Chapter Text
It had been a week since the attack on Brightmoon. The princesses had spent a majority of the time since helping out Queen Angela with repairs to the castle and the forest. Perfuma was regrowing the destroyed vegetation, seeing as most of what got repaired was immediately destroyed by Horde tanks upon their retreat. Others like Mermista and Glimmer were doing their best to oversee the reconstruction of the castle (along with Sea Hawk who wasn't necessarily helping anyone but was there for "moral support").
Some princesses went home. Frosta had left her kingdom quite quickly when she had rushed to the battle and didn't want to cause a panic by staying away any longer. Others were busy advising the Queen about her next move and who better than Spinerella and Netossa?
Everything was beginning to look up for once. Everyone was in their right place it seemed.
So why did Adora feel so miserable?
•••••
"You should really stop moving. It'll make this a lot easier."
"You didn't have to help Bow."
"Yeah well," Bow rolled his eyes, "What else was I gonna do?"
Adora sighed as the boy continued to clean her wounds, that being the ones on her back. The ones that were left by...Adora looked down as she shoved the thought out of her mind. She didn't want to think about it. Of course, how could she not when she could feel the claw marks stretching from her shoulders down to her waist every time she moved?
"You should take better care of yourself Adora, especially when you're healing. You can't just get back up and start training again. It'll take time for these to properly close up and you can't risk them splitting open...for a third time." Bow raised his eyebrow at the last phrase.
Adora scoffed. She should be out there helping or at least training. The Horde could come back any moment and where would she be? On bed rest. She hated it. She wasn't built for 'taking it easy' as Bow and Glimmer would call it. Besides, she had always been taught in the Horde not to show weakness. The bandages currently being wrapped around her upper body felt like a glowing neon sign.
"Thanks Bow," Adora said half-heartedly. She pulled her shirt back on, cautious not to loosen any of the bandages Bow had so carefully applied.
"I'm gonna go see if Glimmer needs any help. I'll see you at dinner, alright?"
"Yeah," Adora winced a little as she laid down on her bed. "Have fun."
"And Adora," Bow grinned widely, "If you sneak out of here again I will personally fight you to the death."
"You'd lose."
"Fine," Bow shrugged as he closed the door, "Then I'll just send Glimmer. And then you'll be doomed."
Adora couldn't help but chuckle at his parting words. She had to admit that she'd rather not be on the receiving end of Glimmer's uppercut.
Instead of helping around the castle, Adora found herself doing the only thing she could: staring at the ceiling, something she had become all too familiar with in the past seven days. She couldn't help it when her mind found itself wandering back to the attack. To the Horde.
To Catra.
Adora shook the thought out of her head. Catra made her choice in that temple. Who was Adora to stop her?
•••••
Night was approaching fast and Adora was now sitting at her window, staring out at the forest. The sunset cast an orange color throughout the sky, reminding her of all the nights she had snuck up to the rooftops of the Horde.
She watched as the sun set behind the trees, as the birds flew through the air in a hunt for a midnight snack, as a mysterious figure hobbled towards the castle, as-
Wait a second, Adora thought as her eyes snapped back to the ominous shadow stumbling along in her direction. Is that...Catra?
The girl rubbed her eyes, confident that they had just been playing tricks on her and that drowsiness was clouding her judgement. And yet, sure enough, Adora could never mistake that silhouette for anyone else.
"This better be good," Adora muttered as she grabbed her sword and slid down the wall to the ground floor.
Sure enough Catra was there, that Adora could confirm. She wasn't hallucinating. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing still wasn't exactly clear. As Adora neared closer though, the answer didn't become any clearer.
To say the least, Catra had seen better days. Her face was badly bruised, sporting a black eye and a cut running down the left side of her face from the tip of her eyebrow angling down to the bottom of her ear. She was holding her lower waist, the area even in the inky blackness displaying a dark shade of red. The reason she was having issues walking was due to her right leg, which was bent in an odd angle.
For a split second, Adora felt herself prepare to rush to the other girl, to make sure she was ok, to get her somewhere safe. Then she froze. What if this is a trap? Why was Catra even here? What happened?
"If you're thinking about calling for reinforcements," Catra croaked out in a hoarse voice, "I wouldn't recommend it. Obviously, I'd take 'em down in a heartbeat." As she said so, she stumbled and fell to the ground, cursing as she landed on her hurt leg.
Adora wasn't quite sure what to do. Was Catra alone? Did whatever do this to her follow?
The sound of her enemy's distressed coughing drew Adora's attention back to the reality of the situation. Catra was here, Catra was hurt, and for all Adora knew, Catra was dying.
With a frustrated sigh, Adora placed her sword behind her back in its sheath and knelt beside the bleeding girls side. The injury on her side was a lot worse up close. She was losing a lot of blood.
"Catra? What happened?"
"I didn't-" A coughing fit overwhelmed her before she could finish. Adora helped sit Catra up until she could speak again. "I didn't have anywhere else to go."
"Catra?" Adora picked her up and began towards the castle. "Stay with me now. Who did this to you?"
Her eyes began to droop as she spoke and she spoke in between gasps of breath. "It's a...long...story..."
Oh god. Oh no. Adora shook the young force captain but it seemed the latter had passed out in her arms. At least she was still breathing but how much longer before she hit critical condition?
Adora surveyed her options. She couldn't reach her room from the outside, at least not carrying Catra. It's not like she could just walk through the front door past the night guards either. What would she say when they questioned her? Oh no, this isn't the Horde leader who led a siege on Brightmoon. You must be thinking of the other sociopathic maniac.
Still, no matter how much bad blood there was between the two girls, Adora couldn't leave an old friend like this.
"Catra, I swear...you'll be the death of me."