once they figure out who you are they’ll be filled in pretty fast.”

“But I don’t know much else. I said, “for the honor of grayskull,” but it doesn’t work now.”

“Yeah, a safety program, you said,” Entrapta says, looking down at the sword.

“Training wheels,” I mutter.

“Can you turn it off?” Adora asks.

“I have no idea! But I can try,” Entrapta says, walking over to a table, and setting both the sword and data crystal down, as she puts her tablet away. “Ooh, this is going to be sooo much fun!”

“Good. Scorpia, stay with her a bit, get her whatever she needs,” Adora commands. “I want this sword unlocked, that data unencrypted.”

Scorpia nods, and Entrapta is already getting to work on her tablet, spewing out a list of computer stuff and cables and tools she needs.

“What’s the goal here, Adora?” I ask, hesitantly after how heated things got at the castle.

“To be ready for whatever comes next,” she says simply, walking over to me. “Let’s go grab the rest of our team, okay? This… this is a big chance for us.”

There’s something off, I didn’t expect her to so immediately course correct that whole “our/my” team thing, and I feel like she isn’t telling me about what exactly she decided her plan was going to be. “How much are we telling them?” I ask, more so to see if she’ll be honest with me, too.

“I- enough.” Bingo. “We’re going to tell them about She-Ra, and about how Shadow Weaver is definitely not going to like this.”

“Okay, Adora…” I say, ready for us to go find her other friends. She’s straight up serious about plotting a coup against Shadow Weaver. Which is fine, it’s a good idea, I’d have done it myself… but I never really expected it of her.

She seems to notice my hesitation, I can see her brows furrow slightly. There’s still tension here, even if we talked through most of it. I mean, she knows I’m not sabotaging her, only looking out for her. And she’s willing to cast off Shadow Weaver, so things should end up fine. I hope.

Adora turns, and I follow as we head out of the not-being-used-as-an-interrogation room. Adora trusts her friends, that… Kyle claims they’re mine too. I don’t see it with Lonnie, while Rogelio and I never even really interact, but… they aren’t terrible people. They’ll help Adora, too, probably.

It’s about midday, shortly after the lunch rations are handed out, so everyone should have already eaten. Even if Adora and I haven’t. So, we head for the barracks. 

It feels like it takes a lot longer than it does, since Adora and I don’t say anything to each other. Why did she even tell me to tag along for this? She didn’t exactly seem sorry for sending me away to do patrols the other day…

But still, we reach the barracks. Immediately on walking in, it’s clear that the rest of the team isn’t here.

“Huh… it’s been a while,” Adora says.

“Since Salineas…” I say back, and she walks over to her old bunk. 

“The bed is made, you never make the bed.”

“I- I went back to my own bunk…” I say quietly, almost feeling guilty, as Adora looks up at the top bed. That blanket isn’t neat.

“Oh…” she whispers, crouching down, looking at the marked drawing of our faces on the side of the bunk. 

I just watch as she hangs her head slightly. I wonder if I should try and comfort her, tell her it’s okay, that I’m not upset; to be a good friend. Or maybe I admit that I’m upset she’s gone, that she isn’t there when the nightmares get bad anymore, that everything I said in the castle about her leaving me behind feels true; being honest. But instead, I say nothing.

After a few moments of her just staring down with her eyes closed, she stands back up, and walks over to me.

“Catra…”

“Don’t,” I say dismissively. I don’t want to argue with her more, not already. Because it doesn’t matter what she wants to say, I know it’ll lead to an argument. I take a deep breath, we have a job to do right now. We’ll sort this out later.

She just stares for a second, and I swear I can see something in her eyes shift. Of course she’s going to push it. “Catra, do you-”

The door behind us opens up, the noise of chattering cutting off whatever Adora was about to say.

“I’m telling you, we’re being- oh, hi guys.” Lonnine says. Adora is looking past me. I turn around to face them.

The trio stands there, two of Lonnie’s other friends head in and wordlessly head to the other end of the room.

“What are you doing here?” Lonnie asks Adora, her voice telling only curiosity.

“We need to talk. Do you know about Entrapta?”

“Half the Fright Zone knows!” Kyle says excitedly. “Adora, half the Horde thinks you salvaged the rebellion rescue attempt by grabbing a different princess!”

I can’t help the quiet growl that escapes my throat. Of course it’s still a win for Adora, even after everything else. Rogelio gives me a questioning look, the only one who noticed. I don’t give him any indication.

“I- yeah, that isn’t really what happened. We need to talk.”

“Okay,” Lonnie says, “what about?”

“Not here. Follow us. Scorpia, Entrapta and us have been working on a huge lead, but we have a problem.”

“Oh, great, something so secret those two over there can’t hear about it?” Lonnie asks, motioning at her friends with green and pink hair whose names I never bothered to learn.

Adora says nothing, she just starts walking past them, and I follow. I hear as the other three turn to follow us, despite the lack of information. I definitely didn’t need to come with Adora for this. 

As the five of us are moving through the halls, I can feel the tension radiating off of Adora. I was so sure after that last vision at the castle, I had gotten through to her, but she still hasn’t said anything clear about what happened with Light Hope. She’s hiding things, still.

I hear Kyle whisper to Lonnie, “I told you she isn’t cutting us out!” So I’m not the only one… Okay, Catra. No hiding from this, you and Adora need to talk more. I need to get this figured out. At least she’s trying, right? She told me a lot of things in that castle. Our trust should be worth more than this…

When we make our way back to the interrogation room, we walk in to find that Entrapta has already managed to set up some sort of network of cables and two monitors on a table off to the side.

“Oh, hey everyone! Now it’s a real party,” Scorpia says, turning as all of us walk in.

“Wait, the princess is out? Just… out?” Lonnie asks, and I turn to see that Kyle is now… hiding behind Rogelio. 

“Seriously?” I ask him, and he slowly steps out from behind him.

“But- a princess!”

“Yeah, there’s a lot to explain here,” Adora says, walking over to Entrapta. “Hey, Entrapta?”

Entrapta sits back from the one monitor, well, a laptop that has a second monitor connected to it. “Yes?”

“I have a few things I need to explain. If you’re going to help us, I figured you should hear a lot of it, too, and also so everyone knows what everyone else knows.”

“Oh, like about how you’re a princess?”

Adora immediately facepalms, and I hear the trio all collectively gasp.

“Wait, what? Is that about the stupid sword we aren’t allowed to talk about?” Lonnie asks, walking over to the table.

“A- Adora? A princess? But how?” Kyle asks, looking up at Rogelio. He only responds with a shrug.

“Ugh, yes, Entrapta, about how I’m a princess.”

“Adora, what’s going on? How are you- at all- a princess. Why is this one out, and why are we hiding in an interrogation room?”

“I’m in a room with three princesses…” Kyle whispers, still seeming scared. It’s almost laughably pathetic, given how he didn’t have any issues with Scorpia since Princess Prom.

“I was going to explain,” Adora responds to Lonnie, “I’m getting there.”

Scorpia chimes in now, with a comment on, “ooh, don’t forget the part about how we’re making Shadow Weaver upset!”

“We’re making Shadow Weaver upset!?” Kyle shouts, and Rogelio places his hand on Kyle’s shoulder.

“Eureka!” Entrapta joins the ever-growing cascade of noise, “I’m through the crystal’s firewall! Ooh, this is a gold mine!”

“We’re gonna get fired for this… go on, Adora. What’s the big secret?”

“If everyone would stop, I’m trying to explain that-”

“Wait, you get paid?” Scorpia asks, stepping closer.

“Enough!” I shout. “Lonnie, stop asking questions! Scorpia, stop interrupting! Kyle, stop quivering! Entrapta, sit still, and Rogelio… nevermind. Adora, go.”

Everyone actually calms down for a second, and I look around at the myriad of faces. Entrapta didn’t seem to hear me at all, Kyle and Scorpia look… upset. Lonnie looks ticked, and Adora…

Sighs, stepping forward to be in the middle of everyone. “Okay. A few months ago, Catra and I snuck out of the Fright Zone, I stole some skiff keys and we took off to the Whispering Woods.”

“Wow, didn’t know you had that type of behavior in you,” Lonnie chuckles.

Adora actually seems frustrated now, but still chuckles at Lonnie’s words. “Yeah, well, it was a long story,” she says more quietly. 

I think back to how she did something so stupid and reckless just to cheer me up over how I was upset that I wasn’t going to Thaymor with her, and then she sorted that out too… 

“Anyway, I found this sword. That sword,” she says, pointing at the table it’s resting on, “the… Sword of Protection.”

“A magic sword…” Kyle says, sounding excited.

“But something went wrong. I touched it, blacked out, and Catra pulled me up. The sword was gone.”

“Until we saw it at Thaymor?” Lonnie asks.

“That was the day after, yes. It became a… secondary sword of mine to get that sword, to figure out why I blacked out. It gave me these weird visions, and I heard a voice, from some hologram person called Light Hope.”

“Ooh,” Entrapta interrupts, “there are files here about her! Etheria’s facilitator, a complicated AI program created by the First Ones!”

“First what?” Scorpia asks.

“Doesn’t matter,” Adora says, cutting Entrapta off before she can launch into an explanation. “What matters is that…”

“You’re some sort of chosen princess hero with a magic sword?” Lonnie asks, clear sarcasm in her tone. Her banter with Adora always seems like nothing but smug, self-centered ridicule to me. I can’t tell if Adora is too dumb to realize or if I’m just reading it wrong.

“Actually, yeah. I’m a mythical lost princess called She-Ra.”

“Not lost anymore!” Entrapta calls out. “More like rediscovered.”

Kyle’s turn to ask a question again, with, “so you’re a mythical found princess? Of what?”

“Funny thing. Bit of irony here. That Sword is titled the Sword of Protection, but She-Ra, whatever it means to be her, isn’t the princess of flowers, or sparkle magic, or water. Light Hope said she was the Princess of Power.”

“Pfft, yeah, okay Adora,” Lonnie chuckles.

“Entrapta, can you get the lock off of it?”

“Maybe! I’m still digging through everything, you have no idea how much is here! This is an absolute game changer! I can rework my theories on long-range communication, make stronger energy weapons for EMILY, this is a glimpse into genuine artificial intelligence, the true nature of Etheria!”

“Um… thanks. Anyway, there’s real magic in that sword.”

“Yeah,” I cut in, “she used it earlier today, once, to fight off a bunch of robot spiders. It was honestly a lot to see.”

“It was a lot to feel.”

“So why hide this from Shadow Weaver?” Lonnie keeps pressing, “If this thing is as powerful as you claim it is, why is this a bad thing? It’s not like you’ll be fired for being a princess.”

“Because… Shadow Weaver can’t be trusted.”

“Do you plan on holding this ultimate power forever, and never let it out?”

“No, I just need Entrapta to unlock it first. This Light Hope ai person seemed to think I was supposed to be fighting against the Horde, and when she realized I wouldn’t, she locked me out. Or… something like that. I have no idea how it works.”

Entrapta cuts back into this by saying, “actually, that makes a lot of sense! This thing is an artificial Runestone, not like Bright Moon’s moonstone. Not that I ever had the chance to study a real one, but this is definitely not a natural Runestone. The gem was cut, molded. Maybe even printed, given the detail, but it’s man-made.”

“And how does that connect to me being locked out?”

“Well, the First One’s must have built this sword. That means they probably put failsafes into it, in the event of a rogue She-Ra. Which… I guess you… are?”

“Wait,” Scorpia chimes in, “I’m still on, “supposed to be fighting against the Horde.” How does that work?”

“Something about destiny, it isn’t something I care to believe in.”

“So… we can’t tell Shadow Weaver until you can… use the power of the sword? And until then… we need to keep it a secret from her?” Lonnie asks, piecing things together just as I did in the castle. I can see the look of shock creep into her eyes.

“Adora, wait, why would you being able to use the sword make it the right time to go to Shadow Weaver? She could probably help you understand it, with how she has her Black Garnet. Unless-” Scorpia realizes it too.

“The Black Garnet? You have a Runestone? The Fright Zone has a Runestone?” Entrapta shouts. “Wait, this opens up so many possibilities!”

Kyle is starting to look uneasy too, looking at why Lonnie, Scorpia, and now even Rogelio look concerned, and Adora turns to face everyone else in turn.

“What?” She asks.

“Are… are you planning a mutiny?” Lonnie asks directly.

“Mutiny! Oh no, I can’t be a part of this…” Kyle 

Rogelio makes some vague noise of confusion.

Scorpia just looks around, seemingly like isn’t quite following everything. She looks over at me, and I can almost see her shoulders sag. “You too, Wildcat?”

I guess my lack of surprise showed.

“This isn’t a mutiny, or a coup, I already went over this with Catra. It’s just that Shadow Weaver isn’t going to like it when she finds out what this sword does or means.”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Scorpia asks, but the tension does seem to drop a little.

“Because Shadow Weaver is very obvious in what she wants from me. How I was raised. She wants a weapon. A soldier. And if I tell her what this sword means for me-”

“That her perfect soldier is a perfect weapon?” I don’t even bother to stop myself from hissing at Lonnie this time, her tone is in no way helpful to this situation.

“-well, Catra brought up concern. And I realized that she probably wouldn’t stop at asking nicely for her to… get more influence over me…” she whispers, and I can watch as Adora’s hand clenches into a fist. So she does know what’s at stake…

Scorpia walks up to Adora, seeing her obvious discomfort, and places a pincer on Adora’s shoulder. Always the chummy type…

“Okay, Adora.” Kyle says, stepping forward. “I get it, Shadow Weaver… isn’t a nice person.”

“Shadow Weaver is dangerous,” I say, trying not to let my emotional attachment to this conclusion show too much, “for Adora, for us,for the Horde as a whole.”

“We are not planning a mutiny, or a coup. We just need to be prepared for if she decides we’re… not worth being under her watch anymore.”

“It kinda feels like you’re trying to provoke that reaction, though,” Lonnie says in an admittedly fair point, “but we’re all your friends,” she pauses, glancing over at Entrapta, “well… Most of us are your friends. We’re with you, if this is what you think the way forward is, Force Captain.”

Rogelio makes a sort of remark that I’m going to assume is also in solidarity, and Adora finally relaxes. These next few days are going to be a lot for everyone, I hope Adora knows what she’s doing.

“Adora!” Entrapta shouts after pulling back away from her laptop. “The Black Garnet! That’s how we do it!”

“How we do what?”

“I have to run some numbers, but I need to ask. Can you get me the Black Garnet?”

The question hangs over everyone in an uncomfortable silence. Going against Shadow Weaver like that so soon? She’d definitely make a move on us.

“I don’t know… I have no idea how I could manage to make that happen.”

“Think of the possibilities! The Runestones, connected into this grid that runs through the planets. Whatever the First One’s did on Etheria, it runs deep. Mining operations, tampering with Etheria’s natural magic, construction projects the likes of which would make the Sea Gate seem like a child’s sandcastle!”

“I’m sorry?” Adora asks, not quite following.

“The Runestones! The natural ones! The First One’s built their way into their grid, creating a network that allows them all to work in tandem! And, they’re not as protected as this sword. But the sword was built into this network, too. I could probably use the Black Garnet to unlock the sword, giving you full control of it, and it doesn’t stop there!”

“It’s that easy? For you to access First One’s tech like that?”

“Well, the Black Garnet isn’t First One’s tech. I could get access to that, probably. And if I do, it wouldn’t stop there!”

“Could you use it to make weapons?” I ask, taking a step closer.

“Uh- potentially!”

“Okay guys,” Scorpia interrupts, “I’m just throwing this out here, but um… Shadow Weaver is not going to hand us the Black Garnet.”

Adora looks down, placing her hand to her chin, thinking.

“It’s fine,” I say. “I’ll get you this Black Garnet.”

“Catra?” Adora asks, looking up.

“How is this not mutiny?” Lonnie asks, feeling exasperated, and Rogelio just shakes his head.

“It’s fine. Leave Shadow Weaver to me,” I explain, trusting that Adora will know to get whatever this mess is going to turn into up and running.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

It’s been another day since Bow and I went to that castle in the Whispering Woods, and most of the Alliance has arrived to hear Bow and mine’s report on what little we learned.

“Well as it turns out, there wasn’t too much for us to do there,” Bow announces to the meeting. 

Spinnerella and Netossa are here, as well as Perfuma. Mermista has been busy regaining control of the seas, and is taking the opportunity to speed up the reconstruction of the Sea Gate. Frosta’s whole kingdom is in lockdown, she hasn't come around to joining the rebellion yet. It’s starting to look like she never will, either. My mom is here too, but she hasn’t said anything since I mentioned the possibility of channeling the static out of me.

“Wow… Adora really is She-Ra…” Perfuma says, she definitely seems conflicted given her closer connection to the stories.

“But we learned nothing about what She-Ra is?” Spinnerella asks.

“We did,” I say, “Light Hope confirmed that She-Ra is supposed to be this savior, this champion of Etheria.”

“Yet her powers ended up in the hands of a wannabe tyrant…” Netossa grumbles slightly.

“It isn’t that simple. Light Hope said Adora was conflicted, and… on the wrong path. Something like that.”

“And she told you to either… fight She-Ra, or speak to Adora?” Spinerella continues piecing it together.

“That’s pretty much it, yeah. And I’m going to be honest, none of those seem very possible. She didn’t say anything to give us a scale on her powers, other than that… Well, she seemed glad we have the alliance.” Bow thinks out loud, none of us really have all the pieces.

“This is scary, guys…” Perfuma whispers, “She-Ra isn’t something we’re going to be able to beat without… a lot of effort and energy.”

“Well, we have one thing going for us,” I say, standing up from my chair, “Adora is an experienced combatant, that much is clear. But she knows as much about She-Ra as we do, probably less thanks to Perfuma’s stories.”

“Well we have one thing the Horde doesn’t,” Perfuma says, summing a small flower at everyone’s part of the table, “we can trust in each other!”

“No, they’re not monsters,” Bow says. He always tries to see the best in people… He really took a chance outside of that castle, trying to reach Adora before we even had that as a plan. “Adora’s team is closely knit, especially with that Catra person.”

“True, we’ve only seen the other three a few times… Lonnie, I think one of their names is,” I say, thinking back to Salineas. “But Catra was always there.”

“Except for when I saw her with the younger boy in the Fright Zone salvage yard, yes,” Bow thinks back.

“Oh, well good for them,” Netossa says, “so it's the power of friendship versus the power of comradery.”

“Well, yeah. Good for them,” Perfuma repeats. “It just goes to show I was right on the boat. Everyone’s just fighting for the people closest to them. If we want to reach Adora without fighting her, maybe that’s how we do it?”

“I don’t know,” I say, “there’s something about Catra that doesn’t sit right with me. The way I’ve seen her snarl in combat before. She doesn’t have the same sympathy for the enemy that Bow thinks they have.”

“Catra didn’t let Adora hurt us at Plumeria.”

“You heard her, she knew the Horde lost that fight and got Adora out of there.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple, Glimmer. She led us to the Black Garnet chamber.”

“Because you think she ran slow? You don’t know how fast she is!”

“Magicats are faster than she was.”

Spinerella chimes in with, “we shouldn’t work off of only assumptions. We know Adora hesitates, is She-Ra, and that those two in particular seem to care about each other. Everything else is conjecture.”

“Conjecture is all we’ve been working with since we got off that boat,” Netossa remarks.

“Yes, but it has led somewhere,” Perfuma says. “We know for sure that Adora is She-Ra.”

“And we know nothing about what that means,” I add.

“Commander Glimmer,” my mom’s voice finally rings out. “Spinerella is right, there are too many, “what ifs,” being flung around. What do you have planned for the concrete information we have to work with?”

“I-” I pause, thinking. If the horde has anyone who knows anything about First One’s tech, and I know they have Entrapta’s datapad, which means they have her notes, then Adora is going to figure out that sword quickly. “We’re on a short timer. We need to be ready for anything. If Adora manages to unlock She-Ra, regardless of how strong she may be, we need to be prepared for a fight. I move that we increase the Bright Moon perimeter patrols and increase our home defenses, pulling back from the outer territories.”

“Glimmer, you want to… give up land? That’s very unlike you.”

“This isn’t retreating, we’re not giving up land, we’ll just fall back where we need to. If She-Ra shows up, what we have won’t be enough anyway. They know Bright Moon is the target. Adora already proved her team is willing to launch full-scale attacks at the hearts of two of Etheria’s kingdoms. If she gets the chance to move on Bright Moon, she will.”

“Glimmers right,” Bow seconds. “Adora and her team are meticulous and crafty. They’ve almost always partaken in small scale operations, except at Plumeria, as a solo unit. And Adora being at that castle means the Whispering Woods either doesn’t see Adora as a threat, or can’t stop her.”

“So you want to pull off the front lines, and fortify Bright Moon? Which was exactly my plan that you so vehemently went against months ago?” My mom presses.

“We went too deep to save me after the ball. We lost Entrapta. I’m not going to sacrifice our people holding worthless territory when places like Thaymor, Plumeria, and possibly even Bright Moon are in danger.”

My mom stands up, towering over those of us already standing. “Very well, commander Glimmer. Bow, communicate the information to General Julliet so she can organize our messengers. Everyone else, dismissed. Glimmer, follow me.”

I nod, and Perfuma stand up to go speak to Spinerella and Netossa as I follow my mom out of the room. 

“What’s going on?” I ask as soon as the door to the war room closes behind us.

“Take a walk with me, Glimmer,” my mom says simply, and we start heading through the Bright Moon halls.

“Okay?”

“I wanted to further communicate with you about your plans to withdraw from our extended outposts.”

“Ugh, mom, I told you, it doesn’t make sense to hold defensive positions we can’t defend. We’ll turn this around with force once we handle Adora.”

“And you really think that this’ll just be simple like that? That the next time you encounter this Horde Force Captain, you’ll be able to convince her to turn on her home, or take her down?”

“We don’t think this is easy, it’s war. We’ve known this our whole lives.”

“I am aware that you know the risks, I just… I do not understand your thought process here. Not about falling back, but acting as if this will be a temporary loss.”

“Because, we just need to figure out what Adora can do with the sword. And I want to be cautious, and not risk her tearing through us at some outpost on the far edges of the woods. We’ve been pushed back nearly everywhere since the Sea Gate fell. Mermista’s victory at the Fright Zone’s docks mean their supply lines will go back to how they were.”

“Back in that time between your first mission and the Sea Gate’s destruction?”

“When we were making progress, for the first time in years, yes.”

“And you’re not worried that Adora, if you aren’t able to fix this She-Ra problem before it starts, will use the fact that we have given up our defensive positions to push further into our territory?”

“Adora will wipe us out easier if we’re spread thin. This was your plan, for months! Why are you choosing to always be a contrarian?”

“We spoke about this yesterday, I don’t want you to be another me.”

“I’m not! I’m just- everyone has different ideas. Mermista, Netossa, and I usually don’t like giving up ground, but… okay, this idea is actually Bow’s. He doesn’t think the rebellion can afford to supply the front as it stands, and defend Bright Moon. We don’t know how Adora got to the castle. The Whispering Woods have always protected us, and if that fails… we need to be careful.”

“Bow’s idea… I see. Well, I have always valued his judgment as well as yours. If you think this is the best move forward, I will trust it.”

“You already agreed to it, though, back in the war room.” I understand why my mom has been almost hovering over me since I was captured, but it is seriously aggravating sometimes.

“And I explained that I only wished to understand your thought process more clearly. You’re maturing fast, my glimmer. These last few months of you being out in the field were clearly a good move for you and the rebellion.”

“Oh, um… thanks?” I say, stunned. I was expecting a lecture, or just general lack of trust. Not, well, the opposite.

“I had an idea when you mentioned channeling the Black Garnet’s magic out of your system,”

“I tried pushing through it. Everytime I glitch, it dissipates. I forced as much out of me before entering the war room, it won’t be long before I need to do it again. But I can’t push it out completely, it hurts too much to push through. I almost collapsed a few times trying with Bow’s support.”

“Thankfully, magic is affected by magic. Castaspella is unfamiliar with the magic that comes from Runestones, as I am unfamiliar with raw sorcery. But Glimmer, I think you may very well be able to push through.”

“What? No, I’d literally pass out before I managed it. But what does Aunt Casta have to do with this?”

“Your father, her brother; he was always strong with the mystical arts. You likely could have learned a lot from him, or your aunt.”

I look down slightly. Aunt Casta had been asking me if I wanted to learn any sorcery from her for years, and I never made time for it.

“I have been trying to mold you into someone more like me for years. And when you suggested pulling back, I realized I was worried I might have gotten what I thought I wanted. But what I wanted from you, is not what is best for you; best for us. You are stubborn, and hotheaded, and brave. Like your father,” she says, and holds her hand up. She summons a staff of some sort, and I immediately recognize it, my eyes going wide, “this belonged to him. It allowed him to focus some of the more… destructive elements of magic into what he could more easily manipulate. It may help you now, it’s long past time it was yours.”

I reach out, grabbing the crescent moon-topped staff from her. I weigh it in my hands, perfectly weighted for a center grip. I smile up at my mom, feeling tears well up in my eyes.

“Thank you… I- I promise you don’t have to worry. Just this mission. Just a bit, then I’ll go back to swinging on all fronts.”

“I want you to do what is best at any given moment according to your judgment. If sometimes you think it is better to pull back, pull back.”

I nod, holding the staff a little closer. “So, uh… how do I do the summon thing?”

My mom smiles. She was never able to learn a lot from my dad, and sorcery is apparently not a very fair thing to learn. Everyone could learn some things, with years of practice, but it was harder to master it. My dad was a master. I don’t know what my mom does know, but as she raises her hand, I mirror it. It’s subtle, not a flashy spell, and I have it down in moments as the staff fades away.

“Wow.”

“Your first try? Amazing. Hold onto that staff, Glimmer. If what that Light Hope said is true, it may allow you to reforge your apparently severed connection.”

“I- I’ll do my best. Thank you, mom.” I say, giving her a quick hug, before I turn to leave. I feel the static building up again, and I’m not a fan of the idea of her seeing me lose it again.

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

Entrapta works fast. Just a day after Adora got everyone together, we’re standing in the Black Garnet chamber in what is sure to be an awful idea. The trio aren’t here. It’s just me and the three Horde princesses… somehow. I have no idea how I got myself into this situation. I’m surrounded by things I don’t understand, things are in motion I can’t influence or control, and I’m confused.

But Entrapta is plugging things into the Black Garnet, entrapta’s robot servant and Scorpia are both moving a bunch of junk around, and Adora is just doing what she can to help. I’m mostly watching the door, waiting for the inevitable. 

Something interesting happened as I planned for the trio to create a diversion to pull Shadow Weaver away, she should be dealing with a training mishap right now. But we didn’t even need it, Shadow Weaver has such a sweet surprise in store for her.

“So, we’re hacking into the planet’s power grid by sticking wires onto this rock?” Scorpia muses. “When I was assigned to work with you guys at Salineas, I didn’t things would wind up here.”

“Funny,” Adora chuckles, “I thought the opposite. I had a feeling things were going to change ever since I found this sword.”

“I never expected to be working to hack into Etheria! This is incredible! Oh the things we could do with this as a power source!”

“Or a weapon,” I repeat. We’re going to need them to win this war, because I don’t like the idea of it all being on Adora. Glimmer made a lot of progress on the field outside of Salineas, and neither of us have been able to really achieve a total win against the other. No matter what we do, Adora is still leading here, and Glimmer is still mostly leading there.

“Or a weapon, but you’re thinking too small! We could-”

“Thinking too small?” I ask, crossing my arms.

“Not like that, I just mean in a limited scope! The First One’s made advances to get magic and science working in harmony, and being able to use that here? Who knows what we could do!? What we couldn’t do!?”

“You won’t be doing anything! ” Shadow Weaver’s voice rings out as she rounds the corner around the still damaged hole where the door used to be.

“Uh, Shadow Weaver? Wait, is this your room? We must be lost,” Scorpia chuckles nervously, “this is-”

“Silence! Did you fools really expect to be able to hide from me that you were up to something when you didn’t show up to your training with the other cadets today? I never figured you would be so bold as to openly rebel,” she says angrily directly to me, “but to bring Adora so far down to your level as to turn her against me?”

Adora steps forward at this, “because all you’ve ever done isn’t to drag me down to yours?”

“Don’t do this, Adora. The Black Garnet is mine, and mine alone! You do not have the authority to make this decision, don’t make me put you in your place…”

Adora stands firm, “you don’t need my authority, I was given an order.”

“Absurd! The only Force Captain left above you in ranks is Octavia, and she has no say over my domain!”

“It’s not at Force Captain Octavia’s authority,” Hordak’s voice rings out over the speakers in this room, through a screen on the far side of the room that has just turned on. I cross my arms hearing Hordak’s voice, Shadow Weaver’s surprise is here.

“Lord Hordak? I don’t understand…”

“Adora’s team has been working on a way to meld this strange First Ones tech with our machines to weaponize it. I found out, and was intrigued.” He states calmly, scratching the chin of his little Imp, which rests happily next to him. That thing must have been stalking us! Why? “I gave Force Captain Adora and her team my blessing to go ahead. So understand Shadow Weaver, I am displeased with your interruption.”

“My Lord, you’re really going to this- this princess tinker with my Runestone?”

Hordak smirks slightly at this, “Her tinkering has increased the firepower of every weapon she's touched. So yes, she gets to tinker with whatever she wants. Including the Black Garnet, which is mine to give or take, as I see fit. These Princesses,” he places deliberate emphasis on the “es,” “may proceed.”

Shadow Weaver looks at Adora, the desperation and frustration in her voice is immediate. This all happened so much faster than any of us could have thought, as soon as Hordak found out… well, we don’t have to worry now about when Shadow Weaver will strike.

“Adora… why?” The tension is palpable. Hordak hangs up the call, having nothing more to add, as Shadow Weaver and Adora continue to stare at each other.

“Shadow Weaver, Hordak has given all of us here direct orders. Don’t make this difficult for everyone.”

Shadow Weaver hovers there, glancing around the room, focusing her face towards me. I shift my foot back, knowing all too well what will come next.

“Okay,” Shadow Weaver says, calmly. Collectively, everyone seems to let out a breath of air, confused, except me. I stay tense, watching Shadow Weaver. There’s no way this isn’t another trick, no way she’s going to let this go. “I hope- I hope you know what you are doing, Adora.”

Adora says nothing, the hand at her side relaxing slightly, as she says, “I’m doing what you taught me to do. Winning.”

Shadow Weaver takes one more look at the four of us, before nodding her head slightly at Adora. I can tell she isn’t done, but for some reason, she doesn’t push it. She just… starts backing up, back through the hole in the wall to the chamber, and turns to leave.

Adora immediately sighs, and Entrapta goes back to work when Adora gives her a thumbs up.

“Wow, I thought for sure that was going to end in a fight,” Scorpia says, wiping sweat off her forehead.

“Please,” I mutter, walking over to start helping with the wiring now. “It will. Just not her precious Adora.” I know what this means. She’s going to come for me. She’s going to take it out on me. She’s going to lose her cool. I force down my nerves now that she’s gone. We keep kicking this problem down the road, but it’s fine. We’ll deal with it.

“We won’t have long, even if this plan succeeds, to deal with her completely,” Adora mentions. “If this actually works, and I get this sword unlocked, she’s going to find out about She-Ra very quickly.”

“And she isn’t going to let that sort of power go without trying to get her fingers all over it,” I say, as the four of us go back to work on the Black Garnet.

It doesn’t take long before everything is finally hooked up, and Entrapta starts running some simple tests on her laptop.

“Adora, if you could get that last wire?” She asks. When Adora leans over and plugs a large cable into the other end of another cable, instantly a humming noise can be heard. She actually did it…

Red energy dances up around the edges of the Black Garnet, a small surging traveling along the large cable Adora just plugged together, as a massive surge starts collecting towards the top of the Runestone, before a massive beam of red energy shoots up into the ceiling of the room we’re in, and Entrapta gawks in awe.

“Amazing! It’s siphoning energy at a near exponential rate!” Entrapta shouts now, starting to move around her setup. “Adora, the sword!” Her hair outstretches towards Adora, and she hands the sword to Entrapta.

There’s a slight pause in everyone’s curiosity as we hear what sounds like lightning striking the area. That doesn’t make sense, it wasn’t storming today.

“Uh…” Scorpia goes to some other screens, starting to look at various weather reports and information being received live from various Horde Outposts

Entrapta brings the sword back over to herself, taking two wires and attaching them at the hilt and base of the blade, as she starts typing into her laptop.

“This is so much more interesting than I expected it to be!”

“Uh… guys?” Scorpia asks, looking down at a different screen, “this is like… maybe not good.”

“What do you mean?” Adora asks, looking over to the screens.

“Whatever this is doing, it’s having an incredible effect on the planet, like everywhere. How is this possible?”

Adora walks over, studying the information, “Tidal waves… firestorms, quakes… Entrapta, what exactly are we doing here?”

“And a snow storm just hit the Whispering Woods, the nearest outpost just reported that all the trees are… well, they’re freezing over!”

“Science! The Black Garnet functioning at a higher level than the other Runestones is throwing off the balance of Etheria! Its natural functions have been thrown immediately into complete chaos! It’s like we’re drawing power from the other Runestones, making everyone else weaker and us stronger!”

“Wait wait wait, what?” I ask, stepping closer to her display.

“What, that part wasn’t obvious? I can now siphon energy into and out of the Black Garnet! That energy doesn’t come from nowhere.”

“So the other princesses are weaker?”

“Well, mostly. You don’t have to worry about Scorpia and I, we’re not elemental princesses. I think so anyway.”

“Huh? Somebody say my name?” Scorpia turns to us, away from the screens showing increasingly disastrous reports coming in.

Adora turns around too, heading closer, having been actively listening, “What about the sword?”

“Well, I can’t boost that one’s power directly without having a much better understanding of First One’s code, but here, you should be able to use it now. Maybe, I have no idea how it worked but I was able to pump enough Black Garnet energy into it to disable the First One’s restraints.”

Adora grabs the sword from her, smiling slightly. “Still… every other Princess, vulnerable? The woods frozen over? And She-Ra…”

“Entrapta, how do we keep this going?” I ask, walking over to this model she wheeled in at the start of this all.

“Well, I’d have to run more tests to know for sure, but-”

I tap one of the green lights, assuming that the red one is the one currently displaying Entrapta’s energy readings on the Garnet. As she speaks, I get a slight idea. If there’s no balance to hold the Runestones in place, if one of them were to perhaps be taken offline? I smash the one bulb, the light immediately short circuiting through the model, cursing the red light to shine brighter.

“-or yeah, that would work too.”

“Then we need to go to Bright Moon,” I say.

“Bright Moon, why?” Scorpia asks.

“If we take out the Moon Stone…” Adora speaks to herself, “the princesses will always be weaker. And if the woods freeze over…”

“Then there’d be nothing left to stop us. Especially not with She-Ra,” I smirk, looking over at Adora.

She looks down at the sword, sighing slightly. “I guess we’ll see if it works.” She closes her eyes, concentrating for a moment.

“Try saying those words again,” I say, as she looks frustrated.

“What words- oh, okay, nevermind… For the honor… of Grayskull!” She shouts, and instantly the sword’s Runestone lights up, and I watch in the same way as last time as Adora becomes She-Ra.

As the small flash of light dies down, I can see as Scorpia’s mouth hangs open.

“Wh- what?” Entrapta shouts, looking over at Adora. “How did that happen, how did you do that!? Are you even organic matter?”

Adora opens her eyes again, grinning. “Oh, I think this’ll work just fine.”

Notes:

Jeez. Over 16,000 pages for, "Light Hope." My first few chapters are getting pretty short in comparison!
(I'm making room for fight stuff!)
Also yeah, I left Shadow Weaver in play. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Chapter 13: She-Ra

Summary:

Adora marches on Bright Moon

Notes:

I don't know if anything here needs warnings because it isn't like, a lot, but I do deviate from canon-typical violence here.
So uh content warning for some blood?

Glimmer’s POV

Dread. That’s the only word to describe what’s coursing through me right now. Well, that and the static from Shadow Weaver’s curse on me.

The sky is dark, a massive black cloud hanging over the entire horizon. It’s coming from the direction of the Fright Zone…

“Is this… what She-Ra is?” Bow asks, in awe. We’re standing outside the castle entrance. Him, my mom, Spinnerella, Netossa, and I. Perfuma had just gone home an hour ago. Talk about timing.

“The elements are out of harmony… I don’t know what this has to do with She-Ra, but it’s taking nearly everything I have to keep my connection with the Moon Stone. It’s weaker, fighting against the darkness.”

“And it’s losing,” I whisper, watching as the cloud continues moving over the horizon, closer and closer to Bright Moon.

We hear footsteps, running up besides all of us. “Your majesty,” General Julliet pants slightly, “We just got a report from our scouts of a Horde convoy en route through the woods. They’re freezing over as we speak!”

“They’re coming for Bright Moon…” Spinnerella whispers.

“For the Moon Stone,” Angella adds. “If this goes down, the balance of Etheria will be irreparably lost.”

“I’ve already sounded the distress beacon, but Perfuma’s already gone and I don’t know how long it’ll be before Mermista gets here,” Bow adds.

I raise my hand up, summoning my dad’s staff. “This is going to be really difficult.”

“Glimmer,” Bow walks over to me, placing his hand on my shoulder, “you don’t have to fight.”

“It doesn’t matter, Bow. They’ve interfered with the runestones, and it’s not a coincidence that it’s after Adora and Catra went to that castle. I don’t need magic to fight. You don’t.”

“I know, I just… be careful?”

“Please, we’re never careful,” I half-joke, mostly because we actually are almost never careful.

“I’ve already given the orders to the royal guard to evacuate the castle and the surrounding houses out by the water and the edge of the woods,” Juliet reports to Angella.

“Good. Get that evacuation underway and prepare the guard for a full assault,” she responds.

“Um… I don’t think we’re going to have time for that,” Bow says, pointing out towards the woods. We look over, seeing the smog from the Horde Vehicles trailing above the trees.

“That’s a lot of movement…” I add.

There’s a short pause, and Spinnerella and Netossa share a quick look. “Ready, Spinny?” Netossa asks. Spinnerella nods, and the two begin moving down to the bay.

“I guess we should follow,” I say to Bow.

“Glimmer, everyone… be careful.” Angella adds. “I am going to head up to the Moon Stone and attempt to boost its protective barrier.”

Bow and I nod, and turn to follow the other two princesses who were already moving.

“I want to meet them out in the Bay, come one,” he shouts, motioning for me to follow him.

“What? Like, the two of us out in the middle of the waterfront? The others just look like they’re heading to the base of the bridge!”

“Trust me,” Bow says, and we take a turn down to the stables.

“Bow, I’m not sure-”

“He’ll be fine, I’ll send him away as we get out there. We just need to meet them further out to buy more time for Mermsita, she’ll be our heaviest hitter down at the water.”

“Mmm…” I grumble, but keep following regardless. We make it to the stables, the horses have already been saddled up by the workers to aid in the evacuation. Bow says greetings to the worker at the door, and we head in to get on the horse.

“Go, go!” Bow says, moving the reins as soon as we’re on, and we take off. We race out onto the trail, heading back for the shoreline. The bay around Bright Moon is shallow, knee deep at the deepest spots on this side of the mountain Bright Moon castle is built into, which means we’re able to ride straight into the bay with our horse, which Bow has actually called Horsey a few times now thanks to Adora.

Adora. She-Ra. She’s almost certainly going to be here. Princesses vs Princess. I hope all of Perfuma’s stories aren’t true, or we’re in a lot of trouble. 

We see Spinnerella and Netossa, definitely waiting at the base of the bridge. I can see the look of horror on Spinnerella’s face as we ride past them. I hope Bow knows what he’s doing.

As we make it out to the center of the bay, I can actually see as the trees closest to the edge start freezing over. Any moment now.

We get off the horse, and I take a moment to force out as much of the static that resides in me as I can.

“You okay?” Bow asks, but he knows by now I am, he doesn’t even look over as he pulls his bow off of his back.

“Nervous. You?”

“Nervous.”

Bow checks something on his weapon, before holding it down at his side. I look down at the staff in my own hands. It isn’t going to be much, but I’ll need to do something. Besides, just because I rely on my powers doesn’t mean I’m helpless without them, just as Bow doesn’t need his arrows-for-every-occasion mentality. Which is definitely good, because he only has so many of them in one quiver.

The first of the Horde vehicles break the tree lines. Tanks. Armored Personnel Carriers. Skiffs. All things Etheria didn’t know before Hordak touched down sometime before my birth. There’s lots of them, probably five times the amount used during the invasion of Thaymor. What’s strange though is that as all the trucks begin to pause at the tree line, one of them stops closer. I watch as Adora's team steps out around the back. The girl, the boy, the reptile… I think I’ve heard some of their names before, like Lonnie? Then Catra and Scorpia. Then finally, Adora.

She’s holding the sword. Adora, Catra, and Scorpia all step forward, the rest of their team follows close behind. Meanwhile, the other dozen or so trucks start having soldiers pour out of them, all along the shore at the edge of the bay.

“Alright Horsey, you did, good, get out of here,” Bow says, lightly tapping the rear of the horse twice. He neighs in response, and starts slowly trotting back to the stables.

Adora steps up towards us, Catra to her right and Scorpia to her left. Scorpia and Adora look focused, and with Adora I know it isn’t an act. Catra is smirking… It’s actually unsettling.

“So, Princess,” Adora starts speaking, looking directly at me, “how do you like the spectacle of this?”

“Everytime I see you you manage to outdo yourself. Thaymor was one thing, a swift victory against an unguarded town-”

“You were literally guarding it.”

“We went there after we heard of the convoy, we went for an evacuation mission. Regardless, you really outdid yourself destroying one of Etheria’s most recognizable locations.”

“And I still haven’t seen Mermista since then. How’d she handle it?”

“And then you blew up an 11 year-olds home to kidnap me.”

“She immediately repaired it, that was only a distraction anyway.”

“But this? I’m impressed. How did She-Ra manage to do this?”

Adora pauses for a moment, and smirks slightly. “You know, I forgot that you princesses probably know nothing about her,” this throws me for a loop. Does she not have the sword unlocked after all? Then what’s doing this to the sky?

“We know enough,” Bow says. “We spoke to Light Hope, we know who She-Ra is supposed to be.” I don’t know for sure, but it looks like Catra’s expression just shifted a little bit.

“I know, I know. She begged me to do her bidding, she wanted to use me. But I won’t be used.”

“We don’t have to do this,” Bow keeps going. I’m starting to feel frustrated with it, I know what she knows. That she is going to do this. “Too many innocent people are going to get hurt.”

“I’m not here for the people. I’m here for the Moon Stone, her,” she points the sword at me, and I grit my teeth, “and her mother. I’m here to do a job. And if you stand with them, that means you’re in my way.” Catra and Scorpia both glance over at Adora for a second, it’s unclear what their thoughts are.

“Then stop talking and fight us!” I shout, fed up with her ego, as for a quick second the static overwhelms me. I push it down, it’s not the time.

“Are you still glitching, Sparkles?” Catra asks, flexing her claws.

“Oh I am just waiting to finally wipe that smirk off your face!”

“Go ahead and try, princess!”

Adora looks down at the sword, “I’m going to make this simple, because this is happening anyway. You have one chance to surrender.”

“Never!” I shout, and Bow finally draws an arrow from his quiver, readying for the fight. The rest of Adora’s team start moving too, moving to flank us.

“Have it your way…” Adora sighs, I can’t for the life of me begin to understand why. “For the honor of Grayskull!” She shouts, moving her sword up into the air. It must’ve been a signal, because suddenly all the tanks start firing shells towards the castle. But even worse, the sword… glows. So they did get it unlocked? There’s a blinding flash of light, and when I’m able to look again…

Adora is different. It’s still her, it’s the same face, but that’s about all that’s the same. Her hair is longer, lighter, more wavy; not in a ponytail. She’s taller, her muscles are absolutely huge. Literally glowing. And wearing about the last thing I ever expected to see her wearing, a white and gold costume that looks similar to the mural Bow and I saw in the Crystal Castle. I stare in shock. It’s really her. She’s really She-Ra.

“I hate when I’m right,” Bow mutters, instantly firing an arrow towards her, and all at once everything falls apart. Adora moves fast, too fast, Catra close behind. The rest of her team are normal, closing the distance as well. 

There’s loud noises as the tank shots start raining down on the castle behind us. I hear a weird noise, almost like- our horse! The explosions must’ve spooked him, he’s galloping rampantly through the bay.

Adora takes a shot from Bow’s  bow, a gray foam one. She rips through it instantly, and two things become immediately clear. One, she’s strong. Really strong. Two, I don’t think she knows how strong she is given by how she over-exerts the force and goes off balance momentarily.

Catra reaches me, and I move the staff to block her hit. The jerk has the gaul to hiss at me! She grabs the staff, and a short game of tug of war takes place as we both push and pull to break the others’ grip. She jumps quickly, flipping over me. My arms are still holding the staff though, and for a second there’s an awkward angle as she lifts my arms up with the staff, and as she’s above me and my balance is dislodged, she twists in the air and drives her feet into my back, and I go down.

“Glimmer!” Bow shouts, drawing an air to fire at Catra, when She-Ra reaches him He draws, and her sword swings down into the front of the arrow, and it falls uselessly down to the ground. Bow doesn’t have a moment before the sword swings at him. He goes to block with his bow, holding it at both ends to use almost as a staff. But the force of the swing immediately breaks the grip his top grip has, knocking the bow downwards. The blade misses, thankfully.

I get back up, Catra having let go of the staff as I fell, and turn to drive the end of it towards her, as she backs up, dodging. This thing isn’t a spear, I don’t even know how to use a spear, but I haven’t had the time to learn any spells so a spear it’ll do. It’s better than trying to hit people with sparkle-less punches.

As Catra steps back, keeps dodging the thrusts, another of Adora’s team gets to me. The Girl. She drives a stun-baton forward, and I have to turn my attention to parry it, managing to get a strike off on Lonnie’s head. She doesn’t go down, but she is dazed. I turn back to Bow.

Adora is almost toying with him, swinging over and over again, as if trying to break his weapon. But it holds strong. I move forward, there’s enough distance between Catra and I that I can get close to She-Ra.

As Adora is focused on Bow, he actually manages to figure out a strong enough stance to block a hit.

“Adora, please, you can’t want this!” He pleads. I groan internally, always the first to see the best in people even when there’s a sword inches from her face.

I drive my staff forward, into She-Ra’s knee. She actually stumbles slightly, and it gives Bow a chance to quickly push her back. He draws an arrow and fires instantly, and She-Ra takes a stun arrow to her shoulder.

“Enough!” I hear Catra snarl, she caught up as quickly as I expected her to, and I turn to block. But Catra is too fast with her reflexes, and she manages to push into me. I go down into the water, but pull her with me, and she shrieks.

Bow fires a net arrow at Catra, and she goes over into the water. I can see her pupils contract, this magicat, in fact, does not like water it seems.

Bow instantly fires another arrow at the boy, who finally closes in on us. He goes down, and Scorpia is next. She lashes out at me with her tail, but I manage to block it.

 “you’ve accessorized. Not that it’s going to help you!” She boasts, wrapping her tail around the staff. A strange feeling flows through me as my staff connects with Scorpia, like the static has been momentarily lifted, but I don’t have the time to focus on that as she pushes me back.

Because She-Ra is back up, pulling the stun arrow off of her. She looks ticked.

Scorpia uses her pincers to cut through the net on Catra, helping her up.

“You two really are stubborn!” Catra chokes out.

She-Ra steps forward, and slams the sword into the ground in front of Bow and I. We feel the ground shake. She’s… she’s strong strong.

Bow loses his balance from the shockwave, falling back, and She-Ra steps over him. She raises the sword up, “no more tricks!”

I move as fast as she does. As her arm moves down, my staff connects with her sword arm. But she’s too strong, too fast.

It’s a miracle then, that she wasn’t aiming to kill. The sword barely misses his neck, instead slicing straight through half the arrows in his quiver. As She-Ra realizes my staff is digging into her arm, she turns to face me, readying the sword for another swing.

Bow moves quickly, scooting back out from under She-Ra as he pulls a broken arrow out from his quiver, but he doesn’t fire it. He presses a button instead, tossing it up towards her, and it goes off in a small flash in front of her eyes.

“Ah!”

I help Bow up, and Scorpia moves for us. It’s too much… there’s no moment. I block her tail with my staff again, and Adora’s sword swings down onto it after she rubs her eyes, knocking the staff from my grip.

Scorpia and She-Ra look smug, both of them, and Catra even moves up now to lunge for Bow, when suddenly Bow and I get hit by a massive gust of wind, sending us rolling through the bay.

When we stop moving, I look up to see that Spinnerella and Netossa finally made it over to us. I guess we did go pretty far out into the water. I look around for a second, looking at the damage so far. Bright Moon took too many hits from the tanks. While we’re out here dealing with She-Ra, they’re going to tear us apart.

And our horse is still running in a circle not far from us. 

Worse yet, the shells are focusing around the Moon Stone, and I can see Angella’s barrier getting weaker. Oh no, it’s going to fall!

“Bow, I need to get up to Angella!” I shout, wondering if I should go get Horsey and move him away from the field.

Bow is drawing another arrow, aiming it back for She-Ra as there’s now a lot of distance between us. We’re both soaked from being pushed this far through the water, but we’re still alive, and both still fighting.

I turn back as he’s watching the fight. Spinnerella is trying desperately to push everyone back. Scorpia’s dug in, holding Catra’s wrist to keep her steady, as She-Ra has her sword in the ground to steady herself. As she catches her balance, Adora lifts her sword and swings wildly at Spinnerella, and a massive beam of energy shoots out of it.

How does that work?

Spinnerella looks frightened for a moment, but is quickly covered in a defensive net from Spinnerella, who throws another at She-Ra. But as the beam bounces off the net, it turns. Bow and I watch in horror as it heads straight for our horse-

But something even stranger happens as it seems to focus in on him, and the Horse suddenly changes colors into the bright white She-Ra’s clothes have, as his mane grows into a myriad of orange-hued colors. It gets even weirder as a horn protrudes out from his forehead, and two massive colorful wings sprout from his back.

“Our horse!” Bow shouts, as the horse stops in his tracks in apparent… confusion? And horror? He starts freaking out, making frenzied horse noises. There goes getting him out of here. The horse starts flapping the wings, and in another moment, is not half flying half galloping away. I’m too stunned to even form a reaction as I turn back to She-Ra and the others.

She-Ra is trapped. Under a net, swinging her sword desperately to break through the netting, as Scorpia and Catra regain their balance. The lizard person is there too, I see him getting out of the water. I don’t see the boy or girl, which is interesting because I didn’t see Lonnie go down.

“Get to your mom, now!” Bow shouts at me, firing an arrow towards Scorpia. I nod, and start moving.

She-Ra sees this. “Scorpia, Catra, don’t let her get away!” As she finally breaks through the netting, she adds, “these two are mine!”

They nod, and Catra immediately starts moving for Bow, as Scorpia heads straight for me.

“Go, I got her,” Bow shouts, and I don’t stop moving. I try to bring the staff back to me, as I left it somewhere in the water near She-Ra, and it’s back in my hands. I’m racing for the shoreline. Unfortunately, I am not a very fast runner. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was the slowest person out in this bay, just because I never really relied on needing to run. I’m gonna have to actually fix that…

Worse yet, the strain of sprinting through the knee-deep water is starting to wear on the building dark magic that’s coursing through me. I debate stopping to let it overflow, but I can’t wait. My mom needs help. I know I don’t have my powers but I can at least stop that bot, and maybe, just maybe reconnect enough to help keep the barrier afloat.

I make it to the shore, and head for a set of stairs carved out of the cliffside leading up to the bridge. It’s a long way, but I couldn’t risk heading straight for the Moon Stone pillar with the energy shots that keep hitting it, and I’m pretty sure that’s a horde bot climbing up the pillar’s side.

But Scorpia actually did go for me. As soon as I make it to the stairs, she climbs up in front of where I’m running, her pincers able to lift herself up surprisingly well.

“Now where was I? Oh yeah, I was about to punch you!” Her boasting isn’t overly threatening, in fact it almost makes me take her less seriously, but I can’t forget that between the two of us, one of us is not in her usual fighting shape.

Instead, I focus more. I get into a fighting stance as she lashes out with her tail. Princess Prom was a moment I can’t let repeat itself. I swipe the tail aside with the staff, and go to swing it at her. Her one pincer catches it, and I get that strange sense of clarity again. Scorpia notices the pause. I decide to try something, and let the static energy flow over.

I grit my teeth slightly, but in shock I can see as the static makes its way up the staff, collecting on the top of it. 

“Pretty…” Scorpia’s expression softens as she looks at the staff.

Channel it, Light Hope had said. I can see as the static begins to slightly pull towards where Scorpia is touching the staff. I don’t have time to think about the implications. I put all the focus I can into the staff, and feel as the static leaves me. And then, with what is an impossibly strong force, I dispel it, straight through the staff into Scorpia, and she’s knocked off the stairs back down to the water.

I sigh, and feel my head to be clear for the first time since I was in that containment field. I look down at the staff in my hands. Thanks, dad. Then I turn my attention back to the Moonstone tower. I need to hurry, I should have just enough time…

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

My heart has been racing ever since Adora turned on She-Ra. It’s been non-stop, and everyone has already taken hits. And neither side has made much progress. Adora is being held off barely, but she’s pushing forward just enough to the goal for this to not be a stalemate, and we already drove off Sparkles. I lost sight of her a while ago. Now, my attention is on Bow.

*Swoosh* 

One of his arrows flies past my face, barely missing. But I know it was a warning shot. A dumb move to make if you ask me, given Adora rendered half his arsenal barely useful.

I close the distance, wasting no time in trying to get a hit off on him. This isn’t like the Fright Zone, I don’t need to run, or hold back and play nice, or hold back Adora. As much as I have my qualms with Adora acting how she’s been acting, things have clicked just a little bit. It’s an act. A front. I get that, no one acts the same way in the field as they do in their personal lives.

Except maybe this guy, right here. My claws keep moving at him, and he just keeps blocking. He’s playing so defensively it’s obvious he isn’t even trying to counter me.

I manage to get my hands wrapped around his Bow, and I hold it there.

“What are you doing!?” I hiss at him, why isn’t he fighting back?

“Buying time,” he says. Too quickly. An easy excuse.

“Sure. What, waiting for the cavalry?” I snarl at him. There’s no way he can buy enough time for that, I’ve seen Adora handle the spiders in the castle. This is only still going because Adora isn’t killing.

“Waiting to talk to her,” he exerts, struggling against my grip on his bow.

“You can’t be serious!” He already pleaded with her enough, is he not going to learn?

“Catra, I don’t know what you heard from Light Hope but-”

“Enough talking!” I shout, trying to pull his weapon from his grasp entirely. The thing is, I only saw Light Hope for a fraction of a moment. The rest… I was asleep for it. Does everyone know what’s going on more than I do?

“Light Hope said things aren’t right, that this isn’t what Adora wants!” He claims, pushing against me with enough force, before stopping, that my grip slips on the bow enough for him to break it. He swings it like a melee weapon at me, and I back up to dodge the swing.

“Stop talking like you know her!” I shout. Flexing my claws and going back for him again.

“I don’t, but you do! I saw how you both acted when we met in the woods. Adora dropped her guard.”

To be fair, Adora was an idiot for her reaction to seeing a horse. I didn’t know you could go your whole life without knowing what a horse was. I knew that the rebellion supply lines were often done with horses and carriages and not trucks and skiffs. “You don’t know what you saw!” 

I snarl at him, and swing for him with my claws again. He once again blocks, but I’m not dumb, I know that wasn’t going to work. A distraction. My leg goes up, I drive my foot along his arm, one solid hit.

Bow momentarily screams in pain, three small lines of blood appearing on his outer forearm. He quickly draws an arrow as he jumps back away from me, firing an arrow at me. But he didn’t draw it far enough back, and the shot is slow. I snatch it out of the air.

“Heh, you’re going to have to be faster than-” the arrow capsule makes a slight popping noise, and confetti sprays up around me. “Agh!”

Bow smirks, already moving back towards Adora. I can’t believe that stunned me! How have we not destroyed these people already!?

I move after him, dropping the used arrow into the water, and give chase to him. I catch up before he’s halfway back, tackling him face first into the water.

He rolls pretty quickly, a little stronger than he looks, and I’m moved off him.

“Huh, you are fast…” He thinks aloud, as we both stand up again, him purposefully moving away from me for space and not towards me.

“What?” I try to think about what he’s referring to- oh.

He doesn’t say anything, he just takes another step back to Adora and two princesses I don’t know the names of.

Then he looks behind me, back towards the shoreline. At something. It’s a trick, I know it is. He’s going to run as soon as I take my eyes off of him. And whatever he was looking at wasn’t close, it isn’t a threat because I would have heard it. So I step closer to him. 

He takes another step towards them, I take another two towards him. I’m waiting for a tell. His plan. It’ll show, he’s easy to read. Not as easy as Glimmer, but he still has tells. They don’t drill them out of you like they do at the horde.

Then I see it. A subtle drift of his eyes towards the ground between us, and he moves his hand. Bingo. I race forward, he draws an arrow. As I get halfway between us, he’s already fired, but I know where he was aiming. I leap to the right, as the arrow detonates when it hits the water a foot from where I was, creating a small eruption in the water, and I watch his face shift.

I have him. I move closer, before he can draw fire the second arrow he drew, and once again tackle him down into the water. I’m ready for it this time, he’s not going to roll me off now.

“Stay down!” I shout, holding my hand up to my head. I don’t have anything against Bow personally, and while I don’t share most of the team's qualms about dispatching enemies without needless force, I think for a moment about the kind of example I’ve set for Adora in the past… Am I part of why she’s ending up where she is?

I don’t dwell on that thought, as his expression shifts into a satisfied half-smile. I’m instantly more alert as my senses over take my adrenaline. The second arrow… it goes off at my side, the sound of a popping noise heard from where his drawing hand is above the water, and I instantly feel the smoke surrounding us. 

I cough slightly as I can’t see inches in front of me, as the smoke thickens up, and this means danger. I have him pinned, but I can’t see him, and I don’t have his hands. My thoughts tell me he isn’t going to do anything that can hurt, they’re mighty rebels after all.

But I had bad experiences when my sight was removed from me before, and instinct makes me jump back, trying to get out of the smoke.

I try to see if he’s coming for me, but then I remember he was only ever trying to make it back towards the middle of the bay, and I can hear that he’s already up. I start moving, and allow myself to finally look at the shoreline. A line of Bright Moon guards? That’s fine, we have the men moving on foot through the bay at several points away from where the team is fighting those princesses. She-Ra was only ever intended to be a big, flashy diversion here.

I don’t even think about what Bow could be planning, all he has are tricks. And he still makes use of them even after Adora made it so he couldn’t fire most of them. I need that quiver off his back again, now…

I move fast, again going to catch up with Bow, but he’s pretty much already back near the other princesses. They’re struggling against Adora and the rest of the team, and we’re advancing. Slowly, but it’s working.

Bow goes to draw an arrow and fires before I can get to him.

“Adora!” I shout out to warn her. And she turns. She sees Bow, the arrow, and instinctually leans back. The arrow soars past her. Knowing Bow, it wasn’t lethal anyway, but Adora still seems frustrated at this.

However, as soon as Adora takes a step forward, the wind princess hits her with another major gust of wind,“Ugh!” Adora grimaces, and she swings her sword at the water in a downward swinging motion, using She-Ra’s strength to create a small tidal force towards her. The blast concusses the wind princess, but since it’s still water and the distance between the two was enough, she’s only phased. 

At the same time, I use the opportunity to leap up behind Bow, taking one swing for his quiver. But he turns around at the same time, my claws connecting uselessly against his shoulder guard.

Bow goes to draw an arrow, and I see Lonnie and Rogelio finally making their way back from presumably dragging Kyle out of the water so he wouldn’t drown while unconscious. Good, the numbers are back. Bow takes his shot, I duck, his arrow of some sort flying over my head.

Bow hears the footsteps behind him, turning to quickly fire an arrow at Rogelio. I don’t see what the damage is, I’m too busy sneaking glances at Adora and the princesses. The net princess has barely been able to do much, and the wind one is getting exhausted.

I watch as Adora is getting closer to the two, still trying their best to slow Adora down, but turn my attention back to the archer.

He’s grappling with Lonnie, and I move to get him off of her. It takes all of one second for me to close that distance. However, when Bow sees Lonnie smirk, he turns to see me coming, and I again miss my mark for his quiver strap as he quickly pushes back from Lonnie.

I move for him, but as quick as I am, I’m not fighting with a target. He’s guarding his quiver, I need to do something he won’t expect. I move to kick him again, it’s worked already, but he swings his bow down and slams it into my shin.

I hiss from the stinging, and move against him again with my claws going straight for his face, but I’m letting my anger get to me, he’s reading me now. I pause, taking a breath as he steps back and dodges again.

“I’m really starting to dislike this guy,” Lonnie says on my left.

“I’m flattered,” Bow responds, pulling another damaged arrow out of his quiver. Flat tipped. He throws it towards Lonnie, as if it was a dart, and it’s clear he practiced throwing his arrows before, too. I move to smack it out of the air, my reflexes are faster, but apparently he thought of that too. I turn back, my stance compromised, just in time to see as his bow flies towards my face.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

I’m heaving, my muscles are tense, and I’m cold from how the water has so thoroughly soaked into my clothes. I’m tired, running out of arrows, and She-Ra is closing distance through the bay. I spend a few seconds staring at Catra, who’s laying dazed against Lonnie’s arms. There’s a small amount of blood trickling out from under her mask, and it even looks like I chipped a small piece off the right side.

Lonnie is ignoring me, she’s keeping Catra standing. The fact that she’s standing means I didn’t swing too hard, but I needed something. She was playing me the whole time, and I needed to get her off of me in order to help Spinnerella and Netossa slow She-Ra down. If we can’t keep her in the bay, away from the Moon Stone… We’re not going to stop her if she gets to the queen or destroys the stone.

I turn slowly, Lonnie mumbles something to Catra, and starts moving to close the last of the growing distance between us and them. As I move over, I glare up at the pillar. I hope Glimmer makes it to Angella alright.

I turn back to She-Ra. She’s way too close to the princesses, and Netossa’s nets and Spinnerella’s winds just aren’t slowing her down anymore. She started this fight off slow, clumsy, unsure. She’s rapidly becoming more confident, and that is dangerous.

I draw another arrow, aiming for She-Ra’s arm, when the reptilian slams into my side.

“Ow!” I grunt out, as I’m moved backwards from the impact. The lizard-man roars at me, he wasn’t out either? I’m not doing as good a job at watching the field as I usually do, and that needs to change. The reptile moves for me, but this one is slower. Strong, but clunky. As he charges for me again, I easily sidestep him and sweep his leg out from under him with my bow, and he falls to the water. I grab a half-broken net arrow and activate it above him, ensnaring him into the water.

We’re performing a full-on retreat back towards our side of the shore, and we’re barely holding off a fraction of the Horde army that’s actually here. The Bright Moon guard are engaging the Horde Foot soldiers here and there, but we’re outnumbered. I don’t know if we’re going to hold in time for the others… and at this point, the thought of Perfuma and Mermista making the difference seems slim. But if we keep them in the bay, Mermista will be able to completely level the field.

She-Ra is even closer to Spinnerella, and I can see the concern in Netossa’s eyes. She’s slowing She-Ra down, repeatedly ensaring her legs, but it isn’t working. She’s too close. I throw myself at She-Ra, practically throwing myself onto her back as I put my bow over her head, and pull it into her neck. I pull, hard, trying to get her off-balance enough. But I manage the distraction.

She-Ra reaches her left arm up and over her head, and I freeze as she grabs my shirt color and pulls . I’m thrown over, and slammed into the ground in front of her, and hard. The air is immediately knocked out of my lungs as the water pools around, holding my head above the line.

I open my eyes after the shock, and she’s standing over me, her foot in the air above to drive down. But it’s enough of a shift in balance for Spinnerella to knock her back slightly, and Netossa moves forward to help me up.

“You okay?”

“Enough. You?”

“Enough,” Netossa looks down into the water, picking my bow back up for me, “don’t lose this again,” she jokes.

I nod, turning back to Adora who’s still moving against Spinnerella’s magic.

Adora steps forward, I can almost feel the ground shaking with every step she makes, her feet digging into the mud under the water for support against Spinnerella. Unfortunately, only one of them is getting tired.

I reach my hand into my quiver, and Netossa moves forwards as She-Ra closes the distance, and drives her sword so hard into the ground I can feel as the entire nearby area gets disrupted. My feet go off-balance, Netossa slips, Spinnerella’s powers drop as she steadies herself. And She-Ra takes the opportunity. When she lifts her sword, the ground and water swell up in a massive wave of force directed entirely at Spinnerella, and the shockwave sends her flying back.

“Spinny!” Netossa shouts, instantly moving towards her fiance. Finally stable myself, I grab what I feel is my last arrow that wasn’t damaged, and this one isn’t a trick arrow.

Netossa creates a quick net-bubble around She-Ra, and supports Netossa. She’s not unconscious, but she’s definitely hurt and dazed.

I step between She-Ra and them, as She-Ra bashes through the net. “Get her out of here!” I shout.

“Are you insane!?” Netossa practically screams. “We need a full retreat back to the shore!”

“We don’t have time,” I reply calmly. “Go.” She nods reluctantly, helping Spinnerella and slowly moving back to the shore.

She nods, I can see the tears in her eyes. I turn back to She-Ra. She’s moving closer again, and I see Catra and Lonnie moving up too. Okay, Bow. You got this.

“Adora, look around…” I say, slowly, letting the draw I have go loose. “The sky, the weather, the darkness. If you go through with this, it’s over for all of Etheria.”

She stops in her tracks, staring at me for a moment. “Why are you trying so hard?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” And because I really don’t know how thick She-Ra’s skin is and I’m out of tricks, this arrow isn’t going to do any good as another warning shot.

Adora actually pauses at my words here more, she looks like she’s thinking for a moment.  I can see the other two coming up from her right. After a bit, she says, “you know, Shadow Weaver always told me growing up that princesses were violent instigators who couldn’t control their own powers. She said it like a mantra, making sure I knew it as if it was fact. She lied about so much… Yet, I do see it, you know?”

I pause, as does Catra, from slightly back, as she and Lonnie slow down near She-Ra. It doesn’t look like a single person here expected this. So she thinks she’s the hero here?

“She-Ra is strong. Strength that makes her perfect for violence. Power that can enact real change, even if it’s dangerous. But that isn’t it. I keep thinking about… Glimmer in particular. Violent. Impulsive. Headstrong.” She finally looks up at me, from the sword. “Reckless. I know something’s still up with her, she wasn’t sparkling. Yet here she was, still fighting.. And here you are, alone.”

“You wouldn’t get it,” I say. “This isn’t a game for us. This is about Etheria’s survival.”

“Oh but I do. That’s all this has ever been about. Survival… This isn’t a game for me either. And I’m done going easy on people who don’t deserve it.” She moves forward, and I draw the arrow tighter again. “Stand aside, Bow. You can’t stop this.”

Glimmer’s probably right. There’s no chance this is really going to work, no way I can get her to just drop everything. I sigh slightly. Maybe… maybe I just take the shot… “Adora. I’m not moving.”

She steps even closer, close enough that if my arrow wasn’t ready to be fired I wouldn’t have the chance. “I respect you, Bow,” she says simply. I can see the conflict in her eyes. But she lifts her arm, and the sword, and I release the arrow.

She-Ra is fast. She moves just enough for the arrow to deflect off of her sword, and it flies off to the left. And I freeze as it heads straight for the other two.

Thankfully, the arrow doesn’t embed itself anywhere. But unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t connect.

Catra lets out a loud hissing noise, as the arrow grazes past the side of her waist. She-Ra turns to see Catra holding her side, the blood pooling slightly around Catra’s fingers. I can see as her eyes go wide. I can also see as her eyes travel up a little, to Catra’s chipped mask and the blood underneath that.

She-Ra turns back to face me. Her expression is now one raw and pure anger. The conflict is gone entirely. I feel myself swallow nervously, and lower my bow to my side.

“I didn-”

The impact is sudden, quick, I barely even see the motion as she drives her leg up and forward. And as it connects, I’m immediately pushed far, far back. It’s similar to when Spinnerella pushed Glimmer and I out of She-Ra’s path, but now it hurts .

I land hard a second later, rolling far and fast through the water towards the shore. I think I hear my name, but right now I’m worried about the fact that I’m awake, but can’t breathe.

I hope I didn’t just have my ribs broken. I’m laying face down in the water, and I feel nothing except this radiating pain across my torso. I could be dead… had I been slammed into something like a wall, I’d be dead. I feel my body barely responding. I feel like it takes all my strength to just lift my head up above the water.

I gasp, feeling like my lungs unlock, and start inhaling air.

I turn my head back towards She-Ra… wow, I really was kicked back far. I slowly try to stand up. I dropped my bow somewhere between her and me. I’m out of usable arrows anyway.

She-Ra is angry, closing the distance fast…

“Sorry, Glimmer…” I whisper to myself, clutching my stomach.

“Why don’t you stay down, Bow.” She-Ra says to me, coming to stand right in front of me. She’s so imposing… that hit took too much out of me.

But I need more time.

“Adora… don’t do this to Etheria… whatever you’re after, it can’t be worth all of Etheria.”

Adora pauses for a second. She turns around, looking over towards… her team? The shore? I can’t see her eyes. She turns back after a second. “This is worth everything.”

She-Ra raises her arm, and sword, and I try to think of something, anything that I could do to buy us more time.

“Bow!” Netossa shouts, and I turn around to see her coming up right behind me. She throws her hands forwards, creating a barrier between She-Ra and me, moving up to my side. She’s concentrating hard as She-Ra drives her sword into the barrier. “Are you okay?”

“Where’s… where’s Spinnerella?”

“Handed her off to General Julliet. She’s okay.”

She-Ra’s sword comes down on the net again, Adora’s form is no longer that of a well-trained soldier, but someone who is angry.

“Netossa… we need to go.”

“No, I’m buying time, remember?”

Why is Netossa so stubborn? “I’m out, and with Glimmer up at the Moon Stone and sick I can’t get my spare quiver, and my bow is somewhere in the bay.”

“Then go! I’ll keep holding her…”

I grab Netossa’s shoulder, she’s straining to keep the barrier from breaking. “You can’t fight her, we need to move!”

“There’s nowhere left to move to!”

I turn around. We really are too close to the pillar…

“We… we can still do this… We can still… we can…” I look down at the water. It’s so cold… She-Ra is barely scratched… What can I do? Wait, is the water… lowering?

“I just need to keep holding, Bow. Go!”

She-Ra swings again, and the net barrier breaks. Netossa’s stress at holding it so long shows, there’s sweat dripping down her forehead and she’s breathing heavily, as she moves even closer.

“Why, why are you still fighting?” She shouts, almost frustrated and desperate as I help Netossa steady herself.

I look down at the water one more time. The water is no longer up halfway to my knees, it’s almost down around my ankles now. I look up at She-Ra, and I smile. “Just so we’re on the same page, you do know where we are, right?”

She’ra looks stunned, glancing over to the Moon Stone pillar and Bright Moon’s castle, before looking back down to me. “What?”

I can almost see as the water starts separating from the ground, floating around us, and she finally looks down at the water and her eyes go wide. She turns around, quickly, to the rest of her team, “Catra, Lonnie, get back!”

But you can already hear the sound of the wave that’s been building from down the bay.

“Okay, this is our cue,” Netossa says, grabbing my arm, and we turn to start moving. Adora steps forward, and Netossa creates one more net around the two of us as a massive wave crashes down around the bubble.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

My head is ringing, my vision is disoriented, I feel myself coughing up water. I look around, watching as the water level slowly starts to recede back to normal. There’s a boat, another Salineas boat.

Mermista.

I look around. “Catra? Lonnie? Rogelio?” Where were they?

I keep scanning the water, I see Lonnie first, being pulled up by Rogelio. The wave knocked her out. Rogelio looks at me for a second, before looking back towards the woods. That’s fine, we’re already down Kyle and no one has seen Scorpia since she went after Glimmer.

How is this going so badly? The woods are frozen over, the princesses should be weaker than normal. Even if She-Ra wasn’t at this battle we should be winning!

I look up at the Moon Stone. The spider bot that made it past the Bright Moon guards was supposed to take down that barrier by now. The princess, Glimmer, must've made it.

But still…

“Catra!” I shout, looking around again, as I hear the boat land down beside Bow and Netossa.

Bow… he hurt Catra… where is she? I’m moving through the water, looking for her, when I finally turn and see her just… sitting there. I move over.

“Adora?” She whispers, looking up at me. Her hair is matted behind her, completely soaked. She’s sitting up to her ribs in the water, she’s clearly still in pain.

I hold my hand out, helping her up. “Get back to the shoreline, you’re done here,” I say. I can’t let her get hurt again.

“What? No, I’m not done! We haven’t won yet!”

“That’s an order! Go!” I say, pointing towards where Rogelio is carrying Lonnie away.

“Absolutely not,” she responds, but I can still see the blood on her face, at her side.

“Then at least go find Scorpia, you’re done here,” I say, turning around. I can’t let her get hurt. I make my way towards Bow when I realize… I don’t know where my sword is. Whatever, we’ll find it when Bright Moon is ours.

As that boat comes to a halt, I watch as Mermista and Sea Hawk pour out over the top of it.

“ADVEN-” Sea Hawk goes to shout, but is cut off as Mermista casually flings some water onto him, for some reason.

“Don’t do that,” she responds, before moving over the edge of the boat and landing next to Netossa and Bow.

“Sorry…” Sea Hawk says, following after her.

I’m still walking closer, there’s enough distance still that they don’t seem to care yet.

“You- you guys actually came,” Bow says, sounding like he’s still in pain. Good.

“Yeah, sorry it took so long. The sea kinda sucked today,” she casually splashes water behind her, for emphasis. She looks down at Bow, as if studying what went on, “Oh, wow, you like, need to get out of here.”

I see the glow of my sword in the water, stopping and moving sideways to go pick it up.

“Not until we stop her,” Bow says, pointing at me as I lean down and pick up my sword.

“Is that Adora?” She asks, and I turn back to face them, holding the sword.

“That’s Adora. And She-Ra,” Bow replies. So they did know about She-Ra… I figured they must’ve learned something from the Crystal Castle.

“Well, here. Can’t have you fighting that with nothing,” she says, summoning and handing Bow her trident.

“Um… thanks.” Sea Hawk starts walking towards me, Mermista and Bow haven’t seemed to notice him moving.

“You guys are all talking like I’m not here,” I say, watching as Sea Hawk pulls out his golden rapier.

“Engarde,” he challenges me. I look down at him. Does this man have a death wish?

“Sea Hawk!” Bow shouts, finally noticing him, and Mermista and Netossa both turn and look over at us.

“I’ll have you know I am a master-craft swordsman. Try me if you dare, but I do think that this little battle is-”

I swing my sword hard at his, down near the handle, and it instantly flies out of his hand and is flung through the air, landing in the bay. It sticks into the mud, the handle showing above the water.

“-already… over…”

I can’t help but smirk now, turning and walking back towards Bow and the princesses when Mermista moves forward. I don’t really know what to expect here, but it wasn’t to feel like I'm getting hit with fifty pounds of force, blow after blow, as water crashes into my side, then my back, then in front of me. This one’s angry. I am too.

Bow moves forward, thrusting at my sword with the trident, trying to lock the handguards of my weapon with the prongs of his. But him getting close means Mermista needs to calm down, and I twist my sword so the trident Bow is using is immediately forced out of his hands. I’m getting really tired of how this guy is still going. I go drive the pommel of my sword down onto him, when the trident is flung back at me and snares through my cape, pulling my back slightly as the cape is torn.

I look back at Mermista. How did she- she summons it again, moving closer and flinging water up into my face. I blink a few times, and see the trident hurling towards me again. I move my sword fast, blocking it, but Bow catches it out of the air and it drives it back for the sword again. It almost frustrates me, at least Mermista wasn’t aiming to subdue with that second throw.

I plant my feet, using the stance to swing the sword out from under the trident, and back down on it after going through a radial arc. The trident snaps in half under the pressure of the sword, and Bow is knocked back, slightly stunned. I smirk, but the trident just dissolves into water.

I look back at Mermista, she’s holding it again, unbroken. This is getting old. She drives it forward, not aiming for the sword, so I need to be careful and actually focus my blocks and parries, but it's difficult literally standing in her element. I feel as she keeps flinging water at me, or trying to pull my feet out from under me. I head splashing behind me, too, stealing a glance to see Sea Hawk has retrieved his weapon, and is moving at me from behind.

“You’re really mad about Salineas!” I grit out, pushing against her trident to block Sea Hawk’s attack, disarming him again instantly. He looks dejected, but again moves off to grab where his sword landed, as I turn back to Mermista.

“No, this is for Entrapta!” She shouts, driving her trident forward again. I Block it once again, driving it into the ground. I need her off of me… I slam my sword into the ground with it, creating another shockwave that knocks her back and Bow further so.

“What?” I ask, before realizing that oh, that’s right, they don’t know she’s alive.

Mermista and Bow both seem dazed, Netossa has fallen back again, and Sea Hawk is still moving for his sword again. I go to walk towards the Moon Stone Pillar, and Mermista stands up to get in my way. But I’m tired of this. She sends water at me, and I block most of the impact off my bracers, before sweeping her legs out from under her and walking towards the pillar.

Then I feel it. It’s lighter than it was at Princess Prom, but still there. The feeling of something small but braided wrapping around my ankle. So that’s what Bow was waiting for. I turn around when suddenly three more of the vines shoot up and wrap around my legs, trying to hold me in place. I look around. Where is she…

I see as a few of the tanks that weren’t destroyed by the wave suddenly get their drivers pulled down or just lifting the tanks to aim upwards, rendering them useless.

I swing my sword down, slicing through most of the vines around me. We’re far from the woods, anything reaching me here is coming straight from her… I pull one of the vines, hard, watching as I pull up a strand that shows the direction she’s coming from.

There she is, heading closer, clearly prepared to be so far out from the woods with how she’s riding on a wave of green mass. She comes to a halt near Bow, helping him up.

“I saw the distress beacon, I turned around as soon as I did, but I was already in Plumeria, I’m sorry, are you all okay?”

“Don’t let her get to the Moon Stone…” he whispers, ignoring her question. Is she even going to be able to stop me out here?

She turns to me, stepping closer as her vines move out through the bay. “It’s really you, you’re really She-Ra…” she says, almost in awe.

“You know about She-Ra?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. That wasn’t an explanation of shock, it was one of… adornment?

“The universe has not been kind to you, She-Ra,” she says, stepping closer. This immediately puts me on edge. Another princess preaching to me about doing the right thing? No.

I take a few more steps back. I’m so close to the pillar. The tank shots couldn't crack the barrier, but it did make sure the Bright Moon guard were more focused on watching the flanks than assisting the princesses. But if I took the whole pillar down…

“She-Ra is supposed to be Etheria’s savior, the one who would come to us in our darkest hour.” She motions around, specifically to the darkened sky. “Is your heart really in this?”

Shadow Weaver always said I was destined for greatness… I look down at my sword, still stepping backwards…

“Adora…” Bow’s voice calls out, also stepping closer with Perfuma, as he goes to help up a still dazed Mermista, “this isn’t how this has to go down.”

I feel my hand tighten around the grip of the sword handle. What if… what if Light Hope was right? I look up at the Moon Stone… then back at Bow.

Bow… he hurt Catra. He doesn’t care, he just wants to win…

It was a mistake… he was aiming for me.

It was my fault, my sword deflected that arrow.

I wasn’t good enough.. I can’t be weak now.

And then I see it, something enough to confirm for me everything I need to know. Perfuma’s vines, that went everywhere… she hands Bow his bow, they must’ve scoured the water.

“I’m not who you want me to be,” I say, coldly, turning and driving my sword into the base of the Moon Stone tower.

“No!” I hear Bow shout, immediately feeling as vines shoot out, pulling around my arm and trying to pull the sword out of the tower, but I drive it deeper.

Water hits me in the side, hard, a constant stream. It reminds me of the pressure of Hored fire-dousing vehicles.

I let go of the sword momentarily, pulling the vines off my arm, snapping them, and tugging on them to pull Perfuma off her feat. I bring her close, causing Mermista’s water pressure to waiver.

I let go of the vines, turning back to the tower. Bow’s running up, his bow was useless without his arrows. I grab the sword, and drive it upwards. I watch as cracks form up the length of the tower. Yes!

I pull the sword out, preparing to swing again, when I feel the water around my feet go cold.

Wait, but that one wasn’t-

I feel the ground almost rumble as the water begins to freeze over, and suddenly a massive tower of ice shoots out up along the entire length of the pillar. I turn around, watching as the eleven-year old princess is creating a floating ice slide along the far shore, taking out what was left of our undamaged tanks with massive ice pillars coming out of the bay.

Why is she here? She wasn’t with the rebellion, she wasn’t in the alliance…

Fine, this doesn’t change anything.

“I hope I’m not too late,” Frosta chimes, sliding over next to the others. They’re forming a circle around me, blocking me in.

“Right on time, you just saved the war,” Bow remarks.

“What do we do?” she asks, looking up at me, “and who is that?”

“She-Ra,” Perfuma says.

“Adora,” Bow responds.

“I’m… really confused,” the child remarks.

“Later. Be careful, she’s really strong. Get the sword.”

“You know I can hear you, right? This doesn’t mean anything!” I shout, turning back around to strike the Moonstone again, but am stopped in the motion as I hear that one noise I really was not expecting to hear.

*Poof*

“Hi,” Glimmer smirks, immediately holding both her hands up, and in a dazzling display of light, I’m forced to back up, shielding my eyes.

I swing wildly, missing entirely, as I feel more vines wrap up around my right arm.

I blink the glare out of my eyes, moving to once again remove the vines when water flows up and around my other arm, encasing it in ice. No…

“Move!” Bow shouts, running up to and placing his hands on the sword near my hand, but hey don’t know She-Ra’s strength. I don’t know She-Ra’s strength. I pull out of the ice casing, and feel as two sets of arms go around my left arm, holding it back. I turn to see Mermista and Sea Hawk both struggling against me.

“Nnn!”

Glimmer blinks back behind me, and she throws herself onto my back as she places her arm around me in a choke hold..

“Agh!” I let slip.

“Bow, get the sword!” Sea Hawk shouts.

“I’m trying!

“That won’t stop me!” I grit, moving to try and see just how much force I can put into the ground with my foot, but the water around my legs immediately freezes, slowly crawling up my body. Thankfully, She-Ra must be temperature resistant, or that would really suck.

But I’m starting to get annoyed.

Perfuma and Mermista are both grunting, Sea Hawk actually barely seems like he’s trying. I feel my frustration growing, I can’t move, and I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have field-tested She-Ra.

I start pulling, hard, against everything. Trying something to break everyone’s grips on me. I could probably do it so easily, swing my sword up into Bow, but the man just seems to know he’s invincible. 

“Hold it, hold it!” Glimmer shouts, tightening her grip around my neck. It still isn’t enough to even choke me.

“I’m trying!” Bow shouts back, still pulling on the sword.

“Get! Off!” I shout, trying more against the vine, but I can’t get enough movement between them and Bow.

“Um, guys, I- woah!” Perfuma’s voice rings out, but she’s behind my field of view. A second later, I feel the vines on my arm go slack, as the weight on my back is lifted, there’s screams, snarling. A *poof.* A hiss. Catra. 

In the panic, I pull my arm, and sword, out of Bow’s grasp, and Mermista lets go of my arm  as she straight up grabs a large chunk of my hair with her other hand and pulls. Her other hand pulls over a torrent of water, slamming into Catra behind me, and by extension my back. I feel as Catra flies over me from the force. But as Mermista lets go, I break Sea Hawk’s grip and immediately knock both of them back.

Bow steps back, and *poof,* and immediately Glimmer is at his side with a literal second quiver. Bow immediately undoes the strap on the one holding the broken arrows, putting the second one on, and drawing, as Catra stands back up.

“What are you doing!?” I shout at her.

“Scorpia’s fine,” she calls back, moving for Bow. Suddenly, Another wave slams out into Catra, knocking her against the ice pillar holding up the MoonStone tower, and Mermista is keeping her there.

She shrieks, and I turn to Mermista when Glimmer appears beside Catra.

“You in particular, are really starting to get on my nerves!” Glimmer shouts, and more vines begin to form around me.

“Glad I could be of service,” I hear Catra snarl as I take a rush of water to the face, and feel something hard and cold slam into my back, turning to see the child.

It’s too much, there’s too much. I slam the sword against the ice structure Frosta made, shattering it, but careful to avoid her hands, before turning and swinging on Mermista when I hear Catra shriek again. Glimmer has her pinned to the ice, Bow aiming an arrow at her.

Move .

I drive my sword at Mermista, connecting again with a trident, before immediately grabbing it, and pulling it aside. She isn’t quick enough to react, and I kick her hard, she falls back into Sea Hawk’s arms. Then, I turn around to face Perfuma again. This time, I swing the sword down, and for the second time today, fire a beam of energy out from the blade, frying most of the vines surrounding me.. I really need to learn how this works.

I turn back to Catra, almost gently pushing aside an overly angry Frosta, who musters something about Princess Prom, before I grab Glimmer’s cape, and Bow turns to immediately fire an arrow at me.

It’s a small explosion, hitting my shoulder guard, and the noise rings loud in my ear. I’m stunned, but still pull Glimmer off of Catra. I move myself between her and the entire princess alliance, in a state between dazed, posed, and a barely conscious Mermista.

Bow draws an arrow, Glimmer fires a ball of magic, and I raise my… shield? What?

The magic is blocked, and when Bow fires, I quickly move the shield down to block that, too. Perfuma and Frosta are back to normal again. I turn to look at a still very dazed Catra, she’s pushing herself too hard right now, the small trickle of blood on her face nothing to the wound in her side. She was hit by so much bay water, that needs to get cleaned now.

She’s hurt because I wasn't good enough, because I pulled us out here on a whim of the “princesses being weaker.” Why did I listen to her idea… She’s done, I’m done. It’s over.

I look back at the alliance. They’re… glowing. Visibly glowing. No wonder Catra hates magic, this is almost too much to even look at.

“It’s over, Adora!” Glimmer shouts, charging up more magic.

“Couldn’t agree more. You’re all lucky I wasn’t here for lives!” I shout, and slam my fist into the back of the shield. The resulting shockwave is enough to stun all four of the people still looking at me. I quickly turn around, placing the shield on my back, and grab Catra, a hand under her neck, a hand under her knees.

“Adora, what are you-” she panics, placing her hands around my back.

I don’t think. I look back towards the skiffs, and push hard with my legs. The air I achieve almost spooks me, and I feel Catra’s claws dig into me as she screams out from the sudden movement. I clear half the bay in one leap, and look back to the alliance. They’re standing, watching. No one makes a move. I turn back to the shore, and as I start walking I look down at a still spooked Catra.

“Why are we leaving? Put me down!” She shouts, pushing against me, falling out of my arms as she moves to land properly.

“We lost, the tanks are all gone, half our army was hit hard when Mermista arrived.”

“You could’ve stopped them.”

“We’re done,” I say sternly, grabbing her wrist and moving us towards the shore. I make it another step before I feel She-Ra leave me, pausing momentarily.

I’m frustrated, fed up with these princesses, mad at myself for Catra’s pain, mad that Catra isn’t listening.

Catra doesn’t fight against it, she follows. And soon, what was left of our army was sounding the retreat.

I’m in so much trouble.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

The shoreline on either side is decimated. People lay unconscious everywhere along the Bright Moon shore from where the guard and Horde soldiers fought. The destruction of vehicles on the other side is going to take forever to clear. There’s ash and smoke along every inch of the castle and surrounding buildings from where the energy shots hit. But the relief everyone collectively feels… is immense.

She-Ra retreated, the Horde is in a worse state than ever, my mom is safe, and the subtle glow beaming off the princesses seemed to have supercharged the Moon Stone, pushing back the cloud of darkness.

There’s a myriad of voices, congratulations, a few hugs.

“ADVENTURE!”

“It’s over! Bright Moon is saved!”

“That is how it's done in the sea ! Really good job.”

“Yeah! We did things Together!”

“Isn’t it wonderful!” Perfuma’s laughter rings out, everyone is just… happy.

Wait. “Bow, where’s Netossa? And Spinnerella?”

“Spinnerella got hit hard, she’ll be okay. I’m sure Netossa just went to check on her.”

“Oh, okay,” I say, looking down at the water we’re all standing in. That was too close. She-Ra is… definitely going to be an issue moving forward. But I won’t take this moment away from everyone. “What about our horse?”

“Yeah… I have literally no idea what that was about. I hope he’s okay…”

“Glimmer?” I hear my mom’s voice behind me. 

I freeze slightly, before turning around and throwing my arms around her. She really struggles to hold the barrier up, but I was able to get up there before anything really bad could happen with that Horde Bot, and my staff was able to deal with it, but I was so afraid… she looked so hurt before she could recharge me. 

“Thank you,” she whispers, pulling me into a hug.

“So,” Bow says, walking up to us, “there’s going to be a lot of cleaning up to do.”

“And a lot to figure out with that She-Ra person,” Mermista mutters. “I threw pretty much everything I could at her without drowning her.”

“Spinnerella did too…” Bow says, quietly.

“That… that isn’t She-Ra…” Perfuma sighs.

“It sure looked like her, she definitely didn’t look like the side she was fighting for,” Bow says, looking up at the Moon Stone support tower.

“We’re not going to be able to reason with her,” I say, walking up to Bow, “she’s clearly too far into the mission.”

“No,” Bow responds, “she hesitated. She isn’t sure of anything.”

“Regardless, the rebellion has a major issue on their hands,” my mom chimes in, “She-Ra has undoubtedly been shown to be a real threat to everything we are fighting for, threatening to wipe out our livelihoods for the sake of the Horde. Regardless of the course you all decide to take in dealing with this threat… be diligent.”

I nod, placing a hand on my best friend’s shoulder. “We’ll figure out, either way.”

“I hope we do. If the others were any later…” he looks down, holding his hand to his midsection.

“They weren’t, we’ll figure something out.”

“We’re going to need to be careful, the clouds are gone but the woods…” my mom points out, and everyone looks at the ice still covering the trees along the far shore.

“Good thing you have us,” Mermista says, and Sea Hawk walks up supportively, placing his arm around her back, causing Mermista to slightly freak out by pushing Sea Hawk down into the water.

“Yeah, I wish to… assist in the matter of reaching the She-Ra,” Perfuma says, looking at Bow.

“Yeah, this is gonna be a whole thing, isn’t it,” Mermista says, “since I definitely agree with Glimmer that she isn’t going to listen to reason.”

“We’ll worry about that later!” Frosta shouts, “For now, I want to beat up more Horde soldiers!” Okay then, Frosta… sure…

“Um, so, are you part of the alliance now?”

“Yeah, I guess. The Kingdom of Snows was brought into your war, but now we can continue this fight as allies instead of separate individuals. If Bright Moon had fallen… you were right. The Kingdom of Snows would’ve been isolated.”

She isn’t wrong. Salineas is fine, for a bit again, but without Bright Moon, we would lose Plumeria in a matter of weeks. We already are worried about a conquest of Dryl, but, there’s enough for us to worry about right now.

I look around at the princesses, at a very tired Bow… I’m going to need to take him straight to the medics after this. “Then we’ll fight the Horde, and She-Ra… together.”

“For the rebellion!” Bow shouts, standing up straight, before immediately leaning back over to clutch his torso.

“For the rebellion!” A few other people chant, as Perfuma finishes it off with, “For Entrapta!”

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

“You didn’t have to retreat…” Catra mutters, as she walks out of the infirmary.

“Are you okay?” I ask, standing up and walking over to her.

She lifts the edge of her shirt, showing the bandage covering her side, “It’s fine, I was more worried about you.

I sigh, relieved that she seems okay. “I’m fine, too. But um, we have an issue.”

“Oh?”

“Hordak. He wants us at his Sanctum, as well as Entrapta and Scorpia, having been more involved than the rest of our team.”

“Great…” She again mutters, clearly not in the best of moods.

We made our way through the halls, the sanctum thankfully wasn’t far, but I have to know. “Why did you turn back around?”

“To make sure you got out of there.”

“You didn’t trust I can handle it?”

“You didn’t trust I could…”

There’s a slightly tense tone to both our voices, we’re both frustrated with the way that battle went. I assume she’s mad at me for telling her to go, but if she just would’ve listened she wouldn’t have taken that other hit when she was slammed into the ice, it’s a miracle she didn’t get a concussion.

“Oh, hey, you’re here, great! We can, uh, go head in and most of us will… meet the Horde Lord for the first time,” Scorpia says, as we turn the last corner through the halls.

“Entrapta,” I immediately single her out, “I thought the Princesses were supposed to be weaker, they mopped the floor with our troops and weaponry.”

“Hmm… Well, I did notice in my readings that as the fight went on, all the other runestones actually started… harmonizing off each other, which further pushed down yours and started to slowly draw energy back out of the Black Garnet.”

“Farther weakened mine?”

“Well, you are a princess, you went into that battle weakened, too. And since you’re a stronger princess, the proportionality of it must’ve meant you lost more total strength overall… Ooh, that’s fascinating, I can’t wait to run more tests on-”

“No, we’re done messing with the runestones, if we even survive heading in there,” I say, acknowledging the door.

“We’ll be fine, Hordak doesn’t actually do anything,” Catra mutters quietly.

I hope she’s right. We head inside, making our way towards the throne that Hordak is residing on. He’s sitting there with his head in his hand, resting over the chair. He waits until we reach nearly the base of the chair before he starts speaking.

“Force Captain Adora, it would seem your experiment with he Black Garnet has failed, and I am disappointed in your inability to accomplish what was promised.”

“On the Contrary!” Entrapta shouts, standing forward, and I feel myself freak out at what she is possibly going to say. “The experiment was a huge success, I know more about First One’s tech than ever before! This is just the beginning. More power drawn from Runestones, She-Ra, the potential for nearly unlimited power and weapons capabilities! This is just the beginning!”

She… actually said something helpful.

“Lord Hordak,” Catra says, also stepping forward, “Our plan, and She-Ra’s raw magical abilities got us closer to conquering Bright Moon than anyone ever has before.” And then, in an utterly bold move, she adds, “far closer than Shadow Weaver was ever able to accomplish.”

Hordak pauses, looking back between Entrapta and Catra. Then, his eyes move over to me.

“Force Captain Adora. I do not approve of your use of a magic likened only to yourself, if what my Imp recorded is true. But you can use this magic to crush the rebellion, and bring order to the chaos that the princesses cause?”

“Yes, Lord Hordak. Give me time to learn how this sword works, and I promise, I will deliver you Etheria myself.” I have to be careful in how I phrase everything, and have to play to what he wants.

Hordak again pauses, thinking for a moment. “I am… not blind to the exceptional performance your team provides when on the field. Your failures are unacceptable, but are less common than any other field operators we have. Very well then. You will have other opportunities to prove yourself to me.” Then, he looks back at Catra, as if considered something, before he adds, “and you are right about Shadow Weaver. I was displeased with her.. Interruption, earlier. Force Captain Adora, you will serve me more… directly. As my second in command.”

The words ring through everyone. Scorpia looks shocked, Catra looks… honestly terrified, as she glances at me. Entrapta has no idea what it means and just smiles at me. I- Second in command? He really did notice everything I put into this mission… And this is exactly what I need to keep my team safe, to ensure our future in this world.

I smile, looking back at Catra. Climb the ranks, outpace Shadow Weaver…

Achieve our dream.

Notes:

Sorry, no gay rainbow Final Smash

This one... took a lot to write, I don't exactly know how to pace fight scenes, and this whole chapter was a fight scene, so... Feedback appreciated!

Since I actually made it this far, I'm gonna leave a self promo if you wanna see some She-Ra (and other stuff) art on Twitter, Instagram, DeviantArt or Tumblr, all also under the username katelynonice

And obviously, I'm gonna keep going. Season 1 here acts almost as an "intro" to how things are going to work here, I'm excited to finally stop setting up the character arcs and finally get to... actually explore these arcs.

Chapter 14: Second In Command

Summary:

Catra is adjusting to changes as Adora is busy being Hordak's second in command and learning how to use She-Ra.
Bow struggles to plan the rebellion's next moves.

Notes:

Part II (Season 2 and 3's parallel) starts here. Promo Art contains spoilers for chapter 14-15/16.

Catra’s POV

I finish sorting my clothes into the various drawers of the dresser in front of me, looking up into the mirror. My eyes trail over the badge on my shirt. Here I am. Force Captain Catra…

Adora’s first order of business upon realizing just how much of the horde she’d now have to manage was to put me in charge of our team. Hordak, unlike Shadow Weaver, acknowledged the efforts I’ve put into the planning for the attacks on the kingdom of Snows, and Bright Moon. He allowed the promotion to go through, putting me on equal level with Scorpia. Not that Scorpia ever acted as a commander anyway, she followed orders like everyone else did.

It’s surreal. I have a room just across the hall from her, and as soon as she decided exactly how much she wanted to pursue conquest, she got handed a higher rank. I guess… it helps to know she kept me in mind, after knowing how much I was worried she would… leave me behind.

I frown slightly as my eyes trail over the chipped part of my mask, laying on my dresser. A reminder of how I messed up, how I let her down… I pull my shirt up slightly, looking at the scar on my waist. I’m not mad at Bow, I understand better than anyone that this isn’t childs play, people are going to get hurt. People could… die.  I’m lucky the arrow wasn’t deflected a few more degrees to my right, or… I might be standing here.

It’s been three weeks since the attack. Entrapta and I have been sending probing attacks into the woods to keep the princesses busy, but the truth is that we’re as disorganized as they are. Especially with Hordak's… rash decision to hand off Second in Command to Adora. When I brought up Shadow Weaver’s lacking performance, I didn’t expect that to be the consequence.

Adora herself has been busy, we’ve barely had a chance to talk. She’s been out in the scrapyard training her powers against Horde Bots, or working… with Shadow Weaver as she’s handed over everything needed to run this place. I sigh, when I hear a knock on the door that pulls me out of my thoughts.

“Adora?”

“Not quite,” a cold voice rings out, as the door opens, and my blood goes cold before I even process it’s her . “Hello, Force Captain Catra.”

“Shadow Weaver,” I respond, slightly brushing back my hair as I put my mask on. “I thought you would’ve visited sooner.”

“Must you always be so flippant? I am not here to berate you.”

“Then why?”

“I have been very… busy, with Adora. She does not speak to me like she used to, seeing me only as a means to an end. I am not blind. What is her goal here?”

“Go away, Shadow Weaver,” I mutter, turning around.

“Do not disrespect me, Catra. I may not be here to berate you, despite how I am very well aware that it is your fault I have been cast out from Hordak, and-”

I turn around, quickly, and in perhaps a really dumb move, make no attempt to not hide my anger. My hand moves forward, a single claw poking her body under her scarf. “Listen, Shadow Weaver, I don’t need to listen to you anymore. You’re right, you’re not Second in Command  anymore, you’re barely an advisor! There is no way now, no way ever, that I am going to disclose anything to you!”

“You certainly are a fool to believe I am still without the means to make you suffer if I need to!” She shouts, and I can see the room getting darker as she makes herself appear bigger, by floating upwards slightly. “I still have the Black Garnet, since Adora was so quick to shut that little side project down. I know who she is, what that sword is, from the field reports and other soldiers at that battle. So you and Adora can keep running around planning whatever it is you two are planning, I will find out and remind Adora who she is, without your pathetic little distractions making her weaker !”

“Shut up! You’re still not going to do anything, you would never jeopardize her opinion of you, no matter how strained it’s getting. And I’m now in a higher position now than you are. If anything happens to me, Adora or even Hordak himself will make sure you’re brought down for it!”

“Perhaps it would be a worthwhile sacrifice to finally make you learn respect,” the way she says it, so calm and certain of herself…

I don’t say anything else, I know better than to try and fight her for the last word. She hasn’t won, so I just force myself to calm down. I stand at attention, take a deep breath, and walk past her, out of my room.

“You two will never be equals,” she says coldly, not turning back around. I feel my fists clench up, my nails digging into my palms, as I keep walking. I don’t give her any sort of response. She doesn’t even know what she’s talking about. She doesn’t know Adora, she doesn’t know me, no matter how she thinks she raised us. I sigh as I get far enough away from my room, and keep walking, trying my best to keep myself under control. I need to blow off steam, now, so I make my way down to the cadet training hall.

It’s busy here, today. Adora mandated increased training and field patrols, citing how lax the Horde had been outside of special field operation the last three months. But no one seemed to mind, the training sucked but everyone was relieved when the first order she gave was to give increased R&R to those injured in the battle. 

She knows what people need better than Shadow Weaver did, anyway.

I immediately see the team running a Princess-simulation, despite how poorly these bots can actually simulate their powers Entrapta made a… slight effort to increase their image projection, so to speak. You can’t make a bot teleport, but you can make it squirt water or turn on a fan.

Rogelio and Lonnie are moving forward, taking out a bot each, as Kyle trips and immediately gets fired on by the training bot in front of him, causing an “X” to appear on his gear’s chest piece.

“Oh, oh no…” he murmurs.

Ugh. I press a button on one of the back control panels, powering it down, causing the three of them to turn and look at me.

“Who can tell me what Kyle did wrong?” I ask, not moving.

“Oh, hey Catra,” Kyle murmurs, tilting his head back to look at me, as Lonnie takes a step closer.

“Where do you start?” Lonnie smirks. I smirk back at her, the last few weeks she gave me a ton of crap for the beatings I took at Bright Moon, despite how hard I was pushing compared to Kyle. But I found myself… laughing with her, which is never how I usually act. I still don’t like her, not really, but… she helped me out at Bright Moon. I didn’t expect that.

I wordlessly start the simulation up again. Kyle momentarily freaks out, and I step forward. I came here to hit things, after all.

“Princess Glimmer can teleport, but she’s predictable and quick to anger.” I say, moving for the bot a pale imitation of her is projected over. But as I get close, the projection shifts to another bot, and I immediately turn and drive my foot to where it went to, sending the bot backwards. 

“And if you catch her off guard, well, her teleportation doesn’t exactly give her a quick reaction time.”

Rogelio roars/grumbles something, as Kyle says, “I’m pretty sure we don’t all have your reflexes Catra.”

As if to prove them wrong, the projection switches to the bot behind Lonnie. I move my thumb, ever so slightly, and she quickly turns and drives her training staff through the bot, shattering it. “I don’t know Kyle, maybe you’re just slow.” Rogelio grumbles something again, and Lonnie looks at him and says, “we know what your strengths are, you don’t need to worry about Glimmer.”

“Yeah, your main target in the field is Mermista,” I grumble, thinking back to how awful that fight ended up for me. I got hit with enough water pressure to feel like the skin under my fur was raw. “Or Frosta.”

“The two with the strongest abilities?” Kyle mumbles, looking up at Rogelio in support.

“Pretty much everyone here but you stands a chance against Frosta,” I say, holding my hand out to him. “Now get up already.”

He takes it, and I pull him up. He gives a dumb little smile at me I refuse to acknowledge.

“I always knew you liked us,” Lonnie jokes, lightly punching my shoulder. I turn and hiss at her on instinct. “Yeah you do, or you would’ve just scratched my arm.”

“If you don’t stop talking now I’m putting you on latrine duty for the whole team, for two weeks.”

“Yeah, Adora wouldn’t let you do that, and you also wouldn’t give Kyle that sort of break.”

I look back at Kyle, and then turn back to Lonnie to give her a small smirk. “Watch it, Lonnie. Adora’s not here to keep me from kicking your ass.”

“Like you could.”

“How’s your side?” Kyle asks, motioning down to where the fabric of my shirt is sewn shut.

“Fine, a light scar,” I mutter, and for a second I feel almost down that the banter stopped. I’ll never admit it to Adora, but after all these years these people really are growing on me. “I’m gonna go make some rounds, check on Entrapta and Scorpia. Lonnie, make sure Kyle stops hurting himself?”

“No promises,” she jokes, as I turn and exit the room. The walk to Entrapta’s “interrogation room” is a little longer than the one I just took, giving me time to reflect on what just… happened. I went there to hit things, and only went to strike anything twice… 

I guess it helped that I no longer see Lonnie as a threat to where I stand with Adora. Adora promoted me , not her. Lonnie no longer goes to question my orders now, and it also helps that the orders I have given these last few weeks have mostly just been, “stay ready but don’t let Kyle push himself until he falls over.” Maybe it isn’t good to think the way I do, was Lonnie ever even a threat to me? 

I hated her since we were kids, and every time I looked at her I used to be reminded of this time I lashed out at Adora for making new friends. But now… she’s just another person on our team, another person Adora says I need to tolerate and… maybe I do.

It’s not like things are perfect, far from it. I’m watching my back constantly for Shadow Weaver now. I’ve been hypervigilant ever since we got back from the Crystal Castle, and it’s exhausting. The only time I haven’t been that way was with Adora or Scorpia. I haven’t been near Adora, still, but… Entrapta and Scorpia have helped with me not losing my mind.

I make it to Entrapta’s room, heading in, and… it’s completely different…

“What is all this junk?” I say, looking over at the two of them.

“Isn’t it wonderful? The stuff from my castle just arrived,” Entrapta exclaims in joy, stepping closer to me. Something brushes against my foot, and I see a small rodent-shaped creature at my foot causing me to momentarily shriek out.

“Yeah, wonderful . What’s the report from the woods?”

“Oh!” She jumps in place, excited again, “I just got a report from one of my bots! Did you want the ones fighting the princesses, or the ones She-Ra is currently smashing to bits?”

“The princesses, duh,” I say automatically. I don’t care much to watch Adora use her new princess powers, it’s kind of unsettling. At least Entrapta and Scorpia don’t have any.

Entrapta nods, turning on a large screen she had set up against the right wall.

“Ooh, Super Pal Trio Movie Time! Or- um- quad, I guess, Adora is here- sometimes.” Scorpia remarks, walking over finally. “Hey wildcat, how’s your day going?”

“Fine, I guess. Are you still just… watching Entrapta?”

“She needed help getting everything moved in,” she says, leaning in and whispering, “and Adora doesn’t fully trust her. I don’t think you do, either.”

“I don’t- she’s fine. She unlocked Adora’s sword,” I say back.

“Yes I did!” Entrapta pops up in between us, “and so much more! I’m working on something even better! Here, watch!” She finally connects to the bot feed, immediately the first feed goes offline as a surge of water cuts through it.

“Oh boy… ouch…” Scorpia comments.

Another feed shows Frosta approaching the bot with an ice-hammer for a hand, and the feed turns to static even faster. “Ooh, wow, that just… fell apart in one hit, didn’t it?”

Another bot’s feed is shown staring down Glimmer, before she gets close. Suddenly, the bot and her are both dozens of feet up in the air, before Glimmer disappears, leaving the feed to show the rapidly approaching trees and ground before it too powers off.

“Oh-ho, yeah! Game over,” Scorpia mock punches forward, they’re enjoying watching our forces get ripped apart?

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll just send out more bots, and more after that. They’ll be so busy defending their precious trees, we’ll conquer the whole planet before they know what happened. Once Adora actually learns to control what she’s doing out there, and not acting on instinct like she did at Bright Moon, they won’t really stand a chance.”

“Ooh, that reminds me!” Entrapta shouts, holding up the First One’s crystal Adora and I got from the Crystal Castle, “I’m working on something huge! She-Ra has been going through so many bots, I’ve been working on some that even she’ll have a real struggle with!”

Struggle against She-Ra, the princess who held off nearly the entire Princess Alliance at the Battle of Bright Moon at once? That’s got me interested. “What are you thinking of?”

“Self healing First One’s tech powered advanced combat bots! She-Ra can hit them, and they come right back together!”

“Well get on it, because Adora going through our reserve bots means less we can throw at the rebellion. In the last three weeks, the rebels have managed to recapture Thaymor, twice. When we take it again, I don’t want to lose it a third time.”

“Understood! I’ll have these babies out in no time!”

“Oh Catra,” Scorpia shouts, “that reminds me, how are you and Adora?”

I look over at her, not really sure how to respond. “What?”

“Well, you know, she’s just been busy recently, and you complained the other day about how you’ve only like, spoken to her twice recently.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure? You two are my friends, and last I recalled you tried to argue with her halfway back to the Fright Zone as we were retreating.”

“Because She-Ra could’ve finished what she started, she was… too close to give up. By now, they probably got the Moon Stone tower repaired.”

“And Salineas, we’re still rebuilding our dockyards here-”

“I know that, Adora’s been overseeing the repairs and expansion almost hand in hand with Octavia.”

“-and the Sea Gate is back online, meaning we lost control at sea.”

“We didn’t need it before, we don’t need it now.”

“I know that! It's just… Adora’s been focusing entirely on the war recently, aren’t you worried?”

So that’s what this is about? Another person on the team is starting to worry about Adora… “She’s fine. I’ll talk to her tonight.”

“Okay, cool… Sometimes I worry Adora doesn’t like me.”

“She likes you more than I do,” I joke, but I never actually bothered to ask her opinion on Scorpia. Still, A”dora basically brought her into our team, that has to mean something.

“You don’t mean that,” she smiles, putting her arm over my shoulders. “We’re all friends here, all… seven of us. Super Pal Seven!”

I pull away after a moment, not really bothering to respond. “Whatever, fine, of course we’re… friends.” I mutter, heading for the exit. “Make sure Entrapta keeps busy and get her whatever she needs.”

“Yes, Force Captain Catra!” She salutes me, causing me to roll my eyes.

“Just get it done,” I say, heading out of the room.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

“Okay, that’s… the third round of bots today…” I say, panting slightly. I look down at the bot in front of me, when Frosta runs up and smashes down on it. “Hey!” I say, trying not to get frustrated with her, “I was looking at that!”

“You’re welcome!” She says, heading over to another damaged bot. I stare down at this one… Why did the Horde switch to using unmanned combat tactics?

Glimmer walks up to me, saying, “I’m sure we’ll find more, why, something you’re interested in?”

“A theory,” I say, putting my now collapsed bow on my back.

“A theory…”

“These bots are overwhelming us, I need to… figure out a way to level the field.”

“So what’s the theory?”

“I don’t know, maybe a kill switch.” I could do it, maybe. Make something to stop whatever signals are reaching these bots. The Horde has made such incredible progress on these things the last month, it’s shocking.

“That would definitely be helpful. Mermista, Perfuma, Frosta, see any more bots?”

“No.”

“Not here..”

“Nope!”

I sigh, looking around a bit more. “Then I guess we head home,” I suggest, even though I also really want to try and snag an in-tact bot. I’m sure if I explain the idea to Angella, it will be approved. I just need the data to be intact to see the software they run on, but with Frosta and Glimmer Specifically targeting their CPUs and Mermista short-circuiting everything, I’m not exactly making progress.

“Alright,” Glimmer says, speaking to the rest of the princesses, “We’re heading for Bright Moon, good job for today, everyone!”

“Oh, are we walking back, or can you teleport us?” Frosta eagerly asks, walking up to Glimmer.

“Oh, um… I don’t have enough magic to get five people back to Bright Moon, I never even teleported more than like, three people before. And it’d take too long to recharge to make several trips in a timely manner, we’ll just walk back.”

“Suits me,” Mermista says, “I don’t even want to know what that feels like.”

“Sometimes it tickles, sometimes it’s nauseating,” I explain, pulling another piece of tech off the bot. Yeah… this doesn’t make any sense. The Horde bots were nowhere near this level of complex just two months ago…

“I don’t feel anything at all,” Glimmer says, summoning a little bit of magic to her palm, “I’ve been doing it for so long, it’s just like… walking.”

“Yeah, which is why you stumble up stairs,” Mermista quips.

“I- I do not!” She says defensively. It causes a few people to chuckle, and Glimmer quickly starts laughing, too, as she realizes she’s not being made fun of. A lot of the princesses have barely known each other, but… almost everyone gets along very well. I mean, Mermista and Perfuma almost went at it earlier when Perfuma almost hit her with a bot, and Frosta seems to be driving Glimmer nuts, but… yeah, we’re all friends here!

It isn’t long before we get our bearings, and make our way back to Bright Moon.

 

-

 

“Excellent idea, Bow. This could turn the tide of the war for us. Glimmer, you will take your patrol out, and capture a bot for Bow to study and carry out his plan.”

Glimmer stands up, clearly happy to be able to head back out into the field, again. The other’s are mostly… tired. Except her and Frosta that is. As the room is starting to disperse, Glimmer walks towards me when she’s interrupted by Frosta. I don’t listen to the conversation though, I’m still running through ideas on how any of this could have happened… Their tech is improving too fast. And without Entrapta-

Entrapta! The horde must be using her datapad, I know they still have it. They must be using her research to make the bots stronger, which would explain a lot, but I can’t work off of theories. I’m going to need to capture something and compare it to some of Entrapta’s previous work. That might be difficult in and of itself, since the Horde captured a week ago right under our noses… 

We’ve been trading territory left and right, back and forth. And worst of all… Adora and her team haven't been spotted this whole time. Adora seemed really freaked out by the end of the Battle of Bright Moon… They must be planning something big, or… actually, probably just training. Adora clearly didn’t know too much about She-Ra, she had the same look of surprise everyone else did- except Perfuma- when her sword turned into a shield.

I look back up. Huh, Glimmer must’ve left. Frosta looks slightly down, but heads over towards Spinnerella and Netossa.

I stand up as well, might as well go fix up a few more arrows in my “workshop,” or small room near Glimmer’s that was probably a Bright Moon storage closet at one point. Before leaving, I’m stopped by Mermista.

“Hey, Bow. Sea Hawk said he needed help installing the communications upgrade, he couldn’t figure it out.”

“Did you look at it?”

“Um, no. I have no idea how that stuff works.”

“Well Sea Hawk doesn’t either. But it shouldn’t be too hard; I sent instructions.”

“Yeah, well, he just wanted to ask if you could head up to Salineas at some point to fix it.”

“... fix it? Did he break it?”

“I think I’ll wait until you’re there.”

“Fine, I’ll add it to the list of things I have to do in other kingdoms.”

“Thanks Bow!” Mermista says in a sort of mock cheerfulness, before turning around. I sigh, and turn back to the door when I run into Perfuma.

“Oh, sorry Bow!”

“It’s okay, are you okay?” I ask, grabbing her arm to keep her from falling as I stop myself from falling.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to work with me on establishing A sort of Princess-Attended, um… funeral… for Entrapta…” She asks, the guilt immediately making itself known on both of our faces.

“Oh, um… yeah, I can help with that…” I say, feeling my hand tighten at my side. We haven’t had a chance to actually mourn, to actually do anything right. As soon as she was gone… It was one thing after another. The She-Ra investigation, the Battle of Bright Moon, the constant defending the woods… This last month in particular has been hard for everyone.

“Okay, I’ll find time to talk to you about it later… I was wondering if you’d rather it be held here or in Plumeria?”

“I think we should see if we can get Dryl back… that was her home. I mean, we wouldn’t go inside, it’s a nightmare in there, but…”

“No, it’s okay, I understand. But um… Dryl is really hard to gain control of, they only managed it because we literally had no one there…”

“We’ll figure it out. And if we don’t… Why not both? We can hold the wake in Plumeria, it’s more peaceful, but it isn’t able to hold as many people. Plumeria isn’t too far from Bright Moon, a few carriages should get everyone around just fine.”

“I’ll look into it, thanks Bow!”

She turns to head over to Spinnerella and Netossa, and I finally manage to leave the war room. 

As I’m walking, I’m left with more time to think. The alliance had a few discussions about how to… deal with Adora. Options that got pretty divisive. Glimmer has ordered that we engage in favorable conditions. She spoke to Light Hope once since the battle, confirming that Adora needs the sword to transform. Assuming Light Hope is right, if we get the sword back we win. 

But getting the sword back is the issue. Adora is a really, really good fighter. I’m only alive because as She-Ra, she fought off-balance. But every time we’ve fought, she got the upper hand. I’m worried more people are going to get hurt…

I reach my workshop, heading inside and get to work tinkering with new arrows. Nothing I have except the flashbang and smoke arrow even seemed like they’d be useful against She-Ra… She-Ra was resistant to everything I threw at her, but Adora wasn’t. So the game plan isn’t to subdue, but disorient… How do I disorient her without disorienting everyone else? Flashbangs are hard to use…

*Poof!*

“Bow!”

“Agh!” I shout, knocking the arrow casing off my desk as I turn around. “Glimmer? What’s up?”

“Who else would it be? Look, I need advice, Frosta is driving me insane!”

“Frosta, why?” I mean, she is a little much, very different than how she was at Princess Prom, but she’s not too much, is she?

“She’s just- agh! She hasn’t left me alone ever since she joined the alliance and I- I’m worried she’s gonna get hurt… she’s trying to show off and she isn’t listening to me.”

“Then we’ll talk to her… she probably just wants to talk to you. Maybe we could establish some sort of… Best Friend Squad?”

“... Absolutely not. And that sounds dumb. Plus, that doesn’t even work, there’s two of us.”

“I know, I know, it’s a joke. Besides, if there was a Best Friend Squad, it’d probably just be us and our horse.”

“You mean the Horse no one in Bright Moon has seen for three weeks?”

“Hey, Perfuma said she saw him, once, in Plumeria, eating apples. So he’s okay! And can fly…”

“She-Ra magic is so weird…”

“All magic is,” I joke, “You can’t exactly take magic apart and study it like with tech.”

“That’s part of the beauty of it,” Glimmer says, holding her hand up and shooting a small ball of light into the air.

“I guess so… so when are we moving out?”

“Oh, not today. Probably tomorrow. Everyone is tired, and is just supposed to be on alert in case there are any middle of the night attacks. But get some rest, we’ll have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

“I’ll head over in a moment, okay? I’m trying to think of something we could use against She-Ra…”

“Bow… She-ra doesn’t have to be your responsibility.”

“I know that, but… I need to do my part. Everyone does.”

“Not if it gets you hurt again… You were out of commission for two weeks, Bow. She could’ve killed you without even trying.”

“I’m fine, it was fine, just… painful.”

“Yeah, sure… be careful, Bow.”

“I always am,” I say, picking the arrow casing off the floor. Maybe I can tranquilize She-Ra?

“Bow, I mean it. Your mission is not to be able to solo She-Ra. We’re all in this together.”

“I’m not trying to solo She-Ra… I just don’t want to be useless in that fight.”

“Bow, you weren’t useless, you slowed her down incredibly. Even with broken arrows.”

“She wasn’t trying to hurt me…”

“What? She kicked you several yards.”

“Because Catra was hurt.”

“What!?” She repeats.

“Glimmer… Adora went easy on us, even if she was simultaneously struggling with something she didn’t understand. She didn’t start trying until she kicked me. Which means everything I managed to do, she let happen… As the fight went on, she got more serious. If she’s ever like that at the start of a fight… I won’t be able to do anything at all.”

“Bow… you’re not useless.”

“I know… I know, I just… Spinnerella got hurt-”

“Spinnerella had a mild headache and was sore, she was fine the next day.”

“-and She-Ra got to the tower-”

“We got pretty lucky with Frosta, yes, but-”

“- and I could’ve died several times. What if she didn’t aim for my quiver? What if she had Catra’s lack of restraint?”

“Judging by what you said, Catra is her restraint.”

“... Wait, you don’t think-”

“She didn’t enrage when we hit Lonnie or the boy.”

I look back down at the table I was working on. We already guessed the two were close, but… maybe it goes deeper than that. I look back up at Glimmer. I can tell she has an idea. And based on the context… “No.”

“What?”

“Absolutely not. We’re not doing that.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“But I know what you’re thinking.”

Glimmer pauses for a moment, looking caught, then says, “okay, but what if we do do it.”

“... No. Let’s just focus on getting this bot crisis under control.”

“You know, I’m the field commander here.”

“And I’m basically your advisor. And I advise, no.”

“Fine! I’m gonna go make some popcorn, see you in my room.”

“Okay, I’ll be over as soon as I'm done.”

“You’re never going to be done inventing this “She-Ra off switch,” just finish stocking your quiver and let’s hang out.”

“... Okay, fine. I’ll be right over. Have the popcorn ready.”

Glimmer smiles, nodding her head. And she’s gone.

*Poof*

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

It’s a cold, quiet night in the Fright Zone. I’m laying in my bed in my new room, still not used to it… It’s different. Even when Adora stopped sleeping in the barracks, there was still some sense of familiarity at night, just hearing the breathing of the other Cadets in the other bunks. But this… It’s still so… isolated. It’s never quiet here, there’s always the hum, the rumble of the factories and the forge, the constant movements of the night-shift patrols… I turn to my side.

After a few more moments, I hear a knock at the door. A familiar one. I sit up instantly, “yeah?”

The door slides open, and Adora steps in. I’m… immediately floored. “I need some help…” she mutters.

I immediately stand up and run over, “what did you do!? Why did you do that?” I shout, closing the distance and moving my hand up to her head. Her hair… it’s a disheveled mess. The ponytail is gone, lengths are all wrong and uneven… she looks like an absolute mess.

“I- I wanted it off… and it looked bad, and I tried to fix it, and… can you help?”

I sigh. She should’ve just gone to one of the people actually trained with hair cutting. “Of course, let’s go.” Adora smiles, reaching out to hug me, and I jokingly hold my hand up between us, “thank me later.”

Adora nods, “yeah, okay, the stuff is all in my room, um… the connected bathroom." I nod, and we head across the hall to her room. Her lights are still on, she clearly hasn’t been sleeping at a normal schedule, either. I look over at Adora… it looks even worse under light. We head into the bathroom, and I see the bundle of hair on the floor, held together by a hair tie. And the flocks of hair all over the floor and counter, and on her shoulders…

I sigh. “How am I fixing this? It’s too short to go back in a ponytail.”

“Just- just get rid of it. No bangs, no length, just…”

“Adora, why? You always took good care of your hair. Well, compared to me, given how you still refuse to take those hair ties out when you sleep.”

“I redid it in the morning…” she mutters quietly. Adora seems off. I narrow my eyes at her as she walks in front of the mirror.

“... short short?”

“Short short,” she confirms.

I step closer, grabbing the scissors off the counter and get to work. I’ve cut her hair a few times over the years, even let her cut mine once… that’s never going to happen again.

I start clipping whatever length I find, going around the sides and back first. Everytime I move the scissors higher, and look for her reaction in the mirror, she gives a faint nod. 

I sigh, again. “Adora… how many inches?”

“Oh um… I don’t know, I didn’t really think about it… just keep going…”

Ugh. “Why did you want it different?”

“Too much to worry about. I can’t keep up anymore.”

The answer feels like a weight dropping in my stomach. “Too much? To put your hair up?”

“It isn’t that simple,” she whispers, as I cut even closer to her skin. She still doesn’t stop me. I sigh, and just set the scissors down.

“Then get to explaining,” I say, cutting the sides down to only a few inches.

She doesn’t object as I hold it near her. “It was getting too long, harder to manage. I need to make things easier where I can.”

“Okay, Adora,” I feel a little guilty assisting her in what feels like a spur of the moment decision, but hey, it’ll grow back if she hates it.

Plus, Shadow Weaver is really going to hate it.

“Keep the top longer.”

“I was planning on it, don’t want you feeling too much lighter, we’re still going to want to leave something reminiscent of your hair poof so your forehead doesn’t look even bigger-”

She playfully elbows my side as I quickly move the scissors away from her head “Be nice.”

“Careful, Adora! I’m quick but this isn’t the time to play rough.”

She smiles slightly, her eyes locking with mine through the mirror. I get back to work.

She’s silent for a moment, until I’m about done with one side. “Thank you for helping.”

“No problem,” I say, stepping to her right.

We’re there for a while longer, I take my time with it. It isn’t like we were sleeping anyway.

 

-

 

It’s been another few days, days I spent going back and forth between training and assisting Entrapta and Scorpia. Well, less assisting and more handing Entrapta whatever junk I knew the name of. There was this whole speech Adora had with Hordak that I missed, something about introducing these new bots Entrapta was working on. Emily’s Kid Sister.

I’ve got to say, Entrapta is… driven. This bot is taking a beating. Adora and I are out in the woods, a clearing near the Fright Zone side. Adora, as She-Ra, has been trying to take the bot out, and keeps almost getting it before it reconstructs itself.

I’m just watching, playing at tech support from the side with Entrapta. So as Adora is breaking a sweat- or not, I have no idea if She-Ra sweats- I’m sitting on a fallen log at the edge of the clearing, with a tablet in my hands. There’s water and Adora’s jacket down at my side.

“Okay, the bot is still functioning at about 80% max capabilities.” Entrapta’s voice rings out on a tablet next to me. I’m only here to communicate with her, because we didn’t want the tablet on She-Ra. And Entrapta… is sort of on house arrest, I guess. She stays in the Fight Zone completely, because apparently the rebellion doesn’t know she’s alive. It helps to keep their knowledge of us limited.

“She tore it apart like six times, how did you manage this?”

She-Ra swings again at the bot, once again attempting to dismantle it towards its core; she already learned she couldn’t break the limbs long enough for it to be useful.

“Well, we only lose matter when the sword literally shatters the material into dust. Everything else, the bot can recover.”

“Yeah, I remember your science lesson about matter. I mean, how did you learn how to build this thing?”

“Easy! That crystal was filled with readable code, and with Adora’s help to translate some of the more… complicated First One’s words, I made breakthroughs! This method of communication would’ve been impossible a month ago, but now I know how to boost transmissions across Etheria!”

“Good to know…” I say, it’s good to know that crystal was actually a good find. That castle was… a stressful experience otherwise.

“Ah! Catra, how much more?” Adora shouts, ducking under a swing from the robot’s long, tentacle-like arm. It swings again, and Adora uses her sword-shield to block it, transforming it quickly. She’s spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to turn it back and forth after it happened at Bright Moon. 

“80%!” I say with a smirk, giving her a thumbs up.

“Ugh!” Adora groans, driving her sword straight into the bot’s main body.

“Did she figure it out yet?” Entrapta’s voice comes back through.

“Not yet, she’s still just hacking and slashing.”

There’s silence for a moment before Entrapta asks, “Are you going to tell her?”

“Nah, watching her struggle is fun,” I say simply, even though it’s more a subtle admiration of how Adora is learning to fight as She-Ra. She’s still uncomfortable with the outfit, and tried fighting without the tiara once but the tiara actually helped keep the incredibly amount of long, flowing hair out of her face. She gets to have her hair both ways now. But the skirt… she hates it almost as much as I hate the idea of ever wearing a skirt myself. The cape looks good, though…

As for her fighting? Well, it’s honestly incredible just how strong She-Ra is. She-Ra is everything the horde claims the princesses are, while simultaneously everything the princesses aren’t. Adora’s still in her own head about the whole thing, having only recently starting to pull away from Shadow Weaver’s lies. I’ve never really had a reason to hate the princesses myself. It’s just business, nothing personal.

Adora finally manages to drive her sword up in a way that tears a large portion of the bot’s internal wiring apart. “There!” She shouts, probably way too early. She turns back to look at me questioningly. I swear, I can see the second her eyes look over my smirk, and her shoulders slouch. The bot is repairing, and Adora looks frustrated. She turns back to the bot and drives the sword into the still-repairing hole, and concentrates. She hasn’t gotten the hang of it much, at all, but she is able to cause a burst of energy to explode out from the blade.

“And there it goes, the circuitry is completely fried! Good work!”

“Entrapta said good work!” I shout over to Adora. Then back down to the tablet, I say, “and the other three?”

“The other three? The ones for the princesses?”

“Yeah, power them up, and send them out. If one gave She-Ra trouble, they’ll be even more for the rebellion.

“Yeah, okay, I guess it’d help to collect more data on how they fight, and the variety of encounters would be good for that…” Yeah, that’s right, Entrapta is literally only helping us for science. Which makes sense, of course she’d justify it as a quest for data.

“Adora, we’re done here, let’s head home!” I shout to her. She pulls her sword out of the bot, laying it against her shoulder when the other three  bots wake up.

Adora looks over at them as she keeps walking over to me, “cool tricks, I still don’t understand this First Ones tech at all.”

“Eh, it’s not our job to-” I stop speaking as the other three bots circle around Adora and I. “Uh, Entrapta? Why are they looking at us?”

“Oh, they’re… still set to engage Adora… Give me a second.”

Adora turns, sighing as she picks her sword back off her shoulder. “Great,” she mutters. What I didn’t expect for the one robot to hit Adora so far, she flew into a tree behind me, instantly de-transforming on impact as she is left dazed.

I look back at down at the tablet, and when Entrapta’s voice doesn’t come back through for a moment, I set it down and get ready to join this one. I swear, for a princess that almost certainly isn’t trying to get us killed, she sure seems to like trying to get us killed.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

The bots have been quiet today. The one time we go into the field with a specific purpose, and they’re nowhere to be seen. The only surprise so far was Frosta showing up. We split up to cover more ground, but we still haven’t made much progress. We even passed by the Crystal Castle, which the bots have almost treated as a hotspot in their attempts to sabotage the woods, but no such luck.

It isn’t until we reach much deeper into the woods that Glimmer and I notice any sign of something being off.

“Get it off!” “I got you!” I hear sounds of a struggle in the distance. I turn to Glimmer, she heard it too. We start moving instantly towards the noise, pushing through branches and withered bushes. Who could be out in this part of the woods? We’re probably in Horde occupation zones by now.

I draw my bow off my back, pushing through the last set of branches before I reach a small clearing, and see four bots of a much larger and more slender stature than the normal ones. One seems completely destroyed. This is new.

The next thing I notice is the one bot has someone pinned under a long tube-arm. I draw an explosive arrow, aiming it for the arm of the bot. “Glimmer, grab them!” I shout, as I fire the arrow. The small explosion tears apart the arm of the bot.

Glimmer is gone and back in an instant, she’s panting.  “Thanks…” She pants, looking up as Glimmer and I look down at her. 

“What are you-” voice slowly trails off as I look over the girl with short blonde hair, “doing-” my eyes look down, “out here…” Her eyes widen as she looks up at us, like she was too tired to realize who we were. And her, well… she definitely looks different. But it’s still her, alright.

Glimmer breaks the silence with an, “oh, sh-” as the admittedly very-different Adora snaps into action. She drives her foot into Glimmer’s stomach, before moving forward to me. I turn just in time to back up as her fist narrowly misses my face.

“Adora?” I ask. Why is she fighting the bots out here? Scratch that, I don’t care. She swings her fist again, and I take another step back as Glimmer stands up.

“Who else would it be?” She asks, still trying to make contact. It doesn’t really work for her, as I swing my bow at her once or twice. She goes on the defensive, as Glimmer goes to attack Adora. Instead, however, Glimmer turns her focus and fires a blast behind me, hitting something behind me. I turn around, seeing one of the new bots behind me. 

“What are these things?” I ask, turning back to Adora who is straight up sprinting over towards the treeline. Her sword’s in the tree… “Glimmer, stop her!”

Glimmer looks at me, nodding once, and * poof* , she’s over at the sword, which is embedded in a tree, somehow.

I try to think, but I’m honestly running on instinct right now at whatever is going on here. First things first, the robot behind me is definitely moving again. I turn around, watching as the damage Glimmer did is… repairing itself?

I look back at the other two robots, the one whose leg I destroyed is fixed too… “Glimmer, we have a-”

The robot swings down an arm at me that I barely dodge, scrambling back to fire a much higher capacity explosive arrow. The core ‘head’ structure of the robot is torn apart, and its legs drop its weight.

This is going to make capturing one extremely difficult.

I start moving for Glimmer and Adora. Glimmer had managed to pry the sword free, but Adora is already on her, wrestling for the sword. I draw an arrow, aiming it for Adora when something hits me hard in the side, causing the arrow to slip and fly off into the trees.

I turn to see Catra, standing next to me with her claws out. Figured, it’s always her.

“Focus on the bots, idiots!” She shouts, seemingly at all three of us, which causes Adora and Glimmer to stop wrestling for a second as they each turn to see one of the bots right next to them, poised for attack. An arm comes down on them.

Adora lets go of the sword and pushes Glimmer in such a way that the arm comes down between the two, instead of on either of them.

“Did I interrupt something?” I ask Catra.

She glares at me, then looks like she’s debating something as I fire an arrow at bot number three, wrapping two of its legs together with a bolas projectile. It stumbles forward. The first bot is already healed from the explosion, and Adora is struggling with bot two as Glimmer teleports over to me.

Catra finally shrugs, “these four were set to attack princesses and their allies specifically, not your dumb trees. Why do you care?”

I look around, gesturing to the several trees already taken out by either these bots, or presumably She-Ra.

Glimmer huffs, summoning her staff and handing me the sword. “Then turn them off!”

“It’s being worked on, they’re controlled remotely!” Catra hisses back, then her eyes drift to the sword.

This is not going to be simple.

Catra lunges, claws out for me, and Glimmer immediately swings at her with the staff. There’s a short tussle, but Catra doesn’t fare too well against the two of us, pushing her off of us with ease.

“That’s not yours!” She hisses.

“Do you really think we care!?” Glimmer shouts back, as the three of us collectively turn to the robot staring down at us.

We all move at once. I don’t have the sword grip on my back anymore, so I stick the blade into the dirt toI draw a normal, pointy arrow. I fire at the eye of the robot as Glimmer teleports on-top of it, jamming her staff down into it, while Catra moves for me. I barely register Glimmer being thrown off the top of the bot as Catra rakes her claws against my side, before pushing me back.

I groan in pain as Catra draws the sword from the ground. I move to stop her, but she swings it at me. Blocking her swing is easy, she’s clearly inexperienced with the weapon. But she buys herself enough of a distraction to kick my leg out, making me lose my balance.

“Adora, let's get this over with!” Catra shouts, doing her best to throw the sword to where Adora is still bobbing and weaving attacks from the one robot. It makes it about halfway. Glimmer is back, on Catra, and brings her hand down into Catra’s head, before helping me up.

“You good?” She asks, as I step back to draw another arrow.

“Look out!” I say, as the robot nearest to us has completely readied itself, as has the second one. They’re closing in on us, and Grimmer reaches back for me when a massive wall of ice erupts between us and the bots.

Glimmer and I look at the ice, then each other. Glimmer immediately seems annoyed.

“Glimmer, Bow, are you okay?” Frosta asks, freezing over the ground in front of her to ‘skate’ as she slides over to us.

“Frosta? What are you-

“For the honor of Grayskull!” Oh crap, forgot about that.

Surprisingly, just as the robot tears through the ice wall, the sword comes flying through the air, straight into the body of the closest bot. It’s sent flying backwards from the force. Glimmer watches the bot with awe on her face, and everyone turns to She-Ra.

“There’s three of you?” Is all she says, as she leans down to help Catra up.

I look over She-Ra’s shoulder, the first Bot was broken, too, leaving only one as an immediate threat. How do we capture it with these two here?

Frosta immediately steps forward, glaring angrily at She-Ra. I can’t say I don’t understand why.

She-Ra looks down, her expression growing just a little smug as Catra pushes off of her, and the tense standoff continues before Glimmer suddenly grabs Frosta, teleporting the two away. It’s good she did, because the bot had fired a laser blast at where Frosta was standing. Its eye turns to me. Uh oh…

She-Ra moves between the bot and I, with an incredible amount of precision in her movement. The blast hits a bracer on She-Ra’s wrist, and She-Ra is forced back a few inches. But she doesn’t stumble, instead her feet slide back through the ground. So this is what she’s been doing the last month?

“Quit being dense and move!” Catra hisses at me, as she runs for the bot. Her claws tear through the one limb, as She-Ra moves forward, lifting the entire bot over and slamming it back into the ground.

I stare for a few more moments. Bright Moon was a field test? I almost died and She-Ra was using training wheels.

She-Ra then moves, practically bounding for the bot she skewered earlier, which is already standing back up. “Catra, go ask how much longer we need to do this for?”

“Forget about handling the bots, let’s just leave the rebels to deal with it!” Catra yells, running after Adora.

*Poof* Glimmer is back. “What did I miss?”

“Um, not much. We need to stop them from destroying that last bot.”

“Seriously? Lets just grab a weaker one! When She-Ra isn’t right there !”

“These bots are powered by something strong, I need to figure out what it is. We grab one of these… Where's Frosta?”

“I told her to stay out of danger, she almost just got fried!”

“Yeah, so did I, but we’re going to need the help.”

“Ugh, fine!” Glimmer charges a ball of magic, firing it into the sky. If Mermista and Perfuma see it, they’ll know what it means. Glimmer grabs my shoulder, and we’re suddenly over by the last bot.

She-Ra still reaches it first, launching into it to grab the sword from the body, swinging it upward in a way that severs half the body of the bot apart. Yikes… She turns to face us, and now that she has the sword, she smirks. “Still want this?”

I draw an arrow as Glimmer readies her magic immediately. Catra tenses up too, snarling at us, as one of the earlier bots has managed to recover. Those things are starting to be annoying, what are we supposed to do if there’s more than three or four of them?

I aim the arrow I have drawn around between the two horde soldiers, and the one recovered robot. Catra’s attention turns off of Glimmer and I, and instead looks at the bot. The bot reaches Glimmer and I, firing a laser blast that Glimmer teleports away from as I jump backwards, firing the arrow at it.

“Adora, let's go,” Catra’s voice calls out.

“And leave them?”

“We’ll deal with them later, let them fight the bots before their friends show up.”

She-Ra glares at Glimmer and I, her gaze lingering on me, as she starts slowly backing up towards a log at the edge of the clearing. She picks up a tablet and her red jacket. “Change of plans, Catra and I got interrupted. We’re leaving, don’t change the bots afterall,” before pressing a button to hang up on whoever was on the other end of that device.

Catra glares at Glimmer and I, walking over towards She-Ra. “Good, let’s go,” she says, as the two head off through the trees and I fire another arrow at the bot. Glimmer lands on the robot again, but is prepared for the spike-tentacle arms this time as she drives the end of her staff through the arm that moves for her. 

I fire a normal arrow at the same arm Glimmer is struggling with, allowing her to actually pierce the bot’s armor. I fire another arrow, aiming my last explosive arrow for the eye. Smoke leaves through the hole in the glass before the bot’s weight collapses. It drops to the ground, and Glimmer hops off to stand next to me.

“Is it over?” She asks, panting slightly. 

I walk up to the bot, sighing, “Just one in-tact bot.”

“Well, why does it need to be intact?”

“To get the source code, to program a kill switch. But… I think I can still learn from this. These things are complicated, definitely more advanced than anything the Horde has built so far. We’ll grab this one, and see what I can learn.”

“I guess it’s better than nothing,” she muses.

“We’re here. Where’s the- fight…” Perfuma says, flowers raised as her and Mermista show up.

“Oh. I guess they handled it,” Mermista says. "Wait, wasn’t Frosta with you two?”

Glimmer and I share a look. Yes, yes she was. Glimmer groans in frustration, “I’ll go talk to her…” she mutters, and then she’s gone.

“So what’s happened here?” Perfuma asks, walking over to me.

“She-Ra was training against these teched up bots, it turned into a weird three-way-fight. No one really committed, and they just left.”

Mermista and Perfuma just stare at me for a while, both in shock and confusion.

“So… what now?” Perfuma asks.

“We get this one back to Bright Moon with us. It’s… a little large. Definitely going to be heavy. When Glimmer comes back with Frosta, I’m thinking… Ice sled. With rope vines to pull it. I wasn’t expecting something so… big.

“Ugh, great, we’re hauling this thing all the way back to Bright Moon?” Mermista complains.

“Well, we didn’t exactly bring any horses…” I say slowly, causing Mermista to groan again.

 

-

 

I’ve been taking this thing apart for about an hour now, no progress on what makes this thing tick. This thing was really difficult to move, it took a lot of Glimmer’s energy just to teleport it up into this room from right outside the castle, something about being mass-proportional. Too difficult to teleport all the way when it left her so tired, it would’ve taken her multiple recharges.

Still, I’ve been talking into this audio recorder, because that’s what Entrapta used to do. Glimmer came into the room at some point, idly helping out. I’d take something apart, hand it to her, and she’d organize it into a few piles. I might not be able to program a killswitch with the source code all friends, but a few things stand out to me. Internal radio devices. These things aren’t too common, and where they are, the range isn’t that powerful. Adora must’ve had people nearby her and Catra.

But I quickly put the thought aside as I notice something else that makes that whole theory come apart.

“First One’s tech?” I pull a small purple crystal out of a piece of tech from within the bot, showing it to Glimmer.

“Wait, First One’s tech? In a Horde bot?”

“But… the only one who knew how to use that was…”

No, it couldn’t be. She couldn’t- she wouldn’t … We couldn’t have…

“Hold onto your hat future Bow… Entrapta’s alive!” I shout, standing up from the bot and looking at Glimmer. She seems to make the same connection.

“That’s how Adora had her datapad at the temple, and it- it didn’t burn up in the purge sequence!”

They probably also made her do something to unlock the sword that was supposed to be locked, oh it makes so much sense. I move for Glimmer, wrapping my arms around her. Our friend is okay! Our friend is still out there! Glimmer hugs me back too, when after a moment I pull away. 

I look down at the ground, turning off the voice recorder finally. She’s okay, but… she’s in danger, “and we left her behind…”

Notes:

Sorry for the sudden break in the update schedule, I intended to take a week off to avoid burnout and then my hard drive died... got a new one! Here's the update! Get ready for more interesting chapters soon!

Chapter 15: Do it for Them (Prove it to You.)

Summary:

Glimmer decides Catra is definitely worse than Adora.
Mostly everyone does a lot of thinking while talking.

Adora’s POV

“You fumbled a perfectly good opportunity to take out the Princess of Bright Moon, you walked away.” 

Another day, another screw up. Another mistake in being Second in Command. Can’t find a document here, overstep my authority there. Try to make things better, I get in trouble.

“Our mission right now is to distract the princesses while we conquer Etheria from under their noses. She-Ra is still a wild card.”

“A wildcard you have shown twice without using her effectively once,” Hordak’s voice booms out, as he walks in a circle around me.

“She isn’t ready yet… I can’t use her properly, people could get hurt.”

“You should not have qualms about hurting those who stand in the way of our mission.”

“Not them. My own team. Her powers are wild, difficult to control.” Catra’s injuries at Bright Moon weren’t actually due to me… they were an accident.

“If your team is unable to watch themselves around you, then it is your duty to properly instruct and discipline them,” he leers over me. His red eyes boring through my resolve…

“They- they’re all capable.”

“I know. I read all the reports. I was disappointed when I discovered how much Shadow Weaver has lied to me.”

I pause, going still in fear. “L- lied?”

“Your handling of Salineas was… proficient. But the details on who did the planning for your little incursion into the Kingdom of Snows, or the field strategist for your fails attack on Bright Moon… those were your newly appointed Force Captain’s doing, yes?”

“... Catra is brilliant, Lord Hordak.”

“Then why was Shadow Weaver always so quick to give the credit to you?” he leans in close, his face inches from mine as he leans forward. He bends, almost unnaturally, due to his towering height. “Understand, Force Captain Adora, I do not place the blame on you. It was one of the reasons I have given you Shadow Weaver’s position, as she has lost my trust. I want you to prove to me that you’re more than just this prophecy about some princess. ”

“Y- yes, Lord Hordak.” He isn’t mad? He does this a lot. Calls me in, yells for a moment, and tells me to fix it. It’s strange, he’s actually… very understanding of the reasons for why things go wrong when they’re outside of my control. 

He stands up straight again, backing up. “Dismissed.”

I bow, and turn to exit the chambers. I honestly don’t really know what to think of this encounter. Was it a warning? It felt like a warning, but there wasn’t a threat. Not that there needed to be a threat for it to be a warning. Is he mad I’m focused on She-Ra? He didn’t even end up yelling too much for the failure with those bots the other day.

That’s another thing with Hordak. It always takes so long to hear from him. I gave him that incident report three days ago, and he only now called me in to yell at me for it.

I step by Entrapta’s room, debating popping in to say hi. But knowing her, she’s probably busy. I hear a loud bang, but that isn’t really unusual, she can be a little clumsy. 

I turn, continuing down the hall. Maybe I should use those tablets the Horde started producing to check on Catra? No, she’s busy…

“Are you lost?” I hear Lonnie’s voice, pulling me out of my thoughts. I turn to face her.

“Lonnie? What are you doing all the way out here?”

“Kyle’s with Entrapta, I said I’d bring them both their lunch rations. How’s it going?” I look down. Oh, a ration bar. And… a ration bar that seems to have been cut up… okay then.

“Talked to Hordak. He’s… confusing me.”

“You said he wasn’t as scary as you thought, what did he say?”

“That’s the thing, he barely said anything. He just… told me to prove my worth, he doesn’t really care for the She-Ra stuff.”

“I mean, it is a little flashy.”

“I know, Entrapta was tinkering with it, I asked if I could like… change the outfit, but I don’t exactly give her much time with the sword.”

“I don’t really blame you, she’d probably make it go haywire.”

“No, I’m more worried about her losing it. Or… it ending up in Shadow Weaver’s hands.”

“What is Shadow Weaver going to do?”

“I don’t know. But she already knows how to tamper with one Rune Stone, I don’t want her near this one.”

“Are you two really on that bad of terms now?”

“No… Well, not really. Things are just tense. Every conversation I’ve had with her feels… less like I’m walking on eggshells and more like I’m walking on glass that is slowly breaking apart.”

“Well, you’ll figure it out. You did say she’d end up a problem.”

“I’m trying not to let it get there. You were wrong when you said it felt like I was provoking her.”

“Well if it isn’t you, it’ll be Catra.”

“I know! Shadow Weaver is… a complicated factor right now. But it’ll get handled.”

“Spoken like a true Second in Command,” she says with a light tone.

“Spoken like a suck up,” I tease back.

She gives a half smile, before she nods her head, and moves down the hall to where Entrapta is.

I should head over to Dryl, I said I’d end up there by nightfall. It’s been too long since I did any actual field work, and pacing these halls is not helping. Or I’ll go training for a bit, then head over. Yeah, probably that, the bot site is on the way regardless.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

“And you’re sure she’s here?” I ask Bow, standing next to me as we’re scouting out the Horde Occupation at Dryl. I teleported us up the cliffside above Entrapta’s castle, Bow looking down with a pair of binoculars for anything that seems out of the ordinary.

“No… I don’t see anyone, other than a few Horde grunts and also… Scorpia. But this place is a maze, and if we had to go inside we might never actually find her.

“But… no She-Ra?”

“Not outside, no promises.”

Great. Still, I allow myself to relax a little. She-Ra really worries me after how hard Bow got hit at Bright Moon. That, and Bow said she’s a lot more ‘put together’ now. He watched She-Ra lift one of those new bots that most of the princesses struggled with to pull via sled.

Suffice to say, I don’t like the odds of just the two of us coming into conflict with her.

After a few more moments, Bow puts his binoculars away, “okay, take us down to the building cluster closest to us.”

I nod, grabbing his shoulder, and concentrate on the buildings surrounding the castle square, and we’re there. These few months of teleporting under pressure in combat has been a lot different than a lifetime of taking it slow to get it right, and I’m still getting faster with it.

It actually helps to conserve magic energy too, to spend less time in the transitional phase.

I start to take in the surroundings, but Bow grabs me and pulls me over to the side of a building, hiding behind a few boxes. We need to get inside, without being caught, but I can’t just teleport us blindly into the castle without risking landing right in front of someone, and I have no idea where Entrapta's workshop is in this maze of a castle.

Bow touches my shoulder, so I turn to see him pointing out into the clearing. Catra has just walked outside the door. She yawns, stretching slightly. Must’ve been a late start to her morning. She picks a tablet up off a few crates to her side, pressing a few buttons.

There’s a voice on the other end, I can’t make it out exactly but it’s probably the blonde boy who’s part of their team. He sounds in distress, slightly.

“Pull it together, Kyle. You’re fine.” Catra responds. Not really one for sympathy, I see.

Then, Entrapta’s voice comes through. Shrill, a screech. She sounds like she’s in pain…

Bow gasps in shock behind me, “Entrapta! She’s alive!”

I lean forward, glaring at Catra. Adora has always been a problem, but I’ve never liked Catra. The way she carries herself, the smug aura she presents like she just couldn’t be bothered to do most of the things she does… and now, “and they’re hurting her.”

I feel my fist clench up beside me. Entrapta was captured on a rescue mission because I got caught… Well I’m going to make it right.

“Wait-” Bow tries to say, looking over to me, but he’s a little too late.

*Poof* I’m beside Catra, But before her ear finishes twitching as she processes the noise, I already drive my fist forward. “Where is she!?” I shout, flinging a magic blast towards her face. Catra leans back instantly, I can see as her pupils constrict into tight black slits. Just like that, Catra has her bearings. 

She fights on instinct for a moment as I try to get another blast off on her, before her body reacts automatically. I get hit hard in the stomach, Catra has an incredible amount of lean strength, as I see her expression harden from confusion into anger.

Catra moves for me, and I fire a scattered shot of magic just to stun her, when I suddenly hear a cry out from my side.

“Wildcat!” Scorpia’s voice rings out, running over. I turn just in time to see her tail coming down for me. No thanks, never again.

In an instant, I’m behind Scorpia, and I slam my weight into her back. Scorpia falls forward slightly, and I watch as both she and Catra recover. She moves for me, but Bow gets her attention. Good, I can focus on Scorpia for now.

The brawling continues. Scorpia is quick to recover from every hit I land, and her reflexes are pretty decent. Every so often, I need to teleport to have any chance of dodging her. And getting all the way up to the Crypto Castle, well, this is going to be a long day.

I dodge, fire some magic. Teleport, fire some magic. Dodge again, and Scorpia’s pincer clamps down on my leg. Uh Oh.

With an impressive amount of strength, I’m lifted up so quickly that her arm is above her head before my head winds up under me. I swing another blast of magic, wildly, and she throws me aside. I stumble along the ground, getting slightly scraped up as I try to catch myself. When I do, I look up to see Scorpia charging back for me as she takes a stray shot from Bow, buying time as Bow runs up to me.

“We’ve got to get out of here, now!” He shouts, and I turn to see what he means. A two on two fight is one thing, especially with She-Ra nowhere to be seen. But there are more guards coming. Fine, I’ll take our chances to get in, find Entrapta, and get out. I was in her castle before, I can find one room.

Bow and I grab each other’s hand as I focus on the interior of the castle, anywhere, and…

*Poof*

It was one thing when there was a crazy amount of interference being thrown off. I can actually see where I’m teleporting to now, but it doesn’t help when I don’t know where any of these places are. Suffice to say, the next few attempts to teleport don’t go well, and we end up in the same hallway twice. Bow thinks anyway, there’s so many hallways it’s impossible to tell.

“I hate this place!” I exclaim in frustration, as a door to the courtyard opens up. Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me, we weren’t twenty feet away!

“I see the rebels have sent their finest,” Catra quips, chuckles, and I lunge forward. There’s another short exchange, but I can barely land a hit on her. Her reflexes are fast, and Bow can’t line a shot up.

We don’t have time for this, we need to get out of here, and I can’t teleport through this castle. We’ll find another approach. I reach for Bow, and just aim for anywhere that isn’t here. But at the last second, there’s a tug on my cape, and my concentration is thrown off as I teleport Bow and I out of the castle.

*Poof*  

We’re high, too high. Bow and I scream again as we see the rapidly approach.

“What did you just do to me!?” I hear Catra’s voice, turning to see that she’s holding onto my cape. I kick her, causing her to spin off of me. I try to focus, but this teleport was so far and wild I’m dazed. I feel Bow pulls me in and wrap his arms me as he spins us both so he’s towards the ground and-

The impact is sudden, Bow hits the ground hard as I roll off of him, and I hear another thud as Catra lands too. I pick my head up after a moment of everything hurting. Catra and Bow are both groaning, and I move to help Bow up to his feet. Catra stirs, nearly stumbling as she goes to stand herself. There’s a short staring match before Catra unsheathes her claws, and Bow holds his arm to the side.

“Get back,” he says, drawing his Bow and firing an arrow before Catra reaches us. She’s gotten hit with a few of these so far, as Bow always uses a slightly different one. Some spread out to pin the person to the ground with light but uneven weights to disorient, and this one wraps around Catra, effectively keeping her claws from cutting herself free.

Catra falls back, hissing, as she glares up at us. Did we just win?

Bow and I look at each other as Catra squirms, trying to figure herself out. “What do we do?” I ask him, as Catra tries to stand, before falling back.

“She’s gonna get that off, we need something more… restrictive…”

“You don’t have more rope?”

“Not in rope form.”

“Fine,” I teleport out of the clearing we’re in, onto a branch of a large tree, and summon my staff. I swing it, cutting down a few large strands of vines. I teleport down to the floor, grab a few, and teleport back to Bow. He just stares at me for a moment… “What? If we use enough, we’ll keep her hands at her sides.”

“Are you okay? You took us pretty far from Dryl… maybe relax for a little.”

“I’m not a child, let's just deal with her.”

“Stop talking like I’m not here!” Catra, snarls, getting to her feet. She’s still struggling with the rope around her. I move for her, to stop her from actually getting it off, and she goes to throw her weight sloppily into a kick. It doesn’t work very well, as I side step the attack and hit her with a concussive blast near her head that sends her back down, dazed.

“Now,” Bow says, moving forwards with the vines. We start wrapping the long strands around Catra, trying to keep her less maneuverable as she slowly comes back to her senses. But by then, it’s too late, and Bow is trying the vines behind her back.

“Let me go!”

“Not a chance,” I say smugly. It’s nice for something to be… well, this wasn’t easy , but it was certainly less stressful than everything else we’ve dealt with lately.

Bow motions his head up from behind Catra, and we lift, so we’re all standing again. Catra huffs and starts yelling obscenities at us as Bow motions his head again, towards a rock a few feet over. We move, Catra trying the whole time to get us off of her, before we get to the rock. Bow goes to set her down. I however might have just pushed her a little, and she stumbles back, falling onto the rock.

She actually laughs for a moment, and Bow glares at me, placing his hand on my shoulder, “let’s talk.”

I frown, but nod, and we walk a few feet away.

“What did we do!?” He yells quietly. A hushed voice, but not at all calm.

“I don’t know, take her back to Bright Moon?”

“Oh boy… if Adora was there, she’s going to be really mad…”

“... That’s what you’re worried about!?”

“You didn’t see her at Bright Moon! The look she gave me when my arrow hit Catra-”

“-Accidentally grazed Catra’s side and seemed to barely hurt her,” I cut him off.

“... She was mad. Like, it got personal for her. That was when she sent me flying across the bay.”

“So what, you want Catra to be off limits so we don’t tick off the princess of power?”

“No! We just… we need to be careful. We both know we can’t fight She-Ra alone. We weren’t even supposed to go into Dryl because of how dangerous-”

“Bow, I know! But we didn’t see her out with Catra and Scorpia, she probably isn’t here.”

“I know, but-”

“No, we’re taking her to Bright Moon,” I look over at Catra. We can’t march on Dryl, it’s more guarded than we thought. “If the horde decides you aren’t expendable, we’ll make a trade for Entrapta.”

“Entrapta? Which princess is that again?”

Adora is one thing. Smug, cocky, a little arrogant, and with a hint of naivety. Catra on the other hand… Her cocky arrogance is insufferable. It’s less self-sure and more pure mockery. I step forward, charging up with magic, “We know you have her!”

Bow grabs my arm, pulling me back and I let the magic dispel. “Glimmer…” his voice is a stern warning.

Catra is just staring at us. Her eyes dart between him and me, then her eyes settle into a look of recognition. “Ohh, Entrapta! The Princess you left to die!”

I step closer to her, grabbing her shirt and pushing her down into the rock, “where is she!?”

“Don’t worry!” She laughs, actually laughs at me, “We’re taking good care of her.”

I grunt, pulling her up, “I had hope a majority of the Horde’s army were ignorant, or just in it for the money, but you’re really just cruel and heartless, aren’t you?”

Her response is to drop, sitting down in the grass, “oh no, Sparkles, I think I broke my leg when I fell! I can’t walk! You’re gonna have to untie me!”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” I yell, I have never felt more of a drive to kick someone while they’re down… “Fine. I’ll teleport us all the way to Bright Moon.”

“Uh… Glimmer?” Bow’s voice comes in, “Are you sure we can make that?”

“Bow! Not while she’s right there!”

“Relax Sparkles, Adora figured out you’re battery-operated really early on from the way you teleport less as a fight goes on.” Catra taunts from the ground, she’s laying in the grass now.

I look down, “she what!?”

“What did you think our plan was for your dumb little ball? Get lucky?”

“Ugh! Your little stunt at the ball almost got people killed!”

“Yeah, but it didn’t.”

“Am I supposed to feel relief at that?”

“You’re lucky Adora’s a better person than I am, is all I’ll say.”

“Bow, can I please wipe that smirk off her face?”

“Let’s just pick her up and start walking, we walked to Dryl after all, we can walk back too.”

“Ooh, I’m gonna get to see Bright Moon again? Maybe I’ll finish what we started!” Catra says, sitting up. I groan, and reach down to lift her again. Bow helps, so she can’t just overpower one of us. Fine, we’ll drag her back down the mountain.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

Etheria is beautiful. The scenery, the wildlife. I spent my whole life wanting to see outside the Fright Zone. I finally have the freedom to do that, and It’s only been to tear it about.

I slash, slicing through a bot. She-Ra is unbalanced, wild in her strength, yet efficient. A useful tool.

The trees are mostly grown back now. The Horde did what we needed to with the time we had, managing to secure several outposts and passes on the borders of rebel territory. The woods look almost healthy again, so we're back to the status quo.

I drive my sword down into a bot behind me, they're not very good at sneaking up on someone. I'm getting too used to these… I need something different to actually learn anything new about She-Ra.

She-Ra is magic, magic I don't understand. I can change the sword, it's easier when I need to, adrenaline helps. But I don't understand the light beams, the glowing, the energy this sword puts off…

A laser misses me barely, and when another one fires I block the blast with the flat side of my sword, before I throw my foot down into the ground, hard, disrupting the floor in front of me. I move forward, and the other bot is destroyed. EKS was a better training hot.

I detransform, turning off She-Ra. Thankfully I don't need a random phrase about some nonexistent group called, 'Grayskull.' Whatever they were, it was probably First One's stuff. And the only way I could learn about that…

Light Hope can't be trusted. I sigh, putting the sword on my back. I should get to Dryl… I turn back to the entrance of this clearing, getting onto the skiff I came here on, and head off through the trees. I should go the long way, take the short path through the woods, but they probably aren't fully regrow yet. I’m sure it’ll be fine, and I’ll get to Dryl sooner. Especially since driving this thing up that cliff will take long enough anyway.

The woods are so… pretty. Once everything is said and done, when the consequences of Hordak and the princesses are dealt with… I can see myself actually enjoying being out here, especially since the Whispering Woods haven’t exactly been whispering to me since I found the Crystal Castle.

The ride through the woods is actually surprisingly peaceful. There are no bot swarms anymore past the line the horde is safe to go to. The princesses are still patrolling it nearly every day, so I’m cautious, but it’s fine. They’ve stuck to their portion for all of this, falling back slowly. Bow and Glimmer showing up at the clearing the other day was… the exception.

Those two… always trying to put up a facade of being righteous, when Glimmer pulled me out from under the bot… Bow always speaking like he knows me… At least Glimmer’s smug hatred of me makes sense, her actions are understandable. Bow’s… he confused me. What’s his game?

I’m so lost in my thoughts I don’t see the creature that walks out into the path early enough, and I slam the skiff brakes as I veer it onto its side, closing my eyes as I brace for the impact- I go over as the skiff hits the creature, rolling over its back onto the floor as I hear a surprised yell, and a pained neigh?

I grab my head, as I rolled off the ground… ow. I look up. The horse from Bright Moon?

The horse looks at the skiff that crashed into it, but it was slow enough that there doesn’t seem to be any damage to the horse. The skiff on the other hand, its rear engine is smoking, not good.

“Bow’s Horse?”

“Adora! I found you! But um… I am no one’s horse.”

My eyes go wide as I look up at the horse, “oh no… how hard did I hit my head?”

“Probably a lot!” The horse somehow says cheerfully.

“You- you’re talking… you’re actually talking…”

“Um… yeah. Listen, I think we should keep talking. Like, have a conversation.

“You’re talking!” I gasp, standing up and backing up. My head isn’t that bad… I pinch my arm. Yeah, I wasn’t knocked out…

The horse looks at me, as if he finds my frantic state annoying. “Yes, I can talk. And I really think we-”

“Did I do this? At- at Bright moon? I hit you, and you… changed…” She-Ra magic just got a lot weirder than I thought it would get.

“Yes, I am changed!” He boasts, “I am Swift Wind! I named myself after the swift winds of rebellion! But, uh,  we really need to talk.”

“Sw- Swift Wind? Okay…” I pause for a long moment, my brain still racking everything in front of me. “Um, what… do you want, Swift Wind?”

“I already explained that I want to talk, you’re not very good at listening, Adora.”

“I- you- that isn’t what I meant!” I look down and bring my hands up to massage my temples, this is going to be a headache. “What do you need to talk to me about?”

“She-Ra,” he says, as if it was obvious.

“Of course. What do you know about She-Ra?”

“As much as you, probably. I’m not here to talk to you about She-Ra, but, well… Walk with me?”

“I really don’t have time, I need to-”

“Catra will be fine, she seems to be able to handle herself.” His interruption startles me as he starts trotting forward, a large colorful wing of his brushing against me to get me to start moving with him.

“I- was going to say Dryl! How… how do you even…”

“No you weren’t. Your thoughts have been stuck on the same few things all day.”

“You can- but- get out of my head! How are you in my head?”

“I’m,” he starts, loudly, as if about to explain. But of course not, he gets quieter, “not sure.”

“Great. A magic talking horse who can read minds.”

“Oh, I can’t read minds. I can just… sense things. About you, about She-Ra.”

“Oh yeah? What do you sense now?”

“You’re frustrated!” He sounds cheerful again.

I groan in response, “genius. You still haven’t told me exactly what it is you want to talk about, though.”

“I’ve been… trying to figure that out exactly. Let me start with this: how’s She-Ra?”

I groan again, “I’m not speaking about She-Ra with Bow’s horse, you’re lucky I don’t take you… down…”

“Again, I’m no one’s horse, and I doubt you would. Besides, you seem pretty trusting of me.”

I frown slightly, I… don’t distrust this winged talking  horse… it’s weird, I have no idea what his deal is. “I don’t know what to make of you.”

“Oh, I talked around. Mostly with some lady in a castle you’ve been to before. She said stuff about being, “She-Ra’s noble steed,” but something about her words seemed off. I mean, you didn’t trust her.”

I pick my head up at this. He doesn’t buy it either? “So what’s your deal?”

“I’m trying to figure that out, and the best place to start is with you. I feel like… I’m supposed to talk to you.”

“Well if you’re looking for answers, I don’t have any.” It’s the most frustrating truth there is.

“Well, that’s the thing. I think you do! You have all this stuff floating through your head. And I can’t sense it all, only snippets. The princesses, your friends, your mission; there’s a lot you’re juggling.”

“And this affects you how?”

“I’m not sure. I just… feel drawn to help you figure it out. Maybe it’ll help me figure my own self out?”

“Seriously? You’re here to… help me?”

“Yes! Maybe. I don’t know! I think. Let’s start with this: Are you happy?”

I stop in my tracks, nearly being knocked over by his wings, and choke out, “excuse me?”

“What you’re doing. Are you happy?”

“I- of course I’m happy, why wouldn’t I be?” I’m completely taken aback. What is this horse’s problem?

“It’s just, I feel your feelings. Every one of them seems clouded in conflict. It took me days to register the sheer conflict that was felt the moment I gained sentience at Bright Moon.”

I stare up at him confused, “conflict?”

“So much, and, I feel like I’m supposed to help you, but I don’t know how. I can’t help you fight the war-”

“Well then I don’t need help,” I mutter, turning back away from him. I don’t need another Light Hope and Bow, telling me I’m on the wrong path. There is no right path.

“You may be right, but I can still help you sort through your conflicting emotions.”

“I don’t need some majestic therapy horse. I need to do my job.”

“But what is your job?” He looks right at me as he asks, no longer walking the path ahead of us that he’s ‘not pushing’ me down.

“To conquer Etheria for The Horde, to liberate the people of Etheria from the uncontrollable power of the Princesses,” It’s the motto that’s been almost relentlessly drilled into me my whole life, the motto I’ve come to grow disillusioned from. He clearly knows it, too, the way Swift Wind makes a quick exhale of disagreement.

“We both know that isn’t true. I’m not saying I don’t get the goal, I see myself as a liberator, too, but for horse kind. But I’ve seen enough battle in the woods already to know that you don’t fight for freedom under an oppressor.”

I look down at the ground as we keep walking. He’s right. I’ve known it the whole time. I even knew since Princess Prom that I’m not even fighting tyrants. I’m fighting kids. Teenagers. People who have as much experience, if not less, fighting than I do.

“See? You know you’re not even being honest with yourself. How can you fight for something you so clearly know is wrong?”

“Because… I need to.”

There’s a pause, before Swift Wind asks, “are you going to elaborate on that?”

I pause, not even sure what to say, so I start simple. “It’s all I know. I’ve spent my whole life being used by others, being a perfect soldier, that I don’t really know anything else.”

“But why is it too late to learn other things?”

“I am learning other things. About She-Ra, Etheria, the other princesses… I just don’t know what it all means yet.” I need to be cautious about how much more I reveal, I still don’t trust this horse. And he should be able to tell that.

“Learning that you’re not fighting who you think you’re fighting? I know you don’t really hate the princesses.”

“I… Some of them.”

“Sure, you’re mad at them, but you aren’t sure why, are you?”

“I know why. Glimmer is arrogant and irritable and Bow is too nice to me but he hurt Catra.”

Swift Wind studies my expression. I can feel him staring at me, I can… feel him judging me. I don’t know how, but I’m starting to think this supposed connection works both ways.

“Are you doing this for your bosses?”

“I only have one now, and I’m not doing it for him.”

“Are you doing this to stop the princesses?”

“No… I’m not. I don’t care about the princesses, it isn’t personal. Even if Bow and Glimmer keep getting in my way…”

“The way of your mission?”

“Yes, the way of my mission.”

“But… it isn’t your mission. It’s Hordak’s.”

I feel him staring at me, I can almost tell what he’s doing. “Will you stop being in my head?”

He leans in close to me, whispering now, “I’m not in your head, you’re just a really bad liar.”

“What? I am not…”

“... sure.” His casual refusal to argue just frustrates me more than if he had said I was. “What about your friends?”

“What about them?” I ask, a hint of defensiveness to my voice.

“I mean, do I really have to say it? I may not be able to read your mind, but I felt the way your thoughts surged and your mood shifted all three times one of us brought up Catra. What about the Princess you have in the horde?”

“I- well- Entrapta’s nice, if a little energetic. Catra and Lonnie think she’s a little annoying… But Catra spends a lot of her free time with her and Scorpia now, even started assisting Entrapta with bot construction and First One’s tech recon.” I don’t know why I’m saying this, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to be honest when he can already tell if I’m lying.

“What about Scorpia?”

“Scorpia is… a lot.” I hesitate. I’m not exactly close with Scorpia, and I don’t really know what I think of her. “Very friendly, very loyal. And for some reason, I don’t think she’s the biggest fan of mine. Catra just says it’s because Scorpia knows I’m busy,” I pause, it’s probably just something I look too much into. “Scorpia likes Entrapta, though, and won’t leave Catra alone…” I look down again. I do like Scorpia, she’s just… she’s a lot.

“Uh huh… and you mentioned Lonnie? What about her?”

“She’s my second oldest friend, after I started hanging out with Catra. She… complicated things at first, when I was around nine, because Catra never liked her. But I think the two of them are okay now.” It’s not exactly an in-depth answer, because I’m still not sure where he’s going with it.

“Okay. And what about Catra?” His voice grows the slightest bit smug at this, as if he just got to the bottom of something, and I turn to see his face. He looks almost excited, watching me as we walk.

“Catra?” I don’t know why the question surprised me, of course he was going to ask. “Catra is a good friend. She calls me out on my mistakes, supports me when I need it… she keeps me grounded…” I say it quietly, and actually realize just how much I’ve been giving away. I feel my fists clench at my side, I need to stop this or he’s probably going to start asking me about Shadow Weaver, or jumping to conclusions. “Why, are you going to get to the point?”

“Are you aware you talked about Catra for every person I asked you about?”

I stop walking, both of us coming to an immediate stop. Did I? Still a little defensive about his pestering, I ask, “so what?”

Swift Wind actually sighs. “It isn’t exactly hard to see you care about her,” he says, as if it was some secret, huge revelation.

Except it isn’t, because, “of course I care about Catra. She cares about me. We’re all friends, my entire team, and that involves caring.”

“You’re getting awfully defensive,” he says, his tone only containing sincerity.

“I am not!” I definitely am. “I’m just, I don’t see what the big deal is,” I do. “Why does it matter that I care about my friends?”

“Do you think it’s possible you might not understand exactly how you care for them?”

“I-” I go say that I understand exactly, that of course I do, but I don’t say it. “What, you wanna give a speech about how my friends are ‘my real family?’ Guess what, Swift Wind, I know what they mean to me,” my words are confident, smug even, “I know that they’re important, and I know that everything I do is for her- er, them.” I pause, looking down yet again. I’m not usually one to get pronouns wrong, that was a weird mistake. I look back up at Swift Wind, his smile is gleaming.

“Exactly. You aren’t doing this for Hordak.”

“Of course I’m not! Hordak is just as much a tyrant as the horde says the princesses are. I just… need to keep going. Finding this sword, being She-Ra… it’s complicating things. I have a target on my back from most of Etheria. I’m dangerous to the princesses, I’m ‘acting out’ to Shadow Weaver, Hordak probably thinks I’m a danger to his rule with my power, so he started keeping me on a leash.” Oh, that’s why he made me second in command…

“It sounds like I was right: you know a lot more than you think you do. Even if you don’t let yourself see what your feelings really are,” he says it with an inflection that implies there’s a double meaning to his words.

I think back on this entire conversation. I don’t see how he thinks this really helps me. I already knew my friends were important. But… I guess that was his point. “I don’t really see how helping me helps you,” I whisper, feeling a little… defeated. He had been right, I have been holding my own truths right under my nose…

“If I am She-Ra’s noble steed, like the hologram lady says, then my job is to help you figure out what it means to be She-Ra.”

“What it means to be She-Ra is that she’s the key. I can use her to finally make sure there’s nothing looming over them all.” I had known this too, I admitted it to Catra directly in the Crystal Castle. Our dream… ruling Etheria. The top of the world…

“I don’t think you’re being honest still. You’re saying the words of someone willing to go to all lengths to be on top.”

“Savior, conqueror, liberator, tyrant, champion. So many words to describe the same thing from different perspectives. You want to have a talk on morality?”

“You know morality. I know your feelings. Your compassion, it’s there even if you don’t show it. Your very first mission, you defied orders to grab prisoners in order to ensure a smooth capture of Thaymor.”

“The horde doesn’t target civilians. My orders were to grab war prisoners, and there was no need because Glimmer listened to reason that day. And I always followed that rule. No one got hurt at the Sea Gate, we didn’t shell civilian structures at Bright Moon, and our Heat bombs at the kingdom of Snows were planted and detonated in deserted halls so the main ballroom would be… mostly okay.”

But he doesn’t respond to any of that. What would he add? A quick acknowledgement of how good a person I am? I’m not, I learned very quickly what my job actually entails. This isn’t about morality, it’s about the mission. I just… employ more moral principles than others… 

 “Do you want me to tell you what I see in you, Adora?”

“No,” I respond quickly and coldly. I know he’s going to say it anyway, but I really am getting tired of him acting like he knows me inside and out.

“I think you’re a protector who isn’t always sure what you’re protecting.”

“I thought we went over this,” I say, growing more frustrated.

“We did. I’m just waiting for it to sink in,” he says matter of factly, as if I should’ve known this. But it just further makes me want nothing to do with this.

“... we’re done here,” I say with a sense of finality to try and get him to stop talking.

“I was thinking this was about as far as we were going to get… Listen, I know you don’t want to talk. But I think I can help you, if you’ll let me. When I gained consciousness, I fled into the woods. I met someone who seemed to know me, who seems to know She-Ra, but also seems to know you . You can… contact me, through our feelings, according to Light Hope.”

I interrupt Swift Wind, “look, this has been a real swell conversation,” I say sarcastically, “but I have places to be that I have been distracted from for long enough.”

He stares at me, his eyes big, round, pleading. Ugh, why does this horse have to be so… majestic, it’s really the only word for it. I sigh. I’m going to make a bad idea, but I know how I can get him to leave me alone and get what I need.

“Fine, I’ll make you a deal. You made me late. I need to get to Dryl, and you have wings. If you give me a lift yo Dryl, I will… consider meeting this lady in the woods.

His eyes sparkle slightly in an affirmative glare, “deal!” He lowers himself down, allowing me to get on his back easier.

For a moment, I think this is a bad idea. I have never ridden a horse before, I barely know what a horse is. And he flies, and I’ve never flown. Skiffs hover, there’s a difference. But I need to get to Dry before sundown, and since the skiff is busted, this is the only way.

Swift Wind takes off. It’s panicking for a moment, as my hands dig into his mane slightly, but he doesn’t seem to mind. I'm higher above Etheria than I’ve ever been. We don’t go too high, but it’s high enough for me to see everything from the edge of the dingy grays that lead to the Fright Zone on my right, the dim glow of the Bright Moon Moon Stone at the horizon to my left, and the mountains of Dryl far in front of me. 

I feel a surge of adrenaline, holding tight as we race over the trees. Swift Wind doesn’t say anything else, even though I feel his excitement of flying match with my mix of adrenaline and slight fear. It gives me a moment of clarity to just start thinking back on everything we said, and I feel like even though I already knew everything he said, it’s still given me a lot to think about in terms of how it fits together.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

The Dryl mountains are a pain to navigate normally, even more so when you and your friend are dragging the world’s largest pain in everyone’s behind with you.

‘Catra is difficult’ is like saying Bright Moon’s castle is a one room shack. Catra has bitten, tried to claw, fallen over, tried to trip, snarled, hissed, groaned, snarled, and has not stopped complaining. We even had to ditch the vines because she started scratching through them by rolling on the ground, settling for a simple wrist binding. She’s much more dangerous this way, but she hasn’t tried anything other than being annoying.

“Come on Sparkles, my legs are *tired,* just teleport us down the mountain at least!”

“I am not doing anything! Your legs are sore? Good, I hope they collapse on you.”

The banter hasn’t stopped for a while now, I’m mostly trying to keep Glimmer from killing Catra as much as I am focusing on keeping Catra moving. Because Catra immediately shrugs and goes to drop to the floor. I grab her by the shoulders, keeping her up, but she groans in pain as her theatrics cause her to twist her ankle. 

“Glimmer, walk ahead of us before you kill her,” I say, my voice a little too stern. Glimmer shoots me an exasperated look, before she walks a few feet ahead. “You okay?” I ask, getting Catra back to her feet.

“Like you care,” she’s walking like normal, so it must not have hurt too much.

“Yeah, actually. The rebellion treats its prisoners with compassion.”

“Save me the speech, you and your bleeding heart.”

“Hey, caring about people isn’t a bad thing. You care about other people.”

She scoffs, her face twisting up in annoyance, “whatever.”

“What about Adora?” I ask. A few of the rebellion members have suspected those two are at the very least good friends for a while now, given the way everyone on their team looks at each other. Adora has genuine compassion for her team, but the way she looks at Catra, and Catra at her, I feel like I had to ask.

And she tenses up, too. Her shoulders tighten under the grip I have on her right arm to keep her moving. She looks over at me and snarls defensively.

“Hey, it’s okay. Everyone has friends.” I look ahead at Glimmer, she’s walking with a slight pout in her step even now, and I can’t help but feel warm at the sight of how expressive she is. She always makes it clear what she’s thinking, it’s a good quality to have. I look back at Catra, and decide to probe this whole Adora is She-Ra thing. She seems on edge, but differently, like I’m getting closer to something. “So, your friend is a princess, and you’re working to wipe out the princesses?”

“You don’t know what I’m working to do!” She says with the same anger in her voice.

“No, but I can tell you have a drive for something. Adora does too. But we haven’t been able to figure her out.”

“And you expect me to spill?”

“I mean… you did lead me to Glimmer during the rescue mission. I know that whatever you’re working for, it isn’t what everyone else is.”

Her eyes flicker down, but then she hisses again, leaning closer to me. “The rescue mission where you left your more disposable friend behind to die? That we got loads of useful information out of? I’d say it was worth the trade!” She says the last part with a chuckle to her voice, but I don’t miss how she completely dodges the topic.

I see Glimmer freeze up ahead, and she turns around. But something isn’t right. I hold my hand up, and Glimmer stops moving. The way she’s flipping her mood right now, the way I keep seeing the flashes of second guessing in her eyes… “You’re bluffing,” I say to her.

“As if!” She scoffs again, every other noise that leaves her mouth is a sound of utter contempt.

I sigh in frustration, but I can see Glimmer is fuming at how she’s speaking about Entrapta. “Let’s get moving.”

Every step we take is tense. Catra is great at thinking, that much is clear. She looks so relaxed, her body language is loose and she’s not resisting. But I can see the way her eyes are contracted fully, the way her ears twitch at every subtle noise. She’s hypervigilant, waiting for an opening. 

But she doesn’t. We all go back to marching along, towards Bright Moon. Catra adjusts her uniform slightly, straightening the belt and adjusting her… badge.

“You got a promotion? I thought that was Adora’s.” I didn’t actually notice it until now.

“It’s not, shut up,” she grumbles.

“Wait, but if that’s a Force Captain badge… Adora really isn’t at Dryl, is she?”

“I don’t care to explain that to you,” she hisses. This is weird, though. If Catra has their team now, what does Adora do? She wasn’t wearing her badge when we met fighting those bots the other day, but it was probably still on her jacket, which means she wasn’t demoted. What comes after Force Captain?

Then Catra lets out a breath. “You really care about her.”

“Huh?” Her question takes me by surprise, given her earlier hostility. But I guess with the way her eyes were flickering this whole conversation, it was only a matter of time.

“Sparkles. I can see the way you look at her.” She doesn’t say it with a smug tone, or any mocking support. It’s just… a raw observation.

“I… she’s my best friend. She has been for years. I met Glimmer a long time ago, before her powers even fully developed, back when I first decided to…” I pause, I shouldn’t reveal anything that could lead my dads’ to become a target. “-become a rebellion fighter, before I could even use a bow.”

“Really? That makes sense, the way you two fight as a team like you do.”

“I imagine it’s similar for you and Adora?”

She looks down, clearly debating on if she should speak. “Since we were kids.”

It’s a simple answer, but it’s more open than Catra has ever appeared. I smile down at her, “It’s good to have someone by your side, through everything.”

“Whatever,” she mutters, back to being dismissive. She glances ahead at Glimmer, then over to the cliffside we’re walking down. Her expression betrays nothing but I still tense up, worried what she’s thinking about, “It’s good to have a friend who’d do anything for you,”

“Um, yeah. I’m sure Adora’s a good person too, she seems… conflicted.”

I watch as Catra’s stance relaxes again. Whatever she was thinking about doing, my words seemed to have made her hesitate. Then she glares up at me, “you don’t know her.”

I feel her push off the ground before I can react, and I lose my footing instantly. I fall back, and reach out to grab her as I stumble, but it only succeeds in pulling her with me as my foot slips off a crumbling edge of the cliff.

For the second time today, I’m falling from a pretty high place. Unfortunately, the ground below here is much less soft, much more rocks… and even higher up. I shout out, Catra shrieks as she puts her hands into my shirt, but quickly gains her senses and smirks as we’re falling.

* Poof *

“How are you such a nightmare!” Glimmer shouts, inches away from the two of us.

“Hah, years of practice.”

They look like they’re about to start needlessly bickering, but we’re a little halfway down for that, “Glimmer! Falling!”

She looks down at me, groans in annoyance, and teleports us down to the ground. If we’re already falling, no use saving her powers now.

Except it’s still a wild teleport, meaning she really is tired, because we end up over a river. The water is cold as soon as we make contact, and the current is barely manageable. I reorient myself and swim up, poking my head above the water. Where is she…

Glimmer’s head comes up, and I watch as Catra pulls herself up too. “Not a fan of wat-?” but Glimmer’s smug remark is cut off with a shriek when Catra throws her arms over Glimmer’s head.

I swim closer to them, closing the distance as the current brings us down river. We slam into a log, dislodging it as we start drifting down the river and using the log to stay afloat.

“Glimmer, you gonna pull us out of this?” I ask, seeing Catra nearly digging her claws into Glimmer’s shoulder.

“Just… need a minute to rest.”

Great, she really is exhausted. I look forward and- oh no. “Uh, what can you do with ten seconds?”

Catra scoffs, “seriously? You guys are terrible at this!” It’s met with a groan from Glimmer, who teleports us out of the water and back to grass.

At least we’re down the mountain pass now.

“Hahahahahaha,” Catra laughs as she sits up, “Wow, Adora said you guys didn’t know what you were doing, I thought she was just being cocky!”

Glimmer shouts,  “Argh! I am so sick-” she moves forward, but her eyes flutter and she slumps back down. I move for her quickly.

“Are you okay?” I help her up to her feet as she brings a hand to her head, clearly tired.

“Aww, what’s wrong?” Catra asks in a tone that is dripping with malice and mockery, “sleepy after all that magic?”

“I’m fine,” Glimmer grimaces, picking Catra up, “you’re not worth my time. C’mon.”

“Scared now, knowing that your weakness has been exposed?” She taunts again. I swear I’m going to get a headache listening to these two bickering.

“Funny you should say that, given that I still have magic left and you’re being taken to a Bright Moon prison to be questioned until we can make a trade,” Glimmer still has just as much snark to her voice as Catra, just as confident and just as angry. These two should never have had a chance to speak.

“Like I’ll tell you anything,” Catra snarls.

Glimmer chuckles, turning back around, “we’ll be able to get our answers, you don’t know our methods.”

“Actually, I do. Shadow Weaver is a sorceress after all,” she smirks, leaning closer to Glimmer. “And we all know you princesses don’t have the guts for the fun stuff, and truth spells can be… malleable. You won’t get any results.”

“You want to see results!?” Glimmer shouts, turning around. That’s not good. 

I move myself in between them, keeping a hand on Catra’s shoulder and holding my other out towards Glimmer. “Enough! Glimmer, just keep moving, we’ll get her where we need her to go.”

“Ugh! She doesn’t deserve a Bright Moon cell!”

“You think so highly of me, Sparkles!”

I huff, glaring at both of them in turn, “look, I’m glad you two are able to converse with such ease, but maybe we should stop bickering and make sure we make our way back to somewhere before night falls!”

“Then make her shut up! Tape, use more rope, a bit of cloth, I don’t care!”

“I’ll gladly shut up if you cut this rope off my wrists, they’re so sore. Still, it probably beats that Black Garnet magic.”

Glimmer moves for Catra, pushing my arm aside. After a split second of shock, I turn from Catra completely to grab Glimmer and pull her back, “Glimmer, knock it off!”

“How are you calm about this, after everything this girl has done! After Entrapta!”

“Oh, Entrapta,” Catra says behind me, as she sits down and lays back on the grass. “I gotta say, you two leaving her behind was so great for us, thanks for that.”

Glimmer grinds her teeth together, and I see a spark in her eyes. This could get bad. “Glimmer, ignore her. She isn’t worth getting us stranded out here.”

“We already are! Can’t we just shut her up?”

“I tried, she bites, so let’s just keep going as we are and get where we need to go. Remember what we are here for. We get Catra to Bright Moon, we make a trade for Entrapta.”

Glimmer is glaring past me, and I can see the anger and frustration in her eyes, but she knows I’m right. Her eyes drift down, softening, then back up to me. She gives a single nod.

I sigh in relief, looks like we’re actually going to-

“Trouble in paradise?” Catra’s voice rings out behind me. I turn to see a smug smirk on her face, and suddenly Glimmer past me towards her. She’s furious. I place my hand on her shoulder and she pulls against me.

It doesn’t work, and I manage to hold Glimmer back. She screams something at Catra, Catra starts laughing, I pull Glimmer more. 

“Let go!”

“Stop-”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Don’t. Move!”

Glimmer and I both stop.

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

I heard the skiff coming a while before it got here. Those things are pretty good at going downhill if you know how to pull them back up before the ground levels off, and Rogelio and Adora were always good at driving them. I signaled my location out a bit ago, I was kind of hoping to drag everything out longer and get Glimmer more exhausted, but this is going to have to work, because I need to get away from the princess. And Bow.

So when I hear Adora’s voice boom out from a few yards away, I’m confused. I turn to see her and Scorpia. Well, She-Ra and Scorpia. Adora went to Dryl?

“Catra, are you okay? Did they hurt you?” Scorpia’s expression is one full of concern, her eyes are on me. Adora’s are not. They’re on Glimmer, who is still visibly furious.

Glimmer turns away from me, towards Adora, and steps out past Bow. “She’s fine. We’re here to propose a trade. We’ll release Catra, for Entrapta.”

Give up the Horde’s single most strategic asset? Not happening. Entrapta is still in trouble with a rogue bot. This’ll be easy. “I have a-”

“Come here, Catra.” Adora says. Her voice is firm, commanding. I can hear reassurance in it by the way her words aren’t as strained as when she issues her warning. It’s still the same voice as Adora’s without She-Ra, but she’s both angry and overly confident right now.

I look at Glimmer and Bow. Glimmer’s expression is still one of anger, but Bow’s is of shock. They’re… afraid. Of She-Ra. I smirk, and start walking forward. Neither of the rebels move to stop me.

I walk across the clearing, Adora carefully uses the sword to swing down between my wrists, freeing my arms. I have to be honest, I really didn’t like being restrained like that, those two idiots have taken far too much control in their useless quest for Entrapta.

“What about Entrapta?” Glimmer asks, her and Adora’s eyes haven’t left each other.

I look over to Scorpia, who is still looking at me with an expression of pity. Ugh, I’m really going to tell her to stop doing that, even Adora is better at hiding her emotions, which is saying a lot. “The tablet?”

Scorpia nods, handing it to me. “Uh, sure thing, Catra.”

I take it, turning back to Glimmer. “Wanna talk to your friend ?” Bow reaches behind his back, finally moving, as Glimmer continues glaring at us. I let out a small chuckle, and call the number of Entrpapta’s datapad that I reached Kyle through earlier. Surprisingly, Entrapta picks up.

“Hey Catra! We got the problem under control, Lonnie showed up to help Kyle distract the bot and I was able to turn it off. The flaws will be worked out, and the next model will be much, much bigger . ”

“Entrapta?” Bow asks, stepping forward. His grip on his weapon relaxes, even Glimmer lowers her raised fists an inch or two. “What’s going on?”

I flip the tablet around. I let a short conversation play out between Bow, Glimmer, and Entrapta. Entrapta immediately lets out that she’s now working in the Fright Zone, and doesn’t want to be rescued. and by the end of it… “hacking the Black Garnet was just the first step.”

Bow gasps out loud, his expression turning to one of hurt, “That was you?”

I turn the feed off, “So much for the power of friendship.”

Glimmer and Bow share a look of resignation, hurt, betrayal. I smile. Their whole stunt today was- quite literally- for nothing.

“Let’s go, Glimmer,” Bow places a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder.

Glimmer glares over at Adora, then her eyes settle on me. Something tells me today may have changed things about how our future fights are going to be. But then, *poof.*

“Well… you sure got to Dryl at the right time.” Scorpia says, chuckling.

Adora looks down at me, detransforming. Her gaze is one of confusion, she’s still tense, and her gaze is hard. “Let’s go home.”

Great, she’s ticked. I slump my shoulders a little, before I notice it and correct my posture, following her. Scorpia shoots me a glance of concern, “you sure you’re okay, Wildcat?”

“Peachy, they didn’t touch me. Let’s go.”

We follow through the trees to where the skiff they took is parked and get on.

“Wait, Adora, how did you get to Dryl without a skiff?”

“Long story, " she says, taking the driver’s stick. And we’re off.

 

-

 

So apparently, that horse from Bright Moon and the castle is now sentient and can talk. Adora didn’t say anything about what the horse wanted though, and the entire ride back on the skiff was awkward and tense. Adora never spoke a word to me.

She’s mad. I get it, I got captured. They got the better of me again, just like at Bright Moon, just like when Glimmer was rescued. When we get back to the Fright Zone- Adora had said she wasn’t taking the skiff up the mountain after what happened and just wanted to get home- Shadow Weaver is in the skiff bay again. She was waiting for the return to talk to Adora. However, she had been blown off as soon as she went to speak, and the three of us kept walking.

Scorpia splits off quickly to go speak with Entrapta. Adora and I both head back to the Force Captain hall, saying nothing to each other. It isn’t until I finally head into my room without even shooting her a look that I realize she wanted to talk in private, as she steps into my room with me.

I don’t know why exactly, Adora has never scolded or yelled at me outside of our petty arguments or that bickering in the castle… but I’m immediately on edge. I can feel the fur on my neck sticking up in the same way it does when I’m expecting the witch to… well- Adora and I stand there, in my room, staring at each other for a long few moments. Her gaze isn’t hard anymore, she just looks conflicted. It takes a while before the silence is broken.

“What was that?” Adora is usually so easy to read, to understand, but right now I don’t get it. I can’t figure out what it is that’s in her voice. It isn’t frustration, or pity, or concern… It’s just Adora.

“What was what?”

Adora puts her sword on her back and spreads her arms out, “everything?”

“We got ambushed, I got zapped with Sparkles and we fell out of the sky and later into a river.”

“Why did you show them Entrapta?”

“Oh, that was entirely done because I’m petty. They kidnapped me to get her, but since she’s kind of with us willingly… now… well it was nice to make those two realize this was all for nothing.”

“Seriously? You’re still thinking of all this as if it was some game?”

“Adora, it’s never been a game. I just wanted to make Glimmer finally shut off after running her mouth for what felt like hours.” I say, looking down. But her tone… I still can’t place it. I’m still on edge, still waiting for the snap… but Adora never snaps. Adora could never snap.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous this all really was for you? You could’ve gotten killed, again,” her voice finally breaks slightly, her expression betrays concern.

“Oh come on, I was fine! Bow and Glimmer are rebel softies, they would never have hurt me.”

“You’re underestimating them. Glimmer was moments from snapping, I could see it as soon as I saw her.”

I rub my hand against my left arm, looking down. I am not doing this. “She was basically out of magic-”

“You didn’t know that. Clearly, she popped out of there no problem.”

“Lay off! I’m fine, aren’t I?”

“Bow’s hurt you before.”

“That was an accident!”

“An accident that was a few inches away from you being seriously hurt.”

“Well I wasn’t.” I need to change the subject, push this conversation somewhere so we aren’t talking in circles. “Besides, my princess in shining armor got me out of trouble again, it’ll look great on a report to Hordak.” My words contain a lot of venom to them, I am getting really tired of Adora acting like I can’t cover for myself.

“H- Hordak!? Catra, that doesn’t help me! Nothing that hurts you helps me!”

“Well I’m not hurt! Your argument is still invalid!” Our voices are getting louder.

“But you aren’t looking at how close things could have been! You said you fell into a river! ”

“I handled it, I can handle myself!”

“One mission Catra. You got one mission since being promoted, and you aren’t even seriously considering what could-”

“What could have happened isn’t what happened! I handled it, I always do.”

“Catra, it only takes one slip up, and then I lose you, and… then what?”

I pause, feeling my blood boil. I recognize Shadow Weaver’s words when I hear them, and I have heard these ones directly. In that stupid Crystal Castle. “Stop. Stop acting like I need protecting, like you need to both keep me at arms length and on a leash. Don’t think I didn’t notice how much you’ve been avoiding actually talking to me since Bright Moon. I know the only reason I was with you when training against Entrapta’s robots was because I needed to be on standby. And the one time you actually send me out, you’re what, right outside the Dryl gates?”

“I- I…” she looks down, I can see the guilt eating away at her face.

But I’m not done. Adora spent years trying to tell me I need to be more honest. She wants honesty? “You’re looking at me the way she wants you to see me. And you can’t let anything bad happen to me without it reflecting poorly on you .”

She picks her head up, looking shocked. Taken aback, even. “No, no- this isn’t about any of them. This isn’t about Shadow Weaver, or Hordak, or even me being worried about Bow hurting you again or the rebellion. What, you think I only care about you because it helps my position?”

“Then why do you care!?” I shout, feeling all my frustrations with her welling up. “I thought things were getting better. I let myself think the castle ended up being a good thing, that it let us be more open with each other. But that isn’t the case. You’re still acting like I’m weak!”

Adora looks hurt now, upset even. She steps forward and puts a hand on my shoulder. I hiss at the contact, but she doesn’t seem phased at that. “You were never weak.”

“... Then what is it!?” I slap her hand away. I can see her face slowly twisting up, see as her thoughts wind and unwind as she tries to pull an answer together.

“I can’t lose you,” she finally says.

I feel myself grow to be a little uneasy, what does… of course she can’t, just like I couldn’t lose her. It’d change everything, ruin everything. “Then why are you keeping me at arms length?”

“ Because I can’t lose you. I… I care about you.”

I blink twice, then shake my head. “No, you’ve been treating me like a child practically since you got promoted to Force Captain, even more so ever since we saw those stupid flashbacks. You don’t care about me, not like I care about you!”

The silence hangs in the air for a few moments before I realize what I’d just shouted at her. I do care about Adora. I would do anything for her, and we’ve already established that includes doing what needs to be done to keep her herself. And she hasn’t done the same, she’s just pushed me, but held me still. Kept me between close and far for months. And I’m done, I can’t do that anymore.

“And… how would that be?” Oh, Adora. Adora… why did she have to ask to clarify that? Not that there was anything else she would’ve asked.

I clench my fists, looking down. How would that be? Adora is my only real friend, the only person in the Fright Zone I’d trust to have my back to the bitter end, well, maybe not always against Shadow Weaver, but… she’s getting better with that. Now if she could just stop thinking what Shadow Weaver wants her to think. Even with their ‘closeness’ being tested, she still has Adora completely in her grasp…

I guess Adora decided I was taking too long to respond, because she steps closer to me. “I do care about you. More than you could ever know. More than.. even I know…” she looks to the side as she says that part, as if this was a recent revelation. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“No… No you don’t. You don’t need me. I hold you back.” Now I’m the one using Shadow Weaver’s words… but I need to, here. We’re close to something, I need to say it out loud to get her to realize how bad it sounds when said out loud. And it works, I see the guilt flash in her eyes. I- I’m hurting her with my words. But this is important.

“And you did it on purpose before. I’m important enough to you that you’ll hold me back because you think I don’t want this.” And there it is, in the open. Things we’ve said before but never fully contextualized. I don’t hold Adora back because she’s going to leave me behind, she’d never leave me behind. And Adora… Adora is holding me back too. By keeping me at arms length…

“We need to stop doing this to each other,” I whisper, all the anger from earlier gone in an instant.

“Catra… I want to do this right. You don’t hold me back, you’re my reason to move forward. So I- so we can work to give us a better life. This, right here… it’s why I do what I do. And I’m sorry I don’t always do it right, but I'm always going to try to keep making things better.”

And this, I didn’t expect. She’s doubling down… and I just don’t have it in me to be angry. “... you’re going to lose yourself.”

“No, I found myself. I- look, you’re right. I’ve been a jerk, I need to give more attention to this, and I’m sorry. I’d like to fix this. But… I need to keep pushing to get closer to Hordak and learn more of what I can. Swift Wind gave me a lead, I need to do this. For us.”

I sigh, she really did give this thought… and if she isn’t doing it to be dismissive or cold… she isn’t doing this for the dream after all… “Adora…” I don’t know what to say, where to go from here. Everything feels like it’s spinning, but… not. My thoughts are racing but I’m not thinking about anything.

“It’s okay, Catra. I know what I’m doing. Let me prove it to you.” She reaches forward, taking another step, and grabs each of my hands with hers, and I just… I can’t argue this. Not now, not when she just changed everything by saying, ‘for us.’

I just stand there, staring down at our hands between us. Adora, what are we doing? It’s not a question I dare ask out loud. I swallow and look up. “Okay.”

Notes:

This was not supposed to be or take this long, oops. I struggled with this one! Especially the Swift Wind part, and I had to cut a lot of useless dialogue out from that chat. Some of the last conversation had been floating around in my head for a month now, though.

I love conversations that both move certain 'good' things forward and also cement existing problems btw, It's like a give and take sort of thing.

Chapter 16: Rooftops and Valleys

Summary:

The rebels do a lot of talking about how to handle She-Ra.
Adora is trying.

Notes:

I did not reuse the DnD I am so sorry.

-Edit: Possible CW for emotional manipulation(?)-

Bow’s POV

“I’m telling you, it isn’t a good idea.”

“We need a way to deal with her, none of you saw the look in her eyes at Dryl,” Glimmer is standing out of her chair, hands on the table.

I respond with, “it was just like at Bright Moon…”

“So we’re supposed to just let them keep winning and hide like cowards?” Mermista chimes in.

Perfuma hesitantly looks up, “yeah, didn’t you say they fled from the encounter in the woods?”

“Well we don’t exactly know their every move. What we do know is that Adora only really engages us when she feels she needs to, just like when she left us at the Crystal Castle.”

“So she doesn’t always want us dead, that doesn’t change the fact that sometimes, she does . She has Entrapta! We need to find a way to get her back!” Mermista stands up, her voice raised..

“You aren’t listening to us, Entrapta isn’t a prisoner!” Glimmer shouts back.

“So she’s a traitor?” Frosta asks, looking confused.

“If anything, we’re the traitors…” Perfuma mutters, looking down.

“No, we aren’t, this doesn’t change anything. We’ll stop the horde,” Glimmer says to Perfuma.

“But we left her…”

“Yes, we did,” I say, “Entrapta… made her choice. But we can still get through to her!”

“That isn’t our priority, we’re here to retake the pass that’s kept us from reinforcing our outposts outside of this valley since it was seized while the woods were frozen over,” Glimmer reminds everything.

We’re in a tent, talking strategy, in the valley overlooked by the pass, but no one has come with anything useful. It’s fortified, and we know Adora’s team is there. Well, some of them, which means Adora could be there but we don’t know, especially with how we thought she wasn’t at Dryl.

“Our priority should be on our friend,” Perfuma argues.

“The friend who hacked the Black Garnet and nearly destroyed Etheria? Yeah, I think Frosta’s right.” Mermista says.

Frosta looks shocked, “w- wait, I asked if Entrapta was a traitor, I didn’t say she is!”

“Doesn’t seem like much of a difference to me…”

“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” I say, “Glimmer is right, we need to focus on retaking the fortress.” Truth be told, I just can’t bring myself to think about Entrapta right now. She was an inspiration to me for years, the reason I started putting tech into my arrows. Her being with the Horde now feels almost like a betrayal of everything science is supposed to be, using it just because instead of enacting positive change.

“This won’t be like the woods, they’ll be expecting us. There’s a reason the horde upped their security and scent for Adora’s team yesterday, they know we set up an outpost here,” Glimmer says, pointing to a map at a spot that shows where we have this tent set up.

“They were expecting us when we went to rescue you, and… technically… no one got hurt,” Mermista says warily. It’s true in a way. Glimmer was able to dispel the Black Garnet energy, and Entrapta… isn’t gone. Somehow, though, Perfuma and I canceling the funeral did not fill us with relief.

Perfuma speaks up with a, “but now they have She-Ra.”

“We can’t not fight just because they have an eight foot tall warrior lady with a giant sword.”

“This isn’t a boss battle, Mermista, this is a very serious situation.”

“Yet as far as we know, Adora’s team is one of the few known Horde squads that has no known attributed casualties… well, again, in retrospect.”

“That doesn’t mean we can just march in there like you have your own magic super weapon.”

“I know, I know. I’m just saying, along with Glimmer, that we can’t keep running away from them if we want to have land to run away too.”

“Mermista is right,” Glimmer says, “Bright Moon was too close a battle, and we only won because Adora retreated. Even having decimated their artillery and tanks, we were seconds away from the collapse of the Moon Stone and Etheria being covered in darkness. We cannot afford to wait until She-Ra has another crack at it.”

“So we’re back to this debate,” Perfuma stands up now, too, leaving only Frosta and I still in our chairs. “We don’t have a reliable way to permanently stop She-Ra unless we can manage to get the sword back from her.”

“Bow and I tried that in the woods, and I’d rather make sure we did something more certain to succeed.”

“If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, I’ll have no part in it.”

“Glimmer is right, we need to keep our options open.”

“Then let me keep trying to get through to her,” I plead, “it’s working! You all remember how she looked before she struck the tower. Don’t you remember what she said?”

“So she put on a face of sympathy and claimed to be sorry. She doesn’t have any care for us, we need to make sure she doesn’t have the chance to hurt us again,” Mermista doubles down.

“Wait, maybe we should keep trying to retake the sword,” Frosta says quietly. She shuts down somewhat when everyone starts bickering like this.

Perfuma senses it immediately and gives Frosta a small smile. “Frosta is right, if we can get the sword we can stop She-Ra.”

“How do we even know that will work?”

“Light Hope talked about the sword being important, she locked it for a while, too.”

“The janky hologram you spoke to? And she unlocked it?”

“Our only link to learning about She-Ra. And no…”

“That was probably Entrapta,” I say, “it was First One’s tech, and we just learned the darkness back then was Entrapta hacking the Black Garnet. She probably hacked the Sword of Protection, too.”

“Great, Entrapta is directly responsible for two of the worst things the Horde has done,” Mermista mutters. “And helping the person who took down some of the oldest architecture on Etheria at the Sea Gate.”

“Yeah, it’s not a good situation.”

Frosta interrupts, “so what do we do?”

Glimmer huffs, “clearly we aren’t going ro reach a unanimous vote.”

Perfuma sits back down, looking dejected. Frosta looks worried. Glimmer looks angry, Mermista looks angry but is acting more like she’s just frustrated. I sigh, we’re going to be here a while.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

Catra and I together, on top of everything. It’s been so long since we last came up here, now. Well, not really, it’s only been a few months since I got promoted. But so much has changed. I sigh, looking down at the badge I’m holding in one hand, sword in the other, feet dangling over the edge. Catra is next to me, it’s been quiet. She’s sitting with one leg over, the other she has her arm braced on, looking out over the Fright Zone.

Even the Fright Zone is different. I’ve made a few orders to the foundry when I got promoted to Second in Command. Hordak wouldn’t approve much, but I was able to put in a convincing argument that the smog was causing too many respiratory issues in our ranks, so… it’s a little better. A little less gray. You can barely make out the mountains on the horizon, now.

There’s still damage down at the docks we can see from here, most of it has been repaired but whatever those princesses did during their rescue mission was still being fixed, I sort of handed that problem off to Octavia.

“Adora… what are we doing?”

I look up from the badge, “what?”

“You know this complicates things further, right?”

I think about her words. Everything we said the other day… Yeah, complicated for sure. Swift Wind was right about Catra, I do care. And she does too… we’ve been trying to figure out what it means. The problem is that none of us understand this stuff. We know we’ll always be there for each other, always support each other, always work to push the other to be better. But there’s too much wrong, too much we either haven’t been telling each other. We’re best friends and we trust each other, but we’ve been terrible friends and have been bitter.

I know I haven’t been fair. I sent her to Dryl because I needed a breather, and immediately regretted not going with. I almost sent her with Scorpia yesterday, too, but… she’s been a problem, too. She hasn’t listened to orders multiple times, or has outright acted against the horde’s interests as a means of, ‘looking out for me.’ We need to figure this out.

“Adora, you didn’t answer me.”

I look up again, “sorry. Lots going on.”

“Talk,” she says simply, she’s still looking out over the Fright Zone.

“I’m sorry I’ve been distant, I’m still trying to figure out why.”

“I know. And… thank you for taking a few days for us to just…try and work this all out.”

We haven’t made much progress. Even speaking to each other has been difficult, despite how much we both want to speak. I couldn’t count the number of times she’s glanced my way and opened her mouth just to look away again. Or how often I’ve done the same.

“Things were never like this before. It was always simple. Follow orders, do what I’m told, get high marks-”

“Adora, stop. Just… stop. You’ve been going on endlessly about how ‘complicated’ and ‘confusing’ everything has been since you found the sword.”

I lean back, a little shocked. “B- but, it has been.”

“No, it isn’t complicated. Shadow Weaver is complicated, how we are going to deal with Hordak is complicated. The rest isn’t.”

“Fighting the princesses isn’t complicated? She-Ra isn’t complicated? This isn’t complicated?”

“One thing at a time. Why are the princesses complicated, because Shadow Weaver is a liar?”

“It’s complicated because they act like we’re friends, like after a battle I should hang up the sword and join them for tea.”

“So Bow keeps trying to be weird about the whole, ‘you’re She-Ra’ thing. It doesn’t change anything.”

“It does when our entire mission involves taking them down.”

“And yet, we keep running, or letting them go.”

“You- you said we should leave that time in the woods!”

“Because you were still pissed at Bow and I know you make it a mission of yours to not start dropping bodies as She-Ra.”

I look down. Seriously? Another decision she made under the guise of ‘holding me to my own morals?’ “The princesses are just… confusing.”

“Clearly. And being Second in Command? I’ve seen the workload, you can do it. Shadow Weaver did it, you just… you’re overthinking everything all the time. You need to relax.”

“I can’t just relax, Catra. There’s always more work to do, and I need to do it better than her.”

“Well, Scorpia and I aren’t exactly always busy. What if you start divvying some of your work to Scorpia and I, when you’re feeling overwhelmed? It’s not like I haven’t helped you before.”

“That… might actually be a good idea. It’s just a lot. Paperwork, troop management… I went from managing a team under Shadow Weaver to managing, in some capacity, every team through the various Force Captains. And the paperwork, and Hordak…”

“I know. You kind of hinted at being overworked when we dealt with that,” she points up towards my head. 

I run my fingers through the hair on top, smoothing it back slightly. “Heh, yeah, there’s a lot I’m dealing with right now.”

“Understatement of the century,” Catra chuckles, looking back out over the ledge. “But being busy doesn’t mean it's complicated.”

“Fine, okay? I’m busy, just busy, and that part isn’t part of the issue. I like staying busy, I don’t know what to do when there’s no work to be done.”

“Of course not, you can’t relax to save your life,” she says with a chuckle.

I lean in, teasingly saying, “we can’t all take the time out of our days to hang out with the team on weekly, ‘bonding exercise.’”

“Hey, it’s not like I like those two. Scorpia and Entrapta just invite the team to play cards or something, and I have nothing better to do with you off filing paperwork.”

I go back to normal posture. “Lonnie skips a lot too, even Kyle declines half the invitations.”

“Kyle is afraid of us getting berated by Shadow Weaver for slacking off still.”

“Well she doesn’t really have that ability any more. You guys are allowed to relax.”

“Adora, just once, this week, join us,” she looks back over to me. “Just one hour. you wouldn’t know it, but Scorpia has an extensive contraband stash of board games.”

“Actually, that doesn’t surprise me at all. Scorpia isn’t exactly the biggest on rules.”

“It isn’t about rules. Look, I don’t get it because half her ideas are dumb or stressful, sometimes I just watch. Or I go help Entrapta, something about her not trusting her old robot helpers?”

“Yeah, okay, I can stop by next time.”

“You stopped hanging out with them all. You used to spend almost an hour every day talking with the team. When was the last time you did anything with Lonnie, Rogelio, or Kyle that wasn’t sparring?”

“I did a mission briefing two days ago before they set off for that fortress Scorpia is guarding.”

“I can’t believe you put her in charge of that. They’re going to lose the pass,” she shakes her head in disbelief.

“I would’ve sent you, but after Dryl…”

“You think I can’t handle any of it.” Her voice is suddenly colder, far less inviting. It makes me flinch.

“No! I just… we needed to spend more time together. You are right, I’m burying myself in work.” She turns to me, opening her mouth. “No. I’m not ‘losing’ myself. Let’s not start this again.”

She looks down, then back up again, “Alright, spill it. Ever since Dryl you’ve been practically hovering around me. Did a simple attempt of making me a prisoner make you decide I need to be coddled over?”

“It isn’t like that, Catra,” I turn away from her. Catra is a very capable fighter, and it’s one thing I always hated about how Shadow Weaver was sometimes right: Catra would be unstoppable in the field if she just applied herself a little more.

“It is. Why else did you promote me to Force Captain but to keep a closer eye on me? I always took you as one for optimization and efficiency, not cronyism.”

“No, not that. There’s no one better for the job than you, no one I can trust to keep our team focused when I’m not there. And… I remember what you said about me leaving you behind, at the castle.”

“Adora, I… I know, I know you aren’t going to leave me behind. But when you send me off to Dryl, or decide to not send me with Scorpia to the pass fortress on a whim, it sure seems like you’re struggling to keep me around.”

“No, I’m just struggling to keep us on track for the dream.”

“Yeah, the dream. Then why does Shadow Weaver still act as a voice in your ears?”

“How couldn’t she?” I answer, as if I’m just not realizing it for the first time. “I learned everything from her. Can you really blame me for the parts that stuck?”

“When you recognize it and don’t move past it? Yes.” Her voice drops into a much more serious tone, almost an accusation.

I sigh, she’s right about that. “Okay… I know. She’s full of it, and I need to recognize that most of what she said isn’t true. But a lot of it was. How am I supposed to filter that all apart?”

“I don’t know, Adora. You know I struggle with her words too,” she says, her expression falling slightly.

I look down, the ground of the Fright Zone far beneath us. Everything is so far away from up here, but more suffocating than ever. “I thought she’d stop mattering when she stopped being our commanding officer.”

“Well, there’s your classic Adora naivety for you,” she sighs, turning back to me. “You know that isn’t what she was. She wasn’t our commanding officer any more than she was our mother. She was a tormenter, an abuser.”

I bite my tongue. She speaks so harshly of her… I know Shadow Weaver was hard on her, unfairly so, but I still feel like I owe everything I am to her. “You speak about her like she’s gone.”

“For all extents and purposes, she is. She doesn’t have power over me anymore, even when she comes into my room unannounced and uninvited to try and keep me down. I’m trying to help you see that, too.”

“Shadow Weaver has barely spoken a word to me since we got back from the castle, even less when we used the Black Garnet.”

“That’s because for once in the witch’s life, she’s afraid. You scare her, Adora.”

“Because I’m She-Ra?”

“Because you don’t need her anymore. She can’t control someone who doesn’t need her.”

I look at her. She’s right, isn’t she? Whatever Shadow Weaver must’ve said in this conversation in her room, it must’ve gotten Catra to realize quite a lot. I sigh. I… don’t need her. “Princesses, Second in Command, Shadow Weaver… so much to sort out.”

“We’ll figure it all out,” she says, turning back over the edge. I sigh, she visibly relaxes. The silence dawns on us again.

I know Catra loves these moments. The quiet moments where you can just be with someone. Where there’s no pressure to perform, or even think. You can just exist, and do it without being alone, which is important in a place like this. I much prefer to be doing something, but sometimes it really is nice to just pretend that nothing else matters but the quiet.

So we stay up on the roof. I’ll get crap for it tomorrow if the work gets piled too high, but that’s nothing that can't be handled. The best part about how I managed to convince Hordak of the smog danger is that the sunset looks better. It isn’t something you get to see much growing up in a place you can’t really leave. It’s pretty.

I look over at Catra, who is still as in the moment as always. She’s cold, rubbing her arms slightly even if her fur keeps her from being as exposed. I look down. When Catra and I were kids, we’d sit up here in each other’s arms more often than not. One day, for reasons I’m not sure of as she never told me, Catra decided she didn’t like that anymore. It’s fine, we were teens at that point, and Shadow Weaver probably would’ve seen it as impure. 

But even if Catra still wouldn’t want it, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to do. I reach down and undo the belt tied around my jacket, setting it aside, and take the jacket off my shoulders. I don’t get cold as easily as Catra, and it helps that my shirt is good at regulating temperature slightly due to its material. I lean to my left, placing it over my shoulders.

I can see every sign of shock in her body. Her ear twitches, as does her tail. She tenses slightly, looking over with her eyes wide. She looks down at her shoulder, then at me, realizing what I did. “You- you’re an idiot.”

“You’re welcome,” I chime back, smiling.

She smiles too, quickly looking away for some reason as she puts the jacket on properly. It isn’t the best for staying warm, it does sort of have two giant holes in the sleeves, but it’ll do the trick. Besides, it gives us more time to enjoy the quiet.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

“What if we don’t do anything?” Frosta asks, trying to cut through everyone talking over each other.

“We can’t, we left them in charge of the pass for a month already, the people in this valley aren’t getting the supplies they need and they’re running out of reserves. We’re out of time,” Glimmer’s answer shuts it down completely.

“What if we sneak into the fort at night when everyone is sleeping to take them out?” Perfuma asks.

I sigh, “maybe if they didn’t have round the clock and the ships and this was an action book.”

“Mystery novels are so much better anyway,” Mermista says, leaning back and swinging her hand dismissively. Perfuma looks down, her face contorting into a slight pout. “What if I just flood the place?”

“The stream that runs through the fortress won’t give you enough water.”

“What if I teleport us all straight into the middle of the base instead of attacking from the outside in against the artillery?”

“You barely managed to teleport three people last week, let alone five.”

“Maybe we should grab Spinnerella and Netossa? They seemed to do well against She-Ra before…” Glimmer tries again.

“But they’re busy defending the towns on the edges between our territories and the Horde. We can’t all be in one spot.”

“Yeah, like if the Sea Gate goes down again.”

“Not going to happen,” Glimmer says to Mermista.

Mermista looks at me. “What about you, Bow? You’re very keen to shut everything else down.” 

“I think we need a good plan for us to actually take this pass. So far it seems She-Ra can’t be reasoned with, can’t be overpowered, and can’t be ignored. Which means our best bet after all does look like trying to take back the sword.”

“Which is not a great idea either,” Glimmer says, “but it doesn’t leave us much else.”

“So we just keep charging her trying to grab the sharp murder weapon?” Mermista sighs, “we’re all going to die.”

“No one is going to die!” Perfuma leans over the table towards her, “we just need to focus on pacifying She-Ra so she isn’t a threat.”

“Pacify? I don’t know if you know this, Perfuma, but not every battle against her went as well as the time she lost at Plumeria. Adora, not She-Ra, is directly responsible for months of complicated work repairing one of Etheria’s oldest structures.”

“And she almost melted my home!” Frosta chimes in.

Perfuma leans back, seemingly upset. “I’m just saying…”

“Yes, Adora is a threat even without She-Ra. But that doesn’t mean getting rid of that sword won’t help us.”

“I’m just saying, getting rid of Adora would help us more,” Mermista mutters.

“That isn’t what we do,” I say, growing frustrated. I take a breath to collect my thoughts, her insistence on this is not helping.

“Well what do we do?” She says with frustration in her own voice. “Run away? Dodge the issue? Kick the can down the road?”

“We are working on a solution, Mermista,” Glimmer says, holding her head.

“We just need to be prepared,” Perfuma says. “Maybe we can’t beat She-Ra. But also, maybe we don’t have to.”

“Isn’t that just more running away?” Glimmer asks.

“No, it’s dodging the issue! We don’t need to run away, but She-Ra also isn’t a one woman army. She can’t be everywhere at once. What if we come up with a simple plan, create enough chaos and noise and cause enough damage to their troops without engaging She-Ra directly?”

“And how do you expect us to just avoid that issue?”

“Glimmer! What if you just pop in, grab She-Ra, and pop away with her?”

“I’m not exactly faster than her reflexes. Believe me, I tried when I met her in the woods. She’s fast with or without the powerup.”

“Then what if you just play defense? We go in, mess up the Horde forces, and you make sure to get anyone she targets out of danger?”

“You want us to play keep away with the world’s strongest woman?” Mermista asks.

“I know I said we should take the sword, but I also really want to punch her. Can’t we just do that?” Frosta asks, making an ice fist.

“Not exactly, no, she’s a little difficult to punch,” I tell Frosta.

“Everyone got a bunch of hits in on her at Bright Moon.”

“She had no idea what she was doing then, it was obvious from the way she walked off balance,” I say.

Glimmer makes a coughing noise to get everyone’s attention. “No, I think Perfuma might have the best plan of action for now if She-Ra is at the fortress. Which just leaves us with the game plan part of this.”

“Surprise attack!” Frosta shouts.

“Yeah, they definitely know this is coming,” Mermista says. “What about the diversion tactic again?”

“On an all-angle star fortress?” I ask her.

“Worth a shot.”

“What if we just do an assault?” Glimmer asks, looking at me mostly, “we’re great at improvising!”

“You want us to just charge the wall?”

“Perfuma could take it down easily,” Glimmer waves a hand dismissively and Perfuma smiles.

“We need some plan. Like how to deal with the artillery.”

“Hmm… What if I teleport in with just you? Take you up to a vantage point. Then the other three come in through the wall. I don’t overexert myself before She-Ra, we get the cannons down, everyone gets in, there’ll be noise for cover, She-Ra won’t know what hit her!”

“So you’re telling me we spent an hour here thinking of a plan, and that plan is attack?” Mermista groans, leaning back in her chair.

“I like that plan!” Frosta shouts, standing up and throwing a few punches in the air.

“I… kind of do too,” it might actually work. “Planning things in depth just causes things to fall apart when anything goes wrong.” Like when we lost Entrapta.

“Perfuma?” Glimmer asks, looking over her. She looks a little worried, but gives a half smile and nods her head.

“It is getting late, but maybe that’ll just give us an edge. We’ll just have to have everyone’s back and overwhelm them!”

“Great!” Glimmer shouts.

Mermista groans again, “fine, frontal assault while playing keep away it is.”

Glimmer smiles. “Alright then, time to regain control of the valley!”

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

I reach over and grab my discarded belt. Standing up, I brush off the dirt on my pants from sitting on the roof for so long, and extend a hand to Catra to help her up, “we should turn in.”

She takes it, I pull her up, and we head for the climbing path, “that’s probably a good idea. Wanna race down?”

“You sure? I wouldn’t want to embarass you,” I brush up against her shoulder, causing her to stumble to her side. 

She glares at me, gives a playful shove, and races forward. “You’re still the world’s slowest person!”

I chuckle. Maybe it’s low, but she always used her natural abilities to win our races. Now… I get to even the odds. I sprint forward, watching as she takes the first jump down, onto the catwalk under the overlook we’re on, and I jump too. But I don’t aim for the catwalk.

I feel the wind racing past me as I completely overshoot the jump, hearing a screech of panic from Catra that comes all too soon. I grab the sword off my back, say the words, feel the surge of magic course through my veins, and by the time I hit the ground there’s nothing but an audible thud. I turn up towards where Catra is still on the catwalk. She has her hand over the ledge, as if she was reaching out, but the expression quickly changes into one of anger.

She climbs the rest of the way down. “You’re seriously an idiot, that wasn’t funny!”

I chuckle, detransforming, putting the sword away. “What? I leveled the playing field.”

“Cheater.”

“Sore loser.”

“Dummy,” she turns to walk back inside the Fright Zone complex, I follow after her.

“Probably, yes.”

“Don’t do that again,” she says, the frustration rolling off of her. She looks slightly upset.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What? You didn’t. I just didn’t want to have to deal with cleaning the mess if you went splat.”

“I wouldn’t have, ‘gone splat,’ Catra,” I chuckle again at her playful dismissal.

“I know, I know,” she turns back to the way we’re walking, and she pauses. I turn forward too. Oh, Shadow Weaver was waiting for us again.

“Force Captain, Second in Command,” she greets.

“Shadow Weaver,” I respond, stepping forward instinctually to put myself in front of Catra.

“You two are out late.”

“Yes we were,” I try to study her posture. She’s definitely less imposing than usual since Hordak decided she wasn’t to be trusted with the Black Garnet. The usual dark vibe isn’t there, her hair isn’t floating above her head, she’s just staring from behind that cold, inexpressive mask.

There’s a short pause before she says, “we should talk. Alone.”

Catra steps forward, grabbing my arm, “we’re turning in, busy day tomorrow.”

Shadow Weaver’s head turns slightly. “I don’t approve of the wardrobe change.”

“Full disrespect intended, I don’t give a shit what you think-”

“Catra, don’t. I’ll talk to her,” I turn to her, watching the anger in her eyes fade to confusion as she looks over to me.

“Adora, I-”

“You heard her. Run along.”

Catra turns back to her, glaring. She steps forward, tightening her grip on my arm again. I quickly place my hand on her shoulder to keep this from escalating. “Catra, I got this.”

Catra sighs, “I’m going to bed. I’m not giving this back,” she says, walking past Shadow Weaver and heading down the hall.

As soon as I see she’s gone, I step forward to face Shadow Weaver. “You have some nerve speaking to her like that.”

“So now it’s too much for your good heart to take? What did you two get up to?”

“None of your business.”

“It is my business. Adora, you are the second most influential person in the Horde, and you got there after only months of field duty. It took me years to earn Hordak’s trust.”

“And you lost it just as quickly as I gained it.”

“Which is just more of a testament to exactly how much is riding on you. You have more important responsibilities to get to than spending time fawning over Catra.”

“The war is being fought, things are getting better for us. The rebels just failed to take Dryl.”

“Ah, Dryl, the mission you had to spend playing rescue.”

“Catra was fine, she was working on wearing Glimmer out for the end. Had they not fled, it would’ve been easy.”

“Yet it seems like more often than not, you don’t engage the enemy anymore.”

I freeze up slightly. She’s right. Ever since Bright Moon… no, before Bright Moon, I left them alone at the Crystal Castle too…

“You aren’t doing your job. You need to stop allowing Catra to distract you. That’s what Dryl was, the rebels figured out your obvious weakness for the girl.”

“I am not weak! Catra is not a weakness!”

“You are letting the princesses walk over you, what will Hordak say when he realizes that you did nothing while the woods were frozen and haven’t made a serious mood in weeks?”

“I’m working on getting She-Ra ready so we can wipe the rebellion out in one smooth push!”

“Because it worked so well at Bright Moon.”

“I know I was overconfident at Bright Moon, I wasted a great opportunity with the runestones being off, but it screwed She-Ra up, too.”

“Adora, I always knew you were destined for greatness. This power that has been entrusted to you, for the liberation of Etheria, is too important to squander by treating the enemy with respect or wasting your time with Catra.”

I clench my fist at my side, “you’re still going with that lie? I’m getting older, Shadow Weaver. I’m not a kid anymore.”

“Don’t like this isn’t what you have always wanted. To rule, to lead the horde to victory, to have the entire Fright Zone treat you with respect.”

“Don’t tell me what I want.” The words come out slowly, filled with disdain as I step towards her. I’m rarely quick to anger, except when the people I care about are threatened. And right now, she’s trying to get in my head. To pull me from Catra. 

She reaches forward, placing her hand on my cheek. “Adora… look at where you are. You’ve given up your hair, your jacket, cast aside your team to steal my place. And for what? Why lose yourself to this if this isn’t what you want? You know I’m right.”

No. No, I don’t want this. I don’t want what she wants. Catra was right. She’s a liar. That’s all she’s ever been, isn’t it? I push her hand away. “Stop! You can’t control me anymore!” I glare up at her. If there’s one thing I’ve learned time and time again over the years of being an effective soldier, it’s that you need to stay focused. You can’t let your emotions get the best of you. But it’s a little harder to do when there are tears in your eyes.

“I have never once controlled you. I only want what is best for you, to help you reach your full potential. It hurts me to see you throwing it away, letting yourself get distracted.”

“I- I…” I am not distracted. I am focused. Driven. Learn to use She-Ra. Overcome her . Make the Horde a better place for the people who live here. Protect my friends. Protect my best friend. “Stop.” I can’t get anything else out.

“Please, just think about what this all really means to you. You’re clearly hurting. Ever since you found out about this She-Ra , ever since you started letting Catra pull you away from me, you haven’t been yourself. I can help you, I can help you push past this pain you’re feeling and make you strong again.”

“I- I said stop…” I say quietly. I walk forward, past her, I need to go to bed. Clearly this was a bad idea, and I was wrong to tell Catra I had this handled.

She grabs my arm as I walk past her. “Even in your desire to protect your friend, you are slipping up. The Adora who destroyed the Sea Gate and attacked the Kingdom of Snows would never have let the rebels get away with what they did at Dryl. Like I told you so long ago, your attachments are making you sloppy, Catra is getting herself into issues more and more.”

“Let go of me…” Nothing works any more, I can’t think of anything else but her words in my ears, surrounding me. Suffocating me.

“Let me help you understand She-Ra and regain control of your emotions, so you can protect Catra in a way that actually keeps her safe.”

Liar. Liar. Liar. She doesn’t care, she wants Catra gone.

“I only want you to be strong.”

I stare up at her, my thoughts start racing. My mission. Protect Catra. But Catra is getting hurt more. The rebels… using her to get to me. They wanted me to trade Entrapta for Catra. Am I letting them go too easily? No, Shadow Weaver is a liar, she always lies. She lies about the princesses, she lies about the nature of the horde, she lies about Catra, and me, and my team…But everything she says… it's still true. Lies and truths… and I can’t pick them apart anymore. 

She lets go of my arm, placing the hand on my shoulder. Her other one wipes away a stray tear I didn’t realize had fallen. She doesn’t say anything else.

And neither do I.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

We’re sitting on some rocks, not far from the fortress. Just out of the reach of what the lookouts can clearly see. It’s cold, it’s late, it’ll work to our advantage.

Glimmer steps in front of everyone, “alright, is everybody ready?”

There’s a short mix of affirmations. A nod here, a thumbs up here, an excited yes from Frosta.

“Good. This could be tricky, due to our limited intel and lack of confirmation on if She-Ra is even going to be here.”

“If she is, we’ll manage. No one's getting hurt,” Perfuma assures everyone.

“I think the damage Spinnerella and I took at Bright Moon was enough already,” I say, readying my weapon.

“It’s fine. We’ve beaten Adora’s team before, we can do it again!” Glimmer says.

“Yay,” Mermista rolls her eyes. “What good odds we have in our favor. Anyone been keeping score?”

Glimmer and Perfuma both frown at her, Frosta is just excited. I look at Glimmer. “Ready?”

“Ready.” She turns back to the others, “see you all on the inside!”

Glimmer places a hand on my shoulder, and in an instant, we’re on top of the fortress.

It’s relatively high up, especially compared to the land it overlooks. I can see the guards roaming around the edges, but it’s clear they’re expecting something. There’s too much noise, too much movement. My eyes scan down over the fortress.

“You see her?”

“No, not yet,” if Adora is here, she isn’t out in the open. I do see Scorpia, down talking to Lonnie about something. They’re too far for me to hear anything.. I also see quite a few of the artillery cannons.

“Me neither.”

I ready one of my explosive arrows. “Have fun.”

Glimmer chuckles. “Yeah, this’ll be great.”

And now, we wait. The others will either get past the wall or someone will spot them coming. After that, no plan. Just combat.

“If She-Ra is here… take care.” She whispers, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Always,” I respond, lining up a shot on the cannon closest to where the others should be coming from.

It takes a little bit longer, but there’s suddenly a bit of rumbling. Shifting, as if you can hear the dirt moving, the ground being displaced. I see the instant panic sweep through the ranks of the soldiers down below. Now’s the time. I let the arrow go, it connects flawlessly with the target right near the barrel, and the explosion is enough to completely disable the weapon.

At the same time, a decent chunk of plant matter is lifted over the wall, Perfuma half catapulting herself into the fortress, followed by the other two princesses.

*Poof!*

Glimmer is gone, fighting soldiers on the upper wall of the fortress. I ready another arrow, firing for another cannon already adjusting to fire on Mermista.

I knock the grunt loading the cannon down with a concussive arrow that embedded next to him, turning to see Glimmer already teleporting around the castle. She-Ra hasn’t shown up yet, either. I do see Adora’s team, though. Glimmer effortlessly deals with Kyle. I see Lonnie charging her too, and prepare a good old fashioned net arrow. As I aim it, Glimmer turns around and blocks Lonnie’s stun button with quick summon of her staff. I hold, I’m a good shot but at their distance they’re too close for me to be sure. And while a net would never hold Glimmer for more than a few seconds before she realizes she can teleport, a few seconds is all it takes for something bad to happen.

Glimmer isn’t the most skilled with direct fighting, but she gets Lonnie off balance enough to hit her with some fist-sparkles, and Lonnie goes down. And true to every fight, now that another one is down, another one shows up. Rogelio is running for Glimmer, and this time I take the shot. Rogelio gets knocked over in an instant, I see Glimmer turn to give me a thumbs up, before teleporting off somewhere else.

I look back over at the other princesses. They’re all doing great, Frosta is having fun and Mermista even looks like she isn’t apathetic to what is going on. And with She-Ra still not making an appearance, it seems like we actually have this in the bag. We wasted too much time worrying about She-Ra.

I ready another arrow, and feel something rock the ledge of the roof I’m on. “Wo-o-ah~” I fall, but I’m the type of person to learn quickly. I drop the arrow I drew, grabbing a different one and turning up towards the roof I’m falling from. I fire an arrow with a hook on the end that embeds itself into part of the roof I’m rapidly falling from. Another half second of falling, and the rope connected to it goes taut. The strain on my shoulders from the sudden stop is jarring, and I swing into the side of the building.

I look down, Rogelio got free quickly and fired a shot for me. He’s aiming it up again. If I swing, I can make it for one of the walls, maybe grabbing it. I move quickly, kicking off the wall at enough of an angle to then wing forward, running off the wall, and unhooking the rope tether. I barely get out of the way as the next energy shot hits, and the concussive force slams me into the wall. My bow is knocked out of my hand and I slip, only managing to get a hand on the ledge.

I swing my other hand up to the ledge, but I never had enough of a grip and I’m falling again. This one is going to hurt, a lot. I brace myself for the inevitable, but hit something early. I’m suddenly rolling and sliding down a cold surface, and when I stop, I look up to see a slide formed loosely out of ice.

“Come on, up!” Frosta says, running over to me. She makes an effort to grab my arm and help me up.

“Ow… I’d really like a fight where I’m not left bruised,” I joke, “thanks, Frosta, you probably just saved me from a world of hurt.”

“No problem, go get your bow and get back to fighting!” She shouts, full of adrenaline. She turns again, and heads off to go deal with another two guards running over to us. I smile as I watch her leave, she grew a lot more relaxed now that she isn’t performing for the ball.

I run over towards the wall I slid away from, picking up my Bow. One of the collapsable joints is busted, but it’ll work. I head back towards the princesses, firing off arrows at a guard, then two,  on the way.

“Perfuma, can you get me back up there?”

She picks up a grunt with vines, then throws them into another guard, sending them both sprawling. She turns to face me, “Of course, hold tight,” she moves her hand towards me, and I feel a vine wrap around my torso, thankfully they’re not thorned but she takes enough care to grab above my abs anyway. I’m lifted quickly back up to the walls connecting the outer rim to the center tower, and am unwrapped mid air at the lift's apex. 

I land with a soft thud between two soldiers. I swing for the legs of the one on me left. As the one on my right moves to shock me, I move. Their baton connects with the body of the soldier I ducked behind and they drop. They look down, shocked. When they look back up, I already have an impact arrow drawn. I fire, it hits their helmet, and they fall back.

I stand up, and fire on the cannon Rogelio used a moment ago, but I don’t see him, anywhere. Maybe Glimmer got him? I turn back to the tower. On one hand, I should wait for the other princesses. On the other, if She-Ra is here, I have a better chance of talking to her without surrounding her. I walk towards the tower, damaged bow drawn.

Thankfully, She-Ra isn’t there.

“Scorpia?”

Scorpia steps out of the tower, “surprised to see me?”

I blink twice, pulling back an arrow. “Not really, just expected more.”

“I’m almost sorry to disappoint. Almost.” She moves towards me, so I don’t waste any time. I fire a stun arrow but she manages to catch it with her pincers. She smirks.

I ready another arrow, backing up as I fire to keep the distance. She takes a blunt impact arrow to her stomach, stumbling slightly. She reaches out and grabs my bow. We struggle against each other, for a moment.

*Poof!*

Glimmer slams her staff into Scorpia’s side, and as Scorpia lets go of my bow I back up enough to draw another arrow. “Is She-Ra here?”

“No?”

“Catra?” Glimmer asks.

“No!”

“Are you in charge here?” I ask, keeping the arrow aimed as Scorpia finishes catching herself.

“Yes! Why?”

Glimmer and I share a look. She shrugs. We both turn back to Scorpia. Glimmer fires a blast of sparkles as I fire a net arrow. Scorpia takes both hits without issue, swinging her tail for me. Glimmer grabs me, and we’re both teleported behind Scorpia. I drive my bow into the back of her knee, moving her off balance. Glimmer de-summons her staff and puts both her hands into a magic blast, and Scorpia is hit hard in the side, knocking her against the edge of the walkway.

“Give up the fortress, Scorpia.”

“You’ll have to try harder than that! Catra told me to defend this pass, and that’s what I intend to do!”

I vine pulls up over the wall, wrapping around Scorpia. Scorpia looks down, not processing what it is.

“Well, tell her you did your best,” Glimmer says,” and Perfuma pulls Scorpia over the wall.

I move forward, looking over the wall as Scorpia is dropping into the water that runs through the pass. She picks her head up, pulled back out of the water by Lonnie and Kyle. They’re retreating.

I turn to see the princesses on the ground, then look back at Glimmer. We grab each other’s hand, and suddenly are right next to the other three.

“Yay, we got them!”

“An actual useful win!”

“I love punching people!”

I smile, looking up towards the tower. I draw one last arrow, lighting an incendiary charge, and fire it up towards the large banner being flung off the edge of the tower. It burns to more cheering from the princesses.

Glimmer is beaming, everyone is celebrating. We won. But all that time, She-Ra wasn’t here.

“Hey, you okay?” Mermista asks.

“She wasn’t here. We spent all that time bickering for nothing.”

Her reaction is to shrug. “That doesn’t mean it wasn’t for nothing. The more we figure out about how we all work and think, the more we’ll be able to actually have each other’s backs when we do see her.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just worried, Mermista. She was passive at the Crystal Castle, she was doing a job the first few times. But then Bright Moon, and ever since then, I just don’t know what to expect from her.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. Even if we don’t win every battle, we still win where it counts. She-Ra isn’t going to change that.”

I smile at her, “yeah, I know. But there’s so much division on how to deal with her, and I still haven’t even sorted out everything Light Hope gave Glimmer and I.”

“We’ll get there. Glimmer brought this alliance together for a reason. We couldn’t help Entrapta, but we can help Etheria. We’ll stop She-Ra.”

I nod, looking back at the other three. Frosta and Glimmer high five, Perfuma is excitedly chatting with them both. Of course it’s a good mood, we did fine. And with proper teamwork, Mermista is right. We’ll deal with She-Ra. 

One way, or another.

Notes:

Highs and Lows.
Sorry for another 2 week break, I fell out of writing a little and wanna make sure I don't burn myself out because I genuinely have so many fun ideas to keep writing about for this AU.

Chapter 17: Infection

Summary:

The rebels and Horde both investigate strong energy signatures in the Northern Reach. Glimmer tries something she probably shouldn't.

Catra’s POV

Entrapta’s room is a mess. Half the stuff is gone, the boxes we pulled stuff out of not a few weeks ago is now being half packed back up for transportation to an outpost we’re establishing at the Northern Reach. Scorpia and I have been helping Entrapta pack for an hour or two, the rest of the team has been coming and going.

Adora’s arrival has been less thrilling. When she mentioned that she didn’t know why we were going to the Reach to retrieve First One’s tech, Entrapta actually had an answer: she needs it to help him.

“What do you mean you’re working with Hordak ?” Adora says, shocked. “Didn’t Catra warn you about going in there?”

“Oh, um… did Catra warn… yes! She did! I just didn’t listen.”

Adora looks at me, and I shrug. Entrapta is really bad at listening to orders when something she wants is impeded by rules.

“Why did you think that was a good idea!?” Adora asks Entrapta, appalled by her carelessness.

“I never said it was,” Entrapta is, at least, a very honest person. Even Adora could lie better than her, I don’t think Entrapta has any idea what lying even is.

Adora groans, “are the preparations done?”

“Not even close,” I answer for Entrapta. “We still need to load up this drill, but we made progress on everything else.”

“Have the others been helping?”

“I… think they just grabbed this massive computer thing,” Scorpia says.

“Why do we need anything more than a drill and the scanner?”

“Why wouldn’t we!? Data analysis, multiple places to record the discoveries we make, random trinkets to just touch things with and see what happens, tools for handling any possible malfunctions-”

“-tiny mugs for cocoa,” Scorpia chimes in.

“- and tiny mugs for cocoa!”

“Why do we need cocoa?” Adora looks confused.

“Again, why wouldn’t we? It’s going to be cold, right?”

“I tried to tell them it wasn’t necessary,” I say plainly, putting another box of Entrapta’s junk onto a dolly.

“No, no, cocoa is fine,” Adora says, “I just feel like we should have left already.”

“The Northern Reach isn’t going to just unfreeze or implode in the next few hours, we have time,” Entrapta says. “That’s the best part about making new discoveries, it only stops happening when you’re dead!”

“Or if we discover everything,” Scorpia says, putting a box on the dolly herself. I fasten the straps, and roll it to the door. One of the other three will be by to move it soon, so I get back to packing more stuff.

“You can’t discover everything,” Entrapta says while almost chuckling at Scorpia.

“How are we moving the drill?” Adora asks, walking up to it.

I walk up next to her, “probably taking it in two, and finding someone forklift certified to take each half down, so we can fit it through the door.”

“How long will it take to disassemble?”

Entrapta moves next to Adora, the three of us facing it in a line, “easy! We just need to suspend the top half from the ceiling and I unscrew a few of the pivot bolts! Slide the base out, then lower the actual drill!”

“You need to rig up an entire pulley system? This looks like an eight person job, you’re lucky the door here is wide.”

“Relax, Adora, We can make do with a few ropes. I know my knots.”

“I have a better idea, get your hand drill,” Adora says, drawing her sword.

“I have two!” Her hair moves over to open a toolbox on the side of the room, coming back with an electric drill in each of her hair hands.

“For the honor of Grayskull!” Adora says, the room flashing with a brilliant light. Adora, as She-Ra, puts the sword away, and grabs the top half of the drill.

“Showoff,” I mutter with a slight smirk. Her muscles are bulging as she supports the drill weight, Entrapta starting to take out various screws.

“I’m still not used to this,” Scorpia says, carrying on with the packing as if nothing is happening.

I just watch as the rest of the screws are taken off, and Adora lifts the drill out of the sockets on the base.

Adora steps backwards, and sets the massive drill-bit on the ground. “Help me with this, Scorpia?”

Scorpia nods, and walks to the other side of the drill. They lift, and slowly back it out of the room.

“I really need to figure out how she works,” Entrapta says, watching the two stronger women leave.

I turn to Entrapta, chuckling, and go back to packing up some of her various equipment. “I don’t know how she works either,” I say, thinking back to Last week. She got weird again, after her talk with Shadow Weaver. She’s still talking to me, so they didn’t go too badly. I mean, she still didn’t make me give the jacket back. Yet, she won’t tell me what happened, she won’t talk about it.

Which in my mind, only means that Shadow Weaver said something that got to her. I don't know what or how, but… ugh, things just have to stay complicated. I swear things would be easier if Adora just said screw it and told that witch off for real.

“Alright, we’re here for the next shipment,” Kyle announces, walking into the room. He immediately trips over something, falling forward as Lonnie catches him.

I turn to greet the duo. “Rogelio stayed down at the docks?”

“Yeah, he’s loading. We’re moving. Y’all are packing,” Lonnie answers.

“I guess that works.” 

Lonnie looks at me, and crosses her arms. She smirks, “nice jacket.”

“Oh, you’re wearing Adora’s jacket?” Kyle says, looking it over as if he didn’t realize.

“I- whose else would it be?” I say defensively, glaring back at Lonnie. “Look, we’re past the whole being jerks thing, okay? Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“That’s not what I was doing, I was just commenting. A little too much red if you ask me, but that was sort of already an issue.”

“Well, I didn’t ask you,” I roll my eyes, turning back around.

“Actually, it’s cool. You two finally got your act together.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” I sigh, grabbing another box. “I don’t think Adora even knows about all that stuff, the devoted one-track-minded rule follower she is.”

“Harsh,” Kyle says, making sure the straps are right on the full dolly. “But probably fair. I mean, I don’t know much about what you two are talking about either…”

“Really?” Entrapta interrupts, “I think it’s quite easy to follow.”

Lonnie ignores Her. “Of course you don’t,” she looks down at Kyle with a smug smirk, “I don’t think she knows anything beyond ‘mom’ and ‘dad.’”

“Not like any of us had either,” I say. Some people have parents within the Fright Zone they’ll never know. Some are taken from raided towns. Some are found abandoned in boxes, unwanted in the first place. At least in that case, there was an exception.

“None of you have parents?” Entrapta asks. “That’s statistically improbable, oh that is fascinating.”

“It’s nothing,” Lonnie tells her, “just the way things are sometimes.”

“I suppose it is, I wouldn’t really know. Studying the human condition is fun and all but it’s mostly confusing. Machines are easier, when things go wrong you can always tell what it was that happened.”

“... Uh huh,” I say, only half listening. “Didn’t Adora say you were fascinated, watching people at the ball?”

“Exactly! You would’ve loved it! Remind me to show you those logs when we’re on the boat!”

“Sure…” I say slowly, turning back to Lonnie. “This one’s loaded, we’ve got a bit more to go and the other half of this drill should only take two more trips.”

“Good, the docks are far away. We’re getting a bigger crew for the return trip.”

“If we can find the workforce,” Kyle says.

“Whatever, we’ll handle it either way. I don’t want to keep Adora or Hordak waiting.”

“Or the science! There’s going to be so much to learn up there, I can’t wait! ”

Lonnie stares at Entrapta for a few seconds, before she grabs the dolly and motions for Kyle to grab something else and follow. They head back out of the room.

“So…” I say, moving to load up her tool box, “hot cocoa, huh?”

Entrapta pauses for a split second, looking over her shoulder at me. She smiles.

-

It takes nearly two more days to get the outpost set up, but it goes pretty smoothly with the entire team here. Entrapta has been working non stop since we arrived, with two specially crafted drilling bots using the drill from her lab, as well as a massive industrial one we had shipped alongside us, built in advance. I’m digging through a box, trying to find anything to get warmer.

I had to give Adora her jacket back for now, it seems even Adora has a point where she gets cold. But I don’t handle it as well as she does. It isn’t helped by how I hate wearing proper shoes and gloves, but I can at least keep my core warm with my coat, and maybe a space heater..

I hear footsteps, loud ones. Scorpia’s. She pokes her head into the closet I’m in. “Wow, they really got this place set up fast.”

“Apparently the structure of the outpost has been here, according to something Lonnie said.”

“I know, I meant the drilling operation. I mean, we got it up and running in like, a day.”

“Apparently, again, Hordak really needs this tech,” I grumble slightly, annoyed I haven’t found anything yet.

“Yeah… listen, I um… wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?” I ask, turning up to face her. I should just give up on not freezing.

“So… you and Adora…”

I sigh, I figured this was coming eventually.

“How are you two?”

“Things are fine. We’re good.”

“I know, I know! I just meant, like, you know, Adora is always busy, except when she’s forcing herself to take time off and even then you two didn’t really do much because now she’s worried Hordak doesn’t think she’s doing enough, and I just that maybe you’d want to, I don’t know, talk about it?”

I stare at her for a second, processing her very long-form structure of speaking. “Talk about what?”

“You know, I was mostly wondering if you two-” she leans into a crate on her right, knocking over a few boxes, “oop!”

I move my foot away quickly as the contents spill out of the top box. “Ah, come on!”

“Sorry!”

“Ugh, you’re fine,” I kneel down, putting the few things back into the box, pausing when I see a strange crystal. It looks like First One’s tech, but an odd red instead of the normal blues, whites, and purples Adora and I saw all over the Crystal Castle.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know…” I stand up, looking it over.

Suddenly, Adora’s voice rings out from the closet doorway, “everything okay in here? I heard a-”

“Aaah! Careful with that!” Entrapta pushes past her, bounding over with her hair-stilts quickly. She quickly snatches the crystal from my hand.

I stare for a moment, then put my hands into my pockets. “Something important?”

“I’m not really sure, some kind of… murder virus.”

“You brought a murder virus, and not a blanket?”

Adora walks over, looking at the crystal. “It’s First One’s…”

“Precisely!” Entrapta beams. “It’s supposed to just be a data crustal, exactly like the one you and Catra brought me from the tower, but this one… wasn’t right. My robots were powered by First One’s tech, so they got all evil.”

I scoff, “you had that thing in the Fright Zone, in the lab where you put that tech into our bots?”

“Well don’t let it get to whatever it is we’re looking for,” Adora says, “we have enough issues on our hands.”

Entrapta nods, putting the crystal in her pocket. “That makes sense, lets go check on the drilling bots!” She walks towards the exit.

Adora follows after Entrapta, turning around and motioning for Scorpia and I to follow.

I nod, turning to Scorpia. “You were saying?”

“N- nothing. I’m happy for you, Wildcat,” she smiles genuinely at me, but I can see something else in her eyes, something I’m not used to seeing on Scorpia’s face.

“... thanks? Come on, I wanna meet up with the rest of the team.” I tell her, walking towards the exit of the closet myself.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

“The Northern Reach is nothing but snow and ice. What could they possibly be doing?” Bow asks, looking at energy readings on his tracker-pad.

“Who knows?” I groan, leaning over the edge of Sea Hawk’s Dragon’s Daughter V. “Whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and look up to see Sea Hawk. “What’s even out here?”

I move his hand off my shoulder with a slight frown. “Nothing but snow and ice, I thought. But apparently they don’t see it that way. Bow, did you find anything?”

“I mean… There's some interference here, but I won’t be able to make it out until we’re closer. I don’t understand this stuff like Entrapta did- does…”

“You think she’ll be here?” Sea Hawk asks.

“Maybe. It’s possible this is about First One’s tech, since they’re using more and more of it to power their tech now.”

“Like those regenerating bots we fought…” I look down, remembering that confrontation in the woods. Another close encounter with She-Ra that we scraped by without a fight.

“Then I guess we should be prepared to face the She-Ra,” Sea Hawk muses. “I have been meaning to speak my mind to her after she destroyed the Dragon’s Daughter III. And- my dearest Mermista’s Sea Gate.”

“And she ruined princess prom!” Frosta shouts, bounding up onto the deck.

“Ah!” Sea Hawk jumps. “I- I didn’t even know- how long were you here?”

Frosta comes to a stop. “What? Why wouldn’t we be, we’re in the Northern Reach ,” she points out. “Ice?  And snow?”

“Oh, yes,” Sea Hawk responds in thought, composing himself. “I suppose that makes sense, don’t know why I didn’t think of that…”

“Well, the boat has a four person occupancy,” Bow points out, putting his tracker-pad away. “This is as close as we’re going to get, get ready to anchor down?”

Sea nods, heading over to drop the anchor. I turn to face Bow. “Ready for anything?”

“Ready for anything.”

Frosta excitedly says, “lets go kick some Horde butt!”

The boat slowly lurches to a stop as it stops traveling over the water, hovering over the edge of an icy landmass. Devoid of anything but white as far as can be seen.

“Alright, Huddle up-” I start to say, but Bow has already used an achor, and he uses his bow to slide down it.

“To adventure!” Sea Hawk shouts, sliding down it as well using the flat of his sword.

I give a half sigh, half smile at Sea Hawk’s excitement, but Bow is strangely quiet. He was always so upbeat all the time, yet he’s been almost down lately. I look down at Frosta, who approaches me slowly.

“Not one for the sliding?”

“You said huddle up.”

I hold my hand out to her. When she takes it, I make sure to teleport right near where the anchor landed.

“You guys want me to put us out deeper into the Reach?”

“Probably not a good idea, let's conserve that magic of yours,” Bow suggests, collapsing his bow. He managed to upgrade it after it was damaged at the valley pass, making it fold up quicker. His tech applications for his equipment are steadily getting better, it’s always impressive to see just how far he came from his first trick arrow simply being one where the arrowhead was carved to work as a screwdriver.

As we walk, Frosta is using her powers to harden and compress the snow in front of us, creating a patch that isn’t too difficult to shift through. She seems to be doing it pretty effortlessly, too. It’s a lot of walking.

“It’s eerie, walking through a place as isolated as this. There are terrible stories of people going missing up around here, we need to be careful,” Sea Hawk says, lost in thought.

“We are careful,” Bow responds. “And we can’t exactly get lost, as long as I have this,” he holds up his tracker-pad, leading us as best as he can to where we need to be going.

“Anything clearer yet?” I ask him.

“Not much. The readings are getting stronger the more we cut through this snow storm, which is important. We can’t be out here for too long before the storm picks up.”

“We’ll get there. Worse comes to worst, I teleport us further in.”

“Can’t Frosta here just keep the snow away from us?” Sea Hawk asks.

“I could try, but that’d be pretty difficult, since I’d be fighting against the wind. And with such small particles…”

“What’s the difference between what you and Mermista can do anyway?”

Frosta gives a slight shrug. “Probably the temperature. I can cool water in the same way Mermista can warm ice, but I can’t move water and she can’t form ice.”

“Thermal manipulation,” Bow says. “Warmer things give off more energy, they might just have different ranges they can actually interact with.”

“I only sort of understand what that means, but okay!” Sea Hawk says enthusiastically.

“I don’t think it was that hard to understand,” Frosta says with a bit of sass to her voice.

“I didn’t say it was, only that it isn’t my subject of expertise!”

Bow holds an arm out, “I got something, looks like I was right. It’s First One’s tech after all.”

“Then, we better be ready!” Sea Hawk announces, brandishing his rapier.

“Believe me, I really want to get back at Catra after the stunts she pulled at Dryl.”

“Careful Glimmer,” Bow speaks in a tone that implies he’s about to scold me. I shoot him a look of utter annoyance, turning back to the path ahead.

Frosta makes one more push with her powers to level the path as dim lights start to come into view behind the screen of snow in the wind. There’s definitely a lot more activity up here than there should be.

Bow preemptively starts to prepare himself for a fight by drawing his bow, same as I summon my father’s staff. Frosta doesn’t do anything yet, just walking a little forward to stand next to me. Sea Hawk Walks forward and encouragingly places a hand on Bow’s shoulder. It’s clear everyone is expecting a big fight, after the mediocre showing at the pass. Even Sea Hawk, who hasn’t seen combat since Bright Moon, seems focused.

As we step closer, making our way towards the outpost, it’s clear there are a lot of people here. And what we find is a massive hole in the ground. Massive is an understatement, it must be several dozen yards across, a metal bridge extended over the diameter of it. We can see them before we can hear them. The entire team. Adora, Catra, Scorpia, the trio, and… Entrapta.

Sea Hawk moves forward quickly, raising his sword. Bow is quicker, and holds him back with a quick and quiet, “no!”

So we carefully approach the center of the bridge, starting to be able to make out their conversation.

Entrapta’s voice is by far the loudest, and is the one that becomes clear first. I can only make out what sounds like, “strange happenings in this region…”

Lonnie’s voice is the next to come through as my friends and I get closer to them. “Yeah right, I’m not buying it.”

Followed by Adora saying. “Well if the bots are offline, we have a problem. Can you figure it out?”

We’re closer now, clearly able to make out everyone, most of them looking over the edge. Catra groans, “I already hate this place. I’m going back to look for something to stay warm, I’ll-” she leans off the railing and turns, stopping as she sees us. 

“Now can I say it?” Sea Hawk asks Bow, and Bow just shakes his head with a slight smirk as if he didn’t care now, so Sea Hawk steps forward, raising his sword, and shouts, “ADVENTURE!”

Everyone immediately turns on the bridge. There’s a tense stare for a moment as half of them seem surprised to see us. “What on Etheria are you doing all the way up here? It must’ve taken a lot of work to sail up and around the blockade.”

Lonnie is, somewhat surprising to me, the first to say anything, “you think we’d just let our dockyards stay destroyed?”

“We figured you guys were getting tired of losing,” Frosta says cockily.

Adora steps in front of the rest of the team, leading them as always. “Funny, I feel I can say the same to you all.”

“Whatever you guys are doing here, it needs to stop.” Bow says, mustering as much authority as he can.

Catra snarls. “Are you going to make us!?” 

Sea Hawk does a sword-spin I’m sure he spends a lot of time practicing, purely for sure. “Well I for one wouldn’t be opposed to settling this all over a match of arm-wrestling, but if you want a fight we’ll give you one!”

Adora draws her sword as well, her eyes stay focused primarily on me. “I’m done letting you guys get away with messing with our plans. If you don’t turn around, I’ll make sure this will end more like salineas and less like Dryl.”

“That’s not the threat you think it is,” I lift my staff slightly.

“Um… guys?” Kyle says nervously. “Does anyone feel that rumbling?”

He’s ignored in favor of Catra starting to walk forward, “do your worst, rebels. Four on seven are pretty great odds even without She-Ra.”

Bow pulls back an arrow, “I dealt with worse before.”

Adora tightens her grip on her sword. “For the honor of Grayskull!” The flash of light is exactly like it was at Bright Moon. 

“Pfft, ironic,” I mutter. This time, we’re not avoiding a fight.

I make the first move, instantly teleporting behind their entire line to swing my staff at Rogelio, who was sort of just watching. Come to think of it, I don’t think he can speak. I hit his leg before he can even turn around, as the battle erupts.

Being out in the middle of the bridge, Frosta doesn’t have much to work with. She starts with a defensive wall immediately after Bow fires an arrow down at the bridge. The arrow releases a patch of oil that She-Ra leaps over. Catra is less lucky as her foot slides out from under her and she falls back with a shriek.

I fight shortly with Rogelio. He takes hits pretty well, but like always he isn’t too focused on actually hitting back, and I manage to catch him off guard with sparkles to his stomach, followed by swiftly knocking him down by swinging the staff onto his head.

She-Ra lands in front of the ice, slashing through it instantly. Bow and Sea Hawk share a quick look, and Bow makes a hand sign for me. I teleport over to She-Ra’s side, hitting her hard with a blast of magic from each of my hands, channeling it through the staff. As She-Ra stumbles back, Bow and Sea Hawk move forward.

Catra is struggling up, but Bow and Sea Hawk pay her no mind as they move further down the bridge to where Kyle and Lonnie are. Sea Hawk and Lonnie get in a small saber on a stun-baton duel, as Bow fires a rope arrow into the bridge. 

She-Ra turns to swing down at me. She wasn’t kidding when she was ‘done,’ but it still isn’t a move made to kill. I teleport to behind her instantly, driving the staff into her back. She doesn’t even stumble forward as she turns around, swinging again.

Bow holds the rope in one hand, as holds the end out to Kyle. “Hold this for me, will you?” He places it to Kyle’s chest, who grabs it in confusion. Bow smiles, and pushes him. It’d be an incredibly risky move if I wasn’t here to catch him if he fell. But thankfully Kyle doesn’t let go of the rope as he’s knocked over the bridge, and left hanging on as he screams.

I teleport again, this time above She-Ra. I fire another blast of magic down that she seems to just shrug off, as I land a few feet from her. She swings her sword instantly, sending out a wave of magic power that is barely blocked with an ice wall. The edge of the beam slash through part of the railing to my right.

“Kyle!” Lonnie screams, making an effort to push Sea Hawk back. She sprints over to the rail, and starts struggling to pull the rope up as Bow runs further down the bridge.

“Entrapta, you need to stop!” Bow calls out, but Entrapta is actively running off the bridge.

Frosta makes a noise of exertion, and the ice wall moves towards She-Ra. The sword hits the ice, but Frosta hardens the ice at the strike point. She-Ra struggles against the ice for a second. I charge up the staff with my magic, aiming it for the ice. Frosta lets her hands fall, and the ice instantly shatters into dozens of large chunks, like hail. I send out a wave of sparkles that acts as a propelling force, the pseudo-hail forced into her. She-Ra stumbles back for a moment, clearly annoyed.

“Guys! There’s something down here!” Kyle screams.

“Shut up and hang on!” Lonnie says, still pulling the rope up.

I move forward to keep She-Ra off balance, but she’s too quick to recover. I teleport behind her, but I wasn’t paying attention. I feel claws rake down my back, slashing through my cape. “Agh!” I groan, turning to hit Catra with all the fury I didn’t show her at Dryl, but She-Ra turns at the same time. Her sword connects flatly to my torso, the force of which sends me back over the railing instantly.

“Glimmer!” I hear Frosta shout angrily, seeing Ice shrapnel fly over towards where She-Ra is staring down at me as I fall.

I shake my head, trying to orient myself so I can teleport upright, as my eyes drift down. Sometimes, there are things you see that are just too intense to describe, too out of left field to even process. Eyes. That’s what I see, down in the darkness of the massive crater. Two giant eyes. “Ah!” I react on instinct, teleporting back up to the bridge, a little away from She-Ra. I go to catch my breath, but see that Frosta is struggling to hold her ground defensively.

I teleport over to Frosta, grab her, and move us back a few feet from She-Ra with another teleport. “We need to get off this bridge!”

“Sea Hawk!” Frosta points to Sea Hawk, who is struggling against Scorpia. I nod to Frosta, this is going to be exhausting. I teleport Glimmer down to the edge of the bridge on the far side, because I know Bow followed Entrapta down this way. Then I turn back, and teleport to Scorpia’s side.

“Potentially!” Scorpia grunts at something Sea Hawk said, and I waste no time shoving myself against her just to disrupt her long enough to grab Sea Hawk, and teleport him off the bridge too.

“I think…” Sea Hawk pants, “we’re a little…. Outnumbered.”

“We’re doing fine. Bow!?” I call out.

I turn to see him and Entrapta in the snow… talking?

I teleport over to Bow. “Hey, I know this is probably important but we really need your help.”

“Glimmer, good. Something’s wrong out here, whatever Entrapta is doing, something underground doesn’t like it.”

“Bow, please?” Entrapta pleads. “I need to get this tech, it’s important, I’m working on something too big for all of Etheria! Science needs to be explored!”

“Not when the consequences almost destroy your friends and home!”

There’s a loud thump, we all turn to see She-Ra has landed not far from the three of us. “What are you talking about? What’s wrong here?”

Adora is concerned? This is interesting.

Bow sighs. “I don’t know. The First One’s energy… It's like something is waking up. Something big.”

She-Ra looks down for a moment, turning back to where the rest of her team is getting off the bridge and engaging Frosta. She faces us. “You’ll say anything to get us to stop. Not going to happen.” She moves forward, and bow and I immediately get ready for a fight.

She-Ra’s first move is to leap again, crashing down between Bow and I. Probably to split us up, despite how I can easily rectify it, but it works for a second as I fall backwards. Entrapta falls too, and I notice something fall out of her pocket. Is that-?

There’s a small boom, Bow sets off a concussive arrow near She-Ra’s head, disorienting her. She retaliates by swinging her sword through the snow, blinding Bow. I look down at the disk. This thing interfered with all the First One’s tech at Dryl.

“You repaired it!?”

“There was so much more to learn!”

I groan, and move for it. Entrapta makes no effort to grab it, she’s standing up herself. It gives me an idea. If it can screw with First One’s tech, it can screw with that sword. I hear a grunt from Bow, just having taken an elbow from She-Ra, and I make no effort to not consider anything that could get her to stop. I teleport over to her side. 

She-Ra is fast, and getting better at reacting to my movements. Her leg goes to the side immediately, kicking mine out from under me. I land face down in the snow. 

“What, you thought I was kidding about being done with the games?”

“No…” I pick my head up. “Just thought that I liked fighting you better as Adora.” I teleport back up and place the disk onto the Runestone of the sword.

“What did you-” She-Ra’s eyes go wide as the runestone slowly turns red. Her expression shifts into something I’ve never seen on her before: fear. Tendrils snake their way out from where the disk made contact, over the sword. But what I wasn’t expecting was for it to go beyond the sword. The tendrils snake over her hand, slowly crawling up her arm.

I step slowly. This was supposed to infect tech… She-Ra’s eyes turn red, the fear fading for pain as she brings her free hand to her head, screaming in pain.

“What the hell did you do!?” Catra shouts, finally making it over here from the bridge.

“I- I just-”

She-ra screams out again, cutting me off. The red tendrils snaking along both her arms. Then, she goes quiet. Eerily quiet, for a moment, before she turns to face me. She roars, in a way that sounds almost mechanical, echoing within her own throat. Her eyes narrow in rage, and she charges forward with a swing.

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

Glimmer teleports out of the way, I watch the sword impacts the snow. The way the snow erupts upwards, the way she turns back around to Glimmer it’s almost animalistic. She moves forward again, Glimmer firing a quick blast of magic at Adora. It does nothing as the sword comes down again, and Glimmer teleports off to the side.

“She-Ra?” She asks, hesitantly, as if talking to a scared child or a rabid dog.

I shake my head, pulling myself out of my confusion. “What happened?”

Glimmer teleports over to me. “I don’t know, it was supposed to infect the sword, not her!”

I stare at her, looking over the snow. I see it, embedded in the snow between us and Adora. “The First One’s murder virus?”

“I- I didn’t really know what it was, just that it messed with tech!”

“Clearly, you weren’t thinking!” I look at Adora, who is lifting a massive rock out of the ground. She turns and throws it without hesitation. “Agh!” I leap back as a large rock lands between Glimmer and I. “Adora, stop!”

Glimmer was stunned by the impact, I think she actually got hit because she’s half dazed on the ground, but I’m not really worried about her. Adora charges for me, and I quickly move to the side. “Adora, listen to me!”

She doesn’t. She moves so fast, the pommel of the sword connecting with my chest. I’m knocked down from the force, wind knocked out of my lungs. Breathe, damnit, breath! Adora towers over me, prepared to strike down, when an arrow embeds- no, lands- on her left bicep. She suddenly freezes up slightly, groaning as electricity surges through her. Bow is at my side.

“Get up,” he grabs my arm, lifting me.

“Don’t touch me!” I hiss at him. Why do these rebels always have to cause problems!?

Adora moves the sword, it slams through the arrow disabling it. She chuckles inhumanely, moving faster than Bow can react, but not faster than me. I push Bow away, while pushing off of him. The sword strikes the snow between us.

“Adora!” Bow shouts, as he stumbles away and readies another arrow. He fires an arrow that ensnares Adora’s legs with bolas, but they’re effortlessly snapped. “Entrapta, what do we do!?”

Entrapta, who has since moved to behind a rock, simply says, “I don’t know, try not to die!”

“Catra!” Lonnie shouts from my side, the rest of the team- as well as the rest of the rebels- have stopped their fight by the bridge. “What’s going on!?”

“Get back to the base! Glimmer screwed something-” I take a hit hard, realizing I wasn’t paying enough attention to Adora as I’m slammed back into a rock. This doesn’t make sense, I never had to watch myself around Adora. She was always the one person I could… I shake my head, clutching my definitely going to bruise side.

“Wildcat!” Scorpia runs up to Adora, getting between us. 

Lonnie moves to help, but I hold my hand up. “Outpost, now!”

She stares at me for a second, then Adora, and nods. “Kyle, Rogelio, Entrapta, let's go!” Lonnie commands, moving for the trio to head towards the outpost, as Entrapta sneaks out from behind the rock she was hiding behind- not that I blame her, she isn’t a fighter.

Adora swings for Scorpia, who manages to catch the sword with her pincers. She-Ra is stronger, but Scorpia is the only here who could even hope to hold her own in close quarters. It helps when Bow fires another down towards her foot. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it works too well, as it almost seeps down into the snow. 

I struggle back to my feet. Meanwhile, Glimmer appears at Adora’s side, striking her with that pink staff of hers over her arm. Adora screams in rage, pulling her sword free from Scorpia’s grasp. Then, a massive amount of snow pulls up around Adora.

“What do we do!?” The ice princess, Frosta, asks Glimmer. Sea Hawk is cautiously waiting nearby, his own sword drawn. Scorpia looks back to me as Frosta keeps Adora still, continuing to pile and harden snow around her.

“I don’t know, I’m running out!” Glimmer shouts, surprisingly admitting it in front of Scorpia and I.

Glimmer and I glance at each other, as I start moving for Adora. “Come on Adora, quit being a pushover and shrug this off!”

Bow picks his head up from thinking. “The disk! We need to-”

Adora breaks free of the show, using her magic to create a sort of shockwave out from the snow. Adora strikes the ground, creating a further shockwave. The ground cracks. Scorpia moves back, Glimmer looks shocked. Frosta tries to use her powers again, when Adora pushes deeper and the ground starts cracking. The snow shifts and disrupts radially out from where Adora is, as if she were creating a mini-quake.

Wow. She still holds back.

The ground starts breaking. I know Entrapta said there’s an entire network of caves, and the way I see the ground cave in- we’re above one. Scorpia moves quickly, grabbing me, “we need to move, now!”

“No, I need to help Adora!” I shout, but the ground is too unstable and Scorpia pulls me out. Glimmer is the only other one to move, as she lunges for Frosta. The ground comes apart completely, though, as Adora yanks the sword up in a way that directs it towards the rebels. The four of them lose their footing, and fall out from what I can see. The damage to the landscape… it’s more than I ever figured she could or would do. “Adora…”

Scorpia groans, “Wildcat, we’ll figure it out, let's go!” She pulls more, and I just turn to follow her as she starts pulling me.

“Wait, we need to grab the disk, Entrapta might know how-”

Scorpia gets slammed into from the back, knocked over in an instant as Adora is next to us. She turns to me, laughing as she raises her sword. I step back. Her eyes have none of Adora’s warmth or compassion, only unfiltered rage. Yet the chuckling implies she isn’t angry- she’s having fun. It’s sadism in its worst form.

I’m not afraid of death. I see it as inevitable, even probably given how I grew up. I used to worry at night that Shadow Weaver wasn’t going to let me wake up. It was never that I was worried about death, just worried what me leaving would do to Adora. And that’s what I think now, too. If I’m going to die, It’s not going to be in a way that leaves Adora with the guilt.

I put everything I have into moving. She-Ra is strong, incredibly strong. And she’s fast. But I’m faster. She swings down, I dodge to the side. She swings to the side, I jump over the swing. She thrusts, I jump again and move over her. Then her hand goes around my leg, and I feel myself slammed down into a rock.

“Ack!” I grunt, the snow doing little to cushion the blow.

Adora laughs triumphantly, dragging me through the snow a little. I twist under her, even though it hurts my ankle, and throw snow up at her eyes. She glares at me in frustration, dropping my leg and placing her leg on my stomach, slowly leaning on it.

“Ah-Adora…” I plead, feeling myself being crushed.

“Get off of her!” Scorpia shouts, slamming into Adora’s side. She’s knocked over, since her weight was unbalanced, and drops the sword. I gasp, clutching my stomach, as I watch Adora try to break the grip Scorpia has on her. But her eyes flash, going back to blue, before she transforms. The infected She-Ra is gone… She slumps forward, seemingly asleep. I lean back in the snow, breathing out in relief as Scorpia also relaxes.

I slowly sit up, moving back to my feet. My ankle hurts, but it’s fine overall.

“That could’ve ended really bad,” Scorpia mutters, as I walk over.

“Adora? You okay?”

There’s no response from Adora. “I think she’s out.”

“Let’s get her back inside, then, the rebels are still here and I don’t want us getting caught like this, and I can’t feel my toes.”

Scorpia nods, standing up while supporting Adora by holding her arms. 

I walk a few steps away, there’s no use in me trying to help carry her. I walk over to where the disk is embedded in the snow. “This is not happening again,” I say, picking it up. I put it in my pocket, I’ll have Entrapta deal with it later. I reach over and pick up the sword as well. Disgust is visible on my face as I study the twisting red vein-like things. “Let’s get moving?”

Scorpia nods, and we make our way back to the outpost. I take a quick glance back at the crater Adora had left, that the rebels fell into. I wonder if they’re still alive down there… of course they are. They’re fine, they’re too annoying to die on us.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

I took the hit hard in my shock as I tried to shield Frosta from the brunt of the fall. I don't know how long we were laying on the ground for, but I’m pretty sure I wound up unconscious. Because when I open my eyes, Frosta is on top of me, shaking my arm.

“Glimmer! Glimmer, wake up!”

I groan, sitting up slowly and looking around. We fell? I see Bow and Sea Hawk talking about something off to the side.

“Glimmer, you’re okay!” Frosta says, hugging me. After a moment, she pulls back, and extends a hand.

 I take it, despite how she definitely can’t support my weight, and slowly stand up. “Ugh… Thanks Frosta.”

She sighs, relaxing. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop her, I- I have no idea what was going on. Why was she acting like that?” 

“I screwed up. Badly.”

“Good, everyone’s okay,” Sea Hawk says. “I’m with Glimmer. That- that was terrifying!”

Bow puts his tracker-pad away. “We need to get back up there. Glimmer, you said you were almost out of magic?”

“Almost, yeah. We should probably not teleport up.”

“Easy, I can just make a lift with all the ice,” Frosta offers.

“What do we do when we get up there? The energy readings are off the charts now, there’s something up there.”

“Something big,” I whisper, thinking of the eyes I saw earlier.

“I vote we get out of here. I can’t do anything against normal She-Ra, that much was made clear at Bright Moon!” Sea Hawk says. “Whatever was going on is not something we should mess with!”

“We can’t just let the Horde keep getting away with things,” I assert. “We’re stopping them. I just… need a minute to rest,” I say, leaning back against the wall.

“I- how do we beat her?” Frosta asks.

“We’re surrounded by snow. If anyone can do anything to She-Ra, it’s you.” I say, looking down and smiling at her.

“I tried! She was too strong, I can’t do anything against her.”

I look around. Frosta and Sea Hawk both seem so dejected. I look at Bow, and he sighs.

“As much as I agree that we might not have good odds here, isn’t it sort of our duty to help? Adora isn’t herself, and she’s a danger to her entire team.”

I groan slightly, not having much interest in the safety of the Horde members myself, but Bow isn’t wrong. It’s the right thing to do. “Yes. We need to figure out what’s going on up there, stop She-Ra, and shut down their operations.”

 “A tall order,” Sea Hawk says quietly, quickly going back to his normal peppy demeanor. “But one I’m up for!”

Frosta still seems unsure, so I walk over and put a hand on her soldier. “Hey… you can do it, okay?”

“But what if I can’t? What if- what if someone seriously gets hurt? You already took a bad hit just trying to help me during the fall…”

“I still have some magic, none of us are getting hurt. You’re more than capable enough, okay?”

She nods. She doesn’t seem entirely sure, but she’s trying to listen. “Okay… I suppose we should head back up there, then?”

Bow nods, walking over. “We can do this, Frosta.”

She nods. When everyone gets into a close square, she concentrates on lifting the ground around us. A sheet of ice breaks out of the ground with a crack forming in a circle around us, and starts sliding up the edge of the cliff. It’s shaky, and Bow needs to grab Sea Hawk to stop him from slipping, but we’re moving. And a lot faster than climbing.

We reach the top of the crater we fell into, and the snow seems to have picked up. “What’s with the weather?”

“I don’t know, it shouldn’t be this bad!” Bow shouts back out over the wind.

“Well this certainly doesn’t help,” Sea Hawk mutters. Well, it was spoken like a mumble but he made sure we all heard it over the wind.

“Any sign of She-ra?” Bow asks, looking out towards the impact site.

I look out towards the crater, it looks like something is moving… “No…” I squint my eyes, trying to see more of the slithering mass. When it turns, I can see a red haze from those same eyes I saw falling into the hole. “No She-Ra…” I say, suddenly feeling very nervous that whatever this thing is, it’s probably that energy source Bow has been picking up for a while now. “Just a terrifying snow monster!”

The creature is far, so I slowly turn to shoot Bow a worried glance. I see Frosta standing there, looking up in horror at the crater we just lifted out of. My gaze follows hers. “Uh… you guys wanna run for that outpost?”

“What do you-” Sea Hawk turns to face the creature crawling out of the hole She-Ra left us in earlier. He instantly goes silent as its red eyes beam down at us.

Bow is the last to turn. “Okay, run!”

The creature roars, deep and echoing over the plains of the Reach, far above the wind. There’s no hesitation from anyone. We run.

Notes:

Three things:
"White Out" is being split into two chapters because it was getting ridiculously long.
"Signals" will be covered next, I broke the order a little bit to better fit the character progression with how I'll be changing signals.
Frosta can have a bit of character beyond, "I'm a kid and hate being treated as one," as a treat. Also why not bring the snow and ice princess to the land of snow and ice?

Chapter 18: Weak

Summary:

Adora and Catra get separated from the team.
The rebels and Horde soldiers are forced to play at damage control.

Catra’s POV

We march for a while through the snow, and I really feel like I’m going to collapse from how cold I am. My feet are numb from trekking through the thick snow, as the storm carries on. And my encounter with the feral She-Ra really did a number on my leg. But it doesn’t take too long for Scorpia, Adora, and I to make it back to the complex entrance. I enter the door code, and step inside, lifting the sword up so I don’t drag the blade across the floor. Scorpia follows besides me. She’s still carrying Adora.

Lonnie and Entrapta are talking in the main room. “She nearly killed everyone out there, what do you mean you know about this?”

“I think it’s just a virus, she’ll be fine if they can manage to not let her kill everyone.”

“And how do you expect them to stop She-Ra?”

“Oh, it wasn’t a big deal,” I say, as Scorpia and I walk into the main room.

“Catra? Scorpia? Adora! She’s okay?” Lonnie sounds surprised. Kyle looks up from the chair he’s sitting in, Rogelio with a hand on his shoulder.

“Probably.” I tell her. “We didn’t wake her. We got her to drop the sword.” I hold said sword up, then drop it. It’s not a priority to me, Adora is.

“Fascinating, I definitely need to figure out how that happened,” Entrapta says, looking closely at Adora. She goes to poke her, picking up the sword with her hair.

“Back off,” I move her hand away. “She needs rest. Kyle, up.” I say. He stands up instantly, moving the chair forward. Scorpia sets her down.

“What do we do now?” Scorpia asks me.

“We need to pack up and get out of here.”

“Ooh, but we’re so close! I know the bots are offline, but-”

“No buts! We’re done here,” I tell her.

“But Hordak-”

“I don’t care about what Hordak wants! Adora was compromised, I am not letting the rebels take advantage of that.”

Entrapta looks a little dejected. Whatever time she’s been spending with Hordak clearly has her priorities shifted, but I can’t be bothered right now.

“Do we try to wake her?” Scorpia asks.

“I don’t know,” I tell her, raising my voice.  “Let’s just wait and see if she’s okay.”

“She isn’t going to try and kill us again, right” Kyle asks, practically chewing his nails from his nerves.

“Kyle, she didn’t go near you and no one got hurt,” I snap, he leans back at my words and I notice a glare from Lonnie. “What?”

“She got your leg,” Scorpia whispers.

I hiss slightly, “not helping!”

“Look, Catra, you said it yourself, no one got hurt- seriously- so maybe let’s just take a minute to breathe and-”

“Yeah, great idea Lonnie. Let’s breathe while the rebels are at our throats and we’re failing the mission, again.”

“Wildcat…”

“Technically-” Entrapta starts to say, but is cut off.

Lonnie steps closer. “I get it. You’re ticked that Adora was compromised, you don’t need to turn around and lash out at everyone else.” Rogelio, a few feet behind her, nods in agreement.

“I- I am not-! Enough! Everyone, start packing. Entrapta, shut down the systems and load our tech back up. Only the essentials, we’re getting off this rock before the rebels-” There’s a loud bang somewhere outside the facility, causing the internal alarm system to start blaring. I turn to see if it’s any immediate threat, but it isn’t. “Oh for the love of Etheria! I’ll go deal with the rebels.” I turn back around towards the others. “Scorpia, watch Ad-” Adora isn’t there.

Everyone turns to look at where Adora was. Except Entrapta, who points off down the hall. “She went that way.”

“Ugh! I am going to kill someone today,” I groan, facing Scorpia. “Find out what that was,” I say, before marching off down in the direction Adora took off in.

“Yes, boss,” Scorpia mumbles as I walk off.

I see she opened the door into the hall of the outpost, so I walk across into the opened supply room on the other end.

“Adora? Are you in here? Come on out, dummy, this isn’t time to play games-” I hear a step on my left, my ear twitches as I turn and see a mop swinging for my head. I turn instantly, pushing it aside. The attacker is thrown off balance, and I use the opportunity to push her against the wall. “Seriously? Now is not the time, Adora!”

She’s gazing off to the side, before she turns her head to look at me. Her eyes are half lidded, and she seems distant. “Catra?” She looks down at my hand on her shirt, and I can see her brows furrow. Her eyes open a little bit more, and she seems confused. “What are we doing?

“Duh, who else would it be? And what do you mean, you tried to-”

She suddenly leans forwards and hugs me. She doesn’t even bother to stand, and I nearly lose my balance keeping us upright.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?”

“I was cold…” she mumbles into my shoulder.

“Very funny. Look, the rebels are still here, you can’t run off like this.”

“I’m not running,” she keeps mumbling, almost slurring her words together.

“Great, this time you really do have brain damage. I’m going to kill sparkles for this.”

Adora picks her head up, standing normally again. “You seem… stressed.”

“Duh! I’m stressed because our team leader went off and gave herself brain damage!”

“Oh… who are we talking about here?”

I groan, pulling her slightly off of me. “Entrapta. Now.”

“M’kay!” She says cheerfully, in a way that gives me pause. I haven’t seen Adora this unbothered in months. She’s loose, instead of pent up. Cheerful, instead of stern and focused. No longer hypervigilant.

Still, I grab her wrist and start walking towards the hall. I put in the code to open the door, slapping Adora’s hand away as she goes to press the buttons, and the door opens.

Adora leans forward. “Huh. Wasn’t there a hallway here?”

I stare in shock as the way the hall was torn through, I can see the edges towards the door on the other side. Adora steps forward, out into the snow. She holds out a hand, watching the snow fall onto her palm in curiosity. I look around. The construction of this place was fast, but it shouldn’t have been bad enough for a random hallway to have blown away with the wind. I get a bad feeling in my guy, my eyes scanning over the snow but seeing nothing. The storm picked up badly recently. I can barely see the outpost lights.

I’m not about to start marching through this with an unreliable Adora. If she slips away, I’ll lose her. I reach out, grabbing her and pulling her back into the closet. “Okay, change of plan, I’m not letting you get killed out there.”

Adora makes a sound that’s half a scoff and half a laugh, “actually, I’m supposed to protect you .” She places her pointer finger to my chest, trying to look smug in her loopy state.

“I- are you- ugh! Stop being weird!”

“You’re being weird.” She crosses her arms and turns to the side.

“You’re acting like a child.”

“You’re being a brat!”

“I’m trying to keep you alive!”

“That’s s’posed to be my job,” she mutters, looking down. Her expression falls again, as if she can’t hold herself to one mood.

I groan again. I rub the bridge of my nose. “Adora, for the last time, you don’t- no, we’re not doing this again. Come on, I’m freezing in here. Help me find a blanket.” I say, walking past her.

“How? You’re always so warm.” She says as if it’s a normal thing to say. Once again, she’s instantly up-beat and swoony.

I stop in my tracks, turning back to face her. “What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what?’” She stares ahead at me, expressionless.

“I mean, what did you say?” I step closer to her, trying to gauge what she’s feeling. But her eyes don’t seem to match any emotion or expression.

“Did you not hear me? I thought you have great ears.” She says, her eyes drifting up to said ears. “Soft ears,” she whispers.

I’m nearly taken aback by this. I stare at her for a moment, as she steps closer and moves her hand up to the side of my face. I grab it. “No.”

She frowns slightly, putting her hand back down.

I watch for a second longer before I look away, “blanket, Adora.”

She picks her head up, looking around. “Okay! Where are they?”

“I- that’s what we’re trying to find out, come on.”

“Oh! Okay, I can help, I can be good at helping!” She says, looking around excitedly.

“... yes, Adora. You’re good at helping,” I say slowly, starting to head over to one of the shelves.

I don’t see her reaction, but I can hear her scampering off a bit to the side. I look over to some boxes she immediately opens. Even now, she’s burying herself in work… I turn back to the shelves. “How did Entrapta just bring nothing practical.”

“Sh’brought mugs,” Adora says, holding up and immediately dropping one of Entrapta’s small cocoa mugs. “Oh no!” She shouts as it shatters inside the box.

“She’ll be fine, she has dozens of them.”

“Oh. Okay,” she says, leaning back into the box.

I shake my head, moving to a different shelf. I’m going to have to talk to Entrapta about this stupid virus. I pull the disk out of my pocket, watching the red gleam under the green lighting in the room. This thing is a problem.

“Catra! There’s no blankets here!”

“I figured, I can’t find any either. Ugh, this sucks.”

“Does it? I’m having fun.” She closes the lid of the crate she’s in, pinching her fingers, “ow.” She puts the two pinched fingers into her mouth for a moment, and I look on with confusion.

“Yeah, good, fun.” I mutter, walking over towards her. “Look, maybe just… sit down. I’ll find the blanket.”

“But… I wanna help.” She says, wiping her hand on her pants and moving to another box.

“You are helping, but right now, you aren’t yourself.”

“What? I’m myself, who else would I be?”

“I- I mean you’re you, but you’re not acting like it.”

Adora waves her hand dismissively. “You’ve been saying that for months.”

I make my voice firm, because this is not a topic I want to get into with incoherent Adora. “I am not going to respond to that.”

“Then I’m going to help,” she says, staring at me with unfocused eyes. She turns to another crate, rummaging through it. “I need to be useful.”

I feel a pit in my stomach, as her tone drops to one of a subtle desperation. “Adora, sit down. You are useful, but you aren't in the right state of mind.”

“I said I’m fine, I can do this!”

I step forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. I almost pull her out from looking in this crate, and turn her to face me. “Adora,” I say, much more sternly. “Sit down.”

She pouts, but the stern tone works. She sighs, and… sits. Right where she is, directly on the floor in front of this crate. I groan, closing it. There isn’t a single blanket in this room. I turn to the side and sit down as well, leaning back against the crate.

“Sorry…” Adora mumbles, slumping forward slightly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s just a missing blanket, I’ll manage.”

“But you’re cold…” she looks up at me, then her expression brightens. “I’ll use She-Ra! Maybe she has some like, warm magic!” her twists up in thought.

“Yeah, no, your sword is back with the others, and probably still all red.”

“Ooh, that’s your favorite color!” She beams, sitting up straighter.

“Your mind is somehow doing nothing at all, and going a mile a minute,” I remark, rolling my eyes.

Adora giggles a bit, leaning back against the crate, “you’re mean.” It catches me by surprise, despite how surprised I’ve been this whole time. When was the last time Adora giggled?

“Yeah, but you like it,” I shrug, feeling a smile creep onto my face.

She leans over, resting her head on my shoulder. “I know,” she mumbles, closing her eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“Keeping you warm,” she whispers, sliding closer.

I look down at her face, and feel something in me freeze. This is different. Every hug and embrace we ever shared, always made me feel something. A flutter I don’t feel around anyone else. But the way she looks, the way her face turns slightly red; I look down to the side, away from her.

“Um… thanks.”

“Mhm…”

There’s an uncomfortable silence as she moves her arm behind my back. After a moment, I move my arm over hers. I hold her closer, “Adora… you know you don’t always have to push yourself.”

“I know…”

“No, you don’t know. You’re killing yourself to try and finish off the rebels, to try and get closer to Hordak and-”

“Catra, stop… you’re doing that… thing…”

“What thing?”

“Trying to… hold me back…” She mutters.

I feel something drop in my stomach. “You said I didn’t… that I… push you forward…”

“I lied…” She whispers, holding me closer. And the admission almost makes my blood run as cold as the air around us. I don’t say anything, just looking down at her. At how happy she seems. But she’s still… lying? And I didn’t see it?

“Adora… what do you mean?”

“I mean… Shadow Weaver was right, I need to be strong… But you’re so warm, and always there, and I care about you… You make me weak.”

I feel my hand curl up into a fist on my lap, my breathing picking up. Shadow Weaver got to her, and that’s why we’re out here? That’s why she suddenly decided to stop avoiding the princesses? “Adora…”

She doesn’t say anything else. She slides her head off my shoulder, her hand moving off my back as she curls up, resting her head on my lap. Not sleeping, but she might as well be.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

We’re running through the storm in the reach. The frigid air is burning my lungs and throat as we sprint wildly through the snow, struggling over the deeper snow as Frosta is too concentrated on moving to clear a path. It’s hard to see anything but the faint glow of lights from the outpost in the distance, hard to hear anything other than screaming and shifting snow behind us.

“What is that thing!?” Sea Hawk yells out to my left, in the lead as Bow keeps stopping to attempt to fire off anything to slow the monster down. I’m low on magic, and struggling to keep moving. Save it for emergencies, Glimmer.

“A monster, whatever it is?” Bow shouts. He turns around, since he has a lead, and fires an arrow quickly. I hear a small explosion, but the shifting behind us doesn’t stop, and Bow is back to running. Frosta is keeping pace by using her powers to focus on condensing the snow and almost skating forward, keeping her safe. That puts Sea Hawk and I in the back, with the other two close in front.

“And it’s clearly unhappy!” I move, straining. I’m not exactly used to running, and I’ve never run like this in snow. It’s hard. My legs are already tired, but I don’t stop moving because the others don’t either. I can’t stop now. The adrenaline keeps me moving.

Bow gains a few feet to fire off another quick, lazy arrow. It’s desperate. It doesn’t work. Bow nearly trips turning back around, and Sea Hawk pushes himself faster to go help him up. “Don’t stop now, we’re almost there!” He urges.

Bow gives the slightest nod, putting his bow away and puts on a face of determination. I hear a loud crash very close behind me, and make the mistake of turning as I run to see that it barely missed slamming its weight down on top of me. Bow sprints ahead, the outpost close now. He moves as fast as he can, as we finish closing the distance. There’s another loud crash, this one close enough to knock me off my feet.

I fall into the snow, desperately turning to look back up. I crawl backwards, slowly starting to stand, but it’s too close. The creature roars, positioning itself over me, and dives. Teleport! Teleport teleport- there’s a rush, a mound of snow shifts to my left, half carrying half throwing me to the right. The creature slams right where I was, and I see Frosta slightly panting. I stand quickly as the monster rears itself back from its impact and goes back to running.

I watch as Bow reaches a door at the edge of the outpost, moving so fast he slams into it with his shoulder instead of stopping. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t budge. He frantically looks around, seeing a keypad on the left. “Guys, problem!” He shouts. 

Sea Hawk reaches him next. “Is there an open button?”

“It’s a keypad, there isn’t an open button!”

“Move,” Frosta shouts, reaching them a little before I do. Bow nervously steps aside, immediately drawing his bow again and firing another stray arrow at the snow monster behind us. Frosta drives an ice wedge into the seam in the middle of the door, prying it apart. It takes a few seconds, a few seconds we don’t have.

I pull them together, and focus. Anywhere, just inside. I pull together enough of an image of some room with a computer, and teleport us there. It hurts to do so with how depleted I am, and upon dropping the four of us off I almost collapse. Bow grabs my arm, keeping me up. “Are we alive?” I ask.

I don’t get an answer. I pull back, Bow is staring off to the side, Sea Hawk brandishes his sword. I turn to Frosta, who is forming ice fists. Oh, well that means…

 Next, I set my gaze on the open room. Most of Adora’s team is here, except Adora and Catra themselves.

Lonnie and Scorpia are frantically discussing a plan. Lonnie seems frustrated as she says, “whatever those things are, they tore half the outpost apart already!”

Scorpia, behind her, leans to her right, seeing us. Lonnie watches Scorpia’s expression fall, so she turns around.

Kyle and Rogelio were already staring. Entrapta is at a large computer, not paying attention at all. She has the Sword of Protection in front of her, I can’t say for sure what she’s doing but I’d guess she’s just looking at the red stuff on it.

“Oh, you’re all alive, I was actually worried there,” Scorpia says, but she seems to be the only one relieved. I even throw her a confused look. Why would she be happy we’re fine?

Bow actually puts his weapon away, unlike Sea Hawk and the half the Horde team that aren’t Force Captains. He walks towards the computer, the only person moving in this pseudo stand-off that we have so often with the Horde.

“Entrapta.”

Entrapta pulls her mask up, turning around. “Oh, hey Bow!” She greets him.

“Whatever is going on, shut it down.”

“I can’t shut it down, the amount of data I’m getting here about the First One’s is unparalleled with anything other than that intact data crystal!” Entrapta argues. Half the people in this room are watching the conversation, except for Frosta and Lonnie, who are still watching the opposite sides. Sea Hawk is going back and forth.

“It can’t be worth the damage you’re doing! Whatever is out there, the eyes are red, it has to be connected to the virus infecting She-Ra.”

“Well now you’re just saying things, that can’t be true because the virus only infects First One’s tech.” She looks away from Bow, back at her computer, then pauses. “Ooh! Unless the bugs are First One’s tech!”

“Then we destroy the disk, like we did at Dryl,” I propose. “Only issue is, I dropped it in the snow storm.”

“Oh, actually,” Scorpia calls to herself, “Catra has it.”

“Scorpia!” Lonnie chastises her, with Rogelio shaking his head.

“Where’d Catra go?” Bow asks.

Scorpia and Lonnie share an uncertain look.

“Listen,” I shout, “If we don’t break that disk, those bugs won’t stop until there’s nothing left to destroy.”

Scorpia looks worried, she rubs her pincers against the back of her head. “Uh… she went looking for Adora, who took off as soon as she woke up.”

“Does that mean no She-Ra? Phew,” Sea Hawk murmurs, rubbing the back of his hand against his forehead.

“Ugh, which way did they go?” I demand.

“That’s the thing, the hallway is gone,” Lonnie says.

Bow looks over, confused. “The hallway is gone?” He repeats, slowly.

“Bugs.” Kyle says.

“It’s fine, Bow and Glimmer are right,” Entrapta says, turning around. “We’re all going to die!”

“That is not what I said!” I shout.

“I know, I meant if we don’t break the disk. So we need to break it.”

Most of the room stares directly at Entrapta with varying reactions of shock, confusion, or begrudging acceptance.

“Why should we work with princesses?” Kyle asks, nervously. Which in turn causes nearly every princess in the room, including Scorpia and Entrapta, to look at him. “I mean… more princesses.”

“You wanna be bug food?” Frosta asks, moving forward, “go ahead.”

“No one is going to be food bug,” Bow says, holding his arms out. “We’ll smash that disk, and nobody's getting hurt.”

“Against the giant robot bugs that are apparently trying to eat Catra for having Entrapta’s disk-thingy on her?” Scorpia asks.

“Sounds like a daring adventure,” Sea Hawk muses, looking down thoughtfully. Then he strikes a pose with his hands on his hips, carelessly swinging his rapier out to his side. “Let’s do it!”

“Watch it!” Frosta says, jumping back.

Sea Hawk looks over at her. “Oops, sorry!”

Scorpia watches the exchange, then shrugs and turns to Lonnie. “What do we do? Won’t they be mad if we don’t try to, you know, stop the rebels?”

Lonnie looks up at Scorpia, an expression of bewilderment on her face. “Why are you asking me? You’re the Force Captain here!”

“I know, but you’d probably know what they would want better than me.”

Lonnie groans, “fine, we’ll smash the stupid disk with the help of the rebels!”

The reptile, Rogelio, roars something to the other horde soldiers. I have no idea what he says, but Lonnie nods and Kyle perks up. Kyle clears his throat. “Great, great.”

I sidestep over to Bow. I lean in and whisper in his ear, “how are we struggling so much against these people?”

Bow turns to me and whispers himself, “it’s not really them, it’s the other two.”

I shake my head. I don’t get it, because this team seems completely dysfunctional. I turn back to face most of the room. “Okay then, glad everyone here is in agreement!”

“I’m not,” Frosta mutters, crossing her arms.

“I’m glad most of us are in agreement. Find Catra, tell her to break the disk!”

“Wonderful, good plan, um…” Scorpia raises her hand. “How do we get past the giant bugs?”

“I-”

“We punch them!” Frosta exclaims.

Kyle meanwhile, interrupts with, “we run really fast?”

“I second that guy,” Sea Hawk says.

“Bow, we should-” I get interrupted again.

This time by Lonnie. “Fight them?”

“I like that idea,” Frosta unsurprisingly agrees. “She’s my least hated.”

“What?” Lonnie asks, staring at Frosta.

“Okay, Glimmer, maybe we should-” Bow tries to regain control, only for Entrapta to cut him off.

“Give me a few hours and I may be able to build a jamming device- if I can find a power source strong enough that won’t get infected.”

“We don’t have hours!” Scorpia tells her.

“No, we need to-” Bow tries again.

“What if we send some people out to try and distract the bugs while someone sneaks off to get to Catra?”

“Enough!” I shout, already annoyed with nearly everyone in this room. Everyone finally stops interrupting each other to look over at him. “Bow was trying to say something, so let's all stop bickering and listen to him.”

“Thanks Glimmer,” Bow whispers to me, before clearing his throat. “Okay, the bots are First One’s tech and are trying to protect the murder virus. Entrapta and I dealt with it at Dryl. We thought it powered the tech in a different way, but it itself is a power source. We need to destroy it. Scorpia, you’re the strongest one here, so that’s up to you.” Bow pauses. No one interrupts him, so he keeps talking. “If the bugs are after Catra and Adora, they won’t be safe for long, so we need to move now. Focus on trying to pull the bugs away, we’ll probably find out where the two are as soon as we step outside, and don’t get eaten. Got it?”

Everyone makes a noise or motion of affirmation.

“Wonderful plan! Let’s go!” Sea Hawk says, playfully slapping Frosta’s shoulder. It earns him a glare, but Frosta doesn’t respond.

I groan, “wait, Bow…”

“I guess I’ll pack up the computer, the rest isn’t important!” Entrapta said, turning back around immediately. I don’t stop her.

“Let’s go then,” Bow says, motioning for the alliance to follow him as he starts walking forward to the one door.

I grab his arm though, “Bow, we can’t work with them! Everything the Horde did to us, we’re supposed to ignore that?”

Kyle and Scorpia seem more nervous than anything. Rogelio accepts it as is. Lonnie, however, mutters, “I can not believe this.”

Bow looks between us both, and sighs. “Listen, I don’t like this either. But one, we can’t expect to just get out now when the storm is this bad. Two,” Bow turns back to Lonnie, “we’re not going to stand by and let your teammates get eaten.”

Lonnie crosses her arms and looks down. “I can’t say we’d do the same for you guys, so… thank you.”

I groan, even now the Horde soldiers act like they’re entitled to their hatred of us. Well, really only her, to be fair. Scorpia seems genuinely worried, and Kyle is scared out of his mind and hasn’t stepped away from Rogelio. But Lonnie… I lost my dad to the Horde, what did these people lose? But I take a deep breath. Bow is right. We need to do this.

Bow looks at Lonnie and answers with, “I don’t know, I think Adora would. Besides, it’s the way we do things. And if we don’t stop those bugs, none of us are making it through the snow storm.”

“I know, I know.”

 Scorpia walks up to between Bow and Lonnie. “Look, it's a truce, just for today. We can punch each other next time.”

Bow accepts, “we’re still shutting down this operation afterwards.”

“You can’t just demand that-” Lonnie starts, but is interrupted by Kyle.

“That’s fine, Catra said we were leaving.”

“Oh, great, I guess… we win?” I say.

“I guess you do,” Scorpia says, but she doesn’t sound bummed about it.

I start walking towards the door myself, the Horde members now following after us. Most everyone here is nervous. I should be nervous, since I’m low on magic. But I surprise even myself, as I’m not scared. There are quite a few of us ready to get out there and find that disk. 

Lonnie steps forward, past me. She walks up to a terminal next to a different door from the side I brought the alliance in through. She presses a button a few times, and the door opens. The storm has calmed down a little bit, thankfully, but there’s going to be a lot more to go. 

“Um… there was supposed to be a hallway here…” Scorpia murmurs, poking her head out next to me.

“Probably the bugs. Where are the other two?” I ask, scanning the horizon. There are a few more parts to the outpost, including a small dock set up by a  river.

“Probably the one being attacked,” Bow says, pointing to a room where a bug is slithering around.

“I’m coming, Catra!” Scorpia says, moving forward.

“Wait!” I shout, seeing a large mass to the side of the outpost we’re in. I rush forward, into the snow, and reach out to get a hand on Scorpia as the roar of a second bug sounds out from the left of us. I see Scorpia turn in fear. I jump forward. I place a hand on her back, and desperately try to conjure up an image of a snow bank just a bit to the side. I feel myself move the two of us as the bug rolls through where we were, and nearly collapse into the snow.

I feel Scorpia’s pincers move under my arm, keeping me up. “Woah, careful! Don’t faint out here, now.”

“You be careful!” I say back to her, steadying myself and pulling off the Force Captain. I look back behind at where the others are now trying to engage the second bug. “We need to break that disk, we don’t have long.” I turn around, and go back to walking towards the part of the outpost the first bug is currently trying to claw into.’

“Yeah. And… thanks.” Scorpia says.

“Thanks.” I repeat, but more so a whisper than a proper expression of gratitude. I march through the snow, despite how tired I’m ending up. I’m really just hoping to make it home, recharge, and never have to work with people from the Horde again. But we need to hurry, that other bug is already getting through the metal of that wall.

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

For a few small moments, it’s like Adora and I are living in a bubble. Disconnected from the rest of the world, just in each other’s presence. She’s still laying on my lap, certainly awake but too tired and lucid to be fully conscious. For a few minutes, there isn’t a war. There isn’t this word, or Shadow Weaver, or the rebels; it’s just us.

I sigh, looking down at her. This is the only time I’ve seen her smiling while she’s out in months. Even during the few times we shared a bed since she got her own room, like the night we touched the sword after Princess Prom, she slept as if she was burdened. Always thinking, always planning and worrying.

One day, I hope that the quiet moments like this keep happening. More moments like being up on the roof of the Fright Zone, and less worrying about getting through this war without problems from Hordak and Shadow Weaver. One day, Adora is going to be okay without needing to be all weird and loopy. One day, I’ll help Adora be at peace.

Today, we still need to worry about surviving the storm. And of course, because of magic or First One’s tech, something had to go wrong. One minute, Adora is in my lap, blissfully unaware of the world around us. The next, Adora is still blissfully unaware, except I can’t pretend to relax with her. Something hits the exposed storage room we’re in, something big. It’s loud.  Adora and I both startle out of our position against a crate.

“What was that!?” I shout, looking over to where there’s now a large dent in the wall, cracks running out from that. Half the size of the wall big, way more firepower than anything one of the people in this wasteland can do, other than maybe She-Ra. My tail was already fluffed from the noise alone, but knowing there was something out there that could do that caused my fur to bristle in a way that few things did.

“Who’s there?” Adora asks, slowly standing up next to me. She looks over at the wall, squinting a bit. “What did that?”

“Definitely nothing Arrow Boy can do,” I glare at it, trying to assess the threat. I grab Adora’s wrist, and pull. She stumbles a bit, but she’s behind me now. Adora is in no position for combat.

Adora puts a hand on my left shoulder, resting her head on my right one. It eases me just as much as it distracts me. 

“Not now,” I say gently.

Adora steps back, I can almost feel her pouting. Suddenly, I feel her hand on my tail as she moves her hand down through it, “you’re tense.”

I turn and hiss at her, whipping my tail out of her grasp. “Of course I’m tense , I’m trying to keep us alive and you aren’t-”

There’s another loud bang, this time I watch as the hole splits open. The rustic green metal starts peeling away from itself as some large, blue monster with glowing red eyes barrels half a bug-like head into the room. I gulp, my ears turning flat slightly.

“That’s gotta be the biggest bug I’ve ever seen…” Adora says next to me, as if in awe.

The creature rams against the hole again, widening it as metal splinters off like shrapnel. I back up, moving Adora behind me. “Adora… run.”

I don’t scare easily. I’ve never been afraid in battle before. Truth be told, I live off the adrenaline. But it’s different right now. Adora isn’t a partner, she’s a liability. I need to protect her.

I can get away from this thing. I could maybe even fight it. But I’m not scared for myself, I’m scared for her.

The creature roars. It lunges once more, pushing its upper body through a gap wide enough that it’s now an immediate threat. I turn to move, pulling Adora behind me.

I’m trying to run, but her feet are predictably not working. “Adora, move!”

“Slow down,” she snorts at the end, as if I’m being ridiculous.

I groan, and pull hard. There isn’t much room to run in this place, I need an actual plan. Well, Adrenaline only goes two ways, really. I pull Adora’s arm. Hard. She falls forward, and I keep the momentum up to try and get her to roll or keep moving forward. She cries out from the surprise as she falls forward.

A part of me knows I’m going to feel awful for it- I already do- but I need to get her away. I turn around quickly, the monster is halfway to us as it barrels out of the wall.

I shift my stance, my right leg back. I flex my claws, narrow my eyes, and huff out air. The monster roars, closing the distance. But I’m not weak, and I’m going to get Adora out of this. I lunge, springing off from my back foot. The creature’s eyes lack any definition, but the way the head of the body tracks me almost screams that I’m the focus.

I scream literally, as I move towards it. It isn’t possible to change direction midair, but I twist enough so that I’m mostly sideways. My claws rake across the side, but the texture is wrong. My claws don’t slice through flesh or shell, it’s metal. I can feel how it slices apart under my nails, leaving five marks under its eye. I land past it. The creature roars as it turns to face me.

“What are you?” I ask, mostly to myself. I meant for that swipe to be a warning. But if this thing isn’t life, I don’t need to pretend it is. I lunge again, jamming my hand through the creature’s eye. More predictably now, it shatters. But it isn’t glass, it resisted too much. I feel like I dealt with something like this thing before…

I’m shaken from the train of thought as the bug lurches forward, and I’m slammed against a large supply crate. It leans back, and I let go of the eye as I feel like I can’t breathe. The thing dented the crate, I was just hit hard. First She-Ra, now this, my body winding up battered and bruised is starting to look like the best case scenario. It charges towards me again, and I twist off to the side. It slams into the crate, moving several feet forward. I pant a little, already tired.

I move to follow up when I feel Adora’s hand grab my shoulder. “Catra-”

“Adora, I said go!” I shout, turning to push her arm off of me. The look on her face is one of distress. A look I know well.

Adora pulls me closer to her, “it’s gonna hurt you!”

I push her back slightly, “better than killing you!” I turn to face it as it charges for us again. Think, Catra. I get ready to attack it again when I’m pulled to the side by Adora. I lose my footing and fall on her, as the bug barrels past. We sprawl out, I lean my arm out to go behind her and cushion her head. It was quick thinking too, because the way Adora lands crushes my arm, and I land on one of her legs. Everything hurts.

Adora seems fine though, just worried. But when she turns to face me, I swear she gives me one of the dopiest smiles I’ve seen from her. “Hi.” She greets me. A seemingly full greeting, as if she forgot I was here.

I groan, standing up quickly. “Adora, you seriously need to let me deal with this!” I help her up, trying to get her on her feet before the thing turns back around. 

“Nah… I got this!” Adora says, overly confident.

I resist the urge to snarl in annoyance. I put my arm out again to try and block her, as the creature roars back towards us. And for some reason, I feel her grab my hand as she pulls my arm closer. I keep my attention on the machine. This thing can’t be that strong, I already took out an eye. It lurches closer, closing the distance.

Act now. I go to push off my foot, but stumble as Adora is still holding onto my arm. Oh no. We fall forward, and I’m taken too off-balance to move. The creature moves to slam down above us, and I look down to cover Adora.

But there’s no impact. The creature hits something, a grunt of excretion ringing out as metal clashes against something hard. I pick my head up, Adora just looks concerned. Turning up, I see Scorpia. She’s standing over us, her pincers held out to push against the creature twice her size. Suddenly there are hands on my shoulders, picking me up. I hiss, turning to see Glimmer.

“What the-”

“Catra, where’s the disk?”

I ignore her, the bug is still a threat. I turn to help Adora up. “Scorpia, what’s going on?”

“The… disk!” Scorpia grits out, struggling against the strength of the creature.

“Another Bug!” Adora points, smiling.

I ignore Adora this time. Turning back to Glimmer, I ask, “what, wanna make She-Ra go nuts and finish what the creature is trying to do?”

“No, I don’t want it, break it!”

“What is that supposed to do?”

“The bugs are First One tech, just let us break it?”

I pull it out, glancing down at the murder-virus thing that turned Adora into her current state. Is it really that simple? As I’m thinking, Glimmer snatches it out of my hand. “Hey!”

“Hi Glimmer,” Adora says, but her expression is more guarded now.

Glimmer does a double take, but doesn’t comment on it. She grabs the disk on both ends, trying and failing to snap it. “Scorpia!”

“Little busy here!” She calls back, the creature still pushing back and forth against her. But Scorpia is surprisingly strong, it’s thanks to her I wasn’t She-Ra’s first casualty.

I groan in annoyance, swiping the disk back from Adora. “I am real sick of being underestimated.” I grit out, re-brandishing my claws and swiping through the disk. It shatters, the pieces clamoring down to the floor.

The creature backs off Scorpia, the eyes fading from red to blue in a way similar to She-Ra’s own not long ago. Scorpia sighs. She slumps forward a bit as she relaxes.

Adora similarly sways, and nearly falls. I reach out and grab her by the arms, keeping her up as she steadies herself. “Ugh… what happened?”

I turn to Glimmer, glaring. “Yeah, what’s going on?”

Glimmer turns to look past Scorpia, and the creature slithers back out through the hole it bursted in through. “It was the virus. It’s done now, we won.”

“We? I scoff, turning to Scorpia. “We?” I repeat, because my mind hasn’t really caught up.

Scorpia turns to face me, wrapping her arms around me. “Wildcat, you’re okay, Adora too!” She backs off, rubbing some dust off my shoulder. “We needed Glimmer’s help to get you two out of this closet and smash the disk.”

I glare back at Glimmer, she glares back at me. Then, Glimmer looks over to Adora, and raises an eyebrow. “Is she done trying to kill everyone?”

Adora narrows her eyes back at her, “I could still be convinced to.” She threatens, but her tone is still out of it and Adora wouldn’t actually kill her anyway, probably. It’s not who Adora is, and even Glimmer can see that for a moment because her lip curls up. It’s as if Glimmer is suppressing an urge to laugh.

“Whatever,” I sigh, turning away from the princess. “So it’s done?”

“Probably. Just a guess, I mean. Because like, the big tech bug isn’t trying to eat us anymore.” Scorpia muses, looking back at the hole. “Good thing we’re leaving. We are still leaving, right?”

“Yeah, we’re leaving.” I affirm.

“We’re leaving? Why are we leaving, the princess is right here!” Adora says, waving both arms at Glimmer. “Where’s my sword?”

“Not here,” I tell her, grabbing her arm. “We are leaving.”

“But Hordak-”

“We’ll deal with Hordak.”

“Trouble back home?” Glimmer asks with a slight smirk, but it falls a bit. “If anyone could call the Fright Zone home…” 

“Shut up,” I tell her. “Adora, stop talking in front of Sparkles.” I think back to how the rebels were at Dryl. Am I the only one who knows how to keep my mouth shut?

“I can’t keep letting them go!”

“We’re not! You were compromised, we lost, get over it.” I snap, a little unfairly, but I’m seriously tired of today. I turn to Scorpia. “Lets pack already.” Then, I turn to Glimmer, “unless you have a problem with that idea?”

Glimmer crosses her arms. “No, no. Go ahead, we can pick this up again later.”

Adora blinks at Glimmer, then looks at me with an almost pleading look. “Okay, that means she’s dry, right? We can take her! Watch them break her out against She-Ra!”

“Uh, I’m right here.”

“I’m not doing this Adora. We’re going home.”

Adora sighs, “fine, fine! Whatever.” She mutters, looking away from me. I feel a lump form in my throat, maybe I was too harsh on loopy Adora. I puff out air and grab her arm. “Let's get to the boat,” I say to Scorpia. 

Scorpia waves at Glimmer as I pull Adora behind me, towards the door. Adora pulls my arm over her shoulder, stepping up to me. “You’re hurt.”

“How much do you remember?” I ask her, opening the door again.

“Not… much,” Adora thinks back. “Just… the disk.”

I sigh. She doesn’t remember anything she said? Good. We all step out into the snow, Adora supporting my weight since my leg is messed up from She-Ra. Our team is out there, as are the other princess and the two rebel friends. The snow is still nearly painful on my worn feet. The storm is back to how it was earlier, visibility up. The creature’s must have been kicking up a ton of snow, impacting the weather somehow. First One’s tech seems like magic to me anyway, so I don’t think about it.

“Alright, the team-up is over. Everyone go home.” I say to our team mostly, walking up to them. There was clearly a fight out here, probably another creature. I don’t ask about it.

Bow walks up to Adora and I. “You two okay?”

I hiss as he approaches, so he stops moving. “Don’t pretend to care.”

“Just want to make sure she’s normal. And you’re clearly beat up.”

Adora pulls me a bit, she hasn’t looked at him. But I can see her expression soften a little bit. I can see the familiar signs of conflict in her eyes.

I turn back to Bow, “just get out of here.” I motion for the trio to follow me. Entrapta isn’t out here, so we head back to the rest of the outpost. Scorpia moves ahead of us and opens the door for us, not that she had to.

Entrapta is packing up. She turns around when she hears us come in. “Oh, good, you’re all back. The sword is normal again. I take it you won?”

“We did!” Scorpia boasts.

“So we’re going home, right?” Kyle asks from beside Adora and I.

“Apparently. Catra is hurt, everyone’s cold and tired, and all our mining tech is gone anyway.”

I glance warrily at Adora. “My leg is fine, I’m just sore. Don’t coddle me.”

She looks at me, opening her mouth to protest. But then, Adora closes her mouth and just nods. “Okay.”

I sigh. More progress. I don’t know how many steps forward and back we’ve taken, her confession earlier is definitely going to complicate things. For now, though, I’ll just focus on getting home and helping her deal with Hordak.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

Frosta makes an ice pillar and lifts all of us back up to the deck of the Dragon’s Daughter V. As soon as we all hop from the ice to the deck, I end up nearly collapsing. Bow helps me back up and guides me over to a bench, where I promptly sprawl out on.

“Ugh… I’m done for the year.” I groan out at him, closing my eyes and laying back.

“That’s fine, Glimmer. Take all the rest you need.”

Giving Bow a slight sigh, I turn onto my side. “Did I screw up out there?”

“You didn’t know, Glimmer. And no one died.” His voice is full of reassurance, as he stands back up and looks around the ship. “I’m going to go help Sea Hawk get ready for us to take off.”

“Take care.”

“You too.” Bow says, before turning around.

I sigh into the bench. The trip back home doesn’t take as long as it did getting up here, mostly because I’m barely conscious for most of it. Sometimes, Bow checks on me. He brought a blanket earlier. Sometimes, it’s Frosta. She’s still got a hint of guilt in her eyes from earlier, but she’s doing a lot better now that we won. She sat next to me for a while, she’s a good friend too despite how I was harsh on her obnoxiousness back when the woods were frozen over. But I can’t blame her, really, after what she told me. Sea Hawk surprisingly doesn’t come over to bother me, only stopping by once and handing me some water.

I keep thinking back to what I unleashed today, though. If She-Ra hadn’t dropped the sword… It fills me with a sense of dread, knowing that Bow was right about Adora’s character. This war is still going only because Adora isn’t a horrible person. If Adora wanted it… we’d have all been slaughtered at Bright Moon.

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

Being out over the sea is even worse than being behind thin metal walls. In the outpost, you couldn’t feel the wind. I feel half numb at this point, shivering up on the edge. 

Adora’s down in the cabin, looking for something, so I’m up on deck making sure we’re getting home. At least this time, we won’t spend a long time floating on a raft.

“Hey, Catra?” Scorpia asks, walking up to me.

“Scorpia.” I acknowledge her present, still looking out over the deck at where Lonnie and Kyle are talking.

“Can we talk?”

I tilt my head a bit, looking over at her. It seems she’s ready to pick up where she left off before we went to the digsite. “Of course.”

Scorpia sighs nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. “Look… I think we’re both in limbo here and I just… I wanna know what’s going on. I mean, it wouldn’t be right of me to… well, I don’t know. You… you and Adora are clearly close, and I don’t want to step on anything.”

“Scorpia, I don’t think you need to worry about that. I didn’t think you were.” I say, trying to ease her concerns.

“Yeah, that just… kind of proves my point. You don’t really know what I want, do you?”

I purse my lips a bit. “You want to know that we’re cool, right?”

Scorpia gets a bit of a sad look in her eyes, and I feel a small pang of guilt. “No, Catra. I know we’re friends. I mean like… I think you’re really cool. You’re confident, determined, as good a leader as Adora is when you need to be, and I just… you’re cool.”

I stare at her a bit distantly, trying to piece it together. I’m not really used to people saying things about me that seem to come from a place of genuine kindness outside of Adora. Even Lonnie still gives me trouble some days. “Scorpia…”

“Fine, I’ll say it. I like you, Catra. But… I know you like Adora. I know you won’t say, I just… kind of need to put it out there? I’m sorry if you’re uncomfortable, I’d love for us to just keep being friends.”

I blink at her a bit more, sighing. Yeah, the complicated part of this all. “Scorpia… I’m glad we’re friends. I wouldn’t give that up. You and Entrapta are good to me in a way that, honestly, those three never were.” I say, pointing behind me with my thumb to the trio. “I tolerate them out of circumstance more than anything. They’re Adora’s friends, they weren’t mine. We’re better now than when we were kids, but… we are friends, Scorpia. I’m sorry you felt so… stuck about this.” I say, trying to turn more of her hurt expression into relief.

“Yeah… I think you and Adora really are good for each other. I promise I won’t get involved, okay?”

“You don’t really need to worry. Adora… she wouldn’t even know what we’re talking about. I tried to explain some stuff to her a year ago, but she didn’t seem to get it. Which is fair, I don’t either. But… her focus is the war. One day, I’ll tell her, I just… I mean, we practically do everything together, I don’t want to confuse her more with labels when she spent her whole life being told that our friendship is barely tolerable.”

“What do you mean, she wouldn't understand, though?”

“Adora’s textbook innocent and gullible. She barely knows what a mom and dad are, let alone a partner in that context.”

Scorpia looks concerned now, looking at me almost with pity. “You just… let things go as they are, knowing you can be happier? It doesn’t hurt?”

I look down a bit. It does hurt, it hurts a lot knowing she doesn’t seem to feel things the same way I feel. It’s not that she doesn’t, she just doesn’t understand. And I can force her to understand. “It doesn’t hurt.” I lie to Scorpia. “I don’t like change, I’m happy with how Adora and I are.” I tell her, half true.

Scorpia’s face doesn’t change much, but she does nod. “Okay, Wildcat. Just… you can’t hold that stuff in forever.”

“It won’t be forever. I’ll probably get more time to sit down and explain it to her when we win the war. For now, I just need to make sure the Adora that comes out of this all is still her.” I say, rubbing my arm a bit. I can’t keep making Adora feel weak, we need this war to go well.

“I know, I know. Hey, um… I was thinking. Maybe in a day or two, when everyone is rested, wanna pull everyone together for bowling? Could be great for morale!”

I turn back up to Scorpia, and put on a small half smile. “Yeah, I’m sure I can pull Adora out of her work-addict slump for an hour or too.”

Scorpia relaxes further. She smiles at me as she says, “alright then, great. Well, take care.”

“You too,” I say, as Scorpia heads further down the deck. I sigh, rubbing my arms more. The air is still too cold, and we still have a while to go before we’re down to warmer waters.

The cabin door opens, and I turn to see Adora walking out holding a bunch of fabric. Did she find a blanket? Her eyes scan the deck. She smiles when she sees me, and walks over.

“Hey Catra, guess what? Turns out, Kyle left those blankets on the ship the whole time.” She says, handing it to me.

My hand moves quickly to grab the blanket. In a second, I’m covered and mildly more protected from the wind. I turn to Kyle, rolling my eyes. “Of course he left them, he always forgets something when packing and unpacking.”

Adora chuckles, leaning against the edge of the deck next to me. “I think we’re going to be okay. There’s a huge piece of First One’s tech in the cabin Entrapta conveniently decided to not tell us about, so there’s that.”

Groaning, I look over at her. “Of course she’d have found some, it’s Entrapta. With all that numbers stuff she was talking about, with the high readings, it made no sense as to why we were here so long.”

“Wow, you almost sound like you understand what you’re talking about.”

I shrug, “I spend time in her workshop, you pick up a thing or two. Last thing I need is for us to get lost in the woods next time we’re walking through a shifting landscape.”

“True, but it may have been better if we didn’t find that castle.” She points out. She still hasn’t told me everything the weird hologram lady said when I was out, but I know enough that I can tell she’s probably right.

But the train of thought puts me back on just how much she hasn’t told me. “Adora… are you sure you don’t remember anything you did or said?”

She looks down a bit, I can see her thinking. Whether it’s trying to remember or thinking of a lie, I can’t tell. “Not really. I remember… it was warm for a bit.”

I tilt my head. I guess of everything to remember, feeling warm would make more sense than a few words. I nod my head, looking forward. “You should’ve seen yourself. Your words were more slurred than Shadow Weaver’s at her worst.” I chuckle lightly, but the humor was dry.

Adora nods, actually relaxing a bit. “You are okay, right?”

“Yeah, Adora. I’m okay.” My voice isn’t as annoyed as it was earlier. Now, I’m mostly just tired.

Adora looks down for a bit, then back up at me. She reaches over, grabbing the edge of the blanket I’m now wearing and pulling it off my shoulder. She steps closer, her other hand on my arm. She pulls gently, moving to sit. So I follow.

We hunch together on the floor, under a blanket that’s just a little too small to actually provide much warmth, but now there’s a better source of it. “When we get back to the Fright Zone, I’m taking the jacket back.” There’s only so much Adora truly understands, but I know she understands what that means for me. Things are different now, she’s been overly protective but something changed after Dryl.

Adora laughs, “I can’t believe you like me.”

“It is not -” the words come out on instinct, but I bite my tongue this time. I can let her win sometimes, right? “Yeah… me neither.”

Her weight shifts. I can almost feel her looking up at me. Then she sits up a little straighter. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” I listen carefully for anything, but the only thing I can hear over the sound of the waves crashing against the boat, are the rest of the team talking further down the deck. “I don’t hear anything unusual.”

Adora’s face betrays concern. “Something about… a voice. Ra-... Rad? I don’t know, it’s probably nothing.” She rubs her temples. Her brows are furrowed for a moment, but then she calls down.

“You know, I really think that fall in the whispering woods hit you way harder than you’re letting on if you’re hearing voices.” I say, bumping against her arm slightly. It masks my concern well, coming off as more ribbing.

Adora pushes back a bit, a flicker of challenge showing in her eyes. “Back off, Catra, or I won’t give the jacket back.”

“You wouldn’t!” I pretend to be offended.

“Yeah, you’re right.” She says softer, leaning back in. She doesn’t mention any voices again, so I slowly relax. I tell myself it was the wind, although this could easily be She-Ra related and I wouldn’t be surprised.

I lean back against her. It’s a lot less… loose, then earlier. She’s rigid, aware. I’m nervous in a different way, now that I’m not worried she’ll do something stupid. Then again, you never know with Adora when she may or may not be stupid.

Notes:

We are so back!
Turns out I'm pretty much only good at creating She-Ra stuff when my brain is in She-Ra mode, so I'm not going to try and promise regular posting anymore but I am on another She-Ra kick. But it's not abandoned!

Also I headcanon for this AU that Adora didn't learn about what love was until way after leaving the Horde, mostly from Bow and Glimmer and maybe even taking so long as until meeting George and Lance. So Catra knows, Adora doesn't, and Catra doesn't want to try and assume anything of someone who doesn't know. So while I'm not going to wait for the finale, it's kind of going to develop as this unspoken thing.

Chapter 19: Swift Wind and Razz

Summary:

Adora is pressured from all angles. Bow and Glimmer become unsuccessful ghost hunters.

Adora’s POV

I’ll never get used to existing in the Fright Zone as She-Ra. Most people are still uncomfortable with the entire thing, knowing there’s an actually powered princess within their walls. I was already on track to gaining respect from even my seniors before I got the sword. Now, some of the new recruits or younger cadets actively avoid me.

That’s okay, though. I have the team, after all. The only person who hasn’t changed their attitude towards me in the last months was Force Captain Octavia. I even see her now, leering as I roll a huge piece of First One’s tech through the halls.

Maybe it’s because I’m not She-Ra right now- I can’t trust her after she got compromised. Catra was hit hard earlier. It wasn’t just from the First One creatures- Entrapta since said they were Elementals- but from me. I hurt her directly as She-Ra, who knows what I could have done. So She-Ra is staying away for now. I know the sword is fine, logically, but I’m not taking that chance.

Entrapta is beside me, absolutely beaming about something to do with Hordak. I don’t know what I missed when she went to enter Hordak’s Sanctum- against Catra’s, and by proxy, my orders- but she doesn’t seem at all concerned. In fact, she seems elated. The way she’s following me through the halls, as if her feet are barely touching the ground… Whatever she got involved with, she’s invested.

The tech she found is a large disk, nearly four feet tall in diameter. Entrapta was more than happy to handle moving it herself as she easily could, but I need to speak to Hordak anyway. As soon as we reach the Sanctum door, Entrapta bounds ahead. I roll the tech over to a workbench and just lean it over.

“So the mission was a success?” 

He isn’t talking to me, he’s too far away. But the way his voice carries, filling the entire room, it’s hard to miss.

“Absolutely! There were only some minor hiccups, what with half our mining tech being wiped!” Entrapta shouts. Well, she isn’t shouting, she’s just speaking loudly.

“I care not for whatever the costs were. What matters is that we can get to work. Force Captain Adora, why are you here?” Hordak’s voice is directed at me.

I stand straight and turn to face him. He’s standing a few feet from me, peering down. His presence is as intimidating as always, but I’m not nervous this time. “Well, um, Lord Hordak… what’s going on here?” I look around the room. There’s a whole lot of tech laid about, and I can’t say I understand the purpose at all.

“I don’t remember you being a part of this project, Force Captain.”

I frown a bit at this, thinking about this. Of course, it means the ‘we’ is for Entrapta and him. “How can I be the Second in Command if I’m not in the loop?” I feel something brush against my foot. In a slight panic, I look down to see Hordak’s little imp friend, who I only ever saw once on a screen, back when Shadow Weaver was removed from the Black Garnet. The imp chuckles up at me, as if mocking me, before scurrying over to where Hordak is.

Hordak steps closer, closing the distance between him and I. The Imp climbs up to his shoulder. “There is no ‘loop.’ There is only what you need to know, and what you need to do. One of those requires a great deal of information. The other does not.”

I take a deep breath. Finally, after all this time, at least someone finally said it. “Yeah, okay. Whatever. I was only here to drop off the tech.”

“Then you are dismissed, Force Captain Adora.” Hordak turns around, walking back towards Entrapta. 

She seemed a little on edge, but now she just looks at him and smiles. Entrapta waves, “bye Adora, see you in a few nights for bowling.”

“Yeah, bye.” I answer. Leaving Hordak’s Sanctum a lot more frustrated than I went in is exactly what I expected. Despite that, there’s also this sense of calm. Hordak doesn’t trust me, he’s just trying to keep me where he can keep a close eye on me. I would try to watch me too, if the strongest person on Etheria was threatening the stability of everything. 

Realistically, it’s okay. Hordak can watch me all he wants. He might think he’s ahead, but what could he actually do? I can’t get cocky, I can’t get overconfident. But I don’t need to be worried about him, he’s already worried about me.

Opening the door to my room, I see Catra is already inside. “Oh, hey Catra. I thought you were going to bed?”

Catra is sitting at a small table in the corner, looking over a few files I had piled up. She and Scorpia both started helping me with my workload solely so I was less over-occupied, it actually rounded out the schedules of the three of us. Although she rarely does any work here. She sets down the file, turning up to face me. “Hey, Adora.”

I walk over to her. I don’t have a second chair in here, so I just stand. “You okay?”

Catra stands up, she’s actually pretty relaxed right now. Clearly exhausted though, but fine. “Yeah, of course. I told you on the boat, I’m taking that back.”

I follow her eyes to my torso, and chuckle in understanding. “Yeah, yeah.” I untie my jacket’s strap, setting it on the table. The badge comes off next, and I set it with the strap. Finally, I pull my jacket off my shoulders and hand it to her. “You waited a long time to admit you wanted to steal it from me.”

Catra just takes it, a slight smirk on her face. “Well, you know. You can just be She-Ra for the cold.”

“Something tells me you’re not cold right now.” I tease her, as she puts it on.

Catra pushes against my shoulder. “I guess not. It’s just a good jacket.”

“You literally used to make fun of it for the pointed shoulders.”

“I changed my mind.”

“You know, the red of the jacket really clashes with your uniform’s reds. There’s like, four reds on you.”

“Since when did you learn color theory?”

“I didn’t. It’s just obvious.”

Catra shrugs. “Alright, alright. If it’ll get you off my back, I’ll look into getting something new. Maybe with more black?”

“Hey, I was kidding. But sure, why not?”

I laugh again, heading towards my dresser. “So, is that all you’re here for?”

I don’t hear her approaching me, but as she speaks, it’s closer. “Maybe it is. Maybe I just wanted to spend the night.”

“You know that’s against protocol,” I say, pretending to be stern.

“Well, it’s been a bit. And it’s not like we don’t break protocol all the time.”

I laugh more, looking down as I pull out some clothes to wear for the night. “I guess so, yeah. But… no, that isn’t why you’re here.”

She walks up next to me, leaning against the dresser. “No, it isn’t… are you okay?”

I saw it coming, but I still don’t know how to answer her. “Yes. Not really, no. But also… not no. I don’t know…”

“So start small.” She says, repeating back the words I would always say to her when we were younger, as I slowly got her to talk to me instead of just pretending to be okay.

I sigh. Can’t really go against my own advice. “I hurt you today.”

“Adora,” Catra places a hand on my shoulder, “my leg is going to be fine in a day or two. I’m barely limping, it just hurts. The roly-poly got me just as bad as you did.”

All I can give in response to this is a shrug. She’s right, but that doesn’t really make it feel different. “I was so mad at Bow for a dumb cut or two during the Bright Moon stuff. And then I was so mad at them for what happened at Dryl… because no matter what we do, or where we go, it’s always them. Their best forces against our best forces. But today… I just don’t understand why they helped us.”

It’s not a lie. I don’t get it. I’ve seen Glimmer’s anger first hand, and she doesn’t have an ounce of respect for us. Yet apparently, Catra and I were in danger because of the disk. Something that was Glimmer’s fault. And she and the rebels helped to stop it.

Catra looks back over to me. “Don’t get hung up on it, Adora. They tried the same shtick with me at Dryl. The rebels… aren’t bad people, but that doesn’t mean they’re against pretending to be nice to get their way.”

I think about it for a moment. She isn’t wrong, they sure do love their sympathy. It’s getting more and more difficult to be able to look at them and see a threat. They aren’t dangerous, I am. But if that’s the case then what are they?

“Yeah, I guess so…” I push back the doubt. It’s late, and we both need sleep. “Are you staying anyway?”

Catra scratches her chin. “Hmm… yeah, why not.”

A small smile creeps onto my face, it’s easy to get excited about the little things. I only spent my whole life with her there to help each other sleep at night. “And last time you were so reluctant.”

Catra shrugs. “You really think Hordak is gonna storm in here and demand I go back to my room?”

I chuckle a bit. “Yeah, I guess not.”

I grab the night clothes I grabbed earlier back off my dresser, and head over to the bed.

“Adora?”

I pause. That didn’t sound right. I turn back around. “What?”

Catra tilts her head. “What do you mean what?”

“You just-...” I look past her, at the door that is very much still closed. I really am losing it, aren’t I? “Nevermind.”

Catra shrugs it off, following after me. “Whatever you say, crazy.”

Rolling my eyes, I turn back to the bed. I feel her staring at me, clearly thinking more about this than she’s letting on… Then, her ear twitches. She looks up at the roof, eyes squinted.

"What is it?" I ask, following her gaze.

She looks around for a moment, then seems to relax. "Something in the rafters? I don't know."

"Catra, I'm not crazy-"

"Maybe it's a case where we both are," she chuckles, lightly punching my shoulder.

I turn to her and smirk. I move fast, going for her wrists. She's quicker, there's a blur. It takes a bit, but eventually we settle down after play-fighting for a few moments. Falling into bed and sleeping after is even easier. 

"Adora… we need to speak to Razz." I hear the familiar but distant voice one more time, but by now, I'm sure it's just a dream.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

It’s been a week since we got back from the Northern Reach, the mood has generally been a little better. Last Week, we set out north. This week, the threats were more frontline. The Horde renewed their offensives, but we think they’re just trying to keep us spread thin, as it’s been a stalemate.

 “Unfortunately, most of the Princesses were not able to make the meeting this week.” Angella says to the few other people in the room. Glimmer and I are there, as is General Julliet. The three of us always are. As for the rest of the alliance, we have attendance from Spinnerellla, Netossa, and Perfuma. The rest of the Princesses couldn’t spare the time for this, too busy on the frontline. And Netossa and Spinnerella are only here because they just got back from Elberon. “Glimmer, would you fill in the alliance with the results from last week’s mission?”

Glimmer nods, standing up and addressing everyone around the holo-table. “Last week, there was a mission to the Northern Reach. Frosta, Sea Hawk, Bow and I shut it down, but there was a small fight with She-Ra.”

“A small fight?” Perfuma inquires.

“Yeah. We kind of… didn’t fare too well. She wasn’t herself. Entrapta has a disk, and… basically, she was angry. Our team was knocked under the ice, and when we got back topside She-Ra was gone from the digsite.”

“She wasn’t herself?” Spinnerella asks.

“The sword was infected by something Entrapta had. Who knows, maybe her brain is First One’s tech, too? Because the bugs we fought after were.” Glimmer says.

“I doubt it, Adora is still a person first and foremost.” I argue.

“Yeah, and a stellar one at that.” Netossa grimaces.

“I don’t know, she actually really does care for Catra. And she was acting all weird for a moment or two before we broke the virus.” Glimmer muses.

“You broke a virus?” Netossa asks. “How does that even work?”

“The virus was a localized disk-”

Perfuma cuts me off, “the important thing is that no one got hurt.”

Spinerella thinks. “Maybe we should reconsider the angle on their team’s operational efficiency. Maybe there is more going on there.”

“I told you it wasn’t conjecture!” Glimmer boasts.

Angella holds up a hand. “Conversations and remarks like this are not very productive to stopping the Horde. Listen, our supplier outpost from Alwyn has gone dark. Can we spare anyone?”

Spinerella and Netossa share a look. “I mean, we could go back out if needed.” Spinerella offers.

I shake my head. “You two just got back from a week long operation. Glimmer and I will handle it.”

“But if Alwyn is being threatened, it must be serious!” Perfuma thinks. She’s spent a lot of time there, aiding with crop growth. “Unfortunately, I’m due to meet up with Mermista for a quick offensive south of Thaymor to push them out of that part of the woods, so I can’t really head over there tonight.”

“So the four of us should go?” Netossa offers.

Glimmer thinks about it. “It probably isn’t a big deal, Alwyn is too far from the front lines to be threatened.”

“And it’s close to us,” I point out. “How about Glimmer and I head down there, and we’ll call if we need backup? I did manage to make my tracker-pad beefier, it can now connect to the inter-kingdom radio network. I can just call this table if anything goes wrong.”

“Oh, you got past all the planetary interference?” Angella asks me.

“Entrapta managed it, I realized back during the, uh… failed liberation of Dryl. Catra called the Fright Zone from there. So using some salvaged tech, it’s a lot easier to figure out how someone else did something than to figure out if that thing is possible from scratch. I know Entrapta’s work better than anyone, I was able to figure it out.”

Angella nods. “Okay. Bow and Glimmer, you two can go and investigate the lack of contact from Alwyn. Spinnerella and Netossa, you two are on standby. Perfuma, thank you for attending.”

Perfuma smiles and bows her head slightly. “I still had an hour, I figured I’d want to stay as up to date as possible.”

 

-

 

Glimmer insists that there’s something going on with the Horde people, that Catra and Adora were both acting off towards the end, but I didn’t get to deal with the aftermath that much. Mostly, it’s just good to know for sure that Adora probably doesn’t want us dead. The last real time we fought against She-Ra was at Bright-Moon.

It almost seemed like we’re up against people who are talented and capable, but can’t win due to not having their heart in it. Glimmer always called anyone who fought for the Horde heartless, and in a way I suppose she’s right, even if Adora and Catra seem far from the typical cold, battle-hardened Horde soldier. Catra acts like she is when fighting, I’ve seen the snarls swipes when she stops holding back. I think they’re both confused.

But it doesn’t change how when fighting them, they’re both like ticking time bombs. The hit I took at Bright Moon when that arrow ricocheted… I swear I can still feel it some days, even though I never broke anything. The fact is, fighting Adora is just walking on eggshells.

At least she’s seen lenient the last few weeks. If she spent every day like she was at Bright Moon… well there might not still be a war.

At least there’s no real chance of running into Adora right now. Yeah, she has access to the Whispering Woods somehow, despite being a Horde soldier, but Glimmer and I are all the way in Alwyn. It’s far from Horde territory, which made it important for rebellion agriculture. Except, the town is empty today.

Alwyn was never my favorite town to visit. While the woods are my first home, they’re a lot bigger than just the part I grew up in. This area is more unfamiliar to me, and the area where I lived was mostly without the ominous whispering. It’s more pronounced here, which certainly doesn’t help. Neither does the strange circumstances surrounding the place. Alwyn is well understood to be haunted, and the reports have increased in the last few months.

So far, it’s been nothing but creepy. Strange noises, figures in the shadows just out of sight, not a single soul staying behind. There’s nothing but bad vibes, although that hasn’t exactly made it easy for Glimmer and I to locate what the actual problem is.

If Alfyn is haunted, there’s no real hard evidence of it. Glimmer and I have been meandering from every rundown house to creepy off-road path between two buildings. Although, none of that counts as anything substantial. The only thing that really has us worried something else is going on, is that my tracker-pad is freaking out. It’s glitching, and there are too many signals. So much for calling for backup, but it isn’t like the Horde is here anyway. 

Now, I’m looking at a stray branch brushing against a window. “Okay, creepy tapping is not a ghost trying to scare us. For the fifth time…” I step back, relaxing a bit.

Glimmer, besides me, runs the back of her hand across her forehead. “Phew, okay. One less spot to check, I guess.”

“Yeah, we’re on the right track.” Hopefully, I can convince myself of that. But it sort of feels like we’ve been wandering aimlessly.

“I can’t say I believe that,” Glimmer echoes my thoughts.

“Oh, you wanted an easy mission?”

“Honestly? It would’ve been nice, for a change.”

“Well, we need to stay on our toes.”

“I don’t think anyone has been off their toes since Princess Prom,” Glimmer rightfully points out.

“You know, I think we might need to find time for another trip to Mystacor.”

“Heh, yeah, if only we could go back to before Adora decided to try and raid Bright Moon, and we didn’t need round the clock readiness in case she decides to try again, we could all go out for a spa day.”

“I mean, we haven’t exactly fought her since then.” I joke, pressing the idea. Although, we both know that’s not really something we can afford right now.

“Yeah, I’m starting to think that’s because Catra doesn’t want She-Ra fighting us.” Glimmer thinks. “Even though every time I see them I’d want nothing more than to greet them with aggressive fist-to-face sparkles.”

“And I’d like us to win too, but we sort of need to save our energy for when it counts. Bright Moon put me out of the fight for a long time, and the less we’re out of the fight, the better.”

“Exactly! So let's find these… ghosts… and get Bright Moon’s supply town back up and run-”

There’s another knocking noise from one of the houses around us. Glimmer and I both freak out. I draw my bow, looking for the source, as Glimmer’s hands start to glow. My eyes scan out. Trying to pinpoint the noise is a little difficult over the whispers. Doesn’t take too long though, as I see a window that isn’t properly sealed. I start walking.

“What is it? A ghost?”

“Again, no.” I say, closing the window and making sure it’s properly latched. “Another… freaky coincidence.”

Glimmer sighs, her hands stop glowing. “Oh, okay. Maybe we are overreacting.”

“We’ll find out soon. Let’s just keep looking.”

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

Another week, more time to work. To plan, to micromanage other Force Captains, and to continuously train. She-Ra is difficult to manage, and now that I know there are things that I can’t fight against, I need to be ready. I focus, drawing all my attention into the sword. I focus, willing myself to warp the matter into something else. Something new. I need to get better with She-Ra, I can’t let my guard down and get compromised again. Catra got hurt because I wasn’t fast enough when Glimmer pulled that disk out. It doesn’t take too long, before the shape molds itself and takes on the form of… an unopenable box that slightly resembles a first aid kit?

“Ugh! It’s useless, I can’t get it!” I pout, lowering the exact opposite of a weapon.

“You must not allow yourself to grow frustrated over such things, Adora. I have never encouraged failure, but there is a difference between giving up, and not yet succeeding. Try again, and keep your thoughts centered.” Shadow Weaver instructs me, stepping closer. She grabs my arm, lifting it up and the weapon with it.

I concentrate more, trying to reshape my sword-flute. Stay focused, Adora. She-Ra can still be a useful tool, I just need to stay focused… the sword-flute shifts yet again with a subtle glow, reforming into a simple bo staff. I can’t exactly imagine the inner working parts of an extendable one, but when I can just reshape it to be smaller I don’t really need to. I shift the balanced weapon in my grip, the only weapon I’m more familiar with than a sword, other than maybe a stun-baton.

“Good! You see, your powers are directly linked with your emotional state. When you allow yourself to become distracted, your intentions are getting shifted and warped.” Shadow Weaver informs me, stepping back again and letting go of my wrist.

I sigh, looking down at her. It’s still strange being taller than the sorceress. First, she was separated from the Black Garnet. And now, She-Ra allows me to literally tower over her. The women I was always nervous even looking up to…

“It’s still Catra, isn’t it?” She asks, the eyes on her mask narrowing slightly.

“No, I just can’t allow myself to get all… weird… like that, again. I could’ve killed the whole team…”

“Hordak once told you it is your team’s responsibility to watch themselves around you, did he not?”

“He did, and they did, but-”

Shadow Weaver surprisingly doesn’t allow my thoughts to spiral. “-then you have nothing to worry about. Your team reacted to the situation accordingly, and accomplished your mission of obtaining the First One’s tech, did they not?”

“They did…” I say, tightening my grip on my weapon. I will it back into the sword. Her words surprise me. I figured she of all people would scold me for being sloppy.

"You were faced with a new threat, and managed. That has always been the mission. Not swift victories, not untamed glory. We are fighting a war, Adora. This was never going to be a cake walk.”

“I know. I know, and we’re winning and pushing closer back to Bright Moon every day. Our lines are now in the woods, Entrapta’s tech is allowing us to navigate it better, everything is looking up. The rebels’ only big win was the river pass, there’s just a lot on my mind.”

“Then get it sorted out. Think when you’re able to, act when you must. You cannot allow your doubts to corrupt your ability to decisively control your situation. You have always surprised me, Adora. And I know you will further. She-Ra is a gift, but you are not a competent soldier because of She-Ra. You are competent because you are able to think, get stuff done, and follow orders.”

I nod, and put my sword on my back. I revert to my normal self. “I know how to stay focused. I’ll get the mission done.”

“I know, Adora. Keep your eyes on the true goal, the rebels won’t keep managing to slink away. You just need to spend more time training, and less time bowling or buddying up with Catra. If you wish to protect her, you’ll need to be ready.”

I nod, turning to exit her chambers when I stall. My eyes narrow, I’ve grown up enough to know that she’s testing me. But I’m not going to take the bait on Catra right now. “You sure seem to know a lot about She-Ra.”

“I don’t really,” she says. “But I know magic and runestones. I know the importance of focus, of having a clear head when utilizing magic. The strongest sorcerers in Mystacor were always the ones most able to put their minds above their emotions.”

I nod. Shadow Weaver has mentioned Mystacor before, back when we had Glimmer in this room. It feels like so long ago now. “Alright, well I need to get going. Thanks for the help, Shadow Weaver.” I say, turning back for the exit.

“Any time, Adora.” She says, dismissively.

I walk out into the halls, when I feel something almost like pressure in my head.

“Good, you’re done. I know you can hear me, Adora. Meet me at the edge of the woods in an hour, we need to talk. You’ll know where.”

I turn around rapidly, my eyes narrowing as I can’t seem to pinpoint the source of the voice. I try to place where I know it from, when it finally clicks. The weird voice I’ve been hearing off and on all weak, progressively getting clearer and more concise. The talking horse…

I frown. Swift Wind can just… communicate with me? I shudder a little, this was weird and confusing enough. Still, I should probably see what he wants. I resign myself to another conversation with the horse, and I head for the skiff bay.

 

-

 

It wasn’t long ago I took this path, on my way to check up on Dryl. I don’t admire the scenery this time, the last thing I need to deal with is crashing another skiff over this horse. I didn’t tell everyone where I was going; how do you explain that you’re going on a trip to the rebel-controlled woods in order to speak to a talking unicorn that may or may not be psychically linked to you? You don’t. 

It isn’t that Etheria isn’t pretty, or that some parts of the woods are rather nice, but I’m too close to where things get weird. And the closer to Bright Moon a Horde Squad goes, the weirder it gets. Not that it ever stopped me from reaching the Crystal Castle, and the partially regrown ones didn’t stop me from… well, not reaching Dryl, but still using them as a shortcut until I got sidetracked. Either way, Swift Wind called for me. And if he can navigate the woods, I’m sure I can, too. Or, She-Ra can? Guess the mysterious morality-sense of the woods can’t tell the difference.

I don’t exactly know where I’m going, so I’m just taking the route I took last time. Maybe he’s waiting where I first crashed… he wasn’t exactly clear, and I don’t know how to contact him back. It shouldn’t take too long either way. I mean, Swift Wind would stick out sorely anywhere.

“Adora!” I hear his voice. Actually hear it this time, instead of the strange sensation of feeling it. I turn up and see him flying a bit above and behind me.

I squeeze the breaks on the skiff, successfully stopping without breaking it this time. “Hi, Swift Wind. What did you need?”

 He lands next to the skiff and I, sliding a few inches forward as his momentum slows. “I sort of need to speak to you. Wanna go for a ride?”

I cross my arms immediately. “Are you going to tell me why?”

“Um, you promised to meet my friend.”

“I said I’d think about it.”

“Have you?” He asks, turning and trotting towards me. He gets uncomfortably close.

I place a hand on the side of the horse’s face and push back gently. “Um, no. I mean, yes, and I can’t say I’m interested. This woods friend is just going to be another person to tell me my destiny.”

“Look, everyone is starting to say things and I think this would really be good. I mean, Light Hope is talking about strange energy readings, something someone in the Fright Zone is working on.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Hordak and Entrapta blew out the power grid two days ago, and it took twelve hours to fix it. What do you know about it?”

“You don’t know about it?” He asks back.

“I didn’t say that!”

“But I feel your confusion.” He leans closer again.

“Look, I-”

“I mean if I knew things, I’d tell you. Just saying. Ooh, I actually flew over a spooky abandoned like, half an hour ago? I’m not good with time. Anyway, I actually saw some people leaving, and some rebels heading over. I was gonna go say hi, but I didn’t want to make it weird since it was-”

“Swift Wind?”

“Yeah?”

“What does this have to do with this person I need to meet?”

“Nothing! Come on. Let’s go meet Razz. I’ll drop you right back off here.”

I sigh, turning aside. Which prompts Swift Wind to step even closer. I glare a bit, and push him back again. “No, look. The face that you went to Light Hope again is concerning enough to me. I don’t trust her. So what does she have to do with Razz?”

“Well I mentioned Light Hope to Razz and she made a bit of a face of discomfort. But she isn’t exactly… easy to get information out of. You should try. She knows things about She-Ra. The last She-Ra.”

“The last… yeah, Light Hope mentioned her. Mar…”

“Mara.” He says, the one thing he’s said today that hasn’t already confused me.

“Mara. Yeah. What do I need to know about Mara?”

“I don’t know, but she’s connected to whatever’s been going on. There are strange things happening on Etheria ever since the planet went crazy and I got my wings and my voice. The Whispering Woods are whispering more in some places, Light Hope says the planet is at risk of going more out of balance, like, catastrophically bad. And Razz keeps calling you Mara!”

“So what, I’m supposed to trust a hologram that wants to enforce its idea of my destiny onto me, and someone in the woods named Razz who is, ‘hard to get information out of?’ You aren’t exactly convincing me of much.”

“Adora.” Swift Wind makes a horse noise that sounds sort of like an expression of frustration. He presses his face against mine. “You've been tense and confused all week, and I already know you’re curious. Come on, you promised.”

“I did not- ugh! Fine, whatever.”

Swift Wind rears slightly in excitement, before slightly lowering himself. “Get on then, let’s go!”

He seems overly excited, but I can’t deny I’m excited at the prospect of flying like that again. Half reluctantly, half intrigued, I climb onto his back.

“Ready?” Swift Wind asks me as he stands fully. However, he takes off before I can say yes. I know what to expect this time, but it still takes my breath away a little as I wrap my arms around his neck. Sitting on a horse doesn’t seem as comforting as it would’ve if he still wore a saddle, but I’m going to assume he isn’t a fan of those. So I hold on tight, and he soars through the woods.

“You know where you’re going?” I ask, having to raise my voice a little for him to hear over the wind.

“Mostly!” Swift Wind announces with confidence. “It’s usually in about the same spot, so it shouldn't be too hard to find!”

“Oh, how… reassuring.” I think about his words.

The flying horse insists otherwise, “I can feel your doubt. I assure you, it is misplaced.”

“Yeah, let's hurry up and find this Razz.”

It isn’t too long of a flight. A few twists and turns through the maze that is the Whispering Woods, and Swift Wind starts insisting more and more that he knows where we’re going. I’m not truly doubtful, since he implied he’s been speaking with this lady multiple times. However, I’m more so doubtful of what this conversation will actually accomplish.

Still, the little tree-cottage comes into view after only a few moments. Swift Wind lands in front of the cottage, proudly announcing, “I told you, here we are!”

I climb off of him, looking at the decrepit shack. “Someone lives here?”

“Yes!” He boasts, trotting forward and using his horn to push aside the fabric that acts as the cottage’s door. “Razz, she’s here!”

He steps aside, allowing a lady to step through. She seems old, wearing ragged clothes, bulky glasses, and she’s bringing a broom out with her. “Hmm? Oh, hello Swift Wind, so nice of you to stop by again today.”

“Well, this is my first time being here today but thank you!”

“Um, hello Razz. I’m… a friend of Swift Wind here, I think.” I approach her, holding out my hand.

Razz squints at me, adjusting her glasses. “Oh, Mara! Of course you are. How are you, dearie? How long has it been?”

I look over at Swift Wind, who shrugs. “Um, Razz? I’m Adora. And… I’ve never met you before.”

“Oh, don’t be silly Mara You and Swift Wind here come to visit Madame Razz all the time.”

I step closer to her, cautiously. “Are you okay ma’am?”

“Madame Razz is always okay, silly. It’s always good to hear from you, dearie, it’s been a while since we talked.”

“Again, I don’t know you. I was told you know me, but apparently Swift Wind was wrong.”

Swift Wind perks up, taking a few steps closer. “I was not! Razz, tell Adora here that you know She-Ra.”

“Why would she not know I know She-Ra? Of course you are She-Ra, you have the sword and the companion.”

I rub the bridge of my nose. “You’re still- okay, Razz, what can you tell me about Mara?”

“You always ask such silly questions.” Razz steps closer, tapping my shoulder with a broom. “Oh, but…” Razz stops talking as she steps closer, as if inspecting me again. “Oh, now this is different.”

“What, what are you talking about?”

“You aren’t supposed to be wearing that, dearie. Why are you wearing that?”

My eyes follow hers, to the Force Captain badge over my shirt. “I’m sorry? It’s my badge.”

Razz scoffs at that, removing it from my shirt. 

“Hey!” I try to grab it back, but she hits my forehead with the broom and steps back.

“She-Ra should not be fighting against Etheria! You aren’t Mara, Mara would never turn against this planet!”

“I didn’t- I never said I was Mara! I’m Adora. Now give the badge back.” I straighten my posture, my eyes scanning her. She clearly isn’t a threat, but I’m more worried about how Swift Wind whines to our side, looking agitated.

“Adora… no, you cannot be Adora either.”

I blink at her, processing her words. “Wait, so you do know me?”

“I know She-Ra. I do not know you .”

“Is she always like this?” I ask Swift Wind.

“Pretty much.” He sighs, starting to pace slightly in the clearing in front of Razz’s cottage.

I watch him for a moment, as he trots in a manner that implies he is cautious. My gaze shifts back over to the old lady. I swipe back my badge, putting it back on my shirt. “How do you know She-Ra?”

“Again with the silly questions. Why would Razz not know She-Ra? She-Ra saved Etheria!”

“Mara? I doubt it. Light Hope said Mara was compromised.”

Razz perks up a little. “Light Hope? Oh, the mean ghost. I never liked her.”

“I think I’d be inclined to agree…” I say quietly, crossing my arms. She definitely seems to know things. Light Hope being a ghost probably isn’t far off given her transparent appearance. If so… this lady really does know Mara? “So, She-Ra is the savior of Etheria?”

“She was, before she disappeared. Mara took away the stars to save Etheria. She would be disappointed in you.”

I scoff at her accusation. “And how would you know? You know nothing about me.”

Razz turns to face me, stepping closer. “I know you more than enough, Adora. We have spoken many times, in many places, on many subjects. But it is not often I see you in this way: bitter over your own self-induced confusion.” She taps the badge with the end of her broom. “I have seen you give into despair. Much more often, I have seen you embrace life and hope. Yet now… you are too scared to do either.”

I smack away the broom. “No, you don’t know me. This is the first time we’ve ever spoken. So don’t act like you know me.” I make my voice stern. This lady is crazy… yet she sounds so sure. I grab my right wrist with my left to stop the slight shaking that started. I need to hold strong.

“Adora…” Swift Wind murmurs from beside us. I ignore him.

Razz shakes her head. “The first for you. Not for me. I do know you. I know you have a choice to make. Unlike Swift Wind here, I know you’ll make the right one.”

“What?” I look at Swift Wind. “What does she mean?”

He steps back a little. “Look, Adora… I think we should talk about what you want to do. I mean, I can understand the whole ‘liberation’ thing. It’s amicable, but… you know that’s not what you’re doing.”

“You told me yourself exactly what I’m doing: I have people I need to watch out for.”

“Adora, I know you well enough from our link to know that there’s too much going on for this to just be about protecting people. You’re more than upset, you’re frustrated.”

“Don’t I have a right to be!?” I raise my voice, leaning forward and letting go of my wrist.

“I know you probably feel cornered between the rebels and your bosses, but-”

“No. I know what this is. I said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’m not just going to be someone I’m not because you two, or the princesses, or Light Hope, or even Catra think I should be.”

“You don’t have to push back just because you’re scared!” Swift Wind says, trying to push his point.

Razz shakes her head. “Oh, dearie. I have a pie to bake. I really do suggest you be careful, before you push away those you wish to protect.” Razz turns around, heading into her cottage. “Later, Swift Wind and Mara.”

“I’m not- ugh! Nevermind, good. I’m done here. I hope you’re happy Swift Wind, because this was a waste of time.”

Swift Wind sighs, looking down a bit. “You know what? I agree.” He picks his head up, stepping closer. “You can always call if you need me.”

“Yeah… thanks.” I say dryly.

He exhales quickly, before turning around. “I’m gonna go now.”

I sigh, turning around. This is going to be a fun walk.

“Okay… bye.” Swift Wind says, taking off.

I pause, looking back over my shoulder. Maybe… no. I go back to walking. I don’t need to listen to them. I definitely don’t need Swift Wind.

I just need to keep going.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

“I’m so sorry, I have no idea why I did that?” Glimmer says sheepishly, rubbing her neck.

I take a deep breath, my heart calming down. I give her a smile to let her know it’s fine. Well, her reaction is. The situation very much isn’t fine, but only because it is? Every ‘lead’ is just another small scare that ends up not meaning anything at all. “It’s okay. Maybe we just have to call it here, then?”

“Maybe…” She sighs. “Maybe it isn’t haunted, and everyone’s just scaring themselves like we are.”

I put a hand to my chin, thinking. “But to drive away a whole town…”

“Yeah… I just feel like we’re not making any progress here.”

“Well, not everything needs to be about progress. I mean, the war has been a bit of a standstill since Bright Moon. Yeah, we’re winning a bunch of small battles here and there, or avoiding conflict altogether, but not every part of the frontlines is so quiet. And we haven’t been able to watch everywhere.”

Glimmer takes a deep breath. “Well it helps when your best friend is out of the fight, or when you’re mostly relegated to recon missions at Dryl or surveillance all the way up in the Northern Reach.”

“Is it bad Angella doesn’t send us to the front lines? I mean, it isn’t like the Horde sends their best to the woods. Hence, Adora’s team also being up at the Northern Reach.” I say.

Glimmer rolls her eyes, and turns to take a few steps through the abandoned town. “I get that, but I feel like we could really be making a difference if mom just let us go where we’re needed.”

“They have too many numbers. It’s always been hit and retreat, it’s the only way to deal with them. When they stretch thin, we disrupt. Or evacuate where they have a heavier presence.” I follow after her. The wind is still blowing through the trees in an almost unnatural way. But it still helps to talk to remind ourselves that we’re not alone in this creepy, maybe haunted town. So the conversation keeps moving.

“I still think we need to take the fight back to them. Actually start assembling the princesses more instead of just reacting.”

“Well, our ‘reacting’ is certainly going a lot better than it was last year…”

“And since last year, all we have managed to do is maintain the status quo, constantly undoing all the problems that Adora is constantly causing for us!” Glimmer throws her hands in the air in aggravation, before crossing her arms.

“So you wanna switch up what’s working? I know it’s frustrating that we haven’t gotten much done, but we can’t do anything too drastic.” I say, reaching out and placing my hand on her shoulder. “The horde isn’t expanding. We already see the signs of their war machine faltering. I mean, look at how rarely they’re sending out bot swarms. They wasted a lot of resources when the woods were frozen over, resources they can’t just replace from nothing.”

Glimmer crosses her arms over her chest, as her eyes scan over Alwyn. “They’re sitting on the Dryl Mines, and the Fright Zone factories. And every time they take a new village, they get more people to force into their ranks. It doesn’t matter how good we are, they’re still endless even if they’re stalling.”

“I disagree, actually. Hordak only has so much to throw at us, we’re still making this work. Look, it isn’t useless. I- I thought it was for a bit too, after Bright Moon. You told me it wasn’t, that I’m not. We can still turn this around.”

Glimmer looks up at me. “You were just down about She-Ra, though…”

“Not really. It-... it’s tough, Glimmer. She-Ra or not. I mean, even if She-Ra was on our side I doubt it would end the war in a day. So we just need to keep moving forward.” I let go of her shoulder, smiling genuinely at her.

Glimmer looks up. Her smile is more forced, but she still gives one. “Well then, we should just start with this. Figure out why this place is so creepy. The Horde and Adora and everything else can wait.”

I nod, then I see something big through the tree-line behind. It's fast, pale white, and definitely airborne. “Is that a spirit?"

"I believe the phrase is, 'that's the spirit!'" Glimmer emphasizes her words by bringing her hand out, then swinging it to the other side.

I turn her around and point to the white figure rustling behind the leaves, "No, a spirit! Or a ghost? Oh no, Alwyn's really haunted?"

The figure bursts through the tree line, coming straight for us. Glimmer and I both scream, pulling each other close and I close my eyes. We may have a lifetime experience of not freezing up, but against a ghost?

The figure lands in front of us, and then nothing. Glimmer and I stop screaming. I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I open my eyes to see Glimmer staring in horror in front of us. I blink, noticing it's not exactly a look of horror though. Almost like she's in awe.

I turn back to the creature and my eyes go wide. It's a horse! And not just any horse, but our horse! "Horsey?" I ask, looking over the horse's wings, and horn. He looks completely different.

"Um, actually, I'm Swift Wind." Swift Wind says, sounding annoyed.

This prompts another round of screaming for us. Glimmer keeps pointing, "he can talk!"

"Our horse can talk!"

Swift Winds snorts, seemingly annoyed. "I'm no one's horse, actually. I'm Swift Wind."

I'm left speechless, collecting my racing thoughts. There were few sightings of this Swift Wind since Bright Moon, except for at Plumeria and a stable house near the now reoccupied Thaymor. Bright Moon hasn't had the people to ensure the horse was okay. But he's here now? And talking? "You, you're okay?"

"You really can fly?" Glimmer asks, also enthralled in the seemingly magical horse.

"Yeah, yes, I'm okay. I've been living a very fulfilling life since gaining conscious thought. Eating hay, apples, freeing other horses from servitude…"

I share a look with Glimmer, as she raises an eyebrow. I look back. "You've just been… about?"

"No, I haven't. I've been doing things. Important things! But things are getting complicated." Swift Wind says, starting to pace in front of us.

"What do you mean?" Glimmer asks.

"I talked to Adora."

I tense up a bit, and I can see Glimmer become visibly agitated. "You… talked to Adora?"

Swift Wind nods. "Okay, I'm sort of She-Ra's steed. I'm supposed to help her, and-"

Glimmer interrupts, "help Adora? She's working to destroy Etheria!"

"I know! I can't help her. I tried to help her! I took her to see someone, in the woods."

"Adora's in the woods again?" I ask, tensing up.

"No! Well, yes. Kind of." Swift Wind keeps walking back and forth. "I tried to get someone to talk sense into Adora. To see what She-Ra is supposed to be. I know what she knows, but… I also spent my first conscious days with true, serene freedom. And my whole previous life was lived nearly completely peacefully in stables. Which would've been nice, if the stables were more like Inns and less like prisons but… sorry, off topic. The point is… I don't know if Adora can be reasoned with!"

"Actually, that's a lot of what I've been saying." Glimmer says, turning to me.

"Hey, it's not that simple!" I say defensively.

"I know," Swift Wind says. "Adora just wants to protect those she cares about. But she's been so twisted up by her limited life experience…"

"Yeah, I'm sure Adora is a very noble person." Glimmer says, crossing her arms.

"She thinks everyone is out to manipulate her!" Swift Wind says. "Probably because she has been her whole life…" he muses.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"It means she's bitter and untrustworthy. She won't listen to Razz and I, she wouldn't listen to Light Hope, the only person she's listening to is someone she thinks she's defying."

"Light Hope?" I ask quietly. "It's been a long time since Glimmer and I talked to her…"

Swift Wind nods. "I'm pretty sure I was there the last time you were, but outside. Light Hope is freaking out about something involving spiking energy reading from the Fright Zone. I don't think she wanted to tell me, though, but she keeps saying we really need to stop Adora and it's making me conflicted because I'm supposed to be her loyal steed but I can't be loyal to that!" He says, speaking faster.

"Hey, calm down. It's okay. We've been working on ideas for a while." I say.

"Do you have anything?"

Glimmer sighs, "no."

"Then we need to figure out what's going on, and why Light Hope is freaking out!" Swift Wind says, anxiously.

"Okay, okay. Any ideas?"

Swift Wind shakes his head, but then perks up. "Mara! Razz and Light Hope keep talking about this Mara, someone important. Light Hope thinks something going on leads back to her. We need to find information about this Mara person!"

"Who's Mara?"

Swift Wind looks over at us and proudly announces, "I don't know! Something about the last She-Ra."

"The last…" my eyes go wide. "Wait, I can help us figure this out! I, uh… sort of know of a library that could contain loads of stuff about the First One's, and stuff on the She-Ra legends!"

Glimmer looks over, "really?"

I gulp. "Yeah! It's uh… I'll tell you later. Swift Wind, we're gonna work through this. How about you stick around Bright Moon? Glimmer and I will finish up here and then I can work on figuring out this Mara thing."

I can tell Glimmer is a little confused at my evasiveness, I can see her staring at me.

"Oh, what's going on here?" Swift Wind asks.

"This town is maybe haunted and Glimmer and I are trying to figure out why everyone left."

Swift Wind chuckles. "Oh, that's fair. You know, I was wondering why I was hearing things from that big pointy thing," he says, looking over at a monument, or spire.

“The big pointy-...” I turn, thinking. I start walking towards the spire. “Hearing things… whispers…” I look over the symbols, then down at the lines in the ground. I’ve seen these lines before…

“Bow, look out!” Glimmer teleports to my side, pulling me back. I stumble, catch my footing, and look up to see a few pale, wispy shapes around the spire.

“Ohh… I don’t like ghosts!” Swift Wind whines.

I hold my hand out in a stop motion in front of Glimmer, and gently move her arm off of me. “Hang on, Glimmer, look at the ground. The patterns. They almost look like…”

“The Crystal Castle.”

“First One’s tech.” I say, the same sentiment.

“Oh, I see it!” Swift Wind says, slowly moving forward.

I put my hand down, pulling out my tracker-pad. “So if my tracker-pad is acting up, making those ghosts-”

“-aren’t ghosts at all.” Glimmer finishes.

“It’s a… beacon.” I realize. I start walking towards it.

“A beacon for what?” Glimmer asks.

Swift Wind trots up between Glimmer and I. “Creepy noises?”

“I don’t think so… it’s like a message. That started up around the time the planet was off balance… the mess probably threw a bunch of old First One’s tech off, and turned this on.”

Glimmer excitedly perks up, “ooh, and the three moons of enchantment are nearing alignment this week, making all magic-”

“And tech powered by magic, which may not be entirely separate, again-”

“-stronger than they were originally!”

“That’s why the townsfolk must’ve fled recently!”

“So… not creepy?” Swift Wind asks.

I affirm his question with, “I’m thinking not creepy.”

Swift lets out a relieved sigh. “Okay, cool. Not that I was worried or anything. So, what, you just shut it down?”

“I’m… not sure how I’d do that.”

Glimmer puts a hand to her chin, walking up towards the beacon. “Wow, these transmissions really do look like… people.” She isn’t wrong. The closer we get to the beacon, the more these things seem like…

“Holograms, from the beacon… then these… are First Ones?”

Glimmer nods. “I wouldn’t be surprised. This must’ve been from before they left, a thousand years ago… in a way, they really are ghosts.”

“Trying to get a message out… that will never be heard.” I look down. It feels weird to pay respects to a group of people you’ll never know, where there are probably no records of who they were. But it’s still a bitter feeling.

“Well… let's just turn it off.” Glimmer says.

“We can try. Too bad we can’t read the First One’s writing…”

Swift Wind turns to face me, but since he was standing between Glimmer and I he only manages to push his head against me. “Wait, you can’t read this?”

“You can?”

He snorts slightly. “Duh, I can. That’s how I can get into the Crystal Castle. How did you two manage it?”

“We- I-, you were there! Kind of. We went in as Adora left?”

“Oh yeah.” Swift Wind turns to the beacon, approaching this. “Don’t worry, it’ll be easy.” He leans his head forward, pressing his horn to the beacon. It turns off, the surrounding wisps of what were once people fading into nothingness.

“Bye…” Glimmer murmurs.

I pull out my tracker-pad, “hey, it works again! Uh, thanks for the help, Swift Wind. Sorry about the whole keeping you in a stable thing, I guess?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. You were cool, you fed me apples. The stable attendees that usually watched over me mostly gave me hay. Which is still good, but like, you can only eat so much hay without wanting an apple, you know?”

“I can’t say I do, but I get the sentiment.” I tell him.

“Well, it was nice meeting you two for the second first time. Good luck with the Mara research!”

“Take care, Swift Wind,” Glimmer tells him.

Swift Wind gives a nod, then takes off up through the trees, into the night sky.

“... that was weird, right?” I ask Glimmer.

“Totally. Now let's get home.”

I nod, turning down to my tracker-pad. “At least now, we’ll have a map to… huh.” I stare down at a strange signal. Whatever it is is so faint I can’t trace it, but yet strong enough to be interfering with my tracker-pad.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, it’s too weak of a signal, but it's being sent out by something strong, probably far away. Maybe I can figure it out back at Bright Moon?”

Glimmer takes a look at the screen and shrugs. “Yeah, probably for the best. And since I barely used any magic this time, it shouldn’t take long to get home. We gotta tell my mom that we can tell the people it’s safe to come back anyway.” She puts her arm over my shoulders, smiling. And suddenly, we’re not in Alwyn.

Notes:

Didn't know what to name this chapter.
Swift Wind having seen Alwyn before meeting Adora is a forced contrivance so the story can progress beyond me writing 'Bow blew up the beacon.'

Chapter 20: Truth

Summary:

Family drama, trust issues, and rising tensions.

Glimmer’s POV

“Move that side a little to the left…” Bow points up at the right wing of the Bright Moon Castle adornment.

*Poof,* I’m up there now, adjusting the position of a forked antenna. Then, I’m back at Bow’s side again.

“Okay, that side… out more?”

*Poof,* Now I’m on the left side of the castle, holding the second antenna out a bit. 

I watch Bow look down at his tracker-pad, frowning. He’s clearly struggling to get this signal figured out. He waves his hand to the left a bit, so I move it out to my right, his left. He shakes his head then and moves his hand the other way, so I move the antenna back to where it was. He waves for me to come back down.

“So,” I arrive with another flash of sparkles, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes as Bow woke me up early for this, “did you get it?”

"No, I didn't. I only managed a bit, but it's just words. First One's words.”

"So let's ask Swift Wind?" I ask.

Bow rubs the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Great idea, if we knew where he was."

"Didn't he say he'd be around Bright Moon?"

Bow shrugs, putting his tracker-pad away. "I'm still getting over the fact that he said anything. But regardless, he still didn't tell us anything specific on where he’d be. I'm sure he'll show up next time he's needed."

“Or show up against us…” I murmur, not exactly trusting the magic talking horse somehow linked to Adora.

“We don’t know what’s going on between him and Adora. I think we can trust him.” Bow offers, trying to keep my thoughts from spiraling.

But they spiral. “That’s sort of exactly the problem, we don’t know, and you’re too trusting.”

“Look, we’ll add it to the long list of things we need to keep an eye on and constantly worry about. Like if the Horde ever gets it navy rebuilt-”

“Which it pretty much is.” I cut him off, given Mermista’s reports.

“-or if we have to fight She-Ra again-

“I’m pretty sure we will, unless Adora is going to suddenly switch sides or disappear,” I say sarcastically.

“-or the fact that we haven’t told the rebellion about Swift Wind-”

“We haven’t exactly had time to!” The war has been a constant drain on everyone’s minds more than ever now. There hasn’t been a week without an incident since before Bow and I found that sword and Thaymor got occupied.

Bow groans a bit, “Exactly on everything. We need to be careful, and there isn’t going to be much time to waste. I think I know a way I can get this message figured out.”

“Do you have a lead other than Swift Wind?”

Bow rubs his arm for a moment. “Well, we have to find someone who speaks- or at least can translate, the First One’s language…”

“Well, we know Entrapta had enough data to figure out a few words, but she isn’t exactly… on our side.”

“No, I didn’t think we could ask her.”

“Well maybe we can go to Light Hope? She could probably translate for us.”

“I guess we could try, it’s better than nothing. She could also tell us why Swift Wind said she’s ‘freaking out,’ Should we tell Angella we’re leaving?”

“Oh, she’ll be fine,” I start pacing a bit, as I talk, “Bright Moon scouts reported seeing Adora entering the woods. My mom doesn’t want to risk a She-Ra encounter, even though Adora was completely disconnected from Alwyn. She’d probably tell us no,” I muse.

“Yeah, Glimmer, about that…” Bow leans to the right a bit, but I’m not exactly looking at him.

“It’s not like I haven’t listened before. Besides, what she doesn’t know won’t hurt us!”

“Glimmer, she’s-”

There’s a split second where I turn to Bow, my eyes going wide in realization. Unfortunately for me, Bow is cut off by the voice of my mom’s, in my ear.

“So, did you two manage to get that signal sorted out?”

I practically leap into the air, looking over my shoulder. “Ah, mom, hi!”

Angella has a slight smirk on her face as she looks down at me. I’d want to call it endearment, but it’s more of a smug look. “Heading out again already?”

“Your majesty,” Bow starts, trying to pull attention off me, “what brings you out to the courtyard?”

“Coming to see how your little project with the moons goes. Did you figure that signal out?”

I relax a bit, seeing as she doesn’t seem to be chewing me out. “Oh, actually, the signal is mostly gibberish…” I look over at Bow, for him to continue.

So he does. “It’s First One’s in its origin. Like Alwyn, it must’ve been activated because of the hack. But, I can’t read it or figure out where it’s coming from.”

“And you think this signal will be important?”

“I can’t say. There’s nothing about this message that says… anything.”

Angella gives a small nod, turning back to me. “And you think your ‘Light Hope’ will help?”

I tense up a bit. She was outside for a lot of Bow and I talking… “Uh, ahahaha… of course you heard everything.” I frown a bit. “Um… yeah. Maybe she can help?”

“You never did know how to listen.” Angella says, with a slight shake of her head. “You don’t have to sneak around me, Glimmer. If you think this is important, go. Just be safe. Adora has been to the Crystal Castle once before.”

“We know, mom…” I whine, “we were there.”

“Then take care. Will you be back for dinner?”

“I don’t know, probably?”

I see Bow at the edge of my vision, taking out his tracker-pad. He looks at it for a moment, confused, before looking back up. “Well, let’s get going then.”

I nod to Bow, then give my mom a hug. “Bye, mom. We’ll be back soon!” I step back, half skipping over to Bow in excitement. Maybe I’m just giddy that I didn't get in trouble.

Bow respectfully bows to Angella. “Bye, your majesty.”

“Goodbye, Bow and Glimmer.” She says, before turning back around and starting for the castle entrance.

I turn to Bow, immediately grabbing his arm. “Okay, time to speak to Light Hope!”

*Poof!*

All of  a sudden, we’re in the woods. Not really anywhere, by the looks of it, despite my aiming for the Crystal Castle. I frown, probably due to the shifting landscape. Bow looks down and switches his tracker-pad to the map mode. “Hm, not here.” He shows me the screen, pointing at a red dot on the map. “Try here.”

I nod, and we’re in a different spot again. Except now, we’re actually there. On the outside.

"Okay, this should be simple enough." Bow looks up at the Crystal Castle. Unsurprisingly, the building that's been here for hundreds of years looks exactly like it did two months ago. He walks up, I follow beside him.

"Okay, how does this door work again?" Bow asks, mostly rhetorically to no one. “A word…”

I answer anyway. “Etheria!” I say, excitedly, but nothing happens.

“No, no. Close, but… it was a little different.”

“Ether…mal? Ethornia?”

My rambling sparks recognition in Bow’s mind. “Eternia!” It’s definitely the right word, it clicks for me too. But nothing happens.

“Oh, forget this. I’ll just use a little more juice.” I groan, grabbing his shoulder and teleporting us through the door. I let go of Bow, and start off ahead immediately. I look over the colors adorning the walls, the reflections on every surface. “I forgot how this place is just sort of… pretty.”

Bow follows right behind me, as we approach the center room. “It is nice. It’s like everything is half mirror.”

“It’s much better preserved on the inside.”

“That would be the lack of interior weather,” Bow says matter of factly. 

But I can tell it’s a joke, so I roll my eyes. “I don’t know, maybe the First One’s had interior weather machines.”

Bow chuckles. “Yeah, I can imagine the rain already.”

I shake my head, though my lips are turned up. We reach the center, and I look around. “Uh… Light Hope?”

Unsurprisingly, there’s no response.

Bow puts a hand to his chin, “huh. Just like the door.”

“Maybe she finally broke?”

“I don’t know. The lights are on.”

I sigh, this was supposed to give us answers. I clear my throat, announcing our presence again. “Light Hope. It’s Glimmer, of Bright Moon. And Bow… also, of Bright Moon? Or the Whispering Woods.”

“Glimmer, I don’t think it matters.”

“Hush,” I say in a light tone, before going back to generally speaking loudly. “We… spoke to Swift Wind. We’re here to talk about She-Ra.”

The lights brighten a little bit, and suddenly Light Hope is in front of me.

“Greetings, Princess Glimmer of- greetings. Gr- gr- greetings, Bow of Bright Woods. What is your query?”

Bow and I turn to face each other. This isn’t right. “Uh… is she broken?”

Bow shrugs.

“I am not br- broken,” Light Hope answers. “I am merely experie- experiencing difficulties in maintaining normal- functional- optimal operating parameters. The Horde is- Hordak is hurting us- hurting Etheria. She-Ra is hurting Etheria.”

Bow steps forward a bit. “Uh… we kind of gathered that.”

“I think we know why Swift Wind said she’s freaking out…” I whisper.

“Etherian Communication hubs are offline,” Light Hope says, not acknowledging mine or Bow’s words. “Operating as the planetary direct- facilitator is proving difficult. I am unable- communicate with myself. Operational integrity on Ether- outside of Crystal Castle compromised.”

I tilt my head. “What’s wrong?”

Light Hope raises a hand, projecting an image of a monument, not dissimilar to the beacon at Alwyn, that then cracks and appears brittle. “My watchtower, destroyed by Mara. Further complicated by Etheria being torn- thrown from balance six weeks ago.” The hologram of the tower crumbles to rubble.

“The hacking…” Bow murmurs.

“How do we fix it?”

“You can’t. Only She-Ra’s status as- connection to- “First One’s” can.”

Bow frowns. “So you’re stuck operating like this?”

“Probabilities of restoring planetary interface- proper inter- interconnectivity are 2.3%.”

“I bet Entrapta could fix it…” Bow mutters sadly.

I look over and pat his shoulder for a moment. “Light Hope, we don’t exactly understand.”

“I can not compute- decide an exact plan- course either.. Without Adora on our side- with the Eternians, there is not much I can do.”

“Well, that sounds defeatist.”

“Adora- Hordak must be stopped. Beyond that, there is nothing- little to be done.”

I groan. “Great, Light Hope broke. Where is this tower?”

“A field, outside the woods, thirteen Miles northwest.”

Bow shakes his head. “Wait, we can’t just meander about trying to fix a broken communication tower.”

“It’s a planetary infect- interfacing device.”

I cringe a bit at her malfunctioned word choice, turning to Bow. “So what do we do?”

“I don’t know. Light Hope, we got this signal. We don’t know the purpose or origin. Can you translate for us?” Bow pulls out his tracker-pad.

Light Hope looks at it. “The words are Serenia, Portal, Mara. How did you get this signal? Where have you been?”

Bow suddenly steps back, cautious at Light Hope almost hostile tone shift. “Woah, it was just a random signal. What does it mean? Swift Wind talked about you freaking out about something going on at the Horde, and you still seem to be doing it.”

“The Horde’s plans are impossible- difficult to deduce. But what little energy readings I could receive- triangulate- deduce the origins of, it seems Hordak is experimenting with- getting close to achieving portals.”

“Portals? Like, theoretical portals? Entrapta did work on those, but what does that mean?” Bow asks, sounding more confused.

“Hordak intends to- plans to- will open a portal to bring forth- amass a larger force, dooming- destroying Etheria.”

Bow and I turn to face each other. We’ve spent the last day wondering what was going on, why Swift Wind was making things out to be desperate. I gulp. “Like, he’s gonna be able to better move and organize his troops?”

Light Hope shakes her head. “No. Hordak will- is trying to reinforce his army from the larger- Galactic Horde. From beyond the stars.”

“Stars?” Bow asks, looking more confused.

“Stars. The stars Etheria lost when it was plunged into Despandos.”

I blink, more confused than Bow. “What, what’s a Despandos?”

Bow shrugs.

Light Hope continues. “Mara cast Etheria into a pocket dimension, Despondos, out of the wider universe. A universe that is at war. A war with- with- Galactic- Prime- Horde.”

“No no no, what does any of that mean?” I ask, raising my voice a bit. “Stop being broken!”

Bow’s eyes go wide. “Serenia, Mara, Portal… it’s all linked.”

“Mara. The last She-Ra, compromised like Adora, cast Etheria- betrayed Eternia- trapped the planet. Hordak must be stopped- defeated- removed from play. Attempting to open- achieving the fabricating of a portal would be devastating .”

This makes me even more nervous. “Stop Hordak. You make it sound like that hasn’t been the goal for, jeez, years.”

Bow rubs his temples. “This is too much. A wider universe… more Horde… stars… Does that mean there are… other places? You keep saying Eternia like it’s…”

“The home of the people you call First One’s.” Light Hope says.

Bow’s eyes go wide. “Other planets… Eternia… is a planet!”

“You were not aware of this? Adora is Eternian. She was pulled here as an infant, the only time a portal was successfully opened in a millenia.”

I look at Bow, “Adora… is an alien? Like, from those old stories? This is insane.” I point at Light Hope, still looking at Bow. “She’s broken. There can’t be more Horde, Hordak would’ve brought them years ago.”

Light Hope shakes her head. “His progress is- Hordaks accomplishments are recent. Weeks in advancements.”

Bow looks down, muttering to himself. “But the only major changes we know of at the Horde in recent weeks, to months, are… Adora, and…” he looks up, “Entrapta.

“Well, then we need to stop them. Light Hope, how do we stop Hordak from opening a portal?”

“Error. I am unable to understand his exact situation, due to a lack of functioning planetary interface devices in the Horde occupation- territory of operation.”

“This isn’t working,” I groan. “We need more information on this stuff!”

“There is not much I am able to give to native Etherians. Information on the working of Portals is classified.”

I can feel my eye twitch in anger at this. “Are you serious? You’re telling me the fate of the world is at stake, but you can’t tell me more?”

“You know all you need to know to stop Hordak: Adora and Hordak must be neutralized- stopped. Additionally, it may be helpful- alleviating for you to know I do not have access- can not read a large portion of my data, with my primary watchtower offline.”

I chuckle. “You’re as unhelpful as you were last time!”

Bow puts his head in his hands. “Other planets, portals… Mara, Serenia, A… universal, Galactic Horde? Ugh…”

Light Hope’s head tits in simulated confusion. “I do not understand your aggression. I am doing what I can.”

“Well it isn’t enough. Can you tell us nothing else? Any other, ‘Adora is an alien,’ bombshells we should know about, or are you going to continue to withhold information until the last possible moment!?”

Light Hope stares down at me. For a moment, there’s just a staring contest. Then, she simply says, “Hordak must be stopped- Etheria must be balanced.” And then, the hologram turns off.

“Light Hope? Light Hope!” I turn and kick a crystal podium or something, I don’t care what it is. “Damnit!”

Bow looks aside, then sighs. He turns to face me. “Glimmer, we need to talk. Outside.”

I raise an eyebrow, Bow never speaks like this. “What? We’re not done here.”

“No, we are. She told us enough.”

I look back out at the room, then take a deep breath. “Fine.” I grab his shoulder, and suddenly we’re outside the Crystal Castle. “What is it?”

“I know how we can get more information on all of this. I didn’t want to do this,” Bow looks down, nervously. “But if this is as bad as everyone says it is, we don’t have a choice. And I’m supposed to go there tomorrow anyway…”

“Go where? What are you talking about? That library you mentioned back at Alwyn?”

“Yeah… a library. I can- we can go learn what we need to know. We need to learn about portals, and this Mara person, fast. And also, I guess we need to figure out how whatever a Serenia is fits into all this, too…”

I blink twice. I had completely forgotten he even mentioned a library at Alwyn until now. “Why… Why didn’t you mention this before? We had access to a bunch of information we could’ve used to learn about She-Ra for who knows how long? Why didn’t you mention it when we had the sword!? ”

Bow puts a hand to his forehead. “Look, I’ll explain everything on the way. But we should get going. I can show up a day early, we’ll learn what we need to, and convene with the alliance. I know things are tense right now. Let’s just breathe, and take the next step forward.”

I groan, Bow’s right as always. “I just, you’re talking about this library like it’s an appointment, or something. And you never don’t tell me things.”

“I know, I know.” Bow grabs my hands. “I’ll tell you everything. And everything else, we’ll figure out. Whatever is going on, whatever it all means… we’ll stop it. We always do.”

“... I know,” my voice is a bit quieter this time. “So… where’s this library?”

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

“Agh, okay, calm down! You two are going to hurt each other!” Scorpia calls out, panicking.

“Yeah, Catra, calm down!” Adora grunts. She puts her weight on my shoulders, pushing me down and trying to keep me pinned. But while I’m smaller than Adora, I am not weaker. I swipe up at her, pushing her head back and getting her off balance. I get her one arm off my shoulder and roll onto her, flipping us.

But Adora and I know each other well. As we’re rolling, she gets a leg between us and pushes enough to separate us. I roll away from her, and Adora gets to her feet. “Are we done?”

“Please,” I get back on my feet, my tail flicking behind me as I scan Adora’s form for where I can go to get her back off balance. “Are you getting tired already?”

“Not even close!” Adora declares confidently, despite the sweat I can see on her forehead.

I smirk, and pounce. I slam into her waist, and we tumble to the ground again as Adora shrieks.

Scorpia puts her pincers in front of her face, looking worried. “Oh jeez. If this is how you two spar, I’d hate to see an actual fight!”

There’s a scramble, Adora and I both trying to grab at either other’s wrists, or keep the other pinned.

“Well now it’s just grappling,” Entrapta says from the chair she’s sitting in, although she’s only been half paying attention. She’s spent the last few days where she isn’t in Hordak’s lab, just typing away on her datapad. I haven't paid much attention to it. 

“Get. off!” Adora pushes me hard, and I stumble off to the side. Adora starts to get to her feet, so I sweep her leg and move back for her. But she manages to roll with my momentum, until I’m against the ground. She grabs my wrists, and half slams them. “Now stay here.”

“Not a chance, princess !” I pull my right hand free and swipe at her face. I leave my claws out enough to scratch Adora’s cheek, without causing any actual harm. The blow is enough for her grip to slip, and I shove her off of me.

Adora scoffs, landing on her rear, even as a grin appears on her face. “Oh, you’re dead.”

I stand up. “Try.”

“Or, hear me out,” Scorpia pleads, “we don’t kill each other.”

Adora and I still don’t listen. She moves for me, and this time the sparring is more direct. Her hand flies towards me, I side step. I swipe at her, she grabs my wrist and half swings me to the side. I stumble, but land well. “She started it.”

Entrapta chuckles. “That isn’t true.” She puts her datapad away, paying more attention to Adora and I.

I roll my eyes. I did start it, definitely. But I’m not going to admit that, “no, she made the first remark.”

Adora chuckles, “you’re so full of it,” moving for a jab again. We resume sparring for a bit, but there aren't any more big moves made, and no one really ‘wins’ this time. The roughhousing stops when the door opens.

Adora steps aside. “Hey Lonnie. What’s up?”

She sets down a box in the corner. “Junk Entrapta asked me to pick up. Cables, wrenches and screwdrivers-”

“The decouplers?” Entrapta turns around, cutting Lonnie off.

“Sure, whatever they are.”

“More Hordak work?” Adora asks.

“Yeah, we’re getting work done on this portal device.” She says, casually. Entrapta then promptly freezes up. “Oh, I was told to not say anything about that, though.”

“A portal device?” Adora raises an eyebrow.

Entrapta looks left, then right. “No?”

Adora sighs, “whatever, not worth it.”

Entrapta relaxes. “Good. I already got into this whole thing when I accidentally told Hordak you didn’t trust him, and-”

“You what?”

I feel my fur bristle. “Entrapta, what did you tell him?”

She slinks back a bit. “Nothing much. Remember that conversation we had before we hacked the planet?”

Adora tenses. “You didn’t.”

“I did a little…”

I walk up to Entrapta, placing my hands on her shoulders. “What. did. you. tell. Hordak?”

“I-...” Entrapta takes a deep breath. “I didn’t mention anything about the not coup. Just maybe that Adora really doesn’t trust Shadow Weaver anymore, and also maybe doesn’t trust anyone… which by extension includes Hordak.”

“I- I don’t trust no one!” Adora says defensively. “I trust all of you! Well, most of you…” she looks down, crossing her arms, not directly looking at Entrapta but definitely meaning her, now.

“No, no, it was fine, he reacted fine, Hordak doesn’t know anything about you’ve specifically been training your She-Ra abilities more in case of something going wrong here than the princesses! I think everything will be fine, you and Hordak don’t need to dislike each other!”

I blink a bit. “Entrapta, maybe stop talking.”

“He’s not a bad person! He’d understand. Maybe you can just go and tell him your concerns about him cutting you out.”

Adora scoffs, more real now than when we were sparring. “Tell Hordak I’m concerned? What a great idea. Are you sure he isn’t ticked?”

“Mostly. Look, he didn’t get angry. It’s fine!”

“Doubtful.” I mutter, stepping back.

Entrapta looks more worried. “Look, we don’t need to do anything about this.”

“We definitely do.” Adora says, walking over to me. “I’m gonna go ask Shadow Weaver if she knows if Hordak is planning anything against me.”

“What!?” I turn to her, getting a little too in her face. “How is going to Shadow Weaver about this at all a good idea?”

“She’s always known more than she let on. If Hordak has it out for us, she’d know. Entrapta is partially right in… sentiment. We can’t just go against Hordak on nothing but conjecture.”

“Or,” Entrapta raises her hand, “we don’t go against Hordak at all, and my friends don’t have to fight?”

“I- I’m with that.” Scorpia says.

“I’m not. I’m talking to Shadow Weaver.”

“Adora, no!” I shout. “I can figure out what we need to know, Entrapta isn’t the only one who knows how to sneak around.”

Adora shakes her head. “That’s ridiculously dangerous.”

“I agree, we don’t even need to worry!” Entrapta spreads her hands out, her expression twisting up in worry.

“Entrapta, Hordak is not your friend!” Adora raises her voice, causing Entrapta to flinch away.

"And Shadow Weaver isn't yours!" I clap back at Adora. "What happened to overcoming both of them?"

Adora rolls her eyes, and shakes her head. "I never said she is. I'm pretty sure I said this before, I'm not stupid! I just need information!"

"I'll get it without her !"

Entrapta coughs into her hand. "Um, maybe I can put in a good word?"

“If we move against Hordak, now, we’re screwed.”

Scorpia puts a pincer on Entrapta’s shoulder. “They’re not gonna listen…” She helps Entrapta up off the chair she was in. Entrapta is guided a bit away from Adora and I by Scorpia. Lonnie is mostly standing behind us, groaning.

“Adora, please listen to me,” I start, my voice pleading, “this isn’t a good idea. If we go to Shadow Weaver, we’re backed into a corner.”

“We’re already in a corner. But I can get us out of it! I can’t do that if you escalate things further by going and doing… whatever it is you plan to do,” Adora says sternly.

“And Shadow Weaver isn’t escalating?”

“Shadow Weaver is the only thing standing between Hordak and us. Hordak can’t move against us without moving against her. If he is escalating, we need her.”

“What about going against her too? We can’t trust her! She’ll turn on us the moment Hordak is dealt with!”

“Then we take her down then!”

“When she’ll most expect it? We’d need to get the drop on her. She’s still strong without the Black Garnet. And let’s face it, she doesn’t need to overpower you when she’s already in your head.”

Lonnie walks up, sighing. “Look, I don’t think Adora is in the wrong here. If Hordak is going to be a problem, let's just point the two top dogs against each other and have them tire each other out. We'll clean up.”

I step back, of course she’d take Adora’s side. “That isn’t going to work!” I turn back to Adora. “You’re buried so far under Shadow Weaver’s shit, you don’t see how she’s playing you! She’s still ticked she got removed from Second in Command, you think she won’t just work to get that back?”

Entrapta pushes Scorpia off of her from the side of the room, using her hair to bound over to us. “You’re wrong! He wouldn’t.”

“Entrapta!” Scorpia calls.

“ You’re wrong!” Adora looks at Entrapta, clearly getting more and more fed up.

“Yeah, you are,” I say to her as well. Then I turn back to Adora and cross my arms. “You both are. You can’t trust her! She’s still using you, you know she is. You know that’s all she’s ever done!”

Adora huffs, turning to the side. She drives her foot into the chair, causing it to fall back. “I don’t care!” Adora snaps, taking a deep breath. A lot of her frustration fades. “I don’t care anymore. Everyone out there wants to use me in one way or another. I’m at least going to get the choice of who does it.”

The room goes pretty quiet at it, and I feel like those words cause my stomach to twist, and my heart to drop. “Adora… that isn’t okay…”

Lonnie puts an arm on Adora’s shoulder. “We don’t use-…” She turns to me. “We don’t. Do we?”

Adora shakes her head. “No. You people are the only ones who don’t.” Adora looks up. “But the only thing that matters is I get one more person off the list. And if Hordak is going against us, that’s what we’ll do first.”

I sigh in frustration. “But we don’t need her to do that.”

Adora steps closer, brushing Lonnie off her shoulder. “I’m talking to Shadow Weaver, and that’s that.” She walks past me, our shoulders bumping as she heads for the door.

No one else in the room says anything. I look at Scorpia and Entrapta. Entrapta looks like she’s freaking out, showing much more emotion than I think I’ve ever seen from her. And Scorpia just looks sad. I turn to Lonnie, who is staring ahead at the door Adora left through. “Go get Kyle and Rogelio. Be ready. If Adora isn’t going to listen to me, I’m not going to listen to her.” I start walking towards the door.

Scorpia calls after me, “Catra, maybe we should-”

“Try and stop me.” I interrupt, leaving the room.

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

Glimmer and I stand outside my father’s library. Despite having known Glimmer nearly my entire life, I have never been more nervous than the conversation that is about to happen. It feels even more tense than our argument back during the All-Princess Ball.

“Okay, so, this is the library.” I motion up at it.

“Wow. It’s… big.”

“Yeah.”

“And tucked away. What is this place to you?”

I rub my arm a bit, looking over at her slowly. “It’s… kind of hard to explain.” We had gone back to Bright Moon for a quick stop, I needed to grab a few things. I take a backpack off my shoulder, that was kind of awkwardly clashing against my quiver. “This is… kind of my second home.”

“Your… second home…” Glimmer says slowly.

I nod. “Bright Moon is my home, don’t get me wrong. But in a way, before I grew up there… I grew up here. My dads live here.”

Glimmer looks at me. “You almost never talk about your dads.”

I groan a bit. I love my dads, and I think about them a lot, but Glimmer is right. It makes me feel a little guilty. “It’s complicated. I’ll explain everything. Look, I need to get changed before we go in… and there’s a bit I have to fill you in on.”

Glimmer tilts her head. “What is this about? Do you not like your dads?”

I shake my head, heading for the tree line. “No, I love them, it’s just… give me a moment.” I slip behind the tree, sighing. How do you tell your best friend about how you’re living two worlds, where you’ve done everything you could to keep those worlds separate? Out of sight of Glimmer, I quickly get undressed and pull my ‘student’ outfit out of the backpack, switching into it. I groan a bit as I realize this is going to be a very difficult conversation.

I stash my backpack and weapons under a log, hopefully that will keep the mud out of the bow joints. I step out from behind the tree line, “Okay, we’re good.”

Glimmer turns back to face me from where she was looking at the library. “Okay, then-... what the fuck are you wearing?”

I stop dead in my tracks. “Glimmer, you can’t say-”

She waves her hand dismissively. “And you’re wearing a shirt. A full shirt. So I think we’re both breaking what should and shouldn’t be done.”

“Those are two very different things! One is a shirt. Another would give your mom a heart attack.”

“Please, my mom’s heard me curse before. You think I got my mouth from my dad?”

“That’s,” I think about that and chuckle, looking aside, “actually fair.”

“So why are you wearing that?”

“Like I said, a lot to explain.”

“Then start.” Glimmer says, clearly unhappy.

“I know, I know. It’s… look, my dads are good people. But they want a life for me I don’t want to live, that isn’t me. I wanted to help people, to travel and fight. But they wanted me to be a historian. So… I ran away and taught myself archery and pretended I was at a made up boarding school.”

Glimmer looks at me as if I had suddenly grown a second head. “You- you’re not kidding, are you?”

“No,” I affirm, looking away a bit. “It’s serious.”

Glimmer walks up to me, looking utterly dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I-... didn’t want the worlds to mix.”

“The only thing I know about whatever is going on here is that you have two dads, I could barely ever even get you to mention them! You’re going to have to do better than, ‘didn’t want the worlds to mix,’ Bow!”

I can see the hurt in her eyes that she’s masking with anger, and I can’t even say she’s wrong for it. “Look, I know, I just… it’s complicated. I love my dads, but we haven’t always seen eye to eye. So I left. But at the same time, if anything happened… I didn’t want anything getting back to them.”

“But you didn’t tell me anything! ” Glimmer shouts. “I can respect it being something dark or tragic, but you just… are lying to everyone!?”

“I’m trying to keep them safe! It’s not lying , I’m just, prioritizing rebellion stuff there, and home stuff here.”

Glimmer takes a deep breath. “Yeah, I- I know.” She looks at the library, then back to me. “I want to see your side in this. I get it. I lost my dad, I understand being worried… that… ‘mixing worlds,’ could… be bad for them.”

I relax a lot, rubbing the back of my hand across my forehead. “Cool, cool… I’m sorry. I know it’s a lot-”

“But I’m upset, Bow. I mean, I tell you everything!”

“I know, and I will explain all of this. I have always trusted you, I just… thought it’d be easier keeping it all-”

The front door of the library opens, and Glimmer and I both turn to see my dads.

“Bow?” George asks, Lance walking out from behind him.

“Oh, Bow!” Lance shouts, pushing past George. He runs up, throwing his arms around me.

“H- hi dads…” I say, as Lance squeezes the air out of my lungs.

George follows behind Lance, pulling him off me after a few moments before quickly hugging me as well. “We didn’t expect you until tomorrow.” 

“I wanted to get a jump on things. You know, our break started early… so we started the trek early!” I lie, looking nervously over at Glimmer.

Lance turns to her too. “And who is this? Oh, is this the friend Glimmer you write about!?”

“You write about me?” Glimmer asks me.

“Uh… yeah,” I say to her, then turn back to Lance. “This is my friend Glimmer. You know, the physics major?”

George stares intently at me, giving me a look that says, ‘we’re going to talk about this.’ But he decides to drop it for the moment, turning and holding his hand out to shake Glimmer’s. “Nice to meet you, Glimmer. I’m George, this is my husband Lance.”

Glimmer looks incredibly uneasy, quickly glancing at me. “Yeah, nice to meet you both.”

Lance walks up to Glimmer and George, resting his hand on George’s shoulders. “Let's go inside. I’ll make us tea!”

“Great,” I say, walking up to Glimmer. I ignore her side eye, “it took a lot of walking to get here, we could use a break.”

 

-

 

Glimmer spits out tea she had in her mouth. “B- brother?” Glimmer asks, setting her tea down on the coffee table and looking over at me.

“He’s the youngest of thirteen!” Lance says, proudly. “His older brothers are all off traveling Etheria; researching, documenting, reporting back. We’re working on building the world’s largest collection of artifacts and knowledge!”

“Bow’s working on his history major, he’s always been more partial to taking over the library. We can’t run this place forever,” George says.

“Yeah…” I say quietly.

“Are you two done with the tea? We can start the tour for your friend,” Lance offers.

“Well, I was more so hoping to look into something more specific.” I say, hoping to avoid a tour.

“Like what? We could certainly help.”

“Well, I’m doing a project, for a class on Etherian history… specifically about the First One’s! We’re in a… mythology section. Moreso, just, ancient history where the sources are scarce. What do you have on… Serenia?”

Lance and George share a look. Lance excitedly looks back, “follow me!” Lance moves over to a row of shelves, starting to pull things off. George, Glimmer, and I follow along. Every now and then, Lance hands different scrolls and artifacts to George, as we snake through the shelves. Eventually, Lance heads to a table, dropping a lot of what he grabbed. George wound up carrying a lot, so Lance and him work on making sure everything is safely deposited and George’s use of his arms are freed up again.

“Serenia was the name of a mythical First One’s hero.”

“Although some of us think she was a real person.”

“Mhm. Some of us also think the Elberon vase dates back only one millennium.”

I look down at the mess, a bunch of the work is written in First One’s language, which is nearly useless to Glimmer and I. “Is this everything you have on Serenia?” This is already a lot of stuff, and Glimmer and I are going to have to spend a lot of time translating.

“Oh, no. I'm so sorry. Haha. Everything from the first floor. There's lots more on the second.”

Glimmer’s eyes widen a bit, before she leans back and groans. “Ugh, this is gonna take hours.”

“Hours, days, maybe weeks. And if you're really lucky, it might take you a whole lifetime.” Lance says, leaning in and grabbing George’s hands, stepping a little behind George.

I look down, not one to observe my dads’ sappiness.

“Ugh, you’re so corny,” I hear George murmur, but the disgust is faked.

“I guess we should get to work,” I say to Glimmer, who looks displeased with this entire situation.

Glimmer and I spend what must be the next two hours, looking through scrolls of information on Mara, Serenia, the First Ones in general, but we can’t really find anything useful. And every so often, Glimmer looks over at me like she’s upset.

I don’t want to get into it. I know I can’t keep putting it off, it just sucks knowing that by trying to protect people, I may have hurt them more. I set down a small piece of a First One’s tablet. “We’re still getting nowhere. What does a mythological First One’s hero have to do with the old She-Ra, anyway?” I sigh, then turn back to Glimmer. She’s mostly avoiding looking at me. I guess I can’t dodge it forever. “Hey, Glimmer, what’s up?”

Glimmer sets down the scroll she was using to try and translate a different scroll, looking up at me. “What’s up with you? You have a secret family, you’re supposed to be a historian, you apparently hate pirates, and you never told me about any of this!” Her voice grows louder as she speaks, clearly unable to hold her thoughts together anymore. “I feel like I don’t know you at all!”

That’s where I feel the knife in my gut. In one afternoon, I destroyed her trust in me, and I could destroy everything I have with her and my dads over trying to figure this signal out. “Glimmer… you know everything about me. The real me.” I turn my body towards her, speaking more directly. “I know it was wrong of me to try and keep these worlds apart, I just… they wouldn’t accept me being in the rebellion.”

“You’re clearly miserable though! You can’t just lie to people under the idea of protecting them. I mean, are you actually even sorry, or just sorry you couldn’t bury it forever?”

“I didn’t lie because it was easier! Keeping everything separate, keeping duplicates of the letters I write so I can keep the story straight, knowing I’m letting my dads down every time I come here and don’t tell them the truth… I am sorry. I never meant to make you feel like you weren’t worth the truth.”

Glimmer shakes her head, growing frustrated but keeping her voice level. “No. Don’t even try to play victim with how hard lying is. I mean, what makes you so sure your dads would hate you for being honest?”

“Because you don’t know them. They’ve wanted me to be a historian since I was a baby, they don’t listen when I try to tell them otherwise.”

Glimmer puts a hand to her face, sighing. “You really think they won’t accept you?”

I lean back on the couch, looking ahead at the mess of scrolls and tablets and various artful depictions. “If I did, I wouldn’t feel the need to lie.”

“So this isn’t about protecting them?”

“No, no it is. It’s just also… protecting their idea of who I am.”

Glimmer turns to face me now. “And not telling me was protecting them?”

I look down. “I… I’m sorry. It was just… so many years… I decided to start all this as a kid. And by the time I was… more mature, I just felt like I was in way too deep.”

“So instead of lying to me for a few years, you decided to lie for a lot of years…”

“I’m not… proud… of it…”

“You shouldn’t be.”

“I know, I know…”

“You’re lucky I can’t really blame you completely…” Glimmer starts. “I mean, I do lie to my mom a lot.”

She said it dryly, but I chuckle a little as if it was a joke. “Yeah, you do,” I say, and I see a slight smile form on her face. Maybe… no, I need to make things right, “but you're not wrong. I mean, you don’t lie to me.”

“No. I don’t.” Glimmer mutters, the smile disappearing.

“I’ll tell you everything, I swear. You deserve as much.” I reach over and take her hand. “It’s not right to be lied to for years… and I’m sorry. So no more lies.”

Glimmer sniffles a little. “I… I don’t know if I can just… forgive this instantly…”

I shake my head. “I wouldn’t expect you to. All I ask… is you give me the chance to earn that forgiveness.”

Glimmer squeezes my hand. “Okay.” Glimmer pulls me into a hug, surprising me a little. “No more lies…”

“No more lies,” I affirm.

“Yeah, no more lies .” There’s a scattering noise, and Glimmer and I turn in shock to see George dumping more stuff on the table in front of us. Lance is holding his arm, and George is looking at Glimmer and I with an unreadable expression.

I feel my heart sink to my stomach. “Dads…”

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, suddenly everything is something I need to be ready for. Hordak knows… I can’t take any chances.

Every other set of footsteps I hear, every troop I pass in the hall. It’s a quick trip to Shadow Weaver’s quarters, but it feels like it takes five times as long as it does.

It’s almost funny. Reaching Shadow Weaver’s quarters, the first time I’ve been here since I’ve been promoted… I did everything to avoid this hall, only seeing her during training or when she’d randomly pop by Entrapta’s lab that we all spend our downtime at. But now, I’m almost relieved when I knock, and the door opens.

“Adora… What a pleasant surprise.”

I walk past her, into her quarters. I can feel her stare on me, as she closes the door.

“Well this is new. Did Catra get hurt again?”

I hold my hand up immediately, “don’t start. Catra’s fine, not that you care. No, I’m here because of Hordak.”

Her head tilts a little as she steps closer, “did he tell you to get rid of me?”

“He doesn’t tell me anything,” I say, not sure why I decided to share that. I shake my head. “I need to know what you know. You’re still watching him?”

“That’s a dangerous accusation, Adora,” Shadow Weaver says with a stern tone.

“I don’t care. I need to know if Hordak is planning to get rid of my team.”

Shadow Weaver makes a clicking sound. “Hordak plans against everyone, you should know this.”

“No, I mean specifically. Is he planning on making a move against me or my friends?”

“Is that what they are?”

“I thought I said don’t start,” I say sharply.

“Right, right,” she murmurs. “So you’re worried Hordak found out about your backup plans ?”

I freeze a bit, “what?”

“Don’t pretend to be shocked, you’re smarter than that.”

I take a deep breath, and groan. “Ugh… I don’t… I don’t know…  what to do…”

Shadow Weaver steps closer. “Hordak isn’t the person you think he is. His only power is in those he employs. He’s much too busy with his work.”

“I don’t even know what that work is!”

“Because you haven’t been paying attention.”

“No, I- I do. I do know what he’s doing, he’s building a portal. I don’t know why , but it’s something. And he doesn’t want anyone to know.”

“There is a lot Hordak does not want anyone else to know. Fortunately for you, there is not much Hordak is successful at keeping to himself. What makes you sure Hordak is going to move against you?”

“Entrapta.”

Shadow Weaver looks off to the side for a moment. “The princess… I take it she isn’t good with secrets?”

“Apparently not. What, haven’t been watching her?”

“She didn’t concern me,” she says casually.

“Well, apparently you should have been paying more attention. I mean, apparently you’re still watching me.”

“Please, I’m not scared of you, Adora. Tell yourself whatever you wish, that I’m someone you’ll need to deal with eventually or overcome me.” She steps closer again. Usually, I look down at times like this, prepare myself for the manipulation contact and voice I know is coming. 

But Catra’s voice rings through my ears. “ She’s playing you.” It’s always been true. I’ve always known it to be true. But this isn’t a case of me telling myself I can’t be manipulated if I know. This is me not caring what she tries. I keep my eyes up, on her unchanging mask.

Shadow Weaver continues speaking, “it is not within my interests to harm you. It is not within yours to harm me. We want the same thing: Hordak gone. He stripped me of the Black Garnet. He fears my sorcery, he fears your magic and raw strength.”

“Great, let's have anti-Hordak uniforms made. If you’re on my side, you wouldn’t be spying on me.”

“An understandable sentiment,” Shadow Weaver nods a bit, “but unneeded. I have been… betrayed by a pupil before.”

“You… you have?”

“Years ago. There was another I trusted, put my faith in in the hopes that he would do what was needed when the time called. Micah. In the end… he failed me. But you, you’re different. You’re the strongest person I know, far stronger than me. I know you won’t fail.”

I roll my eyes. “You wanna try that again? Flattery and appealing to ego clashes pretty strongly with spying.”

“And your affection clashes with your distrust. I have not sent out my shadow spies, I only know how you and Catra think. I didn’t actually know you had been plotting until you just now confirmed it for me. But you must know I’m not working against you . I have done nothing but help to prepare you-”

“To make me a weapon!”

“That’s only half true. I made you adaptable, like your sword. A weapon, yes. When needed, like for the princesses or Hordak. But also, a shield. For your team.”

I scoff, trying to shut the words out. “No, you didn’t make me. I made me. You’re just… a piece of how it all fits together. And you have more pieces I need. What’s Hordak planning?”

“Clever girl. You always were.” Shadow Weaver walks around, circling me a bit. “You’ve grown so much. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you tried to hide so much from me. The sword, the powers, your feelings for Catra…”

“What?”

“And I have misled you,” she sidesteps. “As was needed, for you to become the fighter you are today.” She stops in front of me again. “Perhaps you’ll never fully understand me, but you have learned so much from me. In a way, you’re only struggling to understand yourself. What you get from me.”

“Stop talking like that, and just answer what I asked!” I shout, getting frustrated. “Catra is right… I don’t need you for this. I don’t need your riddles and cryptic comments and manipulation. You’re useless!”

“And you imagine yourself as above me. The girl who sees herself as a paragon while telling others she isn’t. You truly don’t know how much of me makes you who you are, when you speak like that?”

“I don’t need mind games right now. You say so much, but it doesn’t actually contribute. If you want to help me, do it. If not, then just stop! I’ll figure it out, I always do.”

“And that I never doubted,” she says smugly. “Do you know what a portal is, Adora?”

“Vaguely,” I say, gesturing out with my hands.”

“Hordak’s portal is designed to rip a hole through space, he intends to bring through a large source of armies for the war.”

“Stop lying and playing games. If there was more Horde stationed somewhere on Etheria, I would know about it! I do most of the troop planning, with Scorpia and Catra.”

She shakes her head a bit, “responsibility you still should never have delegated away from yourself.” She leans in a bit. “You’re smart. What do my words mean?”

I look down, thinking. Hordak has held a lot from me. But the only way for him to have been hiding a ton of soldiers, was if… “they aren’t on Etheria.”

Shadow Weaver stops leaning in, standing tall again. “He intends to finish the war swiftly, with aid.”

“So… we’ll win?”

“No. If Hordak succeeds, you’ll stand no chance at securing the safety of you or your team.”

“No… no, you’re lying again.” I turn around, pacing a bit across her room. “I gotta say, you’ve lost it. There’s no way there’s more Horde, unless there’s more places like Etheria.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out sooner, given your investigations of the First Ones. Surely, it should click that the First Ones weren’t of Etheria.”

My eyes go wide a bit, and I stop pacing. “I-... Eternia. The password of several First One's systems. Entrapta was never able to figure out what that word meant.”

“I can’t say for sure, but my guess would be a planet. Their planet.”

“Other planets… other worlds. And Hordak… is building a portal to them?”

Shadow Weaver nods, “I hope whatever you’re planning with your team will work. But if Hordak is able to open that portal… you lose. We lose.”

“No…”

“It really shouldn’t be so hard to believe. I mean, you’re one of them.”

I look up, then turn around to face her again. “One of what? The Horde?”

“A First One.”

All of my thoughts stop. Her words repeat in my head, over and over again. I want to say it isn’t true, that it can’t be true. But it would make too much sense… She-Ra would make too much sense.

“When Hordak began experimenting with portals, there was an instance where for a few small moments, a portal was opened. And you came through. A child, barely born.”

“No.”

“I gain nothing from lying here, Adora. If Hordak knows about your plans, and is getting close to finishing his portal, then our time is limited. We need to act, or those you care about will be hurt. You will be hurt.”

“No, stop! You’re lying again, I know it!” I step back, not believing my own words.

She steps closer. “Adora… I don’t say this often. I doubt I should. But I care about you, my child. You must trust me on this, on everything. We can fix this.”

My breathing is quick. I don’t believe her… but what other options do I have? What reason would she have to lie about this? I step aside, then just start walking for the door. I need answers, and I’m not going to know for sure if I stick with her.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.” I say, closing the door and walking down the hall. But in only moments, my body just starts moving, my feet going forward more and more until I’m sprinting through the halls of the Fright Zone. We’re running out of time, all of us. But first… I just need to be sure that now is the time to move, so I keep running, and make a turn that heads down to the skiff bay.

 

---

 

 

Bow’s POV

Lance steps forward. “We were on our way back from the second floor… We heard most of this little conversation.”

“Bow,” George has his eyes narrowed a bit. He’s an imposing man, and even though there isn’t a hint of hostility or anger it still makes me feel awful when he looks at me and asks, “what’s going on here?”

I feel myself panicking a bit. But I feel my hand squeezed again, and it calms me enough to remember to breathe. I do so, looking down for a moment, before looking back up. “Dads… I, uh… I did something a long time ago. Something… that was the right thing to do for me. But I did it in the wrong way…”

“Bow, you can tell us anything, you know that,” Lance says, calmly.

“I… I’m… not living at the Academy of Historic Enterprises. I’m living in Bright Moon…”

“Bright Moon…” George murmurs.

“And I’m fighting for the rebellion, and Glimmer is the princess of Bright Moon, and I’ve been lying this whole time because I was afraid you two wouldn’t accept that I don’t want to and have never wanted to be a historian!” I speak quickly, closing my eyes and mostly just praying.

“What!?” George Shouts.

“Now, I know that sounds bad, I just felt like Etheria needed my help.

“Your help?”

Lance squeezes on George’s arm. “George, hang on… Bow,  you’re… fighting for the rebellion?”

I nod, not really able to meet their eyes.

“And you’re the Queen’s daughter?” George asks Glimmer.

Glimmer nods. “Yeah…”

George turns around and starts walking away from the table. I lean a bit forward to look past Lance. “Dad?”

Lance sighs, “one second,” he turns and walks up to George.

They start talking, but Lance is ensuring they stay quiet. Everytime George’s voice raises, Lance quiets down for the both of them.

I look over at Glimmer. She immediately tries to comfort me, not that I deserve it from her right now. “It’s gonna be okay. They’ll accept you for being a rebellion fighter, your dads seem like good people.”

I nod, looking down, “they are.”

From my left, where my dads are, I hear George shout, “I swore on it!”

I don’t listen, but I do look back over. Lance puts a hand on George’s shoulder, stepping closer. He says something else, then George sighs and nods. I smile a little. George always had a tendency to be strong spoken, but Lance always brought him back. They still bring out the best in each other.

Lance looks over and motions for me. I stand up and walk over to them. “Uhm… hi.”

George looks at me. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I tried to. For years… but it was like I was ignored if I didn’t talk about being a future historian. And… I know how you’d feel, given… everything you lost.”

Lance’s expression turns sorrowful. “We… we did?”

“I didn’t want to break your hearts… I’m sorry.”

George pulls me into a hug suddenly, Lance joining, “you don’t need to lie to us, Bow.”

Lance continues with, “we raised you to be a historian, but we also raised you to do what’s right.”

George leans back a bit. “Are you taking care of yourself out there?”

“I am. I’ve… I’ve been in a lot of fights. And while I know not to be cocky, I haven’t gotten hurt too badly yet.” I think back to the battle of Bright Moon, but it is the truth. I recovered fine, with no permanent damage.

Lance nods. “Then keep going, Bow. Several of your brothers would take over the library. Go forge your own destiny.”

George looks over at Glimmer, “and your friend will always be welcome here.” He looks back at me. “Just be honest, please.”

“We’re sorry we made you feel like you couldn’t talk to us, but you can. We care about you, Bow. You can always trust us, with anything,” Lance says.

I wipe my eyes a bit, feeling like I’m being more understood than I deserve. “Thanks dads. I- I’ll do better.”

“So will we,” George affirms, stepping back as we break up. “So I guess this ‘project’ is something you need to do for the war? What’s going on?”

I look at Glimmer for a second. “Can you please grab my stuff?”

Glimmer nods, “any time.”

*Poof!*

She’s gone and back in an instant, handing me my backpack, bow, and quiver. “Here you go!”

I see George and Lance look at each other, eyes a little wide. Lance shrugs it off, and George just sighs.

I grab my backpack, pulling out my tracker-pad. I open the saved message, showing it to George and Lance. “We got this message when we got rid of enough interference from Alwyn. It’s faint, barely detectable. And I don’t know where the source is. All it is is three words, the rest just looks too degraded.”

“And you know what those words mean?” Lance asks.

“Serenia, Portal, Mara. We aren’t sure what everything together means.”

“Wait a second. Lance, what does this pattern look like?”

Lance gasps aloud, pulling the tracker-pad closer to look more closely, “oh, I think you're right.”

“What is it?”

George takes my tracker-pad and turns it back around. “Look at it, Bow. Really look at it. What do you see?”

I look at it. It’s just the words that have always been there, with degraded words around the side. The words can’t just mean something else… unless they aren’t talking about the words. I look closer at the degraded parts. And… it’s not actually that degraded. The dots and lines aren’t First One’s writing, it’s something else entirely! “Those aren’t words at all, are they?”

“Oh, now you've got it. George, get the projector!” Lance announces excitedly.

The movement is fast and frantic, George setting up the projector as Lance kills the lights. But instead of displaying anything on the wall, the actual lens is on the top. A projection is splayed out along the roof, white dots over the roof.

George clears his throat, and starts speaking almost excitedly over what we’re being shown. “The world of the First Ones was different from ours. Climate, language, even the sky was different, filled with cosmic formations they called…” he pauses, seemingly for dramatic effect.

I kind of shrug, looking up at the projected image of twinkling dots, as does Glimmer.

“Stars. They were called stars,” Lance informs us. “The First Ones used them to navigate and named constellations after mythical heroes, including Serenia.”

“The constellation Serenia would only appear in summer and only over one place.” The projector adjusts, displaying a map of Etheria over itself. But it pans, away from the woods and away from Bright Moon.

Panning straight to, “the Crimson Waste…” Glimmer murmurs.

“Which means the signal we’re getting could be coming from there…” I think.

George shakes his head. “I doubt it. The Crimson Waste can’t support life, there probably isn’t anything out there that could send a signal.”

“Then maybe there’s something there we need to find,” I say, turning to face Glimmer.

“Then that’s where we go next!”

“What!?” Lance shouts, his voice shrieking a little bit. “You can't go just into the Crimson Waste. It's a no-man's-land, a giant lifeless desert! No one's ever made it that far and come back alive.”

George steps closer to me, turning off the projector. “Promise me you won’t go there. No more lies.”

Glimmer and I look at each other again. I nod to her, turning back to my dads. “Look… there’s too much at stake right now. Apparently, Mara was bad news. And apparently, whatever is going on with this portal is something that Glimmer and I need to stop before it starts. I’m sorry, but we need to go.

It’s my dads’ turn to glance at each other. “Bow…” George says.

“Be safe,” Lance says, pulling me into a hug once more.

“Always am,” I say, pulling away and hugging George too. I pull back, looking at Glimmer. “You wanna go now?”

Glimmer steps closer, “You bet. Nice to meet you two.”

“Visit again soon,” George says.

I look at them and nod, smiling. And we’re gone.

 

---

 

Catra’s POV

Something is wrong. I know the moment I step into Hordak’s sanctum. Hordak doesn’t appear to be here, and everything is dark. Not that I can’t see, my eyes can pick up every detail just fine. But the fact alone that the only light is coming from a few pods catches me off guard. I feel on edge as I step carefully through the sanctum. There isn’t too much to see, nothing stands out.

There’s a table, it looks like someone’s working on armor. A few crystals of First One data. Something that looks vaguely like a canon. I head over to the desk, opening the desks. There’s got to be something here, some file or note on Adora.

I start skimming through the folders, but none of the labels match up. Portal stuff, notes on energy consumption and output, general reports on Horde operations. Nothing specifically on Adora.

There’s even reports she submitted, but no comments on them or her performance. I frown, turning over more files when I hear the door to the sanctum slide open. Not taking any chances, I duck under the desk.

Hordak’s footsteps are loud, booming through the room. I grab my tail and hold it close, not risking it swaying out under the side or back. He half marches across the room, but also… half stumbling? I tilt my head, watching as he nearly struggles across the lab.

He reaches a table of equipment not far over, panting a bit. Hordak practically tears his cape off his back, as one hand clutches at the armor over his chest.

His pet Imp scurries down from the rafters, a sound I swear I’ve become familiar with recently. And suddenly, it all dawns on me. The Imp… I knew something was off about it ever since Adora got Hordak’s permission for the acquisition of the black garnet. How could I have forgotten? The scratching in the rafters and vents, too light to be Entrapta… was all Hordak’s Imp pet.

I narrow my eyes, feeling frustrated. We’ve been making one careless move after another, and we both probably just made another one. Hordak knows… he’s always known. This doesn’t explain why he’s been waiting on what he knows, though.

I slink out from under the desk, I need to get out of here now and tell Adora we need to move. So much for Entrapta’s hope for peace. When it seems like Hordak is too busy struggling with whatever is going on with his body, I turn and start running for the door.

Thankfully, my feet are quiet. I know how to move while being fast and silent. Unfortunately, Hordak’s little tattletale decides to turn and spot me at the worst time. The screech is sudden and loud. Normally, I’d be filled with fear. But right now, it doesn’t matter. Adora will make her move, it’ll be fine…

And then a barrier goes up around the open part of the room, and I stop dead in my tracks. I can feel the air being ripped from my lungs in an instant, and I drop to my knees.

“Hmpf. Catra, yes? I suppose it was only a matter of time before your team got too bold and decided you were above consequence .”

I gasp, as he walks into the circle. I hear him behind me, but everything sounds far. Not muffled, not quite, but it sounds like he’s echoing, far from me. I struggle to turn around and face him, unable to get air in my lungs.

“Adora. She-Ra . She really thought I would stand by, and let her team work as if they were not under my control.”

I clutch at my chest. This doesn’t feel like suffocation, it feels like drowning. My vision is starting to blur, and I can feel my eyes watering.

“I’d almost consider it a shame, given the reports suggesting Adora’s efficiency. But efficiency comes at a cost. Shadow Weaver was efficient, and she too forgot her place. But I still have a use for Adora .”

I try to get up, to stand, but everything burns. I can feel my consciousness starting to slip. I’ve felt close to death before. I was sure I was going to die in the Crystal Castle, I was worried Bright Moon wouldn’t go well due to all the natural disasters, and I felt the possibility when Adora was infected. This is one of those times, where I don’t have a way out. Where whatever is going to happen, will happen.

“If Adora gets as bold as you were today, entering where you are not. Allowed. Trust she will meet the same fate. But, perhaps, I’ll only have to make this example once ,” his voice keeps booming, loud and distant and all encompassing as I struggle to breath. I gasp feebly one more time, his red eyes looking at me with an expression that suggests he is only mildly annoyed over anything else.

Maybe Adora was right, maybe she did need her, and this was a bad idea… or maybe I should have gone with her, made sure Shadow Weaver didn’t pull her usual tricks. As the darkness expands, filling my vision, I only find myself hoping she’ll be okay.

Notes:

I hope I did the Reunion stuff just differently enough to justify including it without skipping over it and writing in 'that happened off screen.'

Also I love writing in parallels into this fic, makes me feel like I'm not making as much of this up as I am!

Chapter 21: Journey to the Crimson Wastes

Summary:

Adora is being pushed to act by Hordak. The Horde and Rebel duos decide to not have a tense stare-off and instead opt for a tense walk in the Crimson Wastes.

Catra’s POV

My eyes slowly blink open. I feel sore, and beaten down.

My head is pounding, and I’m disoriented.

The floor is cold.

I’m cold.

I try to lift my head up off the ground, but I’m still dizzy.

I’m laying on metal… the floor. More metal, digging into my wrists

I roll onto my back, opening my eyes. The room is spinning, I can’t gain my sense of balance.

I take a deep breath, looking down at my wrists. Cuffed, green cables leading to the wall. I’m stuck.

“Ugh…” I roll back over, pulling my knees under me. It’s a struggle, and I’m still a little dizzy, but I get myself to my feet. I can barely keep my weight up, stumbling forward and catching myself on the wall.

I look at the cables, they’re more of a mesh fabric than a simple chain link. I frown. Thin metal I could probably slice through, this mesh would bend, can’t tear through it. I sigh, turning around and putting my back to the wall, sliding down to my feet.

I look down, thinking. I know it doesn’t end here. As soon as Adora finds out, I’ll be fine. Not that I need to rely on her. I’ll get out of this, I always do…

“Catra!” I hear Scorpia’s voice ring out, from somewhere in the prison. There's footsteps, and then she runs past the door. She backs up, double taking. "Oh, Catra, I finally found you…" She pants, pincer-hands on her knees.

“Scorpia? I get on a knee, and push myself back up to my feet, “what are you doing here? What time is it?”

“Getting you out, I hope. And not long, it’s still before noon. Adora’s in the wind, we don’t know-”

“What do you mean Adora’s in the wind!?” I shout, worried.

“We don’t know! We don’t think she’s in the Fright Zone…”

“Did Hordak get to her?”

“Well none of the rest of the team got grabbed, so I don’t know…”

“He- he said he still has use for her.”

Scorpia glances around, worried, “oh jeez, that doesn’t sound good… Look, I can get you out. Maybe we can lay low somewhere until Adora gets back and-”

I sigh, pacing back and forth in the cell. “No! Don’t do anything. There isn’t much any of you can do right now, and it isn’t worth throwing yourselves under his boot, too.”

“But Catra, we don’t have a lot of time before…” she looks at the keypad, pressing a few buttons, and frowning.

“Scorpia, you need to go!”

“He’s called everyone to view your punishment, whatever he’s going to do.” She presses another few buttons, only for it to buzz again. “Oh boy, hmm…”

“Leave! Now isn’t the time. We could make a move during this hearing, but without Adora, we’d risk someone getting hurt. It isn’t worth it!”

“You’re worth everything!” Scorpia shouts, slamming her pincers on the barrier. “You’re a great friend to Entrapta and I. I see how you try with the others. And Adora… Adora needs you! You’ve never been the type to give up and let other people handle it. We’re a team, Catra, we aren’t going to just roll over and let anything happen to you!”

I look down, furrowing my brows. She really cares. But this isn’t like any other situation. “Scorpia… if we try anything too extreme… we won’t be able to get everyone out safely. Just… hang tight with the others, okay? If we need to move during the assembly, I’ll signal it. But I trust Adora… I can wait, if it means no one gets hurt. We’re going to be fine, now go before someone sees you!”

“Catra…”

“Go!”

Scorpia leans back, looking upset. But she puts on a brave face and nods, before turning and heading off again.

I walk back to the wall and sit down again. 

Okay Catra, think. Hordak caught me snooping, he said he’s going to make an example of me. Because he thinks Adora can still be useful… I’m not sure what’s meant by that, is he using Adora for something? Does he know something else? I’m not sure if all of Hordak is real. I mean, I barely interacted with him. I can’t tell myself he isn’t terrifying. Clearly, Adora is slightly afraid too. More so for his influence than his direct power. 

Yet at the same time, now I know he isn’t anything too special. He’s falling apart… just as much as everything else in the Fright Zone, and the Fright Zone itself. Even the tensions forming within the team… everything feels like it’s falling apart. I look down, at the cuffs still on my wrists. I sigh, before my hands clench into fists. It can’t end here. I know it won’t.

There's no way to keep track of time in here. There's no way to do anything. No time, no water, nothing to do but sit here. The metal walls are thick, I can't cut through them without practically digging at the metal, until my fingertips are raw. It'd take more time than I have, I need to save my strength.

I close my eyes, just letting my thoughts come to me. A few weeks ago,  I was excited about where things were going. It feels weird to think to myself that I actually made friends. That I'd actually consider Scorpia, Entrapta, Kyle, and Rogelio people I… care about. And Lonnie… well, I no longer wish her harm. 

Just recently, we went Bowling. Scorpia's idea of a team bonding exercise. And the whole time… everyone was having fun. Even, in a way, Adora… I clutch at the fabric of her jacket, still on me. It helps to feel safe, in a way, as I let my thoughts drift.

 

-

 

"Are these two always like this?" Entrapta asked, looking at Lonnie.

"Definitely. I swear, the only reason Catra ever got good times was to spite Adora."

I glanced over at Lonnie, letting out a low growl. It isn't antagonistic, she was right, but I didn't want her to keep going. I turned down the lane, and threw the ball. It rolled down, hitting near the middle left of the pins. I managed to get seven pins, a one-two split.

Rogelio sat at the edge of the lane. Recreational activities here get a very small allocation of resources and funding, It takes away from the military budget. So the entire thing is set up manually. And the bowling balls we have in the Horde are basic, and Rogelio's hands can't really hold them, but he enjoys setting up and just hanging out with the rest of us. He always did back when bowling was something only he, Lonnie, Kyle, and a few other cadets did. This time, he actually has been bowling though, since Entrapa had made special balls for him and Scorpia to be able to participate.

When Rogelio rolled the ball back up through the gutter, I grabbed it. As he removed the knocked pins, I got back into position. I threw it again, only managing to knock one of the two pins on the right. I frown slightly, but looking at Kyle as he tallies the points, that still leaves me with a thirteen point lead over Adora, this time.

Entrapta was winning overall. Apparently, when Scorpia had suggested bowling, Entrapta decided to study the sport. She actually read up on the best spots to aim, how to throw a ball so it curves, and proper forces to throw them with. It only took her the practice game to figure out how to apply her knowledge well enough to have the lead, but I didn't feel bothered by it, I only cared about beating Adora.

"Your turn, Lonnie," Kyle said.

While Rogelio set up, Lonnie walked over to Kyle. "Tsk tsk, sloppy Adora. You're in third place."

"I don't win every time…" Adora muttered. She was clearly off her game, her annoying prodigal nature couldn't win her everything. It's why I had only felt so good about my lead.

"Still better than me," Lonnie admitted. She took her turn, I wasn't really paying attention to how she did.

"Well, we're only playing for fun," Scorpia had said, putting an arm over Adora.

I smiled a little. Scorpia seemed to finally be getting along a little better with Adora after the stuff in the Northern Reach, even if that does mean Adora was now experiencing her total neglect of personal space. "Speak for yourself, Adora and I can have our competition and Entrapta is clearly doing… whatever she's doing."

"Don't worry, I'll tell everyone what I figured out after I form my conclusion," Entrapta waved her hand, somewhat dismissively.

"Kyle, you're up," Lonnie says.

Kyle got up from the bench he was sitting on. He handed the clipboard to Adora. Rogelio set up the pins, and pushed out the two plastic barriers on either side of the lane. Years ago, we were hard on Kyle for not playing like the rest of us. But maturity comes easier with age. It let Kyle have more fun, keeping up instead of guttering constantly. Even if the plastic barriers the other cadets put together were flimsy, since they weren't originally built in, it still worked well enough.

I looked at Adora, "you glad you came out tonight?"

"Yeah…" she murmurs, but I can tell there's a lot on her mind. She hasn't talked much about the reach after that first night. I thought- still think- she was trying not to focus on it, but there's a look she got in her eyes whenever she looked at me that night. She was still confused or worried about what happened, but being out here bowling was clearly helping.

"Good. Cause after Rogelio, you're up again. I don't want this to be an easy game for me," I said playfully.

"You're not even winning!" Adora shouted, holding the clipboard up as if I was gonna look at it.

I swiped at it, claws in of course, just to get it out of my face, "I'm winning where it counts!"

Scorpia chuckled hearing that, "well it's a few turns before my turn. I think I'm gonna go grab the rations we smuggled in."

"Need a hand?" I asked.

"Nah, I can hold a bag," she says, her sincerity and lack of mocking tone in her words really is something else.

I nod, turning back to see Entrapta taking her turn. She got another spare. Lonnie does a half congratulatory high five her hair, Kyle came back over and took the clipboard back from Adora. Rogelio set up for himself already. 

It was smooth, it was fun. Unlike this morning, there wasn't any arguing. Adora seemed okay. 

I know she can be okay, really okay, one day. Maybe then I'll be okay too, as will everyone. But it's hard to say.

 

-

 

"Prisoner," A guard's voice snaps me out of my memories. “Get up. Hordak has summoned an assembly to decide your fate.”

“Lucky me,” I grumble, standing up instantly. I walk forward towards the green barrier.

The guard who spoke opens the barrier, before he walks forward. He undoes the link between my wrists and the wall. The other guard draws their stun-baton, just so I don’t try anything. Not that I was going to anyway.

The cuffs are reattached together, leaving me somewhat unable to fight back. But they aren’t exactly careful, I could easily get out of this if I wanted to, but there’s no use. Even if I could reach the door, I’d never get out of the Fright Zone. I’d have nowhere to go. And Hordak so far hasn’t promised harm to the team, and I shouldn’t risk screwing them over, too.

“Move,” the one guard says. His voice is calm, but as he reaches for me, I make it known he’s not going to push me.

“Don’t touch me, I’ll move,” I say, already walking forward. My voice is low, I make the threat obvious.

“Yeah, whatever,” he says, clearly not caring either way.

I head forward, slowly, keeping pace with the two guard escorts. They’re on either side of me, but they don’t really seem to be watching me closely. The second guard hasn’t even said a word yet. I get the feeling they don’t really care for being here, either.

We walk in silence, through the halls. There aren’t a lot of Horde soldiers here, I don’t know why. Usually, every trip, you pass maybe half a dozen, at least a half. Especially near the times when rations are given out. But now… everything is quiet. Must be a big assembly.

The only sounds right now are the heavy footsteps of the guard on either side of me, and my own light steps. I’m not bothered by the quiet. When it’s real late at night, and only the scouts are up, sometimes the Fright Zone gets quiet enough I could hear the low rumble of the forge, or the comings and goings of trucks, from the barracks. There were nights I’d be restless from the sounds. The lack of them now is uneasy.

Reaching Hordak's Sanctum, the door is already open. I see most of the team on the right, minus Adora and Entrapta. There are guards on either side, quite a few of them. Hordak stands in the middle, facing away from the entrance and the people of the Horde. He's trying to appear mysterious and cold again. Adora always bought into the act, as did everyone. I like to think I can see through acts better than most.

But it's still uneasy. The atmosphere in the room is tense, with a few dozen people on either side of the room all standing at attention. The team is on the right, all of them looking over the second I walk in. Scorpia is nervous, Kyle is outright quivering with a supportive hand on his shoulder from Rogelio. Lonnie sees me, and simply gives me a small nod of her head. She’s the only one that isn’t worried. I look at her, not nodding back, but feeling a little better. It means some people are still confident in how this is going to go. So I turn towards Hordak.

“Stop here,” the guard on my left says.

I ignore him, walking into the center of the room. My legs feel heavy, as I try to hold strong. I’m not going to give Hordak what he wants. I don’t stop until I’m probably closer to Hordak than I should be.

Hordak stands with his back turned to me. He’s breathing slowly and heavily, and for the first time I know it’s because he isn’t right. I didn’t have much time to focus on it before, but now, I can see him for what he is. His breathing isn’t just heavy, it’s pained. Even now, I can see it. Just like his rule over the Fright Zone, he’s hanging on by a thread. I smirk.

“Catra…” his voice suddenly booms. Hordak slowly turns around, hands tucked behind his back under his cape. “We are here to discuss the punishment for your transgressions. Subterfuge, conspiracy to commit treason, blatant insubordination.” Hordak starts walking in a bit of a circle around me, slowly. His eyes never leave me.

I hold still, not letting my nerves show. I keep my eyes on his, except for when he walks too far to my left to leave my field of view. I turn right, waiting until he walks back in front of me.

“Force Captain Catra has proven to be an incapable leader. Our advances are being squandered by poor leadership. And this one thought she was above rules, above my reach, and above consequence.”

I feel my heart rate increase. The air is growing more tense, and I can feel my fur bristling.

“Take a lesson from this. This is what happens to failure.”

I resist letting out a low growl, feeling an urge to lash back out at this ineffective, hypocritical mess of a leader. But I bite my tongue, looking down. Right now, there’s an air of calm over enough of the room despite the tension. Scorpia and Kyle are worried, but that’s their nature. There’s a reason Lonnie and Rogelio are calm. They trust Adora.

I trust Adora. My head lifts again, meeting Hordak’s eyes. I don’t challenge him, but I don’t waiver.

He looks down at me, his eyes slowly narrowing as a smirk forms on his lips. “Crimes with the nature of yours would normally merit the harshest punishments that can be implemented, far worse than anything you can imagine. But, there has been a change of plans.”

“Hi Catra!” I feel two large masses of hair wrap over my shoulder or tap the top of my head. “I saved your life! You’re welcome!”

I blink at Entrapta as she appears over my shoulder. “I- I don’t understand.”

“Entrapta has interceded on your behalf,” Hordak says as Entrapta steps back off of me and approaches him. Hordak steps closer, before continuing, “you are being sent to retrieve First One’s tech for us.” He takes one more step closer. “In the Crimson Waste.”

My eyes go wide as the words wash over me. “The Crimson Waste? It's a total dead zone. Nothing survives out there!” I shout, gesturing out with my hands.

Hordak’s only response is to chuckle. “Exactly.”

I stand in shock, wondering what this game is. He can’t send me to die, he just made that clear. He wants me out there for a reason. Either to send me on a fool's errand… or because he already knows what we do about our chances of getting out of this relying on Adora.

The guards turn me around, and start leading me away from Hordak’s sanctum. I give Scorpia a reassuring nod, turning forward. I freeze for a moment, seeing Shadow Weaver at the entrance. The guard on my right shoves me forward to keep me moving. So I swallow the dread in me and walk towards the door.

I can feel her eyes on me the whole time through her mask as I approach. And as I’m pulled past her and into the hall, she even has the gaul to turn and say, “seems you should’ve listened to Adora.”

“Oh, shut up!” I hiss at the sorceress, as the guards continue pushing me alone. I take a deep breath, calming myself a bit. This doesn’t really change anything. No matter what Hordak does, he and Adora are already on a collision course. It isn’t that I’m relying on Adora, but this was always going to be how this goes.

 

---

 

Adora’s POV

As it stands, there’s a lot I haven't figured out about everything I’ve learned today. I’m overwhelmed, my thoughts still racing. Hordak knows, Shadow Weaver has been lying to me far more than just simple manipulation, my team has been watched from the start…

I’m not sure I’m surprised. I’ve known what type of people Hordak and Shadow Weaver are for a while now. But to have been told I'm not even from Etheria, for Shadow Weaver to imply over and over again that my character has been… compromised…

The wind in my face is intense, the skiff is driving at max speed. I've ridden like this before, so I'm fine going off like this again. There's only one person who could confirm Shadow Weaver's story, because I wasn't about to just blindly trust what could be just another lie. Maybe I don't have a reason to think she's lying, maybe that's what she wants me to think to hide something else… Either way, I need to be sure.

After nearly an hour of driving, I pull through the tree line off the paths, having learned the way around the woods well enough. Unlike the rest of our troops, I never really seemed to need a map.

I stop the skiff, stepping off. I look up the ruined castle, tucked away in the woods. It went back to being unlit and run down shortly after the Battle of Bright Moon, according to some Horde scouts. I draw my sword, walking up towards the entrance of the Crystal Castle. Last thing I need is to be surprised by giant spiders.

“Eternia!” I shout, and wait as the door glows, and the lights travel up along powered lines just like it did last time. The door drops, and I step down into the dark of the castle. Unlike last time, Catra is still in the Fright Zone, and I don’t have her eyes. That’s what sword magic is for: I hold up the sword, and the blue runestone tucked in the hilt glows, emanating the surrounding walls with a soft blue light.

It’s a short walk before I’m in the center. “Light Hope! It’s Adora. Or She-Ra, I don’t really care who I need to be,” I mutter, before raising my voice back up and shouting, “come on, show yourself, Light Hope!”

The lights of the Crystal Castle turn on. I shield my face for a second as my eyes adjust, lowering my sword and stopping its dim light.

“Adora. I did not expect to see you here again- see you yet.”

“Yet?”

“You expressed great apprehension to your role- your purpose as She-Ra when last here, I did not expect you to be brought here-  to change your mind so soon.”

I shake my head a little, rolling my eyes, “oh I didn’t change my mind. I’m not here to fight your war.” But something about Light Hope right now gives me pause. Her speech patterns are off, her hologram is shifting.

“Then why are you present- are you here?”

“To ask questions. And I want answers, real ones this time! I’m sick of vague riddles and talking around things!” When there isn’t a response for a few moments, I add, “what’s going on with you?”

“All will be revealed in time- when needed- but while the planet is unbalanced-”

“I don’t care about whether Etheria is balanced or not!”

Light Hope just looks down at me, as cold as ever. “As She-Ra, it is your dest- duty to care.”

“Oh, just stop! I don’t know anything about you. I don’t know anything about She-Ra. And you clearly aren’t interested in giving answers, so I’m not asking. But I am going to ask one thing. Where am I from?”

“Adora, you can not ignore-”

“Answer me!”

Light Hope’s hologram looks aside for a moment, in mock thinking. Or actual computing, I suppose. “I am confused. Why are you asking about things you witnessed?”

“What?”

“Why are you asking about events from your own memory banks?”

“I- I was a baby! Babies don’t remember things!” I shout, putting my hand to my forehead.

“Interesting. I shall make a note of this.”

“You’re not going to tell me anything I need to know, are you?”

“Your mission is to balance Etheria as She-Ra. But you refuse to cooperate, even having illegally corrupted- bypassed the Sword of Protection’s counter-protocols. As it stands, I am- am unable to help you in your heretical goals.”

“What is your problem!? I don’t care about your mission. But you have answers, answers I want. Answers I need!”

“My answers will bring you no satisfaction- will bring you only confusion in your current state of mind.”

“My current state of mind?” I ask, feeling my frustration at the hologram rising. “My current state of mind?” I repeat.

“You are behaving irrationally- still going against your destiny, as if you have a right to choose- as if you could change your programming. You are compromised, like Mara.”

“I don’t care about Mara! I’m not here to ask about She-Ra, or Etheria. I just need you to answer me on where I came from!”

“You are already aware of your origin. My sensors, limited as they- broken as they are, still can see through you. You know- are aware of your origin as one you call a First One. If you are not here to complete your destiny yet- to fulfill your purpose, then why else are you here?”

I start pacing, growing more frustrated. “You know where I came from, right? Where was it? Did I have a family? Who were they?”

“You cannot. You were brought here- summoned- through a portal, one opened by your boss. Hordak.”

I stop pacing. I look down, and take a deep breath in, and out. I look back up at Light Hope. “... What?”

“What would you wish for me to clarify?”

“Everything!”

“You are Eternian. Brought here through a gateway- a portal that was opened by Hordak. There is nothing else I can say.”

I huff air out, turning around. “You’re right. Once again, there is nothing here for me!” I shout, starting to walk out. 

“This path you walk… it will always lead back here, Adora.”

“Great. I’ll see you later,” I say sarcastically, exiting the Crystal Castle.

 

-

 

Getting back to the Fright Zone isn’t that much of a hassle. Light Hope was useless as always, but she did confirm two things for me: Shadow Weaver wasn’t lying to me, and Hordak is responsible for everything I have ever dealt with. He brought me to Etheria. He brought me to the Horde. He took the life I could have lived from me before I had spatial awareness. It sits wrong in my stomach, and after learning that he’s onto us, I feel even more certain of what I have to do.

I park the skiff I drove off on. I haven’t been gone long, but the lack of the two guards usually present at the entrance to the skiff bay immediately raises my concern. I get off the skiff, and start heading down through the halls. I pass by a few guards here and there in the halls, all walking from the center complex.

Two guards walk around me. They go out of their way to avoid me, I even see one side stepping. I tilt my head, but pay it no mind as I keep walking. However, only a moment later, another guard passes me. Only this time, the guard suddenly turns and heads into a supply closet.

“Huh…” I mutter to myself, turning back as I continue to Entrapta’s lab. Everyone should probably still be there, I wasn’t gone for too long. I keep walking, but when I get to Entrapta’s lab, there’s nobody in it.

“Where is everyone?” I ask myself quietly, turning back down the hall. I see a guard, turning a corner. They see me, and immediately freeze, backing up. “Hey!” I call out, running up to them.

“Oh, uh, Force Captain Adora. How can I help you?” They speak nervously, as if they’re anxious.

I narrow my eyes. “What’s going on here?”

“Well, um… There was just a meeting, half the staff on-site staff was there…”

“What for?” I ask, leaning in a bit.

The guard steps back. “There- there was an assembly called, to- to decide the fate of one of another Force Captain.”

I feel my heart skip a beat. I reach out and grab the shoulders of the guard, pressing them against the wall. “Was it-”

“Adora!” I hear a voice shout from the other end of the hall. I turn and see Scorpia, who starts running forward. “Adora, there you are!”

“Scorpia?” I let go of the guard, who quickly scrambles off before I can turn my attention back to them. “What’s going on?”

Scorpia stops running as she winds up near me. She has her pincers resting on her knees, panting. “Oh, oh man. Adora. Where were you? Lonnie, Kyle, and I have been looking all over for you!”

“Why, what’s going on? What happened?”

“It’s-” Scorpia breathes in again, “whew… it’s Catra. Catra went into Hordak’s lab, Hordak is having her sent off!”

I tilt my head a bit, my expression falling flat. I can almost hear my heart beating in my ears. “Where?”

“To the Crimson Waste…” Scorpia says, “the transport already went out. We- we didn’t know what to- where are you going?”

I pull my sword off my back, walking straight back for the skiff bay. I know where the Wastes are, Catra and I did enough location studying in hopes of traveling Etheria. But like everything else, we’re not allowed to have that. And now, Hordak sent Catra away, while I wasn’t here. I pass two guards on my way to the skiff bay, I can feel their heads turn to follow me as I pass them.

The energy in the Fright Zone is tense, as if everyone here knows what's coming. But I don't care right now about dealing with everyone here. Catra comes first. So I keep walking, needing a way to catch up. I see two more soldiers at the entrance to the skiff bay.

“Hey, Force Captain,” one soldier says, “Hordak wants to speak to you, the call just went out.”

“I don’t care,” I say, walking right past them.

“Wait, Force Captain, it’s urgent,” the other one says.

I turn and aim my sword at him, placing the tip of the blade under his helmet. “I have something more important to do. Do you really want to try and stop me?”

I hear the guard behind me grab at the stun-baton on her hip. I don’t bother turning around, because I don’t hear it unclip. I keep my eyes on the visor of the helmet in front of me, waiting for his answer.

He lifts his hands, “okay, okay. Go ahead, Force Captain.”

“Good call,” I say, turning back around and entering the skiff bay. I get back on the skiff I just used earlier, and start off for the Crimson Waste. The only thing going through my head is how as soon as I get Catra, I’m going to tear down Hordak’s empire.

 

-

 

I’m speeding through the desert edge around the Fright Zone, towards the Wastes. The sun is at its peak now, but it feels like the morning has been a lot longer than that. Something feels off. I keep my eyes forward, trying to focus my attention on following anything that looks like tracks. I’m starting to get worried I’m not going to find her. My only chance is that the skiffs are more agile and quicker than the transport trucks.

The tracks in the sand are noticeable, as the Horde doesn’t come out here often. The Wastes are big, and the trucks don’t do too well as the sand gets deeper, or the engines overheat. But we shouldn’t be far enough out for the truck she’s in to start having problems.

My knuckles turn white from how hard I'm gripping the steering wheel.  The winds here are constant, slight sand and dust in the air everywhere. But the divot in the sand in front of me is getting slightly deeper as I drive on, getting closer and closer to her.

It isn't long before I see it. The exhaust smoke, coming over the horizon. A little closer, and I see the truck. My brow raises as I realize it isn't a prisoner truck, just a normal truck. Which means Catra went willingly.

I keep pace, gaining on the truck. As I pull up alongside it, I veer close enough to keep parallel within arms reach and slow down. I hold the steering stick straight, and knock on the driver's side door of the truck.

The soldier glances at me before turning ahead. They do a double take, and suddenly seem to panic as they floor it.

“Oh for the love of…” I take a quick breath, and bring my speed back up. “For the honor of grayskull,” I mostly mutter as I draw my sword. Even with the truck flooring it, the skiff is faster. I gain on it again with little issue, and transform my sword into a spear before aiming at the front wheel of the truck.

I throw it, and it connects. The wheel is practically severed from the axel, and the truck's weight lurches. It nearly spins out, and I realize it's going to crash right into me. I leap off the skiff as the truck and skiff collide, causing the skiff to fly up over the truck and crash in the sand while the truck tilts onto its side, skidding to a halt.

“Catra, no!” I panic as I land, gaining my bearings. I run up to the back of the truck, tearing the right door, now on the bottom, from its hinges. I chuck the door, looking inside at Catra and the one Horde soldier next to her. Both are clearly disorganized. There's a third sprawled on the ground, who was out on impact.

I step in, grabbing the soldier by his arm and roughly shoving him aside. He slams into the truck's floor, slumping down. “Catra, are you okay?”

Catra rubs her head, slowly sitting up. “Ugh… What happened to the truck?”

“I did,” I say, grabbing her arm and helping her up. “Come on, we need to get back to the Fright Zone.”

I guide Catra out the back of the truck. She steps down with me, as I support her weight.

Catra rubs her eyes as they adjust to the brightness of the daytime desert. “Adora… with what ride?”

“Uh…” I look at the truck, then further right at where the skiff is now buried in the sand.

“What happened, are you hurt?” A voice asks from the front of the truck.

I turn away from Catra, towards the new voice. “I’m gonna lose it.” I start walking towards the voice.

Catra’s ears flick towards the front as well. “Adora… Adora, wait!”

 

---

 

Bow’s POV

“Ugh, I hate it here… I wish I could just… pop us around, wherever we need to go…” Glimmer groans, understandably so.

The heat out here is harsh, given it’s now the middle of the day and we’re deep into a desert. The sun is nearly directly overhead, and if I squint, I can practically see the air warping above the hot sand. “You know why we can’t,” I say as a reminder, still walking forward. We have to pay attention with every step we take, lest Glimmer falls into another pit of quicksand. “We just need to look for anything that stands out. Another castle, or beacon, or… something.”

“I’m not sure there can be anything out here,” Glimmer says, “you saw the Horde transport wreck. If their vehicles are breaking down, what makes you think it’s even a good idea to be out here?”

“Well, their vehicles aren’t exactly that reliable. Even their tanks are like, made with paper armor.”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“Yeah, but it makes me feel better about going up against them every now and then,” I say, looking out over the wastes again, but something catches my eye. “Actually, speaking of Horde transports…” There’s a transport truck. It’s far away from us, down a short hill and driving along a path.

Glimmer follows my eyes, tilting her head slightly. “They’re moving fast.”

“They?” I grab a pair of binoculars off my hip and look down towards the truck, and see a skiff rapidly gaining on it. “Oh of course…”

“What is it?” Glimmer asks.

“It’s-” I watch as a weapon is flung into the wheel of the truck, causing a crash between the two Horde vehicles.

“What was that?” Glimmer asks.

I put my binoculars away. “She-Ra.”

“Why did she crash the truck?”

“I don’t know.”

“Should we do something?”

“I don’t know…” I murmur, feeling a deep sense of uncertainty. “They could be hurt?”

“Do we care? Isn’t it good if the Horde tears each other apart?” Glimmer asks.

“Glimmer… there are still lives down there.”

“I know, I was kidding,” Glimmer says, although I’m not sure she was. She places her hand on my shoulder, and suddenly we’re down at the wreckage.

The truck is overturned. I climb up onto the front of the car, looking at the door on top. I pull it open, as Glimmer teleports up next to me.

Glimmer reaches down. “What happened, are you hurt?”

The soldier is downright unconscious against the steering wheel.

“Must have been a hard hit,” I murmur.

“Adora, wait!” I hear the voice of Catra, and immediately feel a weight drop in my stomach. I move fast, drawing my bow as I turn to see She-Ra round the corner from behind the truck.

“Glimmer, look-” I’m cut off, as Adora yanks her spear out of the wheel and swipes it up at me. I’m hit with the blunt handle, but with more than enough force to send me rolling back off the truck. I fall to the ground, tumbling a few feet.

“Bow!” Glimmer teleports down between She-Ra and I. “Don’t come any closer?”

“Or what?” She-Ra asks, taking another step forward.

Catra runs up from behind She-Ra, getting in front of her. “Adora, stop! We can’t be wasting our time on this, we need to get back!”

“I don’t care, they’re probably following us!”

“We’re not!” I say, slowly getting to my feet. I grab my bow off the ground, holding it loosely but ready if I need it.

“What’s going on, why are you destroying your own stuff?” Glimmer asks.

“I’m not talking to you!” She-Ra snaps.

“Then I guess we’re fighting!” Glimmer’s hands start to glow more.

“Stop it!” Catra shouts. “Adora, the rest of them are in danger. We need to go back, now!”

“I’ll deal with Hordak,” She says to Catra, putting her arm on Catra’s shoulder and urging her aside. She moves to step closer to Glimmer, “but them first! It’s always them, and I’m sick of it! At this point, I’d be glad to fight the water princess, or the wind one. But I am so sick and tired of these two!”

“Or, we can not do that! Why are you going against Hordak?” I interject.

Catra huffs, trying to turn Adora around. “You didn’t see it, Adora! Hordak knows about everything, if he didn’t think you can still be useful he’d have killed the whole team a while ago! They aren’t safe!”

She-Ra keeps her intense glare on Glimmer and I. Then she sneaks a glance at Catra, her gaze softening. She looks back at us, more calm now. “Fine. Whatever. Lets just keep letting the rebels operate unopposed, learning more about us, so we can lose to them as soon as we deal with Hordak.”

“We’re not going to just up and lose to them, we made progress on every front!” Catra argues. “So knock it off, okay?”

“Um, actually,” Glimmer goes to argue against the idea of their progress, so I turn and send her a quick warning glare.

She-Ra huffs, tucking the long, flowing hair behind her head. “Okay, okay… Okay. We’ll go back.”

“Good, now how do we do that?”

She-Ra looks around a bit, then seems to be a little more uneasy. “Well, we can… uh…”

I step closer to Glimmer, leaning into her ear. “How long have we been walking for?”

“Too long,” she whispers back.

She-Ra suddenly snaps her fingers in a ‘got it’ moment. “I know! Give me a bit, I’ll contact Swift Wind.”

Glimmer and I share a worried look now. She is still talking with Swift Wind? Or has She-Ra not heard from him since Alwyn as well?

“That talking Horse from the woods?” Catra asks.

She-Ra gestures aside vaguely, “yeah, I don’t know his deal.”

I look back at Glimmer and whisper again, “should we leave?”

“I don’t know!?” Glimmer whispers loudly.

She-Ra hears the whisper, her eyes looking at mine. “Why are you two still here? Just leave.”

“We’re uh… discussing what to do!”

“Bow,” Glimmer starts, “why don’t we-”

“Is he answering?”

“No, I have no idea what he’s doing. Maybe he’s mad I wouldn’t play nice with Razz.”

“Razz? I ask.

“Shut up,” Catra turns to me, her voice a fierce warning, before she turns back to Adora. “Well, we aren’t going to be walking that long.”

“How did you two get out here? Kind of a long way from Bright Moon. You sure you have enough magic to even be glittering?” She-Ra taunts Glimmer.

Glimmer grits her teeth, “You two make it so easy to hate you!”

“Glimmer,” I grab her shoulder, “not helping.” Bow sighs, turning to Bow. “We have been walking. For a bit. Not the whole time.”

Catra groans, before turning back to She-Ra. “Well if your magic horse isn't talking to you, we need to get moving. Neither of us knows how to fix either of these vehicles, and Rogelio isn't here.”

I lean in closer to Glimmer, “should we do anything?”

“What would we do?” Glimmer asks, motioning out to the Horde soldiers. “We can't waste time on this. We'll keep moving. When we're done here, we can send a ride. Horses should be able to make it before it gets too cold.”

Catra's ear flicks, before she turns to us, “No. We don't need your pity.”

“I meant for the three unconscious grunts,” Glimmer says back snappily.

“Don't speak to her that way!” She-Ra shouts now, stepping closer.

“Adora!” Catra’s voice raises to match the two princesses.

“What? She has no right!”

“I have every right. You don’t get to tell me what to do!”

“Yeah, I doubt she cares,” Catra says to Glimmer before adding towards Adora, “and can we just stop?”

“No, please, let’s keep going!” Glimmer escalates. “You don’t get to tell me what to do!”

“Want to bet on it?” She-Ra glares back at Glimmer. The spear in Adora’s hand transforms back into the normal sword, holding it at her side in preparation to attack. 

Catra’s hands wrap around She-Ra’s right arm, a small attempt to hold the warrior back. “Adora, stop being an idiot!” She may as well be speaking to a wall.

“I’m not . They shouldn’t be here!”

Glimmer’s response is a quick, albeit not very clever, “you shouldn’t be there!”

“Glimmer!” I raise my voice too now, finally. “This isn’t worth it.”

Glimmer lets out an actual scoff of disgust. “Not worth it?” How isn’t it worth it? These two are causing nothing but problems for us!”

“Let’s drop it. We need to get moving,” I say, grabbing her upper arm. I pull her back from the truck, and the rebels, a bit. “No one will benefit from a fight right now.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. The Horde could definitely benefit from getting rid of the Queen’s daughter,” She-Ra says.

“Adora!” Catra shouts, her voice a deeper tone. “Will you please stop!”

She-Ra looks down at Catra, a small frown crossing her face. “I’m just-”

“I don’t care! We are too far from the Fright Zone and without food or water. We can’t stay here, so let's not waste our time fighting those idiots!”

A low rumble of anger comes from Glimmer’s throat from hearing Catra call us idiots, so I squeeze her arm tighter. I start walking, trying to pull Glimmer along with me. Reluctantly, she starts moving her feet in tandem with mine.

“I don’t like this, Bow…”

“I don’t either. Look, we can’t just fight them either. We’re too far from Bright Moon to realistically get back if you run out of magic, and my arsenal could… still be a lot better equipped for this.”

     Glimmer puts her hands on her hips, frowning. “Fine. Let’s find what we need and send supplies for the other soldiers here when we get back. Pretty sure the driver is too afraid to leave his seat. Or I can… teleport them out afterwards if I have enough juice.”

I smile slightly, “thank you. Now, let’s go find the source of this message.” I go back to walking, Glimmer following less reluctantly now.

“Oh no, wait up!” Catra asks, moving quickly up to us. 

My grip tightens on my bow, as Glimmer turns angrily.

“Catra, I thought we were leaving them!” She-Ra shouts, exasperated, stepping up to Catra.

Catra narrows her eyes at us. “You two aren’t leaving us stranded out here. We’re going with.”

“ Why would we say yes to that ?” Glimmer asks incredulously.

Catra starts walking in a bit of an arc. “You two are looking for something, yes? Clearly you aren't following us, and you started walking out deeper into the Wastes. You have a reason to be out here. But you guys don’t look so hot. I’m guessing you’ve been out here a good few hours already.”

“Why would we tell you anything?” I ask. “If we’re looking for something, it’s probably something we don’t want you to know about.”

“Unless we’re not here on behalf of the Horde,” Catra says. “But in spite of it.”

Glimmer puts more magic into her fists. “Like we’d believe something like that, when your partner is literally the Horde’s Second in Command!”

She-Ra steps forward now, walking right up to Glimmer. She towers over her, her expression blank. “Believe me, Princess, I have even less of a desire to be around Hordak than you right now. You want me to put it simply? Hordak messed up. He tried to get rid of Catra. I need to get back to the Fright Zone, and make sure he won’t mess with the rest of my team. I can’t stand here and wait for you two to traipse around getting lost in the Wastes all day and night. Catra and I will make sure you two get what you need, and then you get us as close to the Fright Zone as your magic can handle… without screwing yourself over, I guess.”

Glimmer glares up at She-Ra, her hand is almost shaking at her side. “I have no reason to believe that.”

“I do,” I say, walking over to Glimmer and gently easing her back. I look up at She-Ra “Give me one moment?”

She-Ra looks at me with a mild interest, before shrugging and stepping back again.

I turn to Glimmer, whispering, “something’s off. That’s a prisoner transport truck, not an apc. And She-Ra keeps mentioning Hordak in anger.”

“It could be staged! Maybe they tracked us somehow,” Glimmer argues.

I shake my head, “they haven’t been able to track us since we went to Mystacore. And nobody knows we’re out here other than two people the Horde can’t get to and don’t know of.”

Glimmer’s brows furrow, and she groans slightly. “I don’t like this, Bow.”

“I don’t either! But it’s better than painting the sand red for nothing. Plus,” I lean in even closer, “they really can’t follow us if we don’t want them to, given the teleporting.”

Glimmer sighs, a lot of tension leaving her body. “What if this is too important to let them in on?”

I look over at She-Ra, the fables Princess of Power said to return to Etheria when she’s most needed, and turn back to Glimmer. “What if it’s exactly the thing we should let them in on?”

Glimmer frowns, and then steps past me. “Don’t try anything. We’re not afraid of you two, and we won’t hesitate to leave you stranded so far out you’ll never make it back, if I don’t decide to just teleport you two over a pit of quicksand.”

Catra chuckles a bit, motioning for She-Ra to step closer. “Yeah, sure. Whatever. You two are clearly lost, I think we can actually stand to help each other here.”

“You don’t even know what we’re out here for,” I point out.

She-Ra shrugs. “And yet, you have two of the Horde’s best navigators at your service. Plus, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t stand a chance against me if you said no.”

Glimmer’s hands curl into fists again, but keeps her frustration in check this time. “Maybe one day we’ll find out.”

“But not today!” I say loudly, to pull everyone’s attention. If this keeps up, I am about to have one of the longest days of my life trying to keep everybody from killing each other. I grab Glimmer’s arm, knowing better than to reach for anyone else’s, and start motioning for the two Horde members to follow us. “Today, we’re all going to get along and… hopefully not die out here.”

“We won’t die, Catra and I are pretty good navigators,” She-Ra mutters, a strange mix between wanting to boast and not wanting to speak to me at all.

“Um… good to know,” I elect to say, making sure to stay close to Glimmer. “We need to get to the center of the Wastes.”

She-Ra looks out over the sandy horizon, pointing to where the daylight moon is setting. “Then let’s start simple.”

I look at Glimmer, then She-Ra, then out to the horizon as well. “Alright then… This’ll be fun…”

 

-

 

“No, I’m not saying we should do nothing, I'm just saying we should consider the fact that we're out here, and they're back there,” Catra whispers to She-Ra, trailing behind Glimmer and I. Their conversation started in hushed whispers, but it seems that they don't really care about not being heard anymore. 

We’re moving through the desert, about an hour or so has passed and nothing’s been found. Even with the minimal assistance from She-Ra to make sure we’re heading deeper into the Wastes, or Catra keeping a keen eye for quicksand, it’s still a slow journey that is not helped by the Horde duo bickering.

She-Ra groans, “what is he going to do? He doesn't actually do anything. He mostly orders me around, tells me to do things for him.”

“You didn't see him angry, not the way I have. We can't show up at the gates marching with the intent of starting a fight, we have no idea how many soldiers will be against us!”

“And how many would really choose him over me? The reforms I made-”

“But Hordak has their fear. It doesn't matter how strong that sword is, or how nice you are, it won't change that they'll be expecting a fight.”

I turn to Glimmer, who has never looked so agitated in her life. “You still think that story earlier was made up?”

“Maybe they're really good liars…”

I glance over my shoulders. My eyes momentarily lock with Catra's, her expression is hard to read but it looks like a warning. I turn forward. “Maybe.”

“We should just ditch them, it’s not like they’re going to be anything but a hindrance,” Glimmer implores.

“Oh, we’re not going away,” Catra says, stepping closer to us.

“Can you not eavesdrop?” Glimmer snaps over her shoulder.

Something big is coming up over the horizon, so I try to interrupt the argument. “Glimmer, let’s-”

Catra shrugs, “can you? Believe me, I don’t want to be out here either. We help out, you get us out of the Wastes. A simple trade.”

“I can’t believe you’re making deals with them…” Adora murmurs.

“You got any better ideas?” Catra asks.

“I do,” Glimmer says, “leaving you back with the guys in the truck.”

“Glimmer-” I try to get her attention again. The structure seems to be a large skeletal structure, but it’s covered in tarps in a way that certainly isn’t natural. I can almost make out a faint light from under the skull.

“I don’t think you have it in you,” Catra says snarkily.

She-Ra sighs. “Catra, stop bickering with the princess.

Glimmer rolls her eyes, “because princesses are awful by nature, right?”

“Mostly they’re just annoying…” is the response given.

Glimmer groans. “Bow, I can’t do this, we need to-”

I sigh, turning and grabbing her shoulder. I point forward, the four of us all stopping our movement. “What do you make of that?” I ask.

Glimmer squints her eyes. “I… I don’t know.”

“Is that what you’re looking for?” Catra asks.

“I don’t know…” I say slowly.

“What are we waiting for? I want to get out of here.” She-Ra grumbles, walking past Glimmer and I.

I stare at the back of the warrior princess for a moment. She seems so different than the girl we fought at Thaymor, or Salineas, or even when we saw her at the Crystal Castle. As a result of She-Ra’s tone, I glance at Catra. “What’s wrong-”

She hisses slightly, walking past Glimmer and I as well.

“Okay…” I murmur. I turn to Glimmer. “Glimmer, can you please try and keep it together?”

Glimmer looks up at me, before she nods solemnly. “Yeah, fine. Let’s keep up.” She says, so we follow after the Horde duo.

 

---

 

Glimmer’s POV

“Alright, this was certainly put together. Not very well, but still,” I say, as the four of us approach the skull.

“Maybe there’s people inside, so we can go our separate ways,” She-Ra muses, walking up to the large tart covering the mouth of the structure.

“We’re gonna have to be prepared for anything,” Bow says, walking up to the tart. He starts pulling it aside.

I nod, moving to go inside. “At least we’ll be out of the sun for a little.”

She-Ra follows in after me, then Catra. One by one, they’re all greeted to the sight I see. A cantina, packed with all kinds of life that by all reports, should not exist here. “Uh… wow. Okay.”

Catra groans, “oh, this is way more than I was expecting.”

She-Ra narrows her eyes. “I don’t like the look of this place.”

“Not rustic and smoggy enough for you?” I ask, glancing at her.

She just stares down at me, before looking back over the crowd. 

“We should avoid drawing attention to ourselves,” Catra says. “We don’t know what these people are like.”

“That’s… a good idea…” Bow says, looking around. 

She-Ra de-transforms with a small flash, leaving Adora in her place. “No, I think we just need to blend in. We need to get to the center, right? Well, someone here has to know the land.” She starts walking forward.

“Adora!” Catra calls out, moving after her.

I turn to Bow. “These two are going to be impossible to deal with the whole night.”

Bow rubs his head, watching Adora with unease. “We should go along with it. On the off chance anything does happen, I doubt they’d be able to do much to She-Ra, and we can always just… leave.”

I groan slightly, “fine.” I walk into the cantina, following behind Adora.

“Excuse me,” Adora calls out, walking up to the lady serving drinks. “We're looking for a map, can you-” the lady doesn't even acknowledge Adora, turning to tend to a patron.

“Adora, think about-”

Adora in turn ignores Catra, climbing onto the counter. “Hello, hi everyone. My friend and these two here need someone who knows the Wastes. We know-”

“ *Ahem* .” Two girls step up. A woman with goat horns, and a reptilian with four arms. The goat horned lady gets Adora's attention. “We don’t take kindly to outsiders here.” She steps forward.

Adora cuts her off, hoping down from the counter. “If you're not gonna help us, then don't bother.”

The goat horned girl looks agitated, grabbing Adora's shirt.

“Don't touch her!” Everything next is a quick blur as Catra lurches forward, swiping her claws against the woman's arm before kicking her back.

The commotion is instant. I hear an, “oh no,” from Bow, already drawing an arrow and his bow as the Lizard woman hisses at Adora, charging forward. The commotion quickly draws the attention of several other patrons, already moving towards the scene.

The two women charge at Catra. Catra doesn't waste a second before she leaps after the goat woman, tackling her and flexing her claws. My eyes go wide. I teleport over to her side, grabbing her wrist. “Wait, let's not-”

I get hit hard in the side from the Lizard lady, throwing me into Catra. We roll to the ground, and I look up to see Adora pulling her sword off her back. Before I can process, Catra kicks me off of her, shouting, “idiot!”

Adora rushes over, helping Catra to her feet. I slowly stand myself, groaning as I face the two people who approach us.

“We don’t like outsiders here,” the goat woman says, charging forward only to be knocked down by a blunt impact arrow fired by Bow.

The lizard woman hisses, gripping the goat woman. More patrons surround the four of us. I step closer to Bow, preparing to get us out. “What do we do?” I ask, charging magic into my hands that I really didn’t want to expend.

“I guess we’re done asking nicely. For the honor of-” Adora stops talking as a large woman approaches into the clearing around us, pushing aside the other two. Adora watches her carefully.

I step closer to Bow, ready to grab him and get us out.

“I don't know what's going on here, but it stops now,” the large woman says. 

Bow draws another arrow, his eyes trained on the woman. Catra similarly has a certain look in her eyes as she registers this new threat.

Adora, meanwhile, steps forward. Her eyes look over the woman, eyes studying the form. Tall, buff, purple skin. “Wow,” she mutters, before shaking her head and gripping her sword tighter. “We have a right to defend ourselves

“Is that what's going on here?” The woman chuckles a bit, her eyes moving over the four of us. “Look, you guys are kids. So I'm going to be nice. You see, there are only two rules in the Crimson Wastes.” She steps closer to Adora. “One, the strong make the rules. And two… don't annoy me when I eat.”

Catra scoffs slightly, “are you serious?”

There's a glare between the woman and Catra, the air is thick. “Look, I don't much care for drama. You should leave, before more starts.” She turns to the other two, the goat and Lizard women, “we don't start problems for no reason.”

Adora scoffs, putting her sword on her back as a diplomatic show. “We aren't here for a fight. We're trying to get to the center of the Wastes. Or a ride out of here.”

“Um, a map would be fine,” I pipe up.

The woman's eyes narrow as she takes in Adora and Catra, before looking at How and I. I tense up as her gaze lands on me. “You lot aren't together, are you?”

“Oh, no,” I say.

“Not at all!” Catra says, “we just need a way out.”

The woman sighs. “So you two have a death wish to go deeper into the Wastes, and you two are just… here somehow?”

Adora puts a hand to her forehead. “There are a lot of people here, I imagine from the size that this place isn't exactly an inn. So there is transportation, right?”

The tall purple woman steps closer. “You're not here on Horde business?”

Adora narrows her eyes. “Why ask?”

The woman's eyes trail down Adora's torso, to the badge pinned to her shirt. “It isn't hard to pick out you Horde types.”

Catra steps up next to Adora. “Is that a problem?”

The woman stands straight again, before she turns to the goat woman. “They don't need or want to be here. Get them out of the Crimson Wastes.”

“But Huntara-”

“Just do it.” 

The goat lady sighs, looking at the Lizard lady. They share a quick look, nodding, and the goat lady motions for the lizard lady to follow her. “Come with us,” she says to Adora.

Adora nods. She looks over at me for a second, but there's no need for either of us to say bye. They did assist Bow and I in getting here technically, but it wasn't exactly long lasting. She turns to follow after the women.

“Later, Princess,” Catra says, with an exaggerated wave. She follows after Adora.

I roll my eyes, turning away from them.

At that moment, the woman apparently named Huntara turns to me. “And what's the deal with you and the boy?”

“Oh, we're looking for something at the center of the Wastes, and we could use a map. We have a bit of-”

“Yeah, there's nothing out there, " she says, turning around.

Bow clears his throat. “Um, look, we know you don't want to deal with us, and we aren't exactly sure being here is a good idea, but… there's gotta be a map or something, right? We're not exactly asking for a guide.”

I nod in agreement with Bow. “Yeah, and we have a bit of gold on us.”

“I don't have much use for gold,” Huntara says dismissively, sitting down at a table.

I groan, turning to Bow. “We should just go. We were out here for hours before those two showed up and didn't die, we can find our way.”

Bow contemplates this, before nodding. “We don't have much else of a choice. The message could be too important to ignore.”

Huntara sighs, before standing up again and setting down the food she had started eating. “Fine, I'll guide you two.”

I look back at Huntara. “Um, it's fine really, we just need a map…”

“If I don't go, you two are just going to get yourselves killed. So let's go.” She starts walking, as if expecting Bow and I to agree and follow.

Which is pretty much exactly what happens. Bow seems cautious, but we follow after the large woman. Stepping outside the cantina and back out under the hot sun isn't ideal; it kind of sucks. But at least following Huntara, Bow and I can make it where we may need to go without me butting heads with the Horde duo.

“Alright kids,” Huntara says; hands on her hips. “We have a lot of ground to cover still.”

I glance at Bow as she finishes. He must see the apprehension and exhaustion on my face; as he offers a reassuring smile before turning to follow Huntara. So of course, I follow through the endless desert sand.

Notes:

Yikes, it's been a while. I won't really be updating regularly anymore (I have a job now) but that doesn't mean this story is abandoned! I actually finally know how to finish this part of the story! Hope it's enjoyed as always, I genuinely love writing this fic and wish I could dedicate as much time to it as I could when I started it last February. (I can't believe I've been working on this for nearly a year already, wow.)