Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Now, again.”

____ restarted the sequence. Her khopesh moved in a dazzling display of slashes and stabs as the student began the sequence again. The movements were fast but disciplined. Strong, yet fluid. The teacher watched until ____ was done.

“Very good. You show proficiency in the Serpent’s Fang.” The instructor noted. “You always had a direct method, young ____. But what of your defensive capabilities? Or your evasion? Demonstrate the forms of the Scarab’s Armour and Shifting Sands, then we can take a break.”

“What about the Jackal’s Claw?” ____ asked.

“Oh? That eager to learn, eh?” the teacher smiled.

“Excellence comes from repetition, aren’t those your words, master?”

“Ha! You do listen!” the teacher laughed. “Very well. If you impress me with the forms, then we’ll head to that grill restaurant you like so much! Show me what you can do, young—”

“—Catra?” Catra’s eyes shot open as she abruptly sat up. She looked over to see Spinnerella at the door. “I heard you muttering in your sleep. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, just another one of those… sword dreams again.” Catra grumbled.

“If I hadn’t read those books you received on magicat culture, I would be convinced this was some form of mental tampering.” Spinnerella gave the khopesh a suspicious look. Catra glanced at the books on her bedside table. The tomes, recently covered in dust until Catra got her hands on them were given to her by Angella after some visits over the week to discuss any information on the Horde that Catra recalled. Thankfully they weren’t as dramatic as her first ‘interrogation’ session, though they could have been done in half the time they usually took if Angella didn’t talk about her daughter’s various misadventures in great detail while they both drank some tea.

Who would have thought the seemingly prim and proper princess was a chaotic demon when drunk? According to Angella, she was still banned from six Salinean taverns after a pub crawl gone wrong.

It was a pity that Glimmer wasn’t around. Apparently, she was ‘grounded’ or something. Catra wasn’t aware Glimmer could fly or how forbidding her from doing so was a punishment, but she chalked it up to Etherian customs like she did all the other oddities she encountered, like different sized spoons and precise measurements for baking cookies.

Of course that wasn’t all that Catra had gotten up to. Her room had been pretty bare according to the parents and a shopping trip for new furniture was in order. The desk beside her bed was one of the things they bought. The wardrobe was next, already filled with various clothes that Catra had been forced to try for almost a whole day.

She never wanted to be in a clothing store again. At least they tailored to people with tails. She was expecting to have to cut holes in her trousers and undergarments with her claws again. Throughout these various shopping trips, Catra would visit the bookstore and soon enough her modest collection of novels had grown. She was already on her second Necromancer book.

“The dreams are getting clearer.” Catra admitted after a pause. “But I still don’t know who the original owner was. Their name keeps blanking out.”

“Hmm, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m no expert on this sort of thing.” Spinnerella sighed.

“Well, it’s better than my usual dreams.” Catra chuckled. Spinnerella didn’t even crack a smile at Catra’s attempt at a joke, instead giving her one of those sympathetic looks again. Catra fought the urge to lash out at the expression, knowing that nobody here looked down at her. Instead she looked at her sketch desk.

She already made a few drawings, mostly just doodles. Some were stances of the strange martial arts in her dreams that she made for studying. But the small pile she had in one of the drawers were ones that she had yet to show anyone. Sketches of a certain blonde that was missing from her life.

No matter how hard she tried to move on, no matter how good she had it now, Adora’s absence was a constant ache that Catra couldn’t get rid of. No matter what Catra did to distract herself from the matter, the memory of her best friend always came back to haunt her. Catra would then worry about what was happening in the Fright Zone. Was Adora okay? What will she do now? Is she at least taking things well. Are the others keeping an eye on her?

But then darker thoughts surfaced, thoughts that always suspiciously sounded like Shadow Weaver.

What do you care?

You left because she could no longer protect you.

You left because Adora wasn’t useful anymore.

You didn’t even leave a note.

“Hey, you good?” Spinnerella must have noticed something. “Are you thinking about Adora again?”

“Am I that transparent?” Catra asked.

“Just a tad.” Spinnerella smiled.

It hadn’t taken long for Catra to open up about Adora. It had taken less time for her to recount their various misadventures together. The fun ones where Catra didn’t get hurt, at least. Both the parents surprised her by wishing they would meet this playful and silly Adora one day. Catra told her that was probably a bad idea as Adora always took the ‘evil princess’ ghost stories more seriously than most.

Catra knew in her heart that whatever chance she had of bringing Adora over to her side would dwindle with each campaign the blonde took part in. There were limits to Angella’s forgiveness.

“Just the usual thoughts.” Catra admitted. Spinnerella nodded. She knew there was little to be done about the matter and Catra had made it clear that she didn’t care for useless platitudes, so the parents didn’t say anything. Only actions mattered to Catra.

And speaking of actions.

“I made a decision.” She declared. Spinnerella’s expression turned serious.

“Shall we talk about this over breakfast?” she asked.

“Sure.” Catra nodded. “Just let me get dressed first, alright?”

00000000

It was after Catra finished swallowing her toasted jam that she made her intentions known.

“I want to join Glimmer’s project.” She said. Spinnerella sat up straight. Netossa hunched down and clasped her fingers together. Aeola stared up at Catra with large eyes.

“May I ask why?” Netossa requested softly, but not in a way that implied refusal. Catra had a feeling they would be accepting of her choices, after all they kept on saying they respected her wishes all the time. With that said they always seemed to want her to explain her reasoning behind her choices, or more specifically how she feels.

These people and feelings, they’re obsessed. Well, best she got this off her chest, “You’ve all done so much for me. It doesn’t feel right just sitting here while you risk your lives.”

“Catra, you don’t have to do things out of obligation, we didn’t take you in on the condition you work for us.” Spinnerella told her.

“I know, but it still doesn’t feel right. And that’s not all, either.” Catra drummed her fingers on the table, taking great care not to unsheathe her claws and cut into the table. “You two will be going back soon. You’ll fight and risk your lives while I sit here and do nothing. I can’t stand it. I won’t ask you to stop fighting, but I’m going to do my best to make sure you get as best a chance you can. Only way to do that is to help out.”

“I see.” Spinnerella acquiesced with a sigh. “Guess I’ll have to call in the caretaker again.”

“You’re all leaving?” Aeola asked in a small voice. Catra winced. She had forgotten about Aeola completely.

“Oh, Saz, kid. I forgot about… sorry.” Catra wilted, her ears flattening against her head. At least she did the correct swear this time. It had taken her a while to stop swearing by Hordak and instead dedicate her oaths and curses to the god of the Magicats. She had gleaned a fair bit about the mythology of her people in the past few days.

“We’re going on a short campaign this time, a week at most.” Netossa gently cupped Aeola’s cheeks.

“You said that last time. You came back a month later.” Aeola shrugged her mother off. Both parents looked at one another with grimaces. Catra spoke up, “I can stay if you prefer and look after her.”

“It’s okay.” Aeola spoke glumly. “I’m used to it.” Both parents winced as though they had just been cut by those words. “May I be excused?” Aeola was already halfway out from her seat, eventually the door clicked shut behind her. Netossa buried her face in her hands, her shoulders trembling slightly. Spinnerella rested an arm on her wife’s shoulder, murmuring soft words. Catra’s hands clenched so tight she almost cut her palms.

Great, she screwed up. Again.

“I’m sorry.” She said on impulse. Netossa looked up, eyes shimmering but to Catra’s surprise there was no anger directed at her.

“No, it’s fine.” The princess exhaled. “Gods, we’re terrible parents.”

“No, you’re not.” Catra immediately and vehemently insisted. “You’re better than a lot of people I know.”

“No offense intended, but the people you know include the likes of Shadow Weaver, Catra. Not the highest bar to jump over.” Spinnerella pointed out. “I know that we have a duty and all, but we can’t keep doing this.” The two leaned on one another in silence until Catra coughed lightly.

“If I’m going to do this and you’ll allow me, then I need to head out. I’ll try and send a message and update you when anything new springs up.” Catra told them. They gave solemn nods. Catra left, hoping that she was doing the right thing. She glanced at the door Aeola was behind, knowing she should do something. If only she knew how to.

She kept moving forwards, heading out the door. She had made sure to take her blade with her before she left. She got accosted by bandits once and she wasn’t going to be unprepared again. The walk to Brightmoon castle (she didn’t use the horse, she never will) was a calming one, surprisingly. She half expected to be full of nerves but the prospect of going out into the field made her feel content. Perhaps it was because of her upbringing.

Catra rolled her shoulders, testing her new clothes and how flexible they were. In the Horde the stuff she wore was functional, but she disliked how tight they felt, pressing down on her fur. When she brought this up, the two parents had looked at one another and began examining her before nodding to themselves. They became intent on getting clothes that showed off the good looks that Catra apparently had. She was insistent that function was more important than fashion but at the time they didn’t seem to listen. But now she didn’t mind, since she had a good week to get used to it all.

She wore a pair of shorts that almost reached her knees. They weren’t tight on her, but they weren’t flapping around like all the banners the Etherians liked to have. Her top clothes consisted of something called a tube top and a blue jacket. Apparently, her abs were quite the sight, something that made her blush when they told her so.

It made Catra wonder if there pictures of her on the Full Frontal mag in the Horde.

Finally there was footwear. Catra despised shoes with a passion, but she was provided an alternative that she quite enjoyed. Sandals, she decided, were a gift from Saz. They were designed for running and had good grip as well. She had tested them by climbing and running around the place and found them to be good enough. At least she didn’t have to worry about stepping on something spiky again. She hated brambles with a passion.

Upon arriving at the palace, she walked in without any real difficulty. Initially her entrances had garnered looks of distrust and wariness, but that was a week and different set of clothes ago. Now that the only red she wore was her mask, the guards seemed more relaxed.

A week. One week and the soldiers of Etheria treated her with more respect than those of the Horde. Catra was genuinely beginning to run out of reasons why she didn’t defect earlier.

Oh, right. Shadow Weaver’s threats. And Adora. Just Adora. No matter how good things were on this side of the war, nothing could ever replace Adora.

In her musings, she almost collided into that archer that always seemed to hang around Glimmer. He swerved away from her, almost dropping his data tablet in surprise.

“Oh, hey, Catra!” the archer steadied his grip and his stance. “What brings you here?”

“Hey, Bow.” Catra stopped her stride and turned to the archer and apparently only mechanically knowledgeable person in the Brightmoon military. “Where’s Glitter? I’m looking for her.”

“Oh, she’s probably still grounded, but I think it’s ending soon so we probably won’t get in trouble if we visit.” Bow explained. Catra tilted her head, her brows furrowing, “What does ‘grounded’ even mean, anyway? Is she just not allowed to fly?”

“Uh, no…” Bow looked at her oddly, as though she had asked a particularly odd question. “It just means she can’t leave her room unless there’s an emergency.”

“Huh, confined to quarters? Is that a regular thing that happens here?” Catra asked. The two began to walk, hopefully in the direction of Angella or Glimmer.

“Yeah, I think it’s so that people can think about what they did for a bit. Glimmer’s probably getting stir crazy by now. They made sure nobody, namely me, could get in there. Only people who do head there are the people who deliver her food.” Bow laughed, but then he noticed the stricken expression on Catra’s face.

“So she can’t leave… and her only contact with the outside world is food delivery?” Catra’s voice was low.

“… Yes?” Bow wasn’t entirely sure why, but he could sense danger looming in the form of an irate magicat.

“And her mother was the one who issued the punishment?” came Catra’s second prompting question.

“Also yes?” Bow’s voice had become a squeak.

Catra’s arm blurred, causing Bow to blink and somehow the khopesh was in Catra’s hand. The birds outside the palace were then frightened into motion by an outraged bellow of, “HER MOTHER PUT HER IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT!?” which was quickly followed by the panicked pleas of, “Please don’t commit regicide over a misunderstanding!”

00000000

It took a few minutes to calm Catra down. Soon enough they were seated in Glimmer’s room. The princess in question was seated on a couch, drinking tea and wearing clothes made of simple linen, albeit embroidered with lilac patterns. She was giving smug looks at Catra, who grumbled as she sipped her own tea. Catra attempted to ignore this by surveying the room around her. The first thing that struck her was the sheer size of it. Glimmer’s bedroom was as big, if not bigger than her home’s living room and far more opulent. Crystalline structures floated around in lazy orbits, a small waterfall was in the corner and Glimmer’s bed was hung from the ceiling. There was even a full sized bathroom in the corner with plenty of curtains and sparkling privacy screens.

Yet despite that the clear opulence, the room was paradoxically minimalist as well. There were no fancy paintings, no statues or busts. The only thing that could be charitably called a decoration was the weapon rack on one of the walls, bedecked with various tools of war. More than a few of them caused Catra’s fur to tingle as her sixth sense registered magic. There were weights, punching bags and even a few sets of armour designed to come to life and attack for training purposes.

Catra knew of that function because she and Bow had walked in on Glimmer punching one to pieces before said pieces reattached themselves and returned to their podium. Catra’s examination of the room came to an abrupt halt when she heard Glimmer clear her throat delicately.

“I couldn’t help but notice someone vocalise their concern over my well-being. Quite vigorously at that.” She took a drink with a pleased sigh, though whether it was the tea or her vindictive pleasure, nobody knew.

“I’m sure you were hearing things.” Catra’s grumbled.

“Yes, and I’m fairly certain that every capital city in the world started hearing things as well. I dare say the old gods themselves were briefly roused from their slumber after such a… dramatic outcry.”

“Glimmer…” Bow admonished. “You’re already grounded, can we not add blasphemy to the list of transgressions?”

“Bah!” Glimmer waved a hand. “I don’t cower at the mere mention of them. Let them try and strike me down.”

“Old gods?” Catra asked.

“I’ll explain later.” Glimmer waved a hand. “I’m more interested in why you came to visit. I know you’ve been having talks with mother—”

“About the drunken rampage in Salineas, yes.” Catra smirked.

“Die in a fire.” Glimmer spoke neutrally, albeit with a twitching eyebrow. “But what business do you have with me?”

“I want to know something about your project.” Catra leaned in. “If it works, does that mean Spinnerella and Netossa won’t have to fight as much on the front lines?” Glimmer arched a finely plucked eyebrow and straightened up.

“Ah.” She said.

“Ah? Ah, what?” Catra asked with annoyance.

“From what I’ve heard about Shadow Weaver from mother, I always assumed that your motivation would be revenge, at least.”

“Don’t get me wrong, that’s plenty enough to get me motivated. Spiting her gives me life.” Catra shrugged. “But… look, the kid, Aeola. She lives alone most of the time because the people who are supposed to be looking after her are off fighting. She deserves better than that, and so do they. I don’t like seeing people like that in the state they are. That’s why I’m here.”

“I sympathise with your motives, I truly do.” Glimmer said softly. “To answer your question, yes. Logically it should. My intention is to reform the Etherian Alliance, unite the wielders of the sacred Runestones under one banner. If your terms are to give two mothers more time with their daughter, I believe it can be done.” Catra straightened. She knew about the Alliance, it had been in her classes regarding warfare. The instructor described it as an alliance of monsters who put aside their differences to prey upon the Horde’s people until they were split apart for some reason. Catra didn’t know why, it was classified.

The Etherian Alliance had wrought hell upon the Horde, carving a trail of destruction in their wake. The fact that it split up was considered a miracle.

And Glimmer wanted to make a new one. A new Alliance of insanely strong powerhouses like her.

Oh, yes, that would definitely help Netossa and Spinnerella stay at home a little longer if all the Horde lines started getting destroyed en-masse. There was however one question.

“Why not sooner?” Catra set her empty cup down. “Why now?”

“Politics.” Glimmer spat the word like a curse. “Every noble who could join or propose the idea doesn’t want to be seen as weak by asking others for help, even if it’s worded as an alliance on equal terms.”

“Huh, sounds familiar. Horde’s not too dissimilar.” Catra mused. “Force Captains would rather cut their own arms off than call for help. Weak officers tend to get suddenly and often violently replaced. At least that’s what I hear.”

“I swear, I feel like the Horde is more at war with itself than us at times.” Glimmer huffed.

“Preaching to the choir there, princess.” Catra sighed. “But you think this can work? What, we just turn up at their door and offer a flier?”

“The many kingdoms of the land have issues with the Horde, one of whom sent us a call for aid.” Glimmer stood and headed for the door. “In fact, that’s what today’s meeting is about. If you two will follow me, we can all discuss the matter. We can also see if your terms regarding our two other princesses can be arranged.” Glimmer stood but Bow cleared his throat, “Uh, Glimmer. You’re not exactly presentable and frankly, you stink.” Glimmer paused, pulled her collar and lowered her head to take a sniff.

“You have a point. A moment.” She ambled over to the en-suite and Catra’s brain juddered to a halt as the princess pulled her shirt off and tossed it aside. Bow rolled his eyes and averted his gaze. Catra failed to do so but the sparkly brickhouse that was Glimmer didn’t seem to notice. Catra had always thought that Lonnie was the most buff woman she ever knew personally, with Adora being a close second but Glimmer seemed to be nothing but compacted muscle.

When the shock wore off, Catra noticed several scars of varying types on Glimmer’s body, from cuts to burn marks from laser weaponry to what looked like shrapnel cuts. Just how many battles has this woman fought in? The sturdy princess waved one hand and brief circular symbol appeared one of the privacy screens, dragging it open to cover the pink haired woman while the other hand was preoccupied with trying to remove her chest wraps. Eventually Catra heard the sound of a bath running, the (horrible, nightmare inducing) noise startling her out of her funk. She looked away to see Bow arching a brow at her. She hissed and he raised his hands in surrender, but his smirk conveyed a very distinct lack of guilt.

“Anyway, I would like to formally congratulate you as another member of the Crop Club!” Bow smiled. Glimmer peeked over, tossing the remnants of her clothes over then screen, noticed Catra’s exposed stomach and groaned loudly, “Dead stars, not another one!” her head disappeared behind the cover and Catra heard sloshing water.

“If it helps, it wasn’t my idea.” Catra shrugged. “I have ‘abs for days’ according to the Terrible Two.”

“Terrible Two, is that what the Horde call Spinnerella and Netossa?” Bow arched a brow. “Well, points for alliteration, I suppose.”

“I mean, it’s kind of an unofficial nickname, really.” Catra said. “I think the official database called the something like Priority Target… I don’t know, some random numbers and letters. Adora would keep track of it better than me.”

“Ah, yes, the village burner.” Glimmer huffed.

“Glimmer…” Bow grimaced, subtly nodding to Catra. The magicat scowled, “Don’t, she’s right. Whatever you’re thinking I probably said to her already. I just hope she won’t end up doing anything worse.”

“Do you think she will?” Bow asked. Catra’s shoulder’s slumped slightly, her hands stuffing themselves into her pockets.

“Almost definitely. Shadow Weaver wants her precious protégé to be out there and doing her proud, after all.”

“If you wish to add clemency for Adora onto your terms, I will bring it up.” Glimmer spoke up. “However, keep in mind that just because we can avoid a trip to the headsman, doesn’t mean she’ll be off the hook. She will make amends for her crimes against Etheria.”

The hopes that Catra had previously quashed started to awaken again. Ideas and possibilities that she discounted became a lot more viable after Glimmer’s promise. If Adora could see past the lies she had been fed, she would do anything to make things right. Perhaps do a little too much to make things right, in fact.

“Uh, thanks.” She almost slapped herself for forgetting to say that immediately. “I’ll try and get her to our side as soon as I can.”

“Dare I ask how?” Catra could hear the smile in the princess’ words.

“There’s this little concept called ‘kidnapping’ that exists, I’m sure you know about it.” Catra smirked.

“Vaguely. Political rivals of my mother often tried it with my back in my youth. Stopped recently, though. Not sure why.” Bow’s expression turned flat as he regarded Glimmer with a droopy eyed stare, “Glimmer, the reason nobody tries to kidnap you is because the last time someone did you broke the spine of the one who was hired and then beat up the noble who gave him the job in the first place.”

“And I would do it again.” Glimmer’s grin was similar to Catra’s during her cheekier moments.

“Gremlin princess…” Bow murmured.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

 More sloshing was heard, followed by the slapping of bare feet on polished marble. Eventually Glimmer emerged, clad in a slightly more formal looking attire than the clothes that were currently strewn about the place. Catra wasn’t sure what the big difference was, apparently some different fabrics of clothes made one more presentable than others.

“Right, with that out of the way, shall we go about saving Etheria?” Glimmer grinned.

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The war room was surprisingly empty, considering the amount of chairs and the size of the table. Catra had figured that there would be more members of the Etherian military present, but perhaps the nature of this meeting was more discreet given that Glimmer’s project was a secret one. Bow sat next to Glimmer, tinkering with his tracker pad while frowning, evidently engrossed. Glimmer was straight backed and mildly tensed. The queen herself seemed relaxed, but Catra honestly found it difficult to read that woman at times. Thankfully Angella was quite happy to agree with Catra’s terms should things go well.

Catra had to admit, it was a surprise to have ample motivation and incentive to try her best once in a while.

The only person Catra didn’t know was a tanned woman with dark hair swept to one side. If the intricate armour with the weird magic symbols traced on it, she must be a high ranking official. Maybe a general like Shadow Weaver?

“For those not in the know, this is General Juliet.” Angella gestured to the woman in question. “She was the one who first received the distress call. General, if you would?”

“Of course, your majesty.” Juliet nodded. She tapped the table and a holographic projection sprung up as atop a gigantic arcane symbol emblazoned on the table. “We recently received a call for aid from Plumeria, the forest kingdom connected to the Whispering Woods. Though the Alliance is no more,” Catra heard a muffled ‘For now’ from Glimmer, “there are still several trade agreements and agreements to answer any calls for help between us all. Therefore we must answer Plumeria’s plea for aid.”

“Glimmer, it has come to my attention that you have volunteered to provide this aid.” Angella spoke. “But I believe your motives go beyond simple charity and goodwill.”

“They do.” Glimmer stood, arms folded behind her back. “My intention is to bring back the Etherian Alliance.” Juliet’s back straightened.

“That’s… interesting news.” She laced her fingers together. “But what will your incentive be? It’s been over fifteen years since the previous Alliance’s fall and the Horde has made little headway since then.”

“Until now.” Glimmer stood, waving a hand. The map shifted again to a more generalised view of Etheria. Catra leaned over to get a proper look. To the east was Rebellion territory, marked with blue while, to the west was the Horde marked in red. Between them was a green area which Catra assumed was the Whispering Woods.

“The Woods may have kept us safe since its enchantment, but while we were focusing on reacting to any incursions, the Horde has been busy.” Glimmer explained, magnifying into the Whispering Woods with a gesture. “They have been finding stable pathways within the forest. The attack on Thaymor was the due to them finally finding a way to get through. Thaymor wasn’t a random attack, it’s a staging ground for further invasions. The only reason we held the Horde off last time was because we managed to work together and fight as one. Many weren’t that lucky.”

Catra blinked, she was sure that Angella had glanced at her specifically when Glimmer said that.

“You raise a good point, princess. I take it you have a plan to proceed.” The queen bade her daughter.

“I do. Plumeria has sent out a call for aid, as you already know. Many of the other kingdoms have yet to answer, whether due to politics or simply because they have their own problems. We are in a position to do so.”

“So your plan is to blackmail them? Join us or we don’t help?” Catra winced when she saw Glimmer’s offended expression, “Of course not! We will aid them regardless. What I’m saying is that this is our greatest chance to reforge the Alliance and make some headway before the Horde amasses their numbers and we end up like Halfmoon!”

Something lurched in Catra’s chest, causing her to sit up straight. She knew the others were discussing the details of their plan, but for some reason she couldn’t hear them. All sound was fading away, save for a ringing in her ears and the echo of that… that… name.

Halfmoon.

Halfmoon.

Halfmoon.

Halfmoon. Halfmoon. Halfmoon. Halfmoon. Halfmoon Halfmoon Halfmoon HalfmoonHalfmoonHalfmoonHalfmoonHalfmoonHalfmoonHalfmoon

“You came from nothing, you insignificant creature. You came from a place that no longer exists and everyone is better off because of it.”

“Catra?” the voice jolted her back into reality and she was met with several concerned gazes.

“Huh, uh, yeah, I’m with Glimmer on this, let’s go.” Nobody moved. Catra started to fidget. “What?” she asked defensively.

“Catra, you zoned out for five minutes, are you okay?” Bow leaned over, dark eyes peering at the magicat.

“I’m fine.” Catra barely managed to stop her voice from shaking. “So, when do we leave?”

“As soon as possible. Some supplies are being gathered for relief purposes, and we got some horses ready.”

“Oh, horses. Wonderful.” Catra’s smile was as large as it was utterly fake. It didn’t take long for her mood to drop as she trudged after the two other members of her expedition to Plumeria. Bow and Glimmer were chatting animatedly while Catra stayed behind, the name echoing in her head. Halfmoon, why did that sound so familiar?

They eventually ended up at the stables and Catra grimaced when she was offered to ride a horse.

“Not in a million years.” She said. Glimmer simply rolled her eyes and gestured for Catra to come with her.

“Ride with me, then, you overgrown baby.” She rolled her eyes. Catra acquiesced, albeit with some grumbling, climbing on behind Glimmer. Bow’s horse was just like many of the others, a simple brown stallion. Glimmer’s horse was different. It had a coat that was white with parts that sparkled like her hair and a big horn sprouting from its head.

“Weird horse.” She muttered.

“This is no horse. This is my loyal unicorn steed, Stardust!” Glimmer declared proudly.

“She named him when she was ten.” Bow leaned over with a conspiratorial grin. Catra sniggered while Glimmer shot Bow a look that could melt a tank’s armour. The princess sniffed with all the pomp and conceit that one of her status could.

“Ignore the heathens that don’t recognise your glory, Stardust. We ride to Plumeria.” She declared. They set off at a trot, then at a canter. When they started to gallop, Glimmer advised Catra to hold on tighter. Catra felt a slight flush enter her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around the princess’ waist. Holy Saz, the girl really was all muscle.

“So, where are the supplies?” Catra asked after a few minutes.

“We’ll be teleporting them in once we enter Plumeria. More efficient than just dragging them in on a cart.” A few more minutes of silence and Glimmer eventually sighed. “Alright, what is it? You can’t be this despondent when riding a horse?”

“It’s nothing.” Catra insisted after a few moments of silence. Glimmer, whether it was because she was focused on the horse or she respected Catra’s privacy, didn’t press the issue. She did however ask after some riding, “So, I heard you got some books on Driluthian culture. Did you find anything interesting.”

“Why do you want to know?” Catra asked.

“I’m curious. I never knew such a book was in the castle library. I was more focused on practical things like politics, military books from famous generals…”

“Dark romance with edgy, beautiful people?” Bow added, his lips quirking up. Glimmer blushed in response, “I knew I should have hidden my stash better.”

“Well, dark romance lover,” Catra grinned when Glimmer growled lowly at her, “I didn’t get too far. Mostly I found out about the magicat god, Saz. I’m trying to get into the habit of swearing by his name rather than Hordak’s.”

“A wise choice.”

“But I found a bit more as well. Saz has eyes a bit like mine, make of that what you will, and each eye is the sun and the moon. When one eye closes another will open so Saz is always watching over us.”

“Aww,” Bow placed one hand on his cheek, his eyes becoming big and watery.

“It also mentioned how the eyes represent the spirit and the body, both being interlinked. One can’t exist without the other.”

“Many philosophies and faiths speak of such things in similar terms.” Glimmer mused. “What about the mind, or does that fall into the category of spirit?”

“No idea.” Catra shrugged. “I wasn’t raised in this, and it sounds like nonsense to me.”

“It’s your culture.” Glimmer pointed out.

“Well, it’s weird.”

“Do you have an Elysium?”

“A what?” Catra blinked. “What the hell is an Elysium?”

“An afterlife. A place you go after you die.” Glimmer clarified.

Catra opened her mouth to utter a denial, to wave away this as pointless superstition. The Horde had no use for concepts such as the afterlife. Only place the dead go is deeper and deeper into the earth, or into a furnace when the fuel was low. But she could hear Netossa’s firm but gentle rebuke in her head just thinking that and made an attempt to be polite.

“I don’t know. I’m not sure if places like that exist.”

“They have to.” Glimmer’s voice was barely audible, her hands gripping the reins of her steed. Catra had another question and was about to ask when Glimmer glanced up and told her, “We’re here.” The trio came to a stop before the forest of Plumeria. To Catra’s eyes it didn’t look much different from the Whispering Woods, except there was a prickling beneath her skin. This time it wasn’t from magical nonsense, at least that’s what she thought. It was more like she was being watched. Glimmer dismounted, helped Catra down despite her protests and led her unicorn thingy by the reins, standing in front of the forest but not entering.

“We’re here to answer the call for aid by Plumeria.” She announced loudly.

“Why is she doing that?” Catra leaned over to Bow.

“Just watch.” Bow grinned at her. Catra wrinkled her nose but decided not to kick up a fuss, especially since that prickling feeling just magnified. She watched for a few more seconds before her limited patience ran dry.

“Is something going to happen or what?” Glimmer turned to chastise her when the ground started to shake. Catra stumbled unsteadily for a second before looking up, gaping as the trees began to move aside. The trees, absolutely huge and imposing and not something that would just move on command, slowly parted to form a path, outlined by brambles on either side.

“This is the Briar Path.” Glimmer explained. “We will follow it into Plumeria’s deepest kingdom where we will meet Princess Perfuma.”

“In there? The creepy moving forest?” Catra pointed at the trees. “Sure, while we’re at it let’s make a sign that says ‘please ambush me’ and paint ourselves pink. Except you, Sparkles, you’re pink enough.”

“If you want to wait outside like a child to scared to look under the bed, feel free.” Glimmer sauntered, flashing a wicked grin. Bow saw the look on Catra’s face as she puffed up slightly, “Oh, it’s on, Sparkles.”

“This is going to be a long walk, isn’t it?” Bow lamented.

00000000

And a long walk it was. The path twisted and wound its way through the trees. The trio didn’t have to choose any paths, thankfully, but often times Catra wondered if they were doubling back at times. She was sure she saw the same tree three times now.

She thinks.

How the hell should she know, all trees looked the same!

But worst of all was the silence. Being in the Horde meant living with the sounds of machinery. No matter where you were you could always hear something, doubly so for Catra’s sense of hearing. Even Dawnshard had some sort of noise in the day or the night. The wind rustling through trees. Animals running along branches. The day was often filled with more noise as people went about their business. Catra liked to keep her window open and listen to the ambient sound as she did her sketches.

But not here. There was no sound, save for the group’s trudging feet. Nobody dared say a word. Even Glimmer seemed cautious, her eyes constantly darting around for any threat. Bow seemed even more nervous, clutching his weapon in a sweaty hand. Catra glanced at it, noting how the limbs of the bow not only seemed to be metallic in contrast to most bows she’s seen, but sharp too. In fact, the handle seemed to look like two handles connected to each other. Was the weapon designed for close combat too? It must be, Catra couldn’t see any other purpose to it. She continued to inspect the weapon, if only because there wasn’t anything else to do during this increasingly maddening trek.

Eventually her annoyance overrode her caution, and she let out a loud groan, the sound startling the other two into raising weapons and magic encased fists.

“Dead gods, woman!” Glimmer snapped, now that the spell of silence had been broken. “Not so loud!”

“Why? There’s nothing here.” Catra gestured to the woods. “See? Only trees, trees and look… more trees. Where does this path even go?”

“It leads to Leafcrest, Plumeria’s main village in the forest’s centre.” Glimmer explained. “It’s mostly used by outsiders who don’t know the forest well.”

“Okay, cool. Why is it taking so long?” Catra crossed her arms.

“The path tends to wind around a fair bit. Never stays the same. We just have to be patient.” Glimmer turned to keep walking. Catra sighed, “Where’s the centre of the village, then?” Bow looked up at the sky. The sun faintly shone past through the trees.

“Judging by the sun’s angle and the time of day… that way.” He pointed in a direction that took them through the trees. Catra shrugged and began to strut in that direction, only for Bow to grab her arm and yank her back. “Are you crazy!?” Bow whisper shouted.

“It’s not like the Whispering Woods, Bow.” Catra snatched her arm away.

“No, it’s worse, Catra. Way worse. I got lost in here once while practicing my archery. Never again.” Bow scanned the forest. “There are things here, Catra. Things that won’t take kindly to our intrusion, or see us as food of worse, see us as toys to play with until we break.”

“How the hell do you know?” Catra asked. Bow seemed to shrink slightly, hunching and looking away. Glimmer had stopped walking ahead and came over, gently patting his back. She turned to Catra with a serious gaze, “This forest is the domain of beings called the fae.”

“Like, fairies and stuff from Aeola’s kiddie books?” Catra scratched her head, recalling the one time she had to read the girl a bedtime story with all the funny sounds included. She had to admit she did a good job despite not knowing what half the sounds were meant to be.

“No, the real thing is far worse.” Glimmer scanned the forest like Bow once did. “They trick and toy with mortals or kill them for intruding. They follow their own rules and nobody else’s. This path is one of their games, suggested by a Plumerian prince long ago in order to provide safe passage to newcomers. People who lose patience and try to take a shortcut through the forest don’t arrive at their destination. Not alive, at least. I suggest you take this seriously.”

“Ugh, fine.” Catra waved a hand even as her other one started to tremble. “And where the hell is everyone? You’d think some people would at least come out to meet us.”

“Oh, they probably are watching us now.” Glimmer glanced around, eyeing the imposing trees. Catra blinked, “Excuse me?”

“Ever heard of the phrase ‘find a Plumerian in a forest’ when talking about things that are, well, hard to find?” Bow asked. Catra shrugged, “I mean, maybe.”

“Yeah, well, that phrase exists for a reason. You don’t see Plumerians unless they want you to when in places like this.” Bow explained.

“Oh, please!” Catra sauntered to the front of the group with a cocky expression. She turned back to them. “I can easily hear the wingbeat of a fly at fifty yards, nothing will get past me.”

“That’s quite impressive.” Said the woman standing a few feet behind her.

“Thanks.” Catra nodded, then she turned with a yelp, frantically pulling at her sword. “Where the fuck did you come from?” she swung her blade, the woman twisted her wrist so that the wooden spear she held met the blow, stopping it from making contact by a few inches. Her smile didn’t even budge.

“Good reflexes, I must say!” she nodded. Glimmer searched for any sign of deception or mockery. To her surprise the woman’s expression seemed earnest. Catra stepped back but didn’t lower her sword.

“Asking again, who the hell are you?” her pupils had narrowed to slits and her tail was puffing up. She was on the verge of hissing at the newcomer. Glimmer eyed the woman up and down. She was dusky skinned and lithe. Her hair was blonde, her eyes were darker than even Bow’s and Glimmer could see twigs and roots nestling within the woman’s hair. She wore a flowing pink dress that was far more open in the chest than most Brightmoon attire and a green shawl across her arms. Her feet were bare and somewhat muddy from travelling through the woods. The woman leaned on her spear, which didn’t seem particularly ornate save for a small round ball that could either be a gem or some crystallised tree sap. It looked as though it had been grown into being instead of forged.

“Apologies. I should have introduced myself sooner. My name is Perfuma, I protect this forest.” Her expression fell slightly. “Though I must admit I have been doing a somewhat poor job of that as of late.” Just as quickly she brightened up. “But hopefully we can sort this issue out. You’ve come at just the right time, actually. We’ve actually decided to seek solutions to our issues so your aid will be most welcome.”

“Solution to what problem?” Glimmer asked.

“Our forest is dying, the Heart Blossom fades.” Perfuma’s face drooped. “We were unsure as to the cause, then recently it was brought up during the Wildmoot where we agreed to call for help.”

“A what moot?” Catra blinked.

“A gathering, similar to our war councils but it involves more… varied company like village leaders and the more fae part of the forest, the ones that don’t hate mortals, at least.” Bow spoke up. Perfuma finally seemed to take notice of the archer and smiled, “It’s been a while, Bow. I hope you haven’t stepped into more mushroom circles since last time.” Bow scratched his head, blushing slightly at her question.

“No, thankfully.” Glimmer arched a brow, “So that’s why you got all giggly whenever I asked how you escaped Plumeria.” She turned to Perfuma, “As his best friend and sister in all but blood, you have my blessing.”

“Glimmer!” Bow’s voice was a horrified squeak. Perfuma gazed at Bow with a thoughtful hum, “I’ll consider it.” Bow made a sound filled with suffering. Catra’s body shook, her face making an expression not too dissimilar to one trying to mask pain. Eventually she gave up and started to cackle. Perfuma gave another polite smile as the magicat got that out of her system. “Are there any other questions? I would be happy to answer on the way. We can take a shortcut, if you’ll follow me.”

“Uh, is that safe?” Catra pointed at the imposing forest. “I don’t want to get snagged by some fairy for looking at them funny.”

“No need to worry. No one will cross you with me here.” The magicat nodded in satisfaction and the group exited the road. Catra kept her ears up but no matter how hard she strained her hearing she could only hear three sets of feet walking. Perfuma made no sound as she moved, not so much as a whisper of grass. Though she did hear other sounds, whispers and the occasional giggle echoing throughout the forest. Sometimes they felt like they came from a few feet away, but she could never find the source. Something told her she didn’t want to find it. It felt as though the entire forest had awoken from some deep slumber. She quickly found that she preferred the silence.

“So, you a princess or something?” Catra asked, desperate to ignore the strange noises.

“That is my title.” Perfuma affirmed. “But truth be told I rarely act as my title implies. I’m more of a druid than a princess most days. In truth I mostly settle disputes between people but for the most part they look after themselves. Plumeria isn’t a complex place. Tough at times, yes, but not complex.”

“What do druids do?” Catra found herself inquiring. One thing she had learned was that it was okay to ask whenever she was curious. She never got to do that in the Horde, not without getting a slap at least.

“The forest has numerous dangers from the more hostile elements within. My duty is to ensure my people’s safety. Sometimes that means guiding people to where they need to go like I’m doing with you, negotiating with forest spirits and playing games with the fae to win their victims from a hundred years of indentured service for accidentally treading on their favourite flower.” Catra blinked at Perfuma’s explanation.

“Ru-run that last one by me again?” her voice stuttered like a malfunctioning engine.

“And Horde propaganda says we’re all soft.” Glimmer snorted. “The reasons the princesses, especially those graced with a Runestone as part of their lineage, are so strong is that our purpose is to act as princess Perfuma does. We were guardians of the world, protecting people from the evil that lurks within the shadows.”

“Were?” Perfuma tilted her head. “Have you abandoned that duty, then?”

“Never imply that again.” Glimmer’s voice was a hiss, flickers of light manifesting around her. “The nature of the enemy simply changed, and our roles changed with it.”

“I meant no offence, I was merely curious over your wording.” Perfuma stopped and bowed to the sparkling princess. “My apologies.”

“It’s… it’s fine. I too, offer apologies for my tone. It was unworthy of me.” Glimmer shoved her anger back inside with commendable speed. Catra would never have been able to do that.

“You take your duties seriously, there’s no shame in that.” Perfuma nodded and the group began to walk again. “Leafcrest is up ahead. I suppose you could call it a town if you feel generous. I know us Plumerians don’t industrialise like most civilisations do.” The Plumerian princess explained. “Plus, our settlements aren’t like most. Watch your step.” The group had begun to ascend up a network of vast roots, climbing pathways formed from gigantic branches. Soon enough, they came across rope bridges and ladders, finding small cottages perched on the gargantuan limbs of wood that increased in frequency as they continued on.

“You made treehouses?” Catra asked.

“A precaution. There are quite a few predators that stalk the land, so our ancestors made their homes in the trees as a means of protection. And well, let’s be honest,” Perfuma flashed a grin at the magicat, “treehouses are better than normal ones.”

“Say no more.” Catra smiled back. Perfuma gave a little wink, causing heat to rise in Catra’s cheeks, and continued to move in her graceful gait. Catra wasn’t sure but she could swear that Perfuma’s hips were swinging more than they used to. Bow’s attention was less occupied with the princess and more with the surrounding environment. The trees had started to sag, and the branches were becoming dry with rot and decay. It had been growing worse as they travelled, he even saw that some house bearing trees were teetering to the point of collapse. Thankfully the houses in question seemed empty.

“What happened here?” he asked at last. Perfuma’s lips thinned.

“The very reason for our decision to call for aid. As you can see for yourself, life is fading from Plumeria, and not as it should be. This is no passing of seasons, this is corruption.” Perfuma cast her gaze to the east. “And I think I know why.” Catra followed her gaze and saw a plume of smoke rising in the distance. Her eyes narrowed, “What is that?”

“That is a recent addition to our little home. The Horde contacted us recently and said they wanted to perform some form of survey in exchange for ceasing aggressions on our home. I wasn’t present at the time during this, but my people must have accepted which led to them building some strange contraption.”

“You trusted the Horde?” Glimmer cast a judgemental look at Perfuma who replied with a hard gaze of her own.

“The effects weren’t immediate, and I was busy dealing with all manner of threats that were rising, especially the carrion spirits that have been wandering around due to all the battles nearby in your kingdom, princess of Brightmoon.” Glimmer looked as though she had been slapped in the face. Perfuma’s tense form relaxed, “Apologies, I have no wish to assign blame. All I ask is for help to resolve the problem. In return we’ll grant you a boon for your assistance.”

The three Brightmoon envoys all glanced at one another, smiles on their faces. Catra even gave a conspiratory nod to Glimmer.

“Then let’s fix this issue, and if it involves bloodying the Horde’s nose, all the better.” Glimmer chirped.

“Glad that we are agreed, because we’re here.” Perfuma announced. “Welcome to the centre of Plumeria, home of the Heart Blossom.” The great tree they had arrived at looked as though it had been split open by something, opening up like petals on a flower. It was larger than anything Catra had ever seen, large enough to house several homes that looked as though they had been grown from the wood itself. Bridges large enough to fit tanks were everywhere, as well as primitive lifts that were operated by enchanted pulleys. There were far more people here, milling about and offering greetings to the princess along with curious looks at the guests. They wore sashes of varying colours over basic shirts, though a few of the men lacked said shirts, revealing intricate paintings consisting of geometric patterns and snarling animals.

Perfuma nodded and smiled at all of them, giving a few waves here and there as she journeyed towards a large amphitheatre carved out of natural wood. In the centre was a tree that was almost as big as Catra’s home. At the base of it was… not a gem. Catra always envisioned Runestones to look like large jewels, similar to the Moonstone or the Black garnet. This looked more like crystalised pink sap within the tree, it even looked like there was some air bubbles inside as though it contained liquid. Perfuma looked around, noting the few people who were sitting around. Some nodded to her while examining the strangers in their midst.

“This place should suffice to send in supplies, if that is how you intend to do so.” Perfuma gestured to the spot before the tree.

“It’s big enough, I just need some time.” Glimmer nodded. A circle of light at least fifteen feet in diameter was traced in the ground, Glimmer worked in silence, focused only on her work while Bow and Perfuma conversed with one another. The sounds faded away as Catra decided she wasn’t needed here and decided to do what she always did in a new place: explore.

Dawnshard had been a new but uncomplicated place to poke around. It was as standard as villages ever really got, but Leafcrest was different. Half of the pathways were naturally formed from thick branches easily big enough to support tanks. Others were great rope bridges or stairways to climb up the steeper areas and the primitive lifts to carry heavy items up and down the different areas of the treehouse town. Saz, there was even a slide or two which the children were enjoying. Catra made a mental note to go on one later. For now she leapt across the place, clearing vast distances with each bound she made while doing a flip or a cartwheel through the air every so often. On occasion someone would release a whoop as she passed by. Some even tried to keep up with her, swinging on vine ropes and running along whatever paths they could, taking risky jumps of their own with practiced ease.

Of course, none of them managed to catch up. She came to a stop at what she presumed was the outskirts of Leafcrest, having long lost her pursuers. The air had changed slightly, now that she stopped to think. Something that wasn’t part of this forest was permeating the atmosphere. Worse still, it was a familiar smell. Catra’s lips straightened as she calculated a path to get as high as possible. This time her movements were less theatrical. There were less homes on the higher levels, as expected. The branches grew smaller and thinner with each jump she made until she reached the very top, poking her head out of the foliage and eyeing smokestack in the distance. A light breeze was carrying the smell of the smoke over to her, causing her to gag slightly. Her eyes travelled down until she found the cause, dead centre in the middle of rotting marshlands.

A Horde outpost. Of course, it’s as Perfuma said. But she never saw any outpost pump that much smoke out. Even though the outpost was absurdly small due to the distance, Catra still wrinkled her nose at the smell. Saz only knows how bad it would be up close. She leaned forward as much as she dared, as though the meagre centimetres she made would make the image clearer.

Then her eyes… it felt like a brief sensation of pins and needles went through them and then her vision focused. All of a sudden it was like she had a magnifier stuck to her face. The sensation nearly caused her to fall but thankfully her claws kept her in place. The Horde base was now in full focus as though she were standing a good twenty feet away. Was this some of her magicat powers?

Best not to question now, she’ll find out later.

The base was of unusual make. While Catra didn’t listen to the lectures made by the instructors in her cadet days, she did listen to Adora rattle off facts because she loved hearing her friend’s voice and by Saz how she missed it and she initially thought it was a mining facility, considering the large construction in the base’s centre. Was that a drill? No, drills don’t move like that. It looked more like a pump of some sort. And not even the largest of bases made that much smoke. Hell, not even the Fright Zone was this bad.

A pump… and a smokestack, those two had to be deliberate. Perfuma mentioned the land dying… damn it.

She needed to find Glimmer.

00000000

“The Horde is poisoning Plumeria?” Glimmer cupped her chin. “How so?” Catra had been swift to report what she saw, though decided to leave out the details on how she saw it. They and several of Plumeria’s hunters/warriors (apparently there was no distinction between the two here) were near the Runestone. Catra didn’t miss how its glow had dimmed in the time she was gone for.

“That ‘survey outpost’ was doing nothing of a sort. I thought it was a mining facility at first, but this doesn’t look like a good place for that.” Catra mused.

“Yeah, Dryll would be a better place for that.” Bow nodded. “So what is it? Is it connected to the corruption?”

“Connected? It’s the cause.” Catra sent a glare in the direction of the foul odour. Now that she was more aware of it, the smell was constantly there. “It’s a base and a weapon all in one. Chemical weapons to be precise. It looked like it was pumping in pollutants into the earth and into the air. Horde smokestacks don’t generate that much shit.”

“I assume you know full well how much the Horde usually kills the land they inhabit?” Perfuma said to Catra. Upon seeing Catra’s scowl directed at Glimmer and Bow, Perfuma raised her hands. “They said nothing. But your accent, mannerisms and general knowledge were a bit of a giveaway.”

“Am I really that obvious?” Catra groused. She got two simultaneous utterings of ‘yes’ in response from Perfuma and from Bow, the latter of whom was giving her a cheeky expression while subtly nodding to the pacing Glimmer, deep in thought. Catra restrained the urge to hiss at him and vowed to be an annoyance at a later date. Several of the hunters were staring at Catra now. She recognised a few who had cheered for her during her jaunt around the place, now they weren’t so inviting.

“If the Horde is deliberately poisoning the land, then it’s an act of war. You need to respond in kind.” Glimmer turned to Perfuma. “This is the point I was getting at after I finished the teleportation circle, Princess Perfuma. The Horde care little for our ways and lives. They only see us as territory to be claimed.”

“And so you propose a second Alliance to stop this?”

Oh, so Glimmer pitched the Alliance plan while Catra was away. Neat.

“The first Alliance led to many victories. Its fall was…” Glimmer’s face twisted with an emotion Catra struggled to identify. Grief? Anger? Both? “… Its fall wasn’t due to the Horde’s might but other factors. Factors I won’t repeat.”

“You speak no lie when you say the Alliance was mostly a success. Much of Plumeria was regained during those times.” Perfuma nodded. “Perhaps in unity we can see to it that the second Alliance is all we’ll need. But first we must deal with this issue. I took the liberty of sending a volunteer to tell the Horde to leave.”

“You seriously think the Horde will listen to you?” Catra deadpanned.

“If they know what’s good for them, they will.” The Plumerian’s chilling words were belied by her cheery tone. It occurred to Catra that despite being down to earth and humble for a princess, Perfuma was still a princess and had the arrogance of one. They thought everyone would drop what they’re doing and obey without a second thought and why wouldn’t they? Those who controlled the Runestones’ powers were the ultimate power and authority. Who in their right mind would defy them?

The Horde, apparently. And it seems they were going to get a lesson not to do that.

“Operating under the assumption that they will refuse, how will we destroy that contraption?” Glimmer spoke up.

“I could hack into it with this.” Bow raised his pad, causing several nearby Plumerians to glare at him. He lowered it sheepishly. A large man with swirling tattoos and tanned skin crossed his arms and glared at Bow. This got the attention of Glimmer, Catra and Perfuma.

“Is there a matter you wish to bring up, Aaron?” Perfuma asked.

“He uses the methods of the enemy.” Aaron growled, stepping forwards and looming over Bow. Glimmer took a step forward, her hand beginning to glow. Catra found herself doing something similar, her own hand gripping her sword.

“Unless you want to find out what terminal velocity feels like, you damn luddite, back off.” The princess warned.

“All machines do is harm and kill, we’ve seen it with our own eyes. Our land dies because of machines.” Aaron insisted.

“It dies because of the Horde.” Glimmer shot back. “Bow uses his technology and gadgets to aid others, not to oppress and destroy like they do. Calm yourself.”

“And what of the feline?” Aaron’s gaze now turned to Catra. “You were from the Horde, how can we be sure you’re not a spy?”

“I have more reason to hate the Horde than you ever will.” Catra’s tail puffed up. She felt her claws slowly extend. Aaron sneered, “I’m sure your cover story is very convincing, perhaps we should chuck you at one of the spirits to determine your honesty. Maybe a dryad or two.”

“Aaron, you overstep.” Perfuma’s voice was as calm as ever. She barely raised her voice but somehow it felt as though the entire forest echoed with it. “If Catra was a spy, I’m certain Princess Glimmer would have discovered such treachery by now, yes?”

“We used a truth spell and asked her questions, in addition she was vouched for by Princesses Spinnerella and Netossa.”

“I also failed their, uh, fruit test.” Catra added in, even though it made the heat rise in her face.

“The what?” Aaron blinked.

“They gave me celery and carrots and called them fruit. I fell for it. A Horde spy wouldn’t have.” The untrusting gazes turned to incredulity. Several of the hunters began to mutter among herself, no doubt expressing disbelief over her ignorance. She shot them a dark look before turning to Aaron. “Got any other issues or can we get on with it?” Aaron glanced at Perfuma, then back at Catra before looking at his princess again. Eventually he slumped.

“I… apologise for my outburst.” He murmured.

“Eh, no offence taken.” Bow waved. “Not the worst argument I’ve had over this.” Catra didn’t Glimmer’s wince. Did the two have an argument over this? She never knew technology was so mistrusted by Etherians, but then again technology was often associated with the Horde. Speaking of technology.

“Hacking the terminal won’t work, anyway.” She got the subject back on track. “Horde databases are hard to crack with Hordemind being ready to deal with any attack. But we don’t need to do that. Bases like that would have at least one high ranking officer, maybe even a Force Captain. Their badges also act as identification for accessing terminals. We get that, we can switch the whole thing off. Then there’s the issue of actually getting inside.” At this, Catra sighed. “Yeah, no lie, it’s going to be hard. Maybe if I rush in and cause some chaos you guys can follow up, but there are clear lines of fire in every direction. No cover at all, no trees, just marshlands.” Some concerned murmurings arose from the hunters but then Aaron raised a hand.

“What if we made our own cover?” he suggested. “There’s a breeze today, isn’t there?” at Catra’s nod of affirmation, he continued, “We burn some plants, have the wind carry it over.”

“We’d have to burn a lot of them to create adequate cover.” Glimmer pinched her chin.

“Perhaps I can aid in this matter.” Perfuma stepped forwards, holding her hand up. A small flower sprouted from her palm. “I can create all sorts of plants, even new ones. Some types of wood smoke more than others and perhaps… hmm.” She scratched her head, then grinned. “I do believe I have an idea. Fear and surprise shall be our weapon. There’s a type of plant that makes for a good hallucinogenic, especially if you inhale the smoke. I smoked some, once, it was a very jarring experience.”

Catra blinked. Are these people contemplating chemical warfare?

She seriously needs to stop underestimating Etherians. She added another punch to the beating she was going to give her instructor.

“Well, we seem to have a plan of attack, now all that remains is to wait for our messenger to return.” Glimmer nodded.

“Maybe they will up and leave, now that we’re onto them.” Bow shrugged.

“Ever the optimist, Bow.” Glimmer sighed.

That was when someone came running into the amphitheatre. A young girl in her teens, red haired, red faced and heaving in air. Aaron strode over and handed her a water skin. She gulped from it greedily while he patted her back. She gave him a smile in turn, causing him to blush.

“Lily, what’s the word?” Perfuma asked.

“They refused. Quite vehemently. I almost died after they opened fire.” Lily groaned.

“Well, that answers that!” Perfuma clapped her hands together. While she did smile, something dark lurked within her eyes and a grim atmosphere had settled among the gathered warriors. “Let’s go kill them all.”

00000000

The first part of the attack was positioning. The hunters, their princess and the Brightmoon trio hurried through the forest in order to circle around the Horde base. The plan was to have the Horde base be downwind from them so the smoke will hit them faster. Now they were charging through the forest at speed. The hunters and Perfuma moved with practiced ease, leaping from tree to tree and moving through the vegetation with almost no hindrance. Bow was moving almost as fast, albeit a bit more clumsily than the Plumerians. Catra herself was far faster but she had to stay with the group and often needed to wait lest she wander away too far from Perfuma and… well, she didn’t want to think about it. Speaking of the princess in question, Catra chuckled to see that she was cheating a bit as she was using her power to have branches reach out for her to step on as she moved, hoping around daintily despite their pace.

Most amusing, however, was Glimmer. Despite her stamina for combat, running and jumping (or in her case teleporting) wasn’t her forte. She was trailing behind slightly, puffing and panting.

“Come on, Sparkles, we’re almost there!” Catra crowed.

“I’m wasted on cross country. I’ve always been better at sprinting!” Glimmer wheezed.

Fortunately, their destination wasn’t far after that. The Plumerians settled down far behind the treeline, sentries were set up and Perfuma got to work. Glimmer gratefully accepted a waterskin from one of the hunters and sat down next to a tree.

“Didn’t think you could get exhausted, princess.” Catra sat down next to her. Glimmer took another swig and rested her head on the tree.

“Teleportation can take up a lot of energy if used a lot.” She explained. “I’ll have to use normal spells for this. Probably a good thing, I need the practice. My aunt’s been on my arse about it for weeks now.” Her breathing slowed until it went back to normal as the two sat in silence. Bow was checking his quiver and sorting through his various tools. He then grabbed his weapon and pressed a button, causing the two halves of his bow to separate into…

“He has swords?” Catra found herself asking as Bow did a few practiced slices and stabs.

“My idea. Told him he needed a weapon in case somebody got close after a few incidents where he nearly got bludgeoned to death.” Glimmer explained. “He didn’t want to just carry around a sword everywhere, so he made his bow into swords.”

“Sounds needlessly complex.” Catra huffed.

“I said the same thing. He countered that it saved up space for other things and he always wanted to create a trick weapon.”

“Trick weapon?” Catra tilted her head.

“Transforming weapons created by an extinct church militant group. He found some notes of theirs in his parents’ library and always wanted to try it out himself.”

“Was he always a techie?” Catra settled back, watching the archer reattach his weapon and go back to rifling through his quiver. It wasn’t made of leather like most arrow quivers but metal.

“He was. Quite the genius, too.” Glimmer exhaled, her voice low and her gaze downcast. “Few people believed in his ability to learn how to use it, though. I was one of those fools.”

“You didn’t want him to use technology?” Catra crossed her arms. “Why not? Why does Etheria hate it so much?”

“Because much like the colour red, all technology is synonymous with the Horde and therefore considered evil.” Glimmer explained.

“That’s overly simplistic.” Catra snorted.

“It is, which is why I still curse myself whenever I get twitchy around Bow’s weapons and gadgets. Tell you the truth I struggle to enter his workshop a few times as well.” Bow had equipped an arm guard with some buttons attached to it and after some fiddling around, a few arrows emerged. Upon seeing Catra’s surprised expression, Glimmer smiled. “He calls it TS Tech, transdimensional storage. He fiddled around with portals in order to create a teleportation network that wasn’t reliant on me and ended up finding or creating a small pocket dimension. He puts all his arrows in there.”

“How many arrows?” Catra chuckled.

“You don’t want to know.” The two lapsed into silence for a few seconds. Perfuma was silently working, making strange plants that Catra had never seen before.

“Any idea what those are?” she asked. Glimmer shrugged, “Not much of a plant person. Probably something that induces hallucinations, like they said.”

“Hm.” Catra tucked a knew up to her chest. She waited until Glimmer finished another swig when she asked her question, “What’s Elysium? You mentioned it before. A place you go when you die. How does that work?”

“The final resting place for the dead. You travel a path made of stars, sailing through the void. You leave behind the physical world and transcend to the heavens. That’s when you see it.”

“See what?” Catra asked. Glimmer smiled fondly, “A field of green under the bluest of skies. A great castle made of light. Within are all those who came before. Friends and family await you with welcome arms. Once within there is no discontent and no suffering, only peace.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad.” Catra admitted. “There someone waiting for you?” Glimmer’s smile fell, her expression becoming morose.

“Yes.” She replied, clutching at something beneath her breastplate. There was a small flicker of light reflecting from a necklace’s chain. “And I intend to return something he gave me a long time ago. We made a promise.”

Catra could sense that Glimmer wouldn’t divulge any further information regarding the identity of this person and felt it best not to press the issue. Instead she stood and began to amble around. Perfuma was nearby in a corner, smearing strange marks on her face and arms with a blue paste.

“So, is this going to work?” Catra asked.

“Hopefully. But it’s what comes after that I don’t look forward to.” Perfuma sighed.

“What, do you not want to join the Alliance?” Catra tilted her head.

“I do. I see that it’s the best course of action for Etheria’s prosperity. But Plumeria’s role in the previous one was one of support, primarily. We didn’t fight.” Perfuma settled herself into a more comfortable position. “Do you know of our history, Catra? Of what we once were?”

“No.” Catra answered. Perfuma snorted, but it didn’t seem scornful or at least aimed at Catra’s ignorance in any way.

“Many years ago, before the war, before Hordak… we were raiders. We invaded other lands and took whatever we wanted. All-out war has never truly been waged on Etheria, until recently, but it came close when the other nations decided to invade us in turn. Despite the ferocity of our warriors, despite our advantages and methods, we were overrun. Plumeria only survives because it swore to adopt a more peaceful lifestyle and never again march to war.”

“And yet, here you are.” Said Catra.

“Here we are.” Perfuma nodded. “Hopefully my reason to fight and my desire to protect will be enough to prevent us from sliding back into those dark days.”

“Pretty sure it will. Besides, if you did start slipping, Sparkles would smack you silly.” Catra pointed out. Perfuma chuckled, finishing off her war paint. She stood, “And what of you?”

“Me?” Catra asked.

“You were once Horde, is this the first time you draw your blade against them?” Perfuma clarified.

“Not the first time.” Catra’s hand rested on the khopesh’s handle. “I was at Thaymor. It was attacked by the Horde, and I was there.”

“Ah, so this is still a first.” Perfuma nodded.

“How?”

“Because back then, you merely defended yourself. Now you are the aggressor. Will you be able to follow through or will conflicting loyalties hold you back?” despite the words, Perfuma somehow didn’t sound accusatory. There was concern present.

“… I hate the Horde.” Catra confessed. “Since the moment I understood what it meant to hate, I knew I hated the Horde. Every day I spent there was nothing but misery. I don’t regret leaving and I sure as hell won’t regret burning the Fright Zone to the ground.”

“There truly is nothing that you regret leaving?” Perfuma’s voice was as soft as the wind rustling through the leaves. Catra turned away, her facing falling. Briefly she saw an image of blue eyes and blonde hair. A dorky but sincere smile that never seemed to fade. She blinked and the image was gone.

“Only one.” She admitted.

“Princess, the pyre is ready. We await your command.” A hunter reported. Perfuma nodded. She rested a hand on Catra’s shoulder, “Since we are allies, if you ever need someone to listen, I’ll lend an ear.”

“Um, thanks.” Catra felt her cheeks go warm.

“In addition, pass these to your friends.” Perfuma handed Catra some odd looking leaves. “Chew for a few seconds and then spit them out. There’s a nectar within that will protect you from the hallucinogen.”

“What about you?” Catra asked. Perfuma gave a wry smirk, “Our people have made a habit of partaking in these narcotics for centuries, over time we’ve built quite a tolerance for it. I have to make special plants just to get a light buzz nowadays.”

“You poison yourself for fun?” Catra squeaked.

“Remind me to introduce you to some recreational narcotics afterwards.” The princess grinned. Catra gulped as the princess left.

“Etherians are fucked up.” She decided. Upon ambling over to her companions, they all did as they were bade. Catra was the only one who didn’t gag and that was due to being raised on awful ration bars.

“Did they have to make it so bitter?” Bow choked as he chewed.

“Just chew, Bow.” Glimmer spoke through her own frantic munching before the two spat the leaves out. Upon recovering her dignity, Glimmer cracked her neck. “Let’s get to business. The Horde won’t ruin another kingdom.”

“That reminds me…” Glimmer paused and turned to Catra. Bow ran on ahead, intent to catch up with the hunters. The magicat chewed her lip, struggling to make eye contact. “You mentioned a place called… Halfmoon? Felt kind of familiar. What’s the deal about that?”

Smoke was beginning to gather, blocking Catra’s view. But she could still make out the expression of dawning horror on Glimmer’s face.

“You don’t know?” Glimmer’s face had gone deathly pale, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. “Oh, stars, you’re not joking. You really don’t know. I thought you did. I’m so sorry.”

“What happened?” Catra asked. “Glimmer, what’s Halfmoon? What happened to it?”

“Catra, Halfmoon was—”

“Hey, what’s the hold up!” Bow called. Perfuma and the assembled hunters glanced back at the two. Glimmer looked at the group, then back to Catra. Her head swivelled between them before she grimaced.

“I’ll tell you afterwards, I swear. Suffice to say you’ll have another reason to hate the Horde when you know.” She immediately rushed off, frantically whispering something to Bow. A few seconds later and he too was wearing a similar to expression to the one Glimmer wore. Catra scowled.

“Damn it. It was just a question.” She grumbled as she followed the group.

Then an idea occurred. It had something to do with the Horde.

Maybe she wouldn’t have to wait for Glimmer to tell her the news.

00000000

Horde Trooper Bryan was living the good life, he had to admit. Plumeria was probably one of the cushiest deployments he had ever been at. The locals were fools, it was a genuine wonder how the Horde hadn’t dominated everyone if all the princess lovers were this stupid. What was even better was that they finally realised what their ‘survey’ was actually doing and what do they do?

They send someone to politely tell them to leave.

Man, it was funny shooting at the girl as she scrambled away. Shame, Bryan wished the savage had stayed still a bit longer, then he would have actually hit something at least once during this whole shift. Shooting at rocks and rotten tree stumps can only entertain you so much. Of course, sometimes strange things happened as well, according to the some of the logs he managed to read when he was bored enough to actually sit down and look. People claiming that the corpses of the dead rise again to run off into the forest, hear whispers from right behind them or see friends that were either not supposed to be here or had been long dead.

Nonsense, of course. All of it. Though he had to admit there never seemed to be any shortage of ambient noise coming from the forest. He kind of preferred it, actually. Absolute silence always made his hair stand on end.

“Hey, boss wants an update.” Lynn yelled up from within the outpost. Bryan sighed and turned, looking down at the dark haired woman. He never particularly liked her that much, always nagging the others and basically being the suck up to higher ups like that blonde bimbo Shadow Weaver dotes on.

“Nothing here, like there’s been nothing for the past hour.” He reported. “Can’t he just come up himself and take a look?”

“He’s overseeing the operation directly.”

“What’s there to oversee? It’s a giant pump.”

“Quit complaining and keep watching. Boss is worried there might be some retaliation from the locals. He’s making a request for some reinforcements now.”

“What are they going to do, hit us with flowers?” Bryan rolled his eyes. “Honestly, best they have are bows and arrows, what can they do to…” he stopped. Something was off. The forest had gone oddly quiet, a silence that made him think he went deaf. Then there was the smell. Something odd was wafting its way to him, he inhaled a few times. It smelled like… smoke? Come to think of it, there was a lot of smoke emerging from the forest now, creeping towards the base. Bryan activated his communicator.

“Hey, did we ever start any fires?” he asked.

“What?” Lynn answered.

“Uh, fires. We start any?” he repeated.

“No. Why?”

“Because there’s smoke. A lot of it. Heading over here.”

“Alright, coming over.” The communicator shut off. Bryan turned back and saw that the smoke cloud had tripled in size and was halfway to reaching the base. The smell was undeniable, now. It wasn’t just smoke, it was… what? He didn’t know.

“Hey, you hurrying or what?” he asked. No answer came. “Hey!” the communicator crackled. He tapped at it. “Stupid, buggy piece of shit. Fucking answer!”

“You’re going to die here.” He froze. That wasn’t any voice he recognised. His breath started to stutter. He cast his gaze back at the smoke. It was ten meters out.

“Hey.” Bryan jumped, but it was just Lynn. “The hell is this?”

“Not sure, but listen. Everything’s gone quiet.” Bryan barely managed to keep the tremble out of his voice. Lynn glanced at him and gasped, aiming her rifle at his face. “Whoa!” he raised his hands in alarm.

“There was something behind you!” Lynn cried. “A face.” She then turned sharply, eyes darting around. “Did you hear that?”

“I don’t hear anything.” Bryan told her. Lynn shook her head frantically.

“Screw this.” She thumbed her communicator. “This is Lynn, suspected Etherian attack in progress. Get your helmets and filters on, the smoke’s making us see things.” Bryan frantically donned his own helm and switched on the filtration systems. Targeting data cycled past his eyes and a small green tick at the bottom left of his visor showed him that all systems were go.

Several other Horde troops were amassing at the ramparts, weapons trained at the smoke. It had reached the base now. It grew thicker and thicker until Bryan could barely see the tip of his weapon in front of him.

Then the chanting started.

A drumbeat, a shout and several cries sounded. He couldn’t tell how far away the source of the noise was. More drumbeats sounded, then a woman’s voice rang clearly, chanting words he didn’t know. Was it a spell, some sort of weird language the Etherians had? Whatever it was, it was getting closer, soon being joined in by other chants, guttural and snarling in contrast to the melodic singer. It grew louder, in fact it sounded like the voice was all around him. Several other troopers were fidgeting, fingers adjusting their grip on their weapons. He heard Lynn’s frantic breathing beside him and wished she would shut up.

Of course, she never did. In fact she decided to be brave for once and cry out, “This intimidation tactic is pointless, Etherians. Leave or be destroyed. This place is Horde territory now!”

The chanting stopped immediately.

“Did they leave?” Bryan heard someone ask.

“Figures. The moment they get some resistance they crumble. This is all just some Rebellion trick.” Lynn snorted. “Well, I guess this was entertaining, but we better get back to—” her voice was cut off with a choking noise. Bryan turned and saw why she finally stopped talking.

It was rather difficult to talk when a spear was embedded in your throat.

“Holy shit!” he yelped. Lasers lit up the smoke as the troopers started to open fire. Bryan added his own laser fire to the mix. The spear in Lynn’s throat was pulled out by an unseen force and flew back into the smog. Eventually someone demanded they cease their fire, Bryan wasn’t sure who. His breaths came in ragged gasps. He could smell the smoke again, the filtration units weren’t perfect and there was so much of that strange vapour around them…

Then he heard a clunk. It was coming from down the outside of the wall. He looked down, gasping in horror as he saw several roots and branches creep over the edge of the rampart. The others backed away, weapons raised. The clunking growing in volume and quantity. It sounded like a blade hitting wood… were they hacking at the branches down below or were they… oh, no.

As soon as he realised what was happening, a shape climbed up. It was a horrifying creature, a mix of flesh and bark. A face, half covered in wood with strange runes snarled at him. The figure carried an axe in one hand and a spear in the other. Its legs ended in cloven hooves. It howled, a sound akin to a beast more than a human. Bryan took a step backwards. A step too far as he didn’t have any more room to move, leading to him falling backwards from the rampart. He caught a glimpse of more figures emerging, swinging at his fellow troops. Screams and laser fire erupted anew, accompanied with the dull thuds of axes and spears piercing armour. More soldiers poured from the inner areas of the base, congregating towards the attackers.

They were only slightly more disciplined and their laser fire would have cut through the demonic attackers if it hadn’t emerged.

A giant tree monster with gnarled branches for fingers and a gaping fanged maw rose and swatted the laser fire away with ease. Atop it stood a creature made of wood and silk, carrying the bloody spear that impaled Lynn. She surveyed the battle impassively, watching her horrible marauders hack through the Horde soldiers. He could have sworn she looked at her before turning her gaze elsewhere. The monster lowered its head and deposited her on the rampart, where she gracefully swung her spear around, slicing and impaling anyone unfortunate enough to get close.

Then just as things couldn’t get any worse, three more figures arose.

The first was a shadowy spectre carrying a bow. Yellow eyes shone from a face made of smoke and darkness. It fired a shot from its bow which struck a nearby soldier in the shoulder before detonating with enough force to tear his arm loose. His screams were cut off with a second shot, this time to the head.

The second was a shining entity. A humanoid figure surrounded by rings of light that span around her. She raised her hands and lightning sprung from them, leaping from soldier to soldier in bright blue arcs before it fizzled away, allowing them to fall over. They were dead before they hit the ground. It shot out fire, it blasted with light and even caused the earth to erupt with spikes. Bryan whimpered and tried to scramble away but the third figure zeroed in on him.

A great leonine monstrosity loomed over him. Two different coloured eyes, one blue and one yellow, glared at him with animalistic hatred. It snarled something, was it trying to speak? It stared at him for a few seconds before roaring at him, slashing a claw in front of his face.

“I don’t… I don’t… what are you?” Bryan whimpered. The monster growled and raised a curved blade that was almost as long as he was tall. “Wait, wait!” he begged. He tried to crawl away, find his gun. Where was his gun? Over there! If he got to it, he may stand a chance! If he could just reach his—

00000000

Catra rammed her sword into the soldier’s back, tutting in annoyance. Just what the hell was he on about, whimpering and babbling like that? Seriously, what was in those plants to get everyone to panic that way? All she did was ask him where the Force Captain was and wave a hand in his face.

“Glimmer, these guys are too drugged to be useful, I’ll go to the plant. Maybe the Force Captain is still skulking there.” She casually deflected a stray laser shot from someone’s blaster. Glimmer flung a fireball at the one responsible. She was currently standing on a disk made of light, hovering over the battlefield and raining magic on everyone. It was proving quite effective.

“Alright, we’ll be done here soon!” she called back. A firing squad assembled and opened up on Glimmer. She yawned and summoned a rune that absorbed the shots before she made a flicking gesture, sending every bolt back at the shooters. Catra shook her head. Magic was bullshit. Now came the issue of actually finding the main area. It wouldn’t normally be a problem, but the smoke was covering everything at this point. Her ears pricked up, she could faintly hear the pump still going through the din of battle. She made her cautious way forward, sword at the ready. A Horde soldier fell at her feet, an arrow sticking from their back. They juddered and twitched violently. Out of morbid curiosity, Catra leaned over and unclasped the helmet. Bloody froth was dripping from the soldier’s mouth. A toxin of some sort. Catra almost felt sorry for the soldier.

Almost.

She stood and continued on. Occasionally she would come across a soldier who tried to kill her. She dealt with them easily. Glimmer came down from the air, smashing through soldiers with blasts of various elements. Catra winced whenever she saw lightning leap from Glimmer’s hands. Bow was at her side, his strange weapon in its separated form. He was fast, fast enough that Catra had to focus a bit to follow his movements. He parried, struck a lethal blow and was already on the next opponent before anyone could even react. Catra made a mental note to spar with him later. She smiled when she found what she was looking for.

The doors were massive and quite thick if the dull thud it made when Catra kicked it was of any indicator. She was pleased to note that even though the doors were tough, she left a sizable dent in it.

“Alrighty, then.” Catra unsheathed her claws and started to slice. No point dulling her sword for this and she needed to see if her claws were still sharp.

A few swipes and a kick confirmed that her claws were just fine. Catra ducked into the hole she made and stalked into the building. The noise of battle dimmed considerably, drowned out by the large chemical pump in the centre of the main room. Catra cast a glare at it, wrinkling her nose at the vile smell before making her way to the door at the far side. It opened automatically, much to her disappointment. She never gets to destroy things with reckless abandon these days. Oh, well. If the Plumerians want to dismantle the place, she would be more than happy to assist.

Her ears raised to their full height. She could hear someone.

“… outside right now! Those damn savages are tearing the place apart!” Catra felt her lips stretch, peeling back over her teeth. Oh, she was going to enjoy this. She descended down a flight of stairs, listening to the conversation.

“And yet, you are cowering in here instead of commanding your troops.” This voice gave Catra pause.

“Lord Hordak, I beg of you. Send reinforcements quickly. We cannot last long.” The Force Captain whimpered.

“Enough. You assured me that the soldiers garrisoned here were more than enough to keep these savages under control. Now you cry and beg at the first sign of a fight? Conduct yourself properly.”

“My lord…”

“I will send a retaliation force under the command of a… new type of soldier I plan to field test.”

Oh? That’s interesting. She had reached the bottom of the stairs now and was in the room. Data terminals were everywhere, but nobody seemed to be manning them. Looks like everyone save the figure addressing the large screen had gone. Said screen showed an image of Hordak’s scowling visage.

“When will these reinforcements arrive, my lord?” the Force Captain asked.

“Not in time to fix your error, Mantenna. I suggest you take responsibility… and deal with your new guest.” The Force Captain turned, horror on his face. Mantenna was an ugly creature. Instead of two legs he had four insectoid ones. His mouth was a hole filled with teeth and his too large eyes stared at her unblinkingly. Those eyes glowed and two lasers blasted from them. Catra’s blade intercepted them, the energy seeping into it. The green lines were back, the sword glowing from the power it had absorbed.

“Hey, Mantenna.” She purred.

“Catra, you damned traitor!” Mantenna snarled.

“In the fine, furry flesh.” Catra bowed with grace and mockery. She swung the khopesh and a wave of energy shot forwards. Mantenna threw himself to the side, but the console and the screen weren’t so lucky. The absence of Hordak’s glare lifted Catra’s spirits a little. “So, Force Captain. How’d a snivelling ass kisser like you get that? Oh, wait, probably answered my own question there.”

“I earned my damn badge, you little runt!” Mantenna spat. He shot another laser. Catra sidestepped it.

“Speaking of which, I’m going to need that. Probably the only thing that can turn off that pump, right?” Catra smirked.

“N-no! Nothing can turn off the pump!” Mantenna insisted. Catra licked her lips with deliberate slowness.

“You’re lying…” she sung. “Hand over the badge and maybe I’ll let you go. I’ll let the comments and threats you made slide this one time.”

“Those were just jokes!”

“Oh? So saying you were going to grind me up and sprinkle me on your ration bars was a joke?” Catra’s grip tightened on her sword. “Or saying that I was nothing but a waste and that if I was transferred to you, you’d just kill me and save the resources? How about how you kept using me for target practice? Were all those jokes?” Mantenna snarled at her. Catra smirked, “Say, how’s about this for a joke? I’m going to hack your legs off and pluck that badge off your corpse.” She widened her stance and raised her sword in a way that was and was not familiar to her. “Now, ready for the punchline?”

Mantenna shrieked and fired another optic blast at her. Catra twisted away with preternatural speed. Her blade whipped up, parrying two other blasts before she closed in. The Force Captain lashed out with his claws, almost catching Catra’s shoulder. Her body had twisted on instinct, her view of the world slowing down as her focused state came back. This hadn’t happened since Thaymor, not matter how many times she sparred with Netossa. She was glad it was back.

Mantenna snarled and brought a fist down, leaving a dent where Catra stood a split second ago. The magicat twisted and lashed out with her sword, catching the ankle of his front left leg. Mantenna howled and fired another blast.

“Eye lasers are getting old!” Catra called.

“Oh, is that so?” Mantenna pulled something from his waist and Catra’s eyes went wider than the large barrel of the bolt pistol aimed her way. She ducked the first shot, barely dodged the second and took the third on her sword. Unfortunately it seems kinetic and explosive impacts don’t get absorbed by her sword and she was thrown back hard. Mantenna cackled as he advanced, insect legs clacking as he did. Catra flipped to her feet while Mantenna broke out his other weapon, a freaking power maul. She did not want to get hit by that.

He lunged, and the dance began anew. Catra would flip around Mantenna while he swung wildly with his maul. She didn’t let him touch her, she couldn’t afford to. Even a glancing blow would injure her critically. Her body was settling into movements it had never done before. Horde training incorporated the most brutal of martial arts designed to cripple and kill, exacerbating it with repeated sparring that could leave cadets either crippled or terminally injured. But Catra no longer moved like a Horde soldier, their methods didn’t focus much on defence and dodging, favouring overwhelming offence. She was doing something else, and it was throwing Mantenna off his game.

“Stay still!” he roared, swinging his maul again and once more hitting nothing but air.

Then his hand was gone, flying away in a spray of sickly green blood. The pain took a few seconds to kick in and when it did, Mantenna howled.

Catra had retreated, analysing what had just happened. This was similar to her episodes and strange blackouts during Thaymor. Her body was moving in a way it never had before, but she knew what it was. The form of the Shifting Sands was what she had been utilising. She remembered some of her movements and attacks from the strange dreams. Her vision had even flickered back to them at times during the fight.

‘A fighting style based on avoiding and countering swiftly. I think this one will be my favourite.’ She smirked. Time to see what else she had been learning from her dreams. She charged, going on the offensive. Mantenna scuttled away, swinging his remaining claw at her, but she batted it aside. Her attacks were quick slashes and cuts, controlled and measured, the Serpent’s Fang. Gashes and rents were appearing in his armour. Despite this, Catra was grimacing. It didn’t feel right, her movements weren’t fully correct. It felt like she was guessing what they were just from watching a few clips. Probably because weird dream stuff aside that’s literally what she’s doing.

If she was fighting someone like Octavia or maybe that unnervingly cheerful scorpion lady, she probably wouldn’t be doing so well.

Good thing she’s fighting Mantenna, then.

She had switched styles again, her blade now favouring wide arcs of crushing blows. She was moving slower but ever attack that landed bit deep. Those that missed either left massive gouges in the floor or hit control consoles hard enough to run the risk of getting her sword stuck as she utilised the Jackal’s Claw. Mantenna lost two of his legs during the onslaught and was now trying to scramble away, going for his pistol.

Catra was ready for him this time. She tensed her legs and raised her blade in a guard position. The Scarab’s Armour wasn’t a method she found herself liking. It was too static, meant to deflect attacks with little energy, being like a stone wall. Catra preferred to move. Even so, it was useful because this time she wasn’t thrown back by the bolt rounds being fired her way. Mantenna’s pistol clicked dry, and he cried out in terror, firing his eye lasers wildly at her. Catra was already moving and was on him within seconds, slashing her blade and cutting through one of Mantenna’s eyes. Whatever strange ability he had seemed to rely on both eyes being functional as the other eye’s glow had faded. It’s capacity for tears was still present, as he was already starting to bawl.

“Please, I’ll tell you anything you want to know!” Mantenna whimpered. “I have connections, my badge—”

“Will barely be worth the metal used to make it once they realise I have it. Hell, if Hordak has any idea of how this is going, he would have shut down your access privileges by now. Pity it takes some time to be fully implemented, guess he was hoping you’d stall me long enough for it to happen.”

“Please… don’t kill me.” Mantenna sobbed.

“Aw, don’t worry. We were comrades once, that counts for something. I just need to borrow this, is all.” Catra plucked the badge off Mantenna’s chest.

“You… you’ll spare me?” Mantenna allowed a bit of hope to seep into his chest. Catra stood and made for one of the few consoles that survived the battle. Then she paused.

“Ah, how silly of me.” She strolled back over to Mantenna. “I should probably give you some collateral, so I don’t forget about the badge.” She crawled across his prone form, smiling and purring as she did. Her movements would have been seductive and even loving were it not for the malicious glow in her eyes and the predatory grin on her face. She raised her blade, held down in a reverse grip. Mantenna shrieked as he realised what was going to happen.

“Hold this for me.” Catra whispered gently before drove the sword down into Mantenna’s chest. Green blood flew from Mantenna’s mouth, splattering Catra’s cheek. Mantenna couldn’t close his eyes, so Catra had a good view of watching the life slip away from them. She stood, not bothering to wipe the blood off her cheek and went for the console, flipping the badge up and down like a coin. Thankfully she still had access and with a few clicks the plant’s pumping slowed to a halt. Catra narrowed her eyes at the screen. She should be returning to the others, but she had a reason for coming here herself. She accessed the data logs and typed down a word.

Halfmoon.

Reports appeared, most of them detailing mild skirmishes and minor attempts at laying siege until Catra found a file called Operation Eclipse. Catra’s eyes widened over how many companies had been sent for this mission. The entire Horde had practically descended on this city, with only a few paltry defence forces left behind in case of any surprise attack. Catra clicked the link for the reports.

Casualty rates: 73%

Impressive.

Destruction of Halfmoon: Total

Catra felt dread creep up her chest. Then she found some footage of the battle, recorded from the helms of the soldiers. Screams and explosions assaulted her senses, but she didn’t look away. She saw as people were gunned down and soldiers battling among the ruins of a once great city. Those people… Catra’s eyes widened.

Those people looked like her. They were magicats. There were variations, different shapes and sizes. Some had long fur while others were short. Some were massive and others a lot smaller, but they were undeniably people like her. More footage, more death. No chance of people sneaking away in the chaos. She looked up more data, finding one piece of information that made her blood boil.

Campaign leader: Force Captain Shadow Weaver

Recommend for promotion in light of Force General Sunder’s death

The witch had been there. She had led this attack. She was the reason Catra was taken to the Horde. Her breath began to shudder, her heart was hammering in her ears. She searched for any other scraps of information but what little she could find was useless to her until she clicked a link and a message appeared.

Access denied: badge code invalid

Shit, time was up. Catra took a step back from the console, her hands clenching and unclenching. She had been in Halfmoon, or at least somewhere close. It had been her home, and they had taken it away. Catra was no fool, she knew that a good portion of children in the Horde were orphans, but it was one thing to acknowledge the possibility and quite another to see proof. She could have had another life, one with loving parents the same way Netossa and Spinnerella love Aeola or Angella with Glimmer. She could have had friends and precious memories instead of an endless nightmare in the shadow of a monster, her only source of comfort being the monster’s favourite student.

Just when Catra thought that her hatred of the Horde had reached its peak, there was always something else she found out about it that made her blood boil even more. She reached for the console, typed in a sentence and then smashed it with her khopesh. She was done here. Time to see what the others were up to.

00000000

She expected to see a massacre, but to her surprise the Plumerians were surrounding a group of soldiers. All of them on their knees, save for one. He was a handsome fellow with sharp features and elven ears. His eyes were a deep blue and his hair was black. He was clutching a wounded arm, his armour had taken a beating, but he stood as tall as he could regardless.

“You’re serious?” he asked. “You’ll spare us?” Catra arched a brow.

“You surrendered, therefore the battle is won.” Perfuma declared. “Contrary to what your stories say, we are not monsters. You have committed crimes against our land, but penance doesn’t need to be paid in blood. We will contact the Horde and inform them of this development. We will negotiate your safe return but until then…” Perfuma somehow managed to loom over the man, despite only being a few centimetres taller. Her dark eyes bored into the man intensely. “You have damaged our lands and caused more disaster than you can understand. I will show you what you have done, then you and your remaining soldiers will help me fix it. Those are the terms.”

“Don’t have much of a choice, do we?” the man scoffed.

“Don’t be obtuse. Your people started this, I’m merely finishing it in a way I see fit.” Said Perfuma. “Do you agree to the terms?”

“… I do.” The man sighed.

“What is your name?” Perfuma asked.

“Corporal Romeo, serial name one-three-six—”

“She said your name, not your life story.” Catra called out as she swaggered over. Perfuma turned to her, a gentle smile on her face.

“I see you dealt with the pump. Will it be safe to dismantle?” she asked.

“Ask him, he’d know more than me.” Catra jerked a thumb at the Romeo guy.

“We still have some surviving engineers, we can dismantle it safely without causing more issues.” He seemed to have accepted his fate with grace. Surprisingly none of the soldiers were kicking up a fuss either. The Plumerians must have really traumatised them.

“I’m glad that you are so willing to cooperate.” Perfuma smiled softly. Catra could have sworn he saw the corporal’s cheeks turn slightly red. The princess turned to Glimmer while the soldiers were escorted away. “Now, I believe you wish to discuss the revival of the Etherian Alliance?”

Glimmer’s smile was probably the most genuine and warm expression Catra had seen from her.

00000000

The training droid was smashed across the room by the soldier, her grunts and cries of exertion being the only thing that was louder than the mechanical limbs of her foes and their sparking remains. She was armed only with a baton, but it didn’t matter. She was trouncing these things.

In an observational room overlooking the arena, Modulok tapped away at a data screen. The combat data was beyond anything he could have imagined. This was incredible. He had always thought that the flesh was weak and that the machine was strong, but Lord Hordak had proved him wrong with his knowledge of genetic engineering. He would have to see about branching out in the future. He looked up and noted that the final training droid was destroyed.

“How fares the trial?” Hordak asked as he marched into the room.

“She exceeds every expectation I predicted.” Modulok reported. “She has broken records for every training simulation. I was about to send in Multi-Bot to truly test her.”

“We don’t want her crippled before she can be made use of, Modulok.” Hordak chastised the scientist.

“Lord Hordak, an urgent report requires your attention.” Hordemind spoke.

“Speak.” Hordak commanded.

“Outpost 65-XH2 has fallen. Force Captain Mantenna’s life signs have ceased.” Hordemind reported. Hordak growled, “I never should have made that wretch a Force Captain. It seems that magicat Shadow Weaver thought so little of had more potential than she realised. Is there anything else of note?”

“Force Captain Mantenna’s badge was used to deactivate the outpost’s pump. Additionally, it was used to access files regarding Project Ecplise before authorisation cancellation protocols were fully implemented.” Ah, so Catra knows of her home? Well, there goes any chance of her returning to Horde as per Adora’s desire. “While authorisation protocols were cancelled, former cadet Catra typed one last entry into the search engine. Displaying on the screen for you now.” A terminal lit up with a holographic message. Hordak’s lip curled as he read what Catra had typed.

Hordak, I will tear you and Shadow Weaver to pieces.