Dream Scape

by Korrasami_infinitely

Summary:

She encounters her in her dreams. They aren't like the one's she's had previously. These have HER in them. It's always her. Driving Adora to the brink. Until she awakes to a reality that isn't what she hoped.

As they traverse new realms and their own changing bodies, Adora and Catra try to find their places in the world of Etheria’s omegaverse. Will they find their future to be what they had expected? Or will the Rebellion throw them for a loop?
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Adora discovers she’s an alpha and it changes the whole dynamic of her and Catra’s relationship. In this dreamsharing fic, the two try to get back to some semblance of a normal life, while also fighting the horrors of war between the Horde and the Rebellion.

Chapter 1: The Beginning, or the End?

Notes:

Just wanted to update a few chapters. I realized a few inconsistencies and wanted to address them.

She's having one of those dreams again.

They've been happening more frequently since her sixteenth birthday and have been a constant presence since then. Now that she's eighteen, they happen almost every night.

Living in the Fright Zone doesn't come with many perks, but Adora has a place to sleep, food in her belly and her best friend, Catra. They grew up together and have become inseparable. Catra is always getting into trouble and keeping things fun, which is what draws Adora to her. They can laugh about the dumbest things and know each other so deeply.

Adora isn't sure if Catra was experiencing the same dreams though. They are different than the ones she normally had. They involve a lithe feline. There is something about her that catches Adora's attention. She has always assumed it is how talented she is. Catra's the one who taught Adora so much about having fun and pranking Kyle. But recently something else has been drawing her attention. Her curves. The way her pants fit so tightly to her thighs and the way she handles the training simulator stirs an excitement in Adora.

She's not sure what it means. Sometimes she hyper focuses on the way Catra moves rather than what she says, and Adora has been asking her to repeat herself more often. She does not understand why she can't focus on what she needs to.

This dream is worse than real life, though. This dream involves Catra fighting and moving on the training grounds in much skimpier clothes than what she usually wears, more than anyone usually wore. Her cropped top reveals her strong core and her pants seem even tighter, if that were even possible. But what really took the toll, is how she talks to Adora. Her voice is sultry and teasing gently as she asks Adora if she can do any better. The competitive side of Adora leaps into action and starts combating the bots on the field. Catra is close behind as she covers Adora's back. The two work in tandem as they take down every bot in the simulation.

The two are panting for oxygen when Catra steps closer to Adora. A crooked smile plays on her lips, and Adora is openly staring at her heaving chest. She has never looked at another person like this. She has never been so captivated before.

Her pulse is pounding from the fight and from the excitement she feels at being this close to her best friend. It is like the air is thicker and her gut feels hot. She is nervous and confused all at the same time. Then, Catra comes close enough to touch Adora and brush their bodies against each other. The hot heat in Adora's stomach increases tenfold. She feels the pressure of the other body against hers and suddenly wakes herself up. She shoots up from her mat in a moment of adrenaline. Her brow is sweaty and her body hot. She looks left and right realizing where she is, and it slowly brings her back down to reality.

Without realizing, she has also awakened her closest friend at the end of the bunk.

"Adora," Catra rasps out "what's wrong?"

Startled, Adora jumped in her spot and starts to worry that Catra knows what she dreamt about. "N-nothing. Just a dream." Adora says it and can accept that it was in fact a dream. A wild, confusingly weird dream.

"Adora," Catra asks questioningly, "what's that?"

The blonde girl sat up and looks to a sleepy Catra rubbing one eye. She is confused as she follows where her friend's hand is pointing. She looks down at herself gaping as she realizes there's something under her blanket situated very close to her body. She slowly lifts the blanket and sees something extending out from her underwear and coming from her own body. She reaches down to touch it and realizes how sensitive it is and very clearly realizes it is in fact attached to her.

In a moment of sheer panic, she drops the blanket down over herself clipping the new appendage and yelping from the instant pain.

In a bit of shock Catra leaps back and hisses. "What is it?!" Her voice coming out shrill as she cautiously lingers near Adora.

Adora shushes the cat as she worries her loud friend had woken someone up. Recovering from her bit of pain she accidentally caused herself, she blushes, and her eyes are wide in horror. "I don't know!" She whisper yells. "But, it's mine… L-like attached to me."

"Woah." Catra gapes at Adora. "Lemme see." She reaches towards her.

"What!?" A light pink blush spreads across her cheeks. "No, you don't need to see it." She grabs the blankets and hugs it close to her body to avoid Catra sneaking a peak.

"Why not? Just let me see!" Adora shushes Catra again as the feline reaches out to steal the blanket from Adora. The girls fight, tugging the blanket between them. Eventually, Catra sees Adora's strength is not relenting. She smugly releases it and because of the firm grip Adora had on it, it flings back into her face revealing exactly what she is trying to hide.

Catra's eyes go wide as she gapes at the new appendage attached to her friend.

If there is one thing the Horde deeply fails at is telling the teens about their bodies. Telling them about new urges and the dreaded hormones and pheromones that would soon run rampant through their bodies. They have hardly even seen themselves naked, let alone anyone else. But, Catra thought she knew Adora inside and out. She has never expected to be surprised like… this.

That's when it clicks for Catra. She remembers overhearing a couple of the Force Captains in the locker room. They had talked about an alpha, one that the girls were interested in and had talked about how big the alpha is under the belt. She has always thought they meant his legs or something, but this did make more sense. She didn't know girls could be alpha's too.

Catra's thrusted out of her thoughts as Adora's hands shoot to her own eyes and rubs them vigorously, while releasing a deep groaning. "Why!?"

Catra begins looking back down curiously and decides she wants to touch it. She reaches out her hand to absolve her curiosity.

A set of fingers graze up the new appendage thrusting Adora out of her moping session, tearing away her hands from her eyes. The sensation is new and lovely in a way Adora isn't sure how to feel about. She throws her hands up at Catra's shoulders and pushes her friend back to keep her from continuing.

"Woah, what happened?" Catra's eyes narrows somewhat from the not so gentle shove.

Adora's arms are still held out in front of her as she breathes heavily from everything that's happening. She's so unsure of basically anything to do with this and…

"I think you're an alpha, Adora." Catra caught on to Adora's panic and decides to try to calm her down instead of continuing to watch her spiral.

"An alpha? Like a dog?" Adora looks to her inquisitively.

Catra laughs and rolls her eyes at her much more naïve friend. "No, you idiot. Well… sorta. But an alpha is apparently a person who has that." She points directly at the member in question.

"How do you know!?" She nearly shrieks out the question and attempts to cover herself again. A blush creeps up onto her cheeks. "And don't touch it. It's sensitive and feels really…" she struggles to define it "intense." Yeah, that's it, she thinks.

"Really?" Catra's next question is uncharacteristically said in a sensual way "How intense?" Catra's eyes narrow somewhat as she waits for her friend's explanation.

Blood fills Adora face and neck as she attempts to find more words to describe it. "Um… it's kind of like… it's very pleasant, like… very, very, very pleasant." She finds herself looking away from her best friend, concerned that she probably weirded her out.

"Oh," is all Catra says. It is an interesting revelation, but an even more confusing one. So, Catra has given Adora this pleasurable sensation. The thought creates a swell of pride in her ability to give that to Adora. Pleasure. It's hard to find it anywhere here in the Fright Zone, but she can do that for her best friend. A thought comes to her mind.

Adora's head is still hanging down refusing to look at the other. Her embarrassment about the whole situation and this continuing silence is about to drive her crazy.

"Hey, Adora" Catra gainse the other girl's attention after reluctantly doing so. "Can I do it again?"

The member between Adora's legs twitches at the prospect. She stares at Catra slightly flustered and unsure of how to answer the very blunt question. She knows what her body is telling her she wants, but what does that even mean?

Catra interrupts her thoughts. "You said it is pleasant, right?" Her voice sounds more vulnerable than Adora is used to. Then, a hand, that is not Adora's, starts sliding up her thigh that is buried in the sheet. Adora's jaw drops at the soft gesture that clearly reveals the intentions of the other. She reaches her arms out to grasp the hand, but not stop its' slow assent. All Adora can think about is the arm attached to her slender friend and how she is making her feel the same as in her dream. She likes being close with Catra, and she likes even more how she is making her feel.

Catra reaches the top of Adora's thigh and lightly caresses her soft skin. She looks into Adora's eyes as she waits for permission to continue.

After a few bated breathes, Adora realizes she only wants to feel Catra's hand on her. She doesn't understand exactly what is happening, but with the way Catra makes her feel, it can only be good. She nods furiously as the hormones in her blood starts pumping through her. She can feel herself becoming more erect between her legs as the simple sensation brings so much heat to her core.

Catra excitedly, but slowly, slides her fingers up and over the tip of it that's hiding behind some of the fabric there. She gasps as Adora reacts immediately from the touch by quickly gripping at the bed and biting her lip. She meets the other's eyes, and both become lost in the moment.

A loud alarm bell rings out overhead completely scaring both girls and nearly falling out of the bed.

"Shit," Catra hisses as the adrenaline pumps through her. She makes sure Adora is covered up as the other's - sharing bunks in the same bay - start to rouse awake. She looks back at Adora with a new expression. This one is of uncertainty.

Adora lays on her side waiting for Catra to say something. Anything. She has hoped this doesn't hurt their friendship. She isn't sure what any of it means. In a moment of panic she looks back to Catra and says, "maybe I should tell Shadow Weaver. She might know what's happening."

"What!?" Catra's voice is shrill as it comes out. "No, you can't do that. You know she'll only make it worse. She always does. Besides no one but me needs to know." Her statment is accented by a low feral growl that starts low in her throat. Catra's tone is almost territorial, but that's how she's always been since they've known each other. 

Adora has never heard the feline make a sound like that in regards to herself. It sends another pleasant shiver through her body. She nods in agreement.

---

Adora absolutely did not take Catra's advice and later that day she tells Shadow Weaver, Adora is moved to another unit. The barracks are on the other side of the Fright Zone and she hasn't seen Adora since.

The following week, her and her peers are enduring an extremely awkward lecture about alphas, betas and omegas. The hormones they release, especially from an omega, can trigger an alpha and send them into a feral state where they lose complete control of themselves.

All Catra can do is think about Adora. She is one of those alphas. It makes so much sense. She must have shifted in her sleep, thinks Catra. She can't believe she has done something so intimate with her best friend. The Horde makes it seem like something so clinical, but with how Catra remembers feeling in that moment, there's no way it's that simple.

They explain how alphas are trained in a separate area that is used to keep omegas and betas safe from their feral attacks. But she can't imagine Adora becoming that. She knows they are probably lying, but she isn't sure where else to go for information. They continue by explaining that the alphas are trained to resist their urges and not get distracted in battle. Catra thinks if that is possible, then they wouldn't go around attacking omega soldiers.

Then, she thinks about herself. She hasn't shown any signs of going into a heat and she definitely has never had one of those penises before. She just figures she is a beta.

She looks left and right during their lecture and sadly berates herself for letting Shadow Weaver take her Adora away.

Chapter 2: Not what I was expecting

Summary:

Some Adora-ble baby alpha Adora, learning the ropes.

Everything has happened so fast. One moment she’s in Shadow Weaver’s office very reluctantly telling her about her… situation, the next she’s being shipped out to a new location. She’s so confused. It all happened so fast. It’s like everything she knows doesn’t matter. Everything she is doesn’t matter. The only thing that the Horde wants from her now is her new status as an alpha. Catra is right, though. I am an alpha, she thinks.

Remorse fills her heart. I… I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Her eyes sting at the memory of Catra growling and fighting through Horde officers as Shadow Weaver escorts her to a transport bus. Shadow Weaver finally ceases Catra’s movements with her ugly magic and all Adora can see are the tears escaping her best friends’ eyes.

She grits her teeth at the gut-wrenching sensation filling her heart once more. She can feel her eyes fill with liquid, but she does everything she can to make them go away. She blinks rapidly and breaths out through her mouth, but she feels a few fall without her permission. She roughly wipes away at her face, surely making it even more red in the process. I have to focus. I’m meeting my new roommate soon, she thinks as she adjusts one of the bags back into a proper position on her shoulder.

Her bags are heavy especially because they didn’t even allow her enough time to pack properly. Growing up in the Horde she has always known how to roll her clothes and make everything fit into one, maybe two duffel bags. But with the lack of time, she has to carry everything, two duffle bags on each arm and a sack that’s strapped to her back.

She didn’t know she owned so much stuff, but the Horde sure does issue a lot of gear.

She stumbles forward, worrying that she’s about faceplant into the ground, but she catches herself on the post of the bunkbed next to her. A voice shoots out.

“Woah there! Be careful. You need help with those?” The kind and exuberant voice is alarming to Adora, but she manages to hold off the boisterous person.

“N-nope! I got it” She sticks her tongue out in concentration, fumbling a little left and then right. The weight seems to slump her lower and lower as her arms began to shake. She manages to get within range of an area that doesn’t seem to be occupied and dumps all her duffle bags onto the floor. She barely misses her feet in the process. “Phew! I didn’t know I has so much stuff.”

“Oh, yeah! The Horde loads you up on gear, especially when you come to this unit.” The person from earlier interjects into Adora’s conversation that she was having with herself. “Welcome! I’m Scorpia.” She reaches out a huge claw and Adora hesitantly takes it. Before she knows what’s happening, the other person pulls her in quickly for an unexpected hug. “Just so you know, I’m a hugger,” she says to Adora with a soft smile.

Adora’s face is tight with awkward tension and is completely lost on what to do. She coughs lightly and Scorpia finally releases the younger girl. “Heh heh, uh, hi! I’m Adora. I guess we’re new bunk mates.” She’s caught off guard when the other person comes within inches of Adora’s body.

“Hmmm… there’s something about your hug I just don’t like,” Scorpia says. She looks at Adora contemplatively as she has this revelation. She’s only a few inches away and Adora responds with wide eyes revealing her discomfort. “Yano, I just don’t know what it is!”

“Uh,” Adora awkwardly steps backwards away from the larger woman and moves to unpack her bags. “So, you’re an alpha too?” She attempts to change the subject.

“Oh yeah! We all are on this side of the Fright Zone. They have specialized training for us to hone in on our alpha senses, so we can use them in battle!” She raises a claw in pure determination. “You might want to get changed into your new gear; we have training in about 30 minutes.” Scorpia says this as she shrugs on a tactical vest.

Adora acknowledges the piece of information and starts rummaging through her bags to find the new gear.

“Wow, look at you. You’re bigger than you seem.”

Adora preens at the complement and tightens her biceps as she lifts her own vest. “Yeah, I like to stay pretty fit.” She turns her attention to Scorpia. “You’re pretty big too.”

“Aw shucks, thanks. I have to eat twice as many ration bars just to keep up with it.” She flexes her bicep and Adora’s eyes sparkle behind her.

“Woah.” She reaches out to poke the muscle, but Scorpia removes her arm continuing to pile on gear. “They give you more ration bars?”

“Well, yeah! We’re the alphas. The main fighting force of the Horde. They have to keep us strong and ready.” Her smile is genuine as she describes their role.

They both startle as they hear a buzz come through over the intercom, “Attention cadets! Everyone head down to the drill pad for assignment.”

“Well, it’s now or never I guess.” Adora shrugs on the rest of her gear. She takes a moment to realize how everything is moving so quickly. She hasn’t even has time to let herself digest what’s happened. She swallows the pain and loss rising in her chest and decides to take it out on the training field.

---

Adora has always been the best cadet in her old unit, but as she strode down to the drill pad with Scorpia, she realized she has just been bumped-up to the big leagues. She looks around the cement pad gazing at all the other soldiers. There are all different kinds down here, but one thing they all mostly have in common is their size. They are all huge. Adora finally reaches the bottom of the steps and truly realizes how small she is in comparison. She makes her way over to the large formation and stands between Scorpia and a much larger version of Rojelio. Some of the soldiers there are shoving each other. Adora can’t place it, but she knows she is surrounded by alphas. Their scents are strong and pungent in her nose. It’s like they are all competing. At least that’s how it is for most of the soldiers around her. Some are calm and reserved, like Scorpia. That must be what it’s like after some training. All the other cadets stand at attention and she decides to follow along and do the same.

A new voice booms out over the drill pad. “Good evening, cadets!”

“Good evening, Force Admiral!” All the others quickly respond in return.

Adora is not expecting that. She hasn’t been in the presence of a Force Admiral before, but she can tell he is also an alpha. His presence causes a shift in the alphas that were acting out two minutes ago.

He continues speaking to the soldiers, going on about the recent activities of the Rebellion and where they stand against them. Adora does her best to listen, but she feels so overwhelmed by all the new things happening to her. She tries to focus and pushes those feelings down again once more.

“Alright cadets! Break out into your training groups. All new cadets on me!” He waves his great big hand towards his chest.

Adora – lost in everything that’s going on around her as the other soldiers disperse – is bumped in the shoulder by Scorpia. “Hey, he's talking about you. Just get down there and he’ll tell ya where to go.” She gives Adora this reassuring smile that the blonde is desperately grateful for.

She gathers herself and makes her way over to the Force Admiral. He’s already talking to a few of the cadets there when she lines up in the back of the much smaller formation.

“Looks like we have a new alpha in the crowd. Come on up, newbie.” He gestures to Adora.

The blonde’s eyes widen – completely thrown off by the attention – and makes her way to the front of the formation standing next to him.

“Everyone, meet our newest alpha. What’s your name soldier?” He looks down at her.

“Adora, sir!”

“Welcome, Adora. This,” he gestures to a tall woman just behind him “is Huntara. She’ll be your Force Captain. Follow her lead and you won’t go astray.” He looks back towards the rest of the group as Adora ogles the woman behind him.

She’s big. Adora’s eyes twinkle with something of a bit of admiration. The woman looks down at her and chuckles at the attention. Adora completely misses the rest of the Force Admiral’s speech and he walks away. The blonde is still standing awkwardly in front of the formation staring at Huntara.

The taller woman clears her throat. “Back into formation, soldier.” Her voice sounds irritated.

Adora realizes she’s been standing in the same spot for too long and awkwardly laughs as she retreats behind the formation. She sighs as soon as she gets there releasing all of.., whatever that is.

“Alright, group,” Huntara says. “Some of you are brand new and for others, you’ve only been here a few days. We start the day off with training your physical body and end the day finetuning your alpha senses and abilities.” She paces slowly in front of the formation. “This morning we’ll be climbing the rough face of this simulated mountainous terrain.” She points off into the distance at a nearly 100-foot-tall rock wall just beyond the drill pad.

The group groans, but Adora perks up at the physical challenge.

“Quit your whining, you bunch of babies! Some of the roughest terrain to reach a few of the most coveted Rebellion territory is beyond a wall just like this one. So, buck up and get moving!” She waves her arms to signal their movement towards the towering wall.

Adora is the first to take off running towards it while the rest of the alphas look at her with confusion.

Huntara looks to her approvingly. “C’mon, you weak little rattlesnake turds! She’s beating you!”

Each of the other soldiers realize how bad Adora made them look, and they take off after her. Each one sinks deeper into their alpha state. Their competitive sides are instinctively coming out.

Adora reaches the tower and bends over her knees, huffing for air. “Made it!” she says in between pants. She expects to hear a certain voice chuckling and complaining behind her, but all she hears is the huffing from the other alphas. The amount of disappointment at the realization is evident on her face.

“Well done!” A big hand comes down smacking Adora’s back. It nearly knocks the wind out of her. She steadies herself before she almost falls from the impact. “Alright cadets! Get over to the brig and get yourselves sized up with climbing gear.”

Adora walks over to the other side, not minding how the others moan and groan behind her. She’s climbed before in the simulator… but never this high. She strengthens her resolve and takes the rope around her waist and thighs. She nears the tower, links herself up and starts her assent. At first the climb is a relief. She’s able to focus on something other than… Catra, and she puts all her bodily effort into it. Once she gets about halfway up her muscles start to scream at her. They start to seize up as she starts to lose grip. She uses an anchor and lets her body lean back, giving her tired arms a break. She looks down and sees that there are a few alphas on her tail. The fact stirs something inside of her, then she hears it.

Beat them.

It startles Adora at first. She looks left and right – then realizes how dumb that is – and looks down to see where it came from. She feels a stirring inside of her.

It says BEAT THEM.

The fire ignites in her core and she feels a newfound strength. She huffs as she grabs ahold of the wall once more, releasing her anchor. She climbs again, this time with much less discomfort and fatigue.

She reaches a height that the wind begins to whirl around her much more than it did below. She grits her teeth and pushes through, nearly slipping with her left foot. She finds her grip again and reaches for the next hold. They seem like they’re getting further and further apart, though. She looks down and saw that some of her competition is way behind her, but a select few are only a few meters below.

She felt the stirring again. This time it’s much stronger and the voice is much louder.

Grr, let me!

Suddenly a flash of light blinded Adora and she felt an intense desire in her core. It almost felt like she’s losing herself. Her right-hand slips for a moment and her other one gripped tighter than she thinks possible. She grunted and brought her hands back up to the top. Now, the footholds don’t seem so far apart. She could reach them with ease and her stamina has kicked into high gear.

She reached the top and shouts “Yeesss!” with a loud chuckle and a yell in success.

She’s suddenly less focused on her climbing and more aware of herself as she’s reached the end of the competition. She looks down at her hands that seem much bigger… and her body that didn’t seem to match the one she knew. Her eyes widened and she started to panic. She accidentally releases her grip out of shock and started to fall.

The wind whipped around her and her scream cut through the immediate area alerting more people than she would like. Another flash and her body is back to normal.

Huntara jumped into action grabbing ahold of her line and gripping her strong arms around it. The rope slid around her forearm and burned like a vicious plant she’s encountered from studying the Crimson Iste. She grit her teeth as she tried her hardest to stop the young alpha’s deadly fall.

---

Adora opened her eyes as she looks up seeing the underside of the top bunk. She put her hand to her head feeling a shooting throb to her temple and tried to sit up slowly. “Catra, I has the weirdest dream.” Her voice sounded groggy.

“You’re awake!”

The voice is one that didn’t match her best friend.

Scorpia leaned over Adora’s bed with concerned eyes. “Hey, I’m glad you’re awake. You gave us all quite the scare.”

Adora opened her eyes more aware than she is a moment ago. “Scorpia?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” She smiled softly. “Who’s Catra?” Her eyes shined like she’ll make a new friend. “Now that sounds like the name of a person I want to know.” She laughed lightly, hoping to lighten the mood.

Adora chuckled sadly, “yeah, she’s pretty great.” The blonde took a deep breath. “How did I get here?” She rubbed the side of her head hoping it helped some.

“Oh! Yeah, you scared the daylights out of everyone. Even Force Captain Huntara is a little shaken up.” Scorpia’s tail drooped and her face showed concern. “You fell Adora. Huntara tried her best to catch you – and she did stop your fall for the most part, but you still hit the ground pretty hard.” She winced as she remembered looking over to see it all happen in real time.

“Woah. Not a great first day I guess, huh?” She smiled softly feeling a little downtrodden.

“Hey, hey! It’s okay. You’ll totally do better next time. I mean, it can only go up from here, right? I mean… well yano, maybe not the best choice of words. Um, it can only get better.” Scopria blushed at her stumble with her words and reached out a claw to Adora. “What happened up there? Nobody tried messing with you, did they?” Her voice sounded a little more than just concerned. Adora didn’t notice it much though.

Adora rubbed her head once more – hoping it might help clear up her thinkss. “No, I made it to the top before anybody else. But something happened on my way up. It is like,” she looks down at her own hands that are smaller and back down to size. “It is like I is a different person. I heard this voice telling me to beat the other alphas to the top. I’m not sure where it came from though.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Is that it? Ha ha! Well that’s your inner alpha, silly. Oh,” she leaned back in realization covering her mouth with the tips of her claws. “You haven’t felt it any other time before? Like when you saw someone you liked, or got into a fight with someone?” Adora just looks at her with quirked brows and a questioning look. “Well, look. For alphas, we have this instinct inside of us. If we let it consume us, we often lose control and it’ll take over. But that’s what our training is for, so we can learn to control our urges and focus on the tasks at hand. Alphas tend to lose control the most around omegas. Their scent is intoxicating and can make even the strongest alpha lose control of themselves.” Scorpia leaned back as she fills in Adora on being an alpha. “The Horde is trying to teach us to control these urges so that we don’t get distracted by some Rebel fighter trying to trigger our inner alpha. Didn’t you go to the Alpha Soldier orientation? They explained all of this there.”

Adora groaned at the new information. Something still didn’t seem right. She didn’t mention anything about her whole body changing. She rubbed her face with her palm. “No, I haven’t been to the orientation. How come nobody told me?” She sighed, working up the nerve to ask Scorpia another question. “Uhm, what about,” she fidgeted “changes to my body?” She is wondering if that’s why all the other alphas are so much bigger than her. Maybe her body needed to transform again… like it did on the climbing wall.

“Oh!” Scorpia started sporting a deep red blush. She isn’t sure she should be the one to have this conversation with Adora. “Well you see… when a person starts becoming attracted to another person, especially omegas, uhm. You’re body changes, uhm yano especially for female alphas, uh.” She chuckled awkwardly running a hand through her white hair. “Wow, this is harder than I thinks… You get this shifting in between…” she’s cut off after she has gesticulated down to the join of her legs.

“No, no, no! Not that kind of changes.” Adora’s now sporting a deep crimson blush on her pale cheeks. “Like changes to the size of my body. I think something happened while I is on top of the wall. It’s like something inside of me took over and every step that I climbed is faster and easier.” She looks down at her hands in her lap.

“Oh,” this sounded more of confusion than relief. “Well, I don’t know of any alphas that change like that. My size is more so due to growth and working out. No doubt my inner alpha has something to do with it as well.” She scratched her head, “but I don’t think it’s an instant thing.”

They both shared a silence between them. Scorpia reached to put an arm around Adora. “Hey, everything is gonna work out just fine. You’ll see. I’ll let Huntara know you’re awake and feeling better. Then, we could head out and get some chow. You’ll need your strength before the next level of training.” She smiled a sweet grin at Adora and it brought comfort to both of them as they each relaxed a little bit more.

“Yeah, you’re right. Food sounds amazing right about now, actually!” Her grin spread wider at the thinks of food. It’s always been her favorite.

“Great! I’ll be right back. Let me go update leadership and I’ll be right behind you.” Scorpia takes off from their shared bunk room leaving Adora with her own thinkss.

She isn’t sure what to make of what happened on the wall, but it is new and apparently not a common occurrence. Adora sighed, releasing much of her tension along with it. She’ll have to figure it all out later. It’s time for food and she gets double the rations now!

Chapter 3: The hard part

Summary:

Alpha Adora has to learn sometime!

Notes:

getting very explicit in this chapter. You are warned! (retreats from room pointing two fingers from the same hand from my eyes back to you) "WaterTribe"

After an amazing – and much needed – lunch, she returns to the drill pad to await her next set of training. The other alphas stare at her out of the corners of their eyes. They probably think I’m weak after falling earlier. Ugh I made such a fool of myself. She looks everywhere else other than at her fellow soldiers. Then, Huntara shows up.

“Alright, Cadets! The second half of today’s training will be focusing on your alpha senses and urges. This will be an introduction to the kind of training you’ll be subjected to for the next few weeks.” She looks over at Adora as she says, “some of you may not be able to handle it.”

She leads the group of soldiers over to a simulation module.

Now, this is something Adora recognized. She steps closer to the large door alongside the other alphas and awaits instruction.

“Inside, you’ll each be tested. There will be something that will trigger your alpha and you must learn to control it. All of you will fail. The success of your teammates is the success of this unit and there is no one person who carries all the weight.” Her words touch Adora. She has always been the best at simulations. She’s worked her butt of to make it that way, but she’s always had help too. She misses her team. “Let’s go! First rank up. One person at a time.”

This is new, Adora thinks. She hasn’t ever done a simulation alone. Fighting is always better when fighting with numbers, at least that’s what the Horde has always taught her.

The first soldier walks in with their gear. They look ready and rearing to go. The door closes behind them, and they all watch on the monitors. The soldier steps around slowly as the scene unfolds before them for the simulation. Expecting a good fight, Adora watches with anticipation. Her competitive side is coming out stronger than it normally does.

The soldier inside catches sight of something moving and crouches behind a simulation boulder. They look around it and latch their eyes on a “princess.” They shoot up from behind and run at the simulated bot, pointing and shooting the laser blaster. The bot dodges it and flings around the other side of the tree it’s hanging on. It lands on the ground and rolls towards the soldier. It dodges the obstacles in front of it heading straight for them. They leapt out of the way and blast their weapon one more time. This time it makes contact.

Some of us on the outside cheer for them, but the battle isn’t over yet.

I look over to Force Captain Huntara and see a smug grin on her face. There’s something different about this fight. She looks back to the screen to see another bot bolting for the soldier. But there’s something different this time. The bot gets close to the soldier and a spray is emitted from the body of the bot. Then, suddenly – after a long intake of air – the soldier’s whole demeanor shifts. They became a completely different persons as they begin to chase the bot around the arena.

“That!” Huntara shocks the piss out of some of them, “is the scent of an omega. It can render an alpha useless on the battlefield. They’ll lose their focus and chase tail until someone takes them out.” She presses a button, and it halts the simulation. A team of large soldiers enter the arena grabbing ahold of the crazed alpha triggered by the omega’s scent.

Adora is shocked and appalled. She can’t believe that’s what she’d become. Something new dawns over her. It’s a realization of what she can become without receiving the proper training. She would become a monster. And who would she have hurt first?... Catra, Adora thinks. A new fire ignites in her chest. She doesn’t want to become that. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone. She needs to get control of her urges.

She also realizes the shift in the alpha’s physical body as they drag them out right in front of her. They have a protrusion between their legs, but nothing else physically different. Their body isn’t bigger or any different than it was before. Something inside tells her not to worry about her own body shifting the way it did before, but she can’t keep the fear from bubbling up.

“Okay, who’s up next!?” Huntara says it like she’s rearing to get these alpha’s in to get their first experience. Adora clenches her jaw, but someone raises their hand up first, allowing her a moment to see it one more time.

She realizes that it’s almost an involuntary response. There’s something else about it. Something different. She can only remember one person that ever caused a response like that in herself. The same feline that continues to haunt her dreams. She takes a deep breath and raises her hand to go next.

She enters the arena and she is not used to being here all by herself. She must be vigilant. Her gear kicks on and a high-pitched tone fills her ears as it comes to life. It’s time to get to work. She sees her first bot, and instead of giving it a chance to spray her, she ducks past it’s rolling her body and shooting it from behind. She releases a breath and thinks to herself this is too easy.

She stays hidden in an area that has a good vantage point. She spots her next two bots coming out from the tree branches. The simulated princesses jump haphazardly towards her and she shoots the first one on the left. The other gets around to her backside and she hears the mechanism for it to release the “scent.” She dives away and covers her face. “Ugh!” she says as she hits the hard surface of the simulator. She rolls to her back and shoots a round from the laser blaster attached to her wrist. She recovers quickly hoping to dodge the scent from entering her sinuses.

Adora gets some space between her and the last bot, when another one pops out of nowhere. It catches Adora off guard which doesn’t happen often. It pushes her back it blasts lasers at her head. She lifts her arm shield and braces for the impact. It comes and pushes her body back at least a meter, but she aims and fires getting a direct hit.

The last bot takes advantage of her position while she’s down, and the spray is released.

Adora smells it involuntarily and it does indeed catch her attention. She likes how good it smells, so much so that it makes her mouth water. Her mind is reeling from how strong the urge to go after that scent is. She can’t even describe what it’s doing to her. She wants it.

She wants it like she wanted Catra in her dreams… Thinking of the feline pulls her from the intense fog her head was swimming in. IT turns into a pain in her head, and her heart, that she can’t explain. Like she is betraying Catra somehow. She roars in pain and launches her body backwards, giving herself space to shoot the bot.

She’s panting heavily on the ground as the door opens to reveal Force Captain Huntara and the others.

“Well done, cadet! Very few young alphas have the ability to control themselves while in the midst of an omega in heat.” She once again smacks the back of Adora, sending her to her knee this time. The simulation had really taken it out of her.

Adora chuckles a little, very pleased that the simulation is over – and very confused about why she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about Catra.

The rest of the training goes much the same way. The alphas are tested on their ability to ignore their desires that push them to fight each other, as well as chasing after omegas. It’s exhausting to say the least.

---

Adora drops into her bunk and slowly breathes out, releasing what she can from today’s events.

“Adora!” Scorpia charges into the room like she always does. “So glad to see you! How are you feeling? Better I hope” Her smile is infectious and eases some of Adora’s tension.

“Yeah, a lot better actually. My second training session went better than the first.” She sits up in her bed leaning against the head rail and tucks her arm behind her head.

“I heard! You were able to ignore the omega scent on the first try! Not too many people can say they’ve done that.” She chuckles. “Even me! I think it took me at least a dozen or two tries before I could even start to get a handle on it.” She blushes lightly, divulging the information brings up a hint of embarrassment.

“Yeah, I’m not even sure how I did it.” She looks down as a light blush streaks across her face. She remembers thinking of Catra during the simulation. The feline’s scent has always made her feel at home, but the scent from the bot was different. It’s stronger. Heady, but not fowl like the alphas’ scents are. It’s sweeter and more desirable.

“No worries, I wouldn’t harp on it for too long. It’ll just fluster you for next time.” Scopria stands up stretching her arms and pinching her pincers. “Well, I better hit the showers. I stink! You wanna come?”

Adora shuffles in her seat a little. “Yeah. I’ll be there in a minute. Just gonna take a few more moments to rest for a second.”

“Yeah, totally! I get it. First day is always a killer. See ya in there.” Scorpia walks away after grabbing her shower gear.

Adora breathes deeply and lets it out harshly. She tries to relax and succeeds as she drifts off to sleep.

It’s the same damn dream…

Catra is there in her tight legging pants walking closer to Adora. Her smirk is knowing, and her eyes scream attitude. She reaches Adora and wraps her arms around her. Then, Adora’s senses are overloaded as she smells that same sweet scent from earlier today. But this time it is coming from… Catra. She takes a slow long drag of the scent. Making sure it fills her up. Something about it starts to drive Adora to the edge. In this dream, she feels the shift between her legs happen. It’s uncomfortable, but it feels right. She feels her inner alpha connect with her and they sync. All she wants is the woman in front of her. She isn’t sure what to make of the way her eyes are drawn to certain parts of her body, like the line of her throat as she swallows; or how her teeth ache to bite into her. She yearns for Catra. Her touch and her presence. She’s missed the sound of her savory voice and that sweet laugh. Adora is surrounded by everything that is Catra.

A purr rumbles from Catra’s chest “Mmm, Adora. Touch me, please.” Catra had never spoken like that to her before. She isn’t sure what to think. Have things really changed this much?

The way Catra says it makes Adora’s mind fuzzy with desire.

Catra walks around Adora’s side and wraps her tail around the blonde’s waist. A clawed hand rakes across Adora’s back until the feline reappears in front of her again. The sensation sends waves of pleasure to through Adora’s body.

The feline trails her hands up Adora’s chest and reaches for her face. The blonde can’t keep herself from wrapping her arms around Catra’s body as she pulls her flush. Their centers touch and stars burst behind Adora’s eyes at the sensation.

Catra pulls one hand away and slides it down the blonde’s chest and abdomen until it reaches just above the join of Adora’s legs. The pads of her fingers lightly graze her bulge

“Adora” Catra sounds so desperate… “Adora!”

“Adora!

Adora sits up so fast in her bed that she nearly hits her head on bunk above her.

“Woah! Adora, some crazy dream, huh?” Scorpia asks blushing looking towards the ceiling.

“Wha– ” Adora looks down at herself and sees her new appendage protruding between her legs, tightly confined behind her pants. “Oh!” She hides herself with the blanket, completely covering her face. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this, she thinks.

Scorpia laughs out loud. “No! It’s okay, really. It happens to the best of us. Why don’t I hurry and get changed and give you some time to yourself?”

“Uh, time for myself for what?” Adora barely peeks her head out.

“Wha - I’m telling you; you really need to go to Alpha Soldier orientation!”

Adora groans. “They have some tomorrow, I’m going to the first one, bright and early.” She spills it out so fast as her cheeks grow hot.

“Well, for now I guess I’ll let you in on how to help with… that” Adora lifts her head out from the blanket one more time to see Scorpia – sporting bright crimson from her neck up to her cheeks – pointing to her problem.

“Yes! Please help!” Adora nearly falls out of bed reaching for the woman.

“Woah there! Some personal space is necessary for this conversation.” Adora slowly sits back into position and has a crooked smile on her face. Scorpia continues, “okay well… you touch it. When you’re alone! Preferably. Or with another person. Yano, it’s all about your preferences.” She coughs as she stumbles quickly through her explanation. “And you sort of just let your mind wander. You don’t have to think of anything in particular, but you’ll start thinking of stuff once you get going. So! I’ll uh… give you some you time. I’m going to leave and keep myself busy.” She quickly jumps up from her seat and makes her way to the door. “Have fun!” She chuckles while walking away.

This is all so crazy and weird. She decides to relax after Scopria leaves. It’s more comfortable to deal with all of this in privacy. She takes a deep breath and tries to think back to her dream from a moment ago. Adora loves that dream, she cans still smell the faint scent of Catra. But is that really her scent? I don’t think I’ve ever smelled Catra like that before, she thinks.

She starts to remember the way Catra was asking her to touch her and the way she was grabbing Adora’s face. Why was she so focused on her face? She has marked Adora before, maybe that’s what she was going to do. Man, she hasn’t done that since Weaver threatened her, she remembers.

But then, a realization hits her. Her mind had made all of that up. She has never seen Catra do those things with such purpose; playfully, absolutely she has, but never with such intention. Did she want to do those things? It is all so confusing.

Instead, Adora sets her mind on something else. All Adora can think about is their last interaction in their shared bunk. It isn’t as forward as her dream but doesn’t care. She wants real, she wants Catra. The way she trailed her fingers up and down on her shaft felt like agonizing bliss. Adora keeps thinking of how Catra touched her and the way her eyes looked as she did so. She had so much power over Adora in that moment.

Adora starts sliding her hand up and down her appendage, just like Catra is in her mind. It starts to seem so real. She inhales sharply at how good it feels. She’s never touched herself like this before. It’s like a drug. All she wants is Catra’s hand sliding up and down. Her own motions become in tandem with the woman’s ministrations in her mind. And for a moment it really does feel like Catra is doing it.

Her breath hitches in the back of her throat. Her other hand is gripping harder on the head rail behind her. She doesn’t think of the tiny noises she is making. All she sees are those two mismatched eyes taking deep pleasure in what she is doing to Adora.

Adora’s face scrunches up as she’s falling further and further into the hot sensation in her core. It’s becoming more and more intensely pleasurable as she continues. Adora’s hand starts speeding up, just as fast as Catra’s does in her mind. The blonde is panting as she’s closely reaching her limit. Adora can’t think of anything or anyone else than the person in mind’s eye. Catra starts to move her body closer to Adora and their breaths mingle together. Adora’s only sees hald lidded blue and yellow eyes as the pleasure finally becomes too much – “Agggghhh!” Adora’s eyes are shut so tight as she feels all the pressure that had been building finally release. She sprays hot liquid. The strongest jets hitting the inside of her underwear and the rest goes down her hand. It decreases the friction of her dry palm, and it allows herself the ability to go glide her hand over herself much more smoothly.

She isn’t expecting to continue because the sensitivity after that is astounding, but Catra stumbles back into her mind once more and starts climb on top of Adora’s waist planting herself delicately over the base of her shaft. Adora’s eyes shoot open at the visualization and the wave of pleasure it creates sends a throb along her member. She pulls her pants down to free herself and her hand starts moving again with purpose. She’s hard again so quickly that she barely had a few seconds to recover. But it just feels so good. She inhales sharply as it happens again. Another set of fireworks burst behind her eyes. She squirts more liquid on her hand and feels some spill onto her shirt this time. Her mouth opens as she silently screams for Catra. A guttural groan escapes her mouth after her release is finished. She falls over onto her side and pants for air. Her heart aches. The pleasure had been indescribable, but the loss of the woman in her mind remains. She doesn’t have Catra anymore. She doesn’t know if she’ll ever see her again or if she’ll be safe. Who will protect her now that Adora isn’t around? Will someone else protect her? That thought alone makes a deep growl leave her throat. Her jaw is clenched so tightly that her teeth are grinding.

After being satiated, her shaft shrinks back down to size. Something inside of her feels ill as she continues to dwell on the unknown of Catra’s situation.

The lack of control Adora feels now has never been so all consuming. It makes her feel like she’s drowning. She could escape. She could try to get to her some way.

The thought about finding her again makes Adora feel more at ease. She just isn’t sure how that’s going to work.

Notes:

Okay two chapters in one night! I thought about keeping it one long chapter, but I liked splitting it up more. They’re so amaze-balls.
And don’t worry. There won’t always be lonely nights for Adora and I didn’t forget to write about Catra. She’ll get some screen time 😉

Chapter 4: Feelings Suck

Catra makes her way back to their sleeping quarters after their awkward teachings about alphas and omegas. She can’t help but sink her claws into the metal railing as she walks, dragging her claws through the malleable iron. She suddenly retracts them. The last time Shadow Weaver found my marks all over the halls she kept me in her magical vice grip for ages, she thinks. A slight panic begins to rise in her chest. She grunts, frustrated at how brainwashed she is from the old hag, and takes off on all fours.

She finally makes it back to the barracks. The tip of Catra’s tail whips left and right unconsciously as she stares down at her feet. She shakes her head to try and keep that awful excuse of a woman out of her mind as she goes to her bunk… their bunk.

She looks down at the metal frame and thin mat and remembers what had happened just the other day. Shadow Weaver took Adora away. She doesn’t understand why she reacted the way she did when the witch escorted Adora to the transport bus. It was like something came over her and took over her body. A need to save Adora and keep her close.

Ugh! I don’t get it, she thinks. Her eyes shift back and forth as she contemplates, visualizing ripping through the armor of each of the soldiers that tried to stop her. It was like she would scratch them all to pieces just to keep her safe. She can feel this… need building back up inside of her.

She lays in the bed that she used to share with her best friend. Adora’s gone. Her Adora. This sense of possessiveness comes over her as her brow tenses. Then, another wave of confusion. She brushes it off simply that they grew up together and of course she would be upset about Shadow Weaver taking her best friend away. She doesn’t have too many of those after all.

She grunts to herself then sighs, flopping her back onto the bunk. I hate feelings. I hate thinking about how Adora makes me feel. It’s so confusing and nerve wracking. Anger rises in her chest and this new inexplainable feeling was driving her mad. There isn’t anything I can do… is there?

She huffs and turns her head to the side, noticing the rudimentary drawings they sketched into the metal frame of their shared bunk. She looks at it longingly. She’s never felt so distant from her before. So separated. It’s like she’s missing one of the most important parts of her life. She starts to miss how they shared this bunk. Catra would curl at the bottom, and even though they didn’t touch she still felt connected and close to her.

But, now… she’ll be sleeping by herself. Would she ever see Adora again? She struggles to let herself feel it. The realization of her loss hurts so much. She hates how much it’s affecting her, but can anyone blame her?

She could let herself cry… this time. She could be angry about it later.

Small hot tears stream down her cheeks. She tries to keep them at bay, but it’s useless. They freely flow now onto Adora’s old pillow, but she makes sure to wipe her snot on her arm. She can still smell Adora on her old pillow. She would’ve thought she’d taken it with her, but was surprised to see it still here. She inhales what she can and fills her sinuses with Adora’s scent. It smells amazing and comforting and strong. The scent soothes her just enough to help her drift off to sleep.

---

The next morning Kyle is positioned in the corner of the locker room biting his lip as he cautiously eyes Catra. He starts to walk over to her and contemplates a comforting hand before he realizes the gesture is way more intimate than they have ever interacted before. “Hey” he voices softly as he sits next to her on the bench.

“What do you want, Kyle?” Catra’s voice is low, but still carries her usual bite towards the end.

“How you holding up?” He says it with trepidation.

Her eyes are on her feet as she thinks about the question. “Fine.” She scoffs and stands to her feet. She immediately shakes off her outward emotional slip and pulls up her walls once more. “Let get this over with already, shall we? Before I die from Kyle’s feelings.” Catra walks off not having fooled anyone, even herself.

The rest of them roll their eyes and follow her lead out the door and head to the training arena.

Catra is completely zoning out from whatever the instructor is saying. They’ve been doing this for ages, she’s probably memorized most of their simulation scenarios. The princesses have invaded another town and are holding a group of Horde soldiers hostage; or, princesses have a stronghold facility close by, infiltrate and destroy. Make sure you take them all out, she thinks in her head, even using the same dumb voice of their instructor.

She looks around as if to meet a knowing grin, but she doesn’t find it. The familiarity of the situation causes a pain to burn through her. There’s something off about it all. Like some piece is missing. She eyes the corner of the room as the instructor continues to drone on. She can only think about one thing. One person. One alpha.

A pang of painful wanting enters her chest. She has shared her whole life with Adora, and to even go through the same dull day-to-day tasks without her is like driving a stake through her chest. She clenches her fists as the dull ache spreads through her body. She grits her teeth as she tries not to succumb to this rising fury and grief. She can’t let those feelings escape like she did last night. No one will see her pain.

She hears the final few words triggering the start of their mission in the simulator, and her body, set on autopilot, walks inside of the simulation. Her jaw clenches again and she feels a desperate need for an outlet. Her anger is rising at the feelings filling her chest. Loss. Grief. Longing. Need. The absence of her best friend is clear and in the forefront of her mind. She feels like it’s about to consume her. That’s when she tries to focus. She tries to think of one singular thing that brings it all together. Something, or someone, to take out all this crap just building and tearing her apart.

She sees red.

Not just red, but black flowing shadows and a mask that could give any rebellion princess nightmares. She focuses on the one thing that’s given her life so much hell. The one being that she can blame for all of this. She sees Shadow Weaver and light a hot rage takes over like instinct.

The simulator flickers as it kicks on and each member is on high alert.

“Okay guys,” Lonnie starts. “Let’s stay together and keep moving.” She, Rogelio and Kyle have their backs to one another as they scope out their surroundings, but Catra is rogue. She can’t focus on tactic, or drills. She needs to sink her claws into something.

A bot appears out of nowhere brandishing a hologram of a princess. It falls and leaps towards the group. They all prepare for impact when Catra leaps in front of it out nowhere. She slashes her powerful claws through the machine as if she had a personal vendetta against it. It flickers and sputters out, motionless.

Catra is panting from the rush and release she felt from tearing into that machine. Her senses kick in and she hears movement from the rear. She turns and runs narrowly dodging lasers that will knock her out of the sim. She launches herself behind a boulder and waits just a fraction as the bot shoots it away. She rises and pounces almost in one fluid motion. Her claws already on full display are reared back only to thrash through the metal once more. It makes a creaking noise as goes lifeless.

All Catra can see is red. She sees Shadow Weaver’s stupid face and wants to rip it off. The next bot dodges her attack, and she sees Shadow Weaver retreating behind a tree. She follows it as if in a feral state. It was like she was blinded by her own need for Adora. She hated this woman. “How dare you take her from me.” She grabs ahold of the bot and slashes her claws again and again. She continues slicing through the hollow bot causing the metal to slice her open palms. The simulation is terminated, but it’s as though she can’t be retrieved from her state of rage, her need to get Adora back.

Suddenly, brave, strong arms wrap around the exhausted cat. She’s heaving for air as she’s pulled from her false reality. Rogelio is the one who braves the razor sharp claws and lifts her off of the decimated machine. She can hardly breathe. She can’t help the angry tears that fall.

---

They bring her back to the locker room so she can cool down. Rogelio places her on the cool floor and she just crumples down onto it. Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio sit there with her as she catches her breath. They don’t say a word. Kyle tries to reach out and comfort her, but Rogelio quickly puts a hand on his arm, halting him from any further movements.

Catra’s breaths are less frantic now and is finding a slower rhythm. She sits up and leans against the wall of lockers. She cautiously looks over to the three in the room. None of them are staring at her. They’re just here. Trying not to make a big deal of it. She wants to run and never look back, but she is exhausted and they already saw how weak she was.

Lonnie stands up. “I’m going to breakfast.” She turns to leave the locker room and the other two start to follow. “Catra you want us to grab you anything?” She doesn’t look at her. She doesn’t make notice of anything amiss. She just extends an olive branch. Something Catra could either grab onto or shove away.

Catra wipes the salty tears and snot from her face and does her best to regain control of the situation. She chuckles, “why, so you can spit in it or something?” Her eyes shifting left and right hoping that the fragility of the situation isn’t because of her vulnerability.

Lonnie turns her head to look at Catra slowly rising from the floor. “I didn’t hear any complaints the last time I got you the breakfast special.” She pretends to spit right into her palm.

Catra gags in vague horror. “Yeah, screw that. I’ll just get it myself.” She walks towards them and leaves the room in front of everyone else. She would never say it out loud, but is grateful for Lonnie’s understanding.

---

They were exiting the chow hall when Shadow Weaver appeared in front of them. They all gasp from the surprise and Catra’s fists clench so tightly she almost draws blood.

“Cadets,” the old hag greets them, “there’s been a mission planned for a raid in Theimore. I would like to offer you all the opportunity to prove yourselves to me, and Lord Hordak.” Her presence looms over them as if to intimidate them. “Try not to embarrass me or yourselves. If you screw up, I’ll know, and you’ll be lucky to have latrine duty for a month.”

The cadets celebrate shortly with a few grunts of excitement. All except Catra. She continues to glare at the older woman and starts to turn to walk away with the others.

“Catra,” Shadow Weaver’s voice halts her as if she’s using her magic instead. She turns and faces the older woman. “I heard there was a… disturbance today in the simulation trainer.” She floats closer to the girl. “You know, maybe I should pull you from this mission. You may not be as… prepared, or levelheaded enough.”

The cat girl clenches her jaw and prepares to refute the old witch.

Shadow Weaver lifts her hand to halt her and continues, “then again, maybe you could be quite useful. It was quite the display. Besides, there will be a team of alphas joining the convoy tomorrow. Perhaps they can keep you in line long enough not to screw up the mission.”

Catra’s whole body feels like it lost all its’ blood as the words hit her ears. Her eyes show a moment of shock and it was enough for the old hag to notice.

Shadow Weaver hums lightly as she takes note of the change in demeanor and thinks of how she could use this situation to her advantage. “Run along, Catra.” She says it in such a condescending tone that she’s surprised it wasn’t enough to elicit a response form the younger girl.

As Shadow Weaver slinks off into the darkness of the halls, Catra remains in place. She feels like her brain is going a mile a minute. Does this mean… I could see Adora? Her breath catches and she tries to get a grip on herself. She’s only been gone for like a day.

She turns and slinks off after her friends. She wonders for a moment if she could skip this afternoons training, but she doesn’t want to risk losing her spot for the mission. There is a chance she could see Adora. It’s a small one, but still. Adora is a fast learner, they might take her out for her first mission. Images of a strong, fierce, blonde girl taking out bots in the simulator drift through her mind. The need to see her best friend is still there in the pit of her stomach. Thankfully, it dulled since her outburst in training, but she can’t even begin to understand where all of this is coming from.

She walks in the back of the group as they make their way back to training. She thinks about how crazy she’s felt lately. There’s so much she doesn’t fully understand about herself yet. She hasn’t been told if she’s a beta or omega. She is pretty sure she isn’t an alpha, but then where are all of these raging emotions coming from? She’s learned that omegas and alphas can be pretty touchy, especially if the people they care about are in trouble. Adora isn’t in trouble, she doesn’t think, but then why can’t she shake this feeling? Why can’t I just let it go? Why is she all I keep thinking about?

A thought comes to her mind from the training they just had, omegas have heats that drive them crazy, but I don’t think I’ve had one of those. Her eyes dart left and right as she tries to figure it out. UGH! She groans internally, because she is so tired of having to think about all of this so much. Maybe she just needs to punch something again, that definitely helped before. She continues down the hall after the other three and thinks about how she might see Adora on this mission.

Notes:

Thanks for staying with me! I'm excited to keep this going and of course this is a slow burn. 'Til next time!

Chapter 5: Cats Dream Too

Notes:

Just a forewarning, I do not condone, nor advise, self-harm as a solution to mental health issues. I didn't go into any serious details, but it is mentioned. Thanks for reading!

Catra walks down that hall that leads to the maintenance bay for vehicles. Someone told her to go down there to check on the status of her group’s skiff. If this damn thing isn’t operating, then we could all scratch ourselves out of the big mission coming up to Thaymore. Why do I always have to be the responsible one? She nears the large open metal doors to go in and hears someone tinkering inside. The metal clanks as a few of the mechanics are looking over a variety of their machinery.

She looks around for hers when she catches a familiar scent.

She’s caught completely off guard.

It makes her stop in her tracks. Her eyes widen and her breath hitches.

She closes her eyes to take in a long drag of the delicious smell. It was faint, but for Catra it was clear as day. She can sense it through the harsh smell of metal and oil that normally makes her sensitive nose twinge.

She starts to let her feet move in the direction it leads her to. Her eyes open barely a sliver to keep her from bumping into things. She walks towards the southern wall just past an M88 tank when the scent disappears.

Catra’s eyes shoot open and she feels like something has been ripped away from her. How did I lose it?! She looks around frantically and then notices a door to her left. She runs towards it and it creaks open automatically with her presence. She goes out into the new hallway and it hits her again. It’s even more pungent now than before and she runs after it. She leaps and continues on all fours – scraping her nails along the floor for traction on a turn. Marks be damned, she thinks. She makes another left turn and she runs into the origin of the scent.

Her body collides with another and they both collapse to the floor from the force. Mismatched eyes meet blue as Catra lays on top of Adora with her hands on each side of her head. They lay there longer than either of them intended “Catra?” Adora says it and it’s like no one has ever said her name that way.

Tears – she doesn’t realize are there – begin to form and prick at the edges of her mismatched eyes. Adora? She then looks down at their compromised position and Catra feels her face become hot.

As if Adora could hear her thoughts, she pulls herself out from under Catra. They both rise facing each other. “Catra, where did you come from?”

“Me? Where the hell did you come from? I-I – Shadow Weaver took you away, Adora!” Her head pounding with anger towards their supposed caretaker – more like lifedestroyer, Catra rolls her eyes.

She hears Catra, but Adora just smiles after fully realizing that they’re both here. She stands there taking in Catra, like she’s made some monumental change since the last time she’s seen her. There’s something different. She catches the smell of her scent and it feels like something is nagging at her mind. She reaches out pulling in Catra’s warm body, gripping tightly to her.

Catra can hardly believe this is real, and the unexpected physical contact is new. She almost lets out a snarky response like geeze, someone missed me in the most sarcastic tone she could muster; but it remained in her head, and on the tip of her tongue. Instead, something else catches her attention. She rotates her head leaving the top of Adora’s shoulder and takes a deep breath as she nuzzles into Adora’s neck. She finds the source of the lovely smell that makes her feel so completely at home. The movement had happened so simply that it’s almost a reflex of something she’s done so many times before, but she hasn’t. It just felt so natural, and she just starts taking in the essence of Adora.

Her scent triggers something in Catra and she finally returns Adora’s embrace. She wraps her arms around the firm body in front of her and she squeezes. She squeezes her hard, digging her nails into the heavy fabric of her jacket. She puts to memory every sensation she feels. Her nose gently glides up the sensitive skin of the blonde’s neck as she inches closer to her ear. After a low hum, Catra rasps out, “hey, Adora,” right into the other girl’s ear.

The show of affection does not fall on dead ears as Adora’s body is covered in chill bumps all the way down her legs. Adora grips tightly at the shirt of the other as she pulls her painfully against her. The need for closeness growing in the blonde’s body. She’s found her again and doesn’t want to let go.

“Shit, Adora,” Catra hisses from the blonde’s brute strength, but she doesn’t push her away.

It also doesn’t deter Adora at all. If anything, it turns her on. Adora isn’t expecting the sensation of desire that surges down into her core after hearing those words and feeling this familiar warm body. Adora groans, and she begins to sense the beginnings of a lustful haze. She raises her head next to Catra’s neck and begins pressing her face against it – breathing in her own share of Catra’s essence – and letting it fog her brain even more.

They begin to grip and writhe in each other’s arms as they try to satiate this deep need to be close to one another. Catra succumbs to the need she has for Adora. It’s one she’s never experienced before, but she can’t help but surrender to it. When she realizes they started getting carried away is when she starts to feel something growing and pressing against the top of her thigh. She remembers learning in her class about when female alphas get aroused – such a dumb word for horny – their clit swells to a much larger size making it able to penetrate. Fuck, Catra thinks, penetrate sounds amazing.

Adora’s grip on her back and waist gets tighter as she begins to feel a familiar sensation. This time is different than before, though. Before, had been an innocent moment after a heated dream, but this has more fervor to it – more desperation. How long had it been? A few days? A month? They can’t remember, or care. All Adora can think about is Catra’s body on hers and how amazing it feels to her newly formed body part rubbing against her.

A groan comes from Catra’s mouth, “Nnnngh, fuck” she says it forcefully, like she’s been building up this pressure in her lungs and the only release was to groan in Adora’s ear.

It catches Adora’s immediate attention and she pulls back slightly to look into those blue and yellow eyes, before she loses herself.

Catra’s eyes open to see where Adora’s head had moved to and makes direct eye contact with her. They just stare at each other breathlessly as the blonde looks down at the heated full lips of a cat-girl.

Adora leans in to kiss her –

---

Catra sits straight up in her bed gasping at air she could’ve sworn Adora stole from her.

She turns her head left and right as she remembers where she is. It’s still so dark out, she must’ve woken in the middle of the night.

She pulls in her legs as she thinks about what had just happened. She thinks about the moment of closeness that had just been painfully ripped away from her in a matter of moments. I thought I had her, she thinks. It was just a stupid dream! The painful rip in her chest and the need to find Adora and protect her rages through her small body. She lays back and clutches at her shirt, pulling it away to keep it from suffocating her where she lay. Tears stream down her face again, but this time they don’t have permission. She gets angry and furiously rubs them away, biting down on her tongue to keep it from continuing. She distracts herself with the actual physical pain of her incisors digging into her flesh. She focuses all she can on it and throws Adora’s pillow off into the corner - 10 feet away. She grunts as she rolls onto her elbows and knees. Her head is planted on the ground and her hands are balled into fists gripping in her hair as she shuts her eyes tightly. She painfully holds her breath and squeezes her eyes shut as she waits for the moment to pass.

All the physical pain caused slowly drowns out the pain in her chest and she finally takes in air. She slowly controls her breathing as to not make too much noise to alert anyone else. The last thing I need is some nosey ass poking into my business, she thinks. Her eyes that are still tightly pinched shut start to ease into just simply being closed. Her body stops betraying her as it calms. She still vaguely can smell the scent of the alpha that haunts her, and she’ll never admit that she likes how she can still feel the presence of her body against her own. Although painful, she relishes in how good that dream was – how it made her feel close to her best friend once more. She’d work out the overly touchy moment later, when she wasn’t fighting the need to be next to her. She opens her eyes fully and spots the discarded pillow in the corner of the bay. She huffs out a heavy sigh and gets up to retrieve it. She grabs it and brings it back to her bunk and clutches it to her chest with her arms and legs wrapped around it. Shit, I’m in trouble.

---

Catra wakes up when the alarm bell rings throughout the bay.

No more dreams, thank God. She rolls over and immediately gets out of the warmth from her mat and shoves the heel of her hand in her eye. She rubs away the sleep – and lack of sleep due to some seriously intense dream – and makes her way over to the locker room to clean up.

She sees Lonnie and gives her a curt nod in her direction as she makes her way to the bathroom. She relieves herself and, after a long torturous night, finds herself wet and sticky as she cleans herself up. What the fuck?

“Let’s go Catra! We need to hit up breakfast and make it to the con-op briefing before the mission!” Lonnie’s voice booms in loudly shaking Catra out of her thoughts and reminding her that today was Thaymore.

“Yeah, yeah,” Catra responds. “Don’t get your boxers in a twist, Lonnie. I’ll be out in a second.” She huffs and cleans herself as best as she can and exits the stall. She rushes to her locker and pulls on her clothes, ready to leave. She looks up at Lonnie as they both make eye contact. “What?” Her question comes out harsh.

“Something seems different about you.” Lonnie says it in an accusatory way that puts Catra in a defensive position.

“Nothing is different. Now get your head out of your ass and let’s go.” She huffs and shoves her shoulder past the other girl and starts making her way to the chow hall.

They run into Kyle and Rogelio and start talking about what they’re going to do on the mission. Kyle’s voice rings annoyingly in Catra’s ears, “I don’t know if they’ll let me do a lot, but hopefully I don’t mess up.”

“Oh, shut up Kyle,” Lonnie says. “You’ll be fine! Just don’t do what you did in that simulation when you shot Rogelio.” Lonnie scolds him and Rogelio begins to grunt out his response remembering the frustration from that day.

Catra tunes them out as they’re in line to get their ration bars. She thinks about Adora in the dream and how it seemed like they were starving for each other’s touch. A flash of Adora’s furrowed brow and glazed over eyes as their bodies connected runs through her mind. She can’t stop focusing on how real it all felt.

She’s snapped out of her thoughts when Lonnie shoves Kyle into Catra and she immediately turns – feeling exposed after her very intimate thoughts – and shoves Kyle back into Rogelio. “C’mon guys! Act right for once. If we want to be taken seriously, then we need to get our heads in the game.” Her voice is harsh as she berates them. “Besides, I’m gonna be driving a tank if it kills me and you losers better not mess this up for me!” She shows the whites of her fangs.

“Geeze, Catra” Lonnie says. “Someone’s excited.” She looks at the cat-girl in question and pins her with a look of knowing. “Yano, I heard there was going to be a small insurgent team of alphas coming with us.” She directs her words facetiously towards the other guys as she taunts Catra. “I wonder if Adora will be there.” Her hand is on her chin as she teases.

“Oh!” Kyle interjecting like always. Catra rolls her eyes. “I bet she will be! That’s a great point. I mean she knows how to work with our unit and she’d be a great asset to bring.” His voice is so naïve and cheery it almost makes Catra want to puke.

Catra turns back facing forward completely ignoring the jab Lonnie just sent her way. She’s been on my case all morning. What the hell is wrong with her? She grabs her tray and starts walking to one of the open tables they frequent. She drops it down almost splattering her food, but just looking at it and the feeling fluttering around in her stomach is making her nauseous. What the hell is wrong with me!?

Lonnie drops her tray and the others follow suit. They all sit down talking about how they plan to conquer the town and take out at least three princesses. Rogelio grunts in approval at the number and they all laugh.

“Catra,” Lonnie questions. “What makes you think their gonna let you drive a tank anyways? You’re probably gonna roll us off a cliff or something.” Kyle loses it as his water comes shooting out of his nose and Lonnie busts out laughing. Each person is laughing at her, now.

“Hardy-har-har. You’re hilarious.” Her expression is completely blank as she stares back at them. “No. I won’t. If anything, I’ll be able to take out three princesses without any of your guys’ help in that damn thing. So shove it.” She gets up without even touching the food on her tray, leaving the others there to snicker behind her back.

“Catra, don’t forget the con-op is in 20.” Kyle shouts out to the woman just to make sure she remembers.

She raises her hand and waves him off, “yeah-yeah. I’ll be there.”

---

She walks towards the maintenance bay and heads insides to check on their skiff for todays mission. She also notices one of the tanks over in the corner that she has her eyes on. She grins mischievously at it. I’ll be seeing you later.

She makes it past the center of the room that starts to bring back a sense of déjà vu. Her heart starts thumping a little faster as she nears the same spot as before. She inhales lightly before taking a deep breath.

Nothing.

She can’t smell the intoxicating aroma of a familiar alpha. It brings a sense of disappointment. She can’t seem to let go of what she had been tormented with from last nights dream. It was so real-

“Alright! Everybody form up!”

Her thoughts are cut short as a loud voice booms from the doors to the outside. She slinks her way over to the group and finds her usual gang off to the left side of this shit circle. The voice that rang out came from a Force Captain that Catra doesn’t recognize.

They continue speaking, “Alright, soldiers. The mission to Thaymore is vital in the retaliation against the Rebellion. The convoy will depart in 20 minutes. Everyone do a comms check and set the frequency of your radios to 2563. Make sure you have all equipment assigned to your vehicles on board and –“

Catra zones out from this lame briefing. She casually looks around the group of soldiers. As she’s scanning – pffft, not for anyone in particular – she notices a very tall muscley woman off to the side.

“– alphas that are coming with us on this mission. This is Force Captain Huntara” That got Catra’s attention. Shouldn’t they have started with that? She looks to where they’re pointing as she looks over Kyle’s big annoying head. She sees the tall muscley lady nod in their direction and keys Catra in to where the alpha unit is. She leans further and stands on the tips of her toes to get a good look, but she still can’t see. She huffs and shoves Kyle and two other soldiers out of the way, but she makes it to the center of the huddle. She looks over at the group of alphas. Man, they all smell so… nauseating. Blegh. Adora always smells so musty, but it’s pleasant, like sandalwood. Ugh I can’t smell her over their nasty asses. She growls as her patience is beginning to run dry.

She can make out the first row of soldiers on the small little force, but there were some more in the back.

“-alright! That’s it. Everyone head over to your vehicles and let’s get ready to move out!”

Everyone starts to disperse towards their vehicles and Catra starts to push herself towards the unit of alphas. She hopes she can catch something, some kind of hint that Adora is here. She rushes forward shoving herself into the alphas, pushing past one after another; and each one gets more aggravated with her by the second. She finally can’t take it, so she calls for her as her voice is just barely above whispering, getting louder each time, “Adora, Adora!”

Suddenly, the group stops moving as the very tall-muscley-Huntara-lady comes straight for Catra. “What you want, little beta?”

Catra’s eyes go wide, but she stands firm. Looking up into her face – a six foot four inch woman from her much shorter stature of five foot six – she shows no fear. “Is Adora with your unit?” She holds her ground and pushes out any fear from the intimidating pheromones being shoved into her face, because the need to see Adora outweighs all of it.

“What’s it to you, runt?” Her eyes shoot daggers into the feline, but Catra does her best to shoot them right back.

“Catra!” Lonnie says. “We need to get to the vehicle.”

The cat woman growls from deep in her throat as she continues her stare down. But Lonnie comes up and grabs her arm.

“Apologies, Force Captain. I’ll handle her.” Lonnie pulls at Catra’s arm and is just barely able to get the two to break apart from their pissing match. They start walking over to the skiff they were assigned.

“What are you doing?!,” says Catra. “I almost got an answer out of her. I need to know if Adora is here.” She’s nearly foaming at the mouth with her anger rising towards Lonnie. Her need to get Adora back is clearly fogging her brain, but she couldn’t care at this point – not when she’s so close.

“Catra,” Lonnie attempts to take a calmer approach to Catra’s anger. “If Adora was here, she would’ve heard your scuffle with their Force Captain and told you to ‘shutup’ herself. You know that. But she didn’t.” Realization hits Catra the moment she heard Lonnie’s words. They made sense even if she didn’t like hearing them. “She must not be here for this mission, Catra, but we still have a job to do. Now, c’mon.” She tries to pull the woman towards their skiff, but she holds her ground and doesn’t move.

“Go,” Catra says. “I’m driving a damn tank.” Frustration and anger clear in her voice as she storms off towards the large behemoth. The soldier is about to mount the cockpit of the vehicle before she grabs him by the back of his vest and tosses him off. His body falls to the ground with a loud thud.

“Hey!” He protests, but Catra just hisses in his direction. She got her tank, now she needs to find out more about where they’re keeping Adora.

Chapter 6: The Runaways

Catra’s hair is practically standing on end. She is driving a tank. I’m driving a freaking tank! She shows her canines with her devious smile as she drives it through the brush. She knocks down small trees as the tracks on the vehicle rip through the ground and leave behind ugly trails.

Her adrenaline is pumping, yeah sure Adora isn’t here to share this with and it sucks, but she’s finally made it out on a mission! “Hahaha, Yeah!” She makes sure to keep her distance from the vehicles in front of her. The Force Captain’s – I still have no idea what their dumb name is – vehicle is still in front leading the charge.

This is the moment she’s waited her whole life for. This is the moment she’s been training her whole damn life for. Getting out in the real world. Getting to do real world shit. I’m so pumped!

She takes out yet another small bush as they make their way through the forest. She has a hard time feeling any pity. Her whole life has been about survival, and if some dumb plant couldn’t get out of her tank’s way, then that’s how it’s gotta be. Catra has constantly been on the shit end of the stick. It never mattered what she did, Shadow Weaver always had it out for her. She always got in trouble. She had to fight to stay alive and she had to get stronger. She had to be stronger. To finally have this moment of freedom – this moment where it all was finally fucking worth it – she feels so alive. The only thing that could make this better is… if Adora was here. They’d be so pumped together.

Ugh. Stop feeling this way! I don’t need Adora! But even as she’s thinking it, her insides are a twisting knot of grief. Shadow Weaver ruins everything! Even this. She takes everything from me! Angry tears start to form, but she hates crying more than she hates Shadow Weaver, because she’s not weak. She’s not gonna ruin this for me!

Catra tries to ignore the sinking feelings in her stomach that churn like spoiled milk. She swallows the bile rising in her throat and focuses back onto where she’s going. This is going to be amazing. I’m so going to kick ass. She looks over her shoulder briefly to catch a glimpse of Lonnie and Rogelio driving the skiff. They make eye contact and grin fiercely at each other. They all have been fighting tooth and nail for this.

Catra turns back to the trail in front of them as they start to reach a break in the woods. She regains her composure just like the armor she so easily slips on. The Force Captain comes over the radio. “We’ve made contact! Take out all enemies!” It was like they released the reigns on Catra that were holding her back and keeping her in place. She commands her gunner to shoot as she rolls them through the village. Her heart is racing as she looks around. She hopes to spot some princesses soon. She’d ditch this thing and take off on foot if she has to.

Suddenly, as though the thought magically made one appear, a flash of pink pops up in her periphery. She turns her head and spots a princess. UGH! Yes! This one’s mine!

Catra rolls her tank forward and gets them close to her, but suddenly the princess poofs and disappears. She rematerializes fifty meters off into the distance with the person she just held in her hands. Catra’s eyes shoot open wide. There’s no way I can take her in this. I’ll have to take her on foot.

Catra hops out of the hatch of the tank to take off on foot. She looks to her left as she runs to see a boy with arrows firing with some serious precision at her tank she just hopped out of. She sneers and picks up her pace. She takes off running faster than she thought she could. Just before she can reach the princess, she poofs again. Catra looks around, confused, trying to make out where she went off to. She turns and gets a blast of magic to the face. It pushes her back but doesn’t cause any serous pain. She lunges forward trying to stop her from continuing, but she just disappears again.

Catra stays alert as the pink one reappears, and she dodges yet another attack. Catra leaps at her with her claws fully unsheathed to tear her apart. Before she can get to her, she’s blindsided and launched off to the side. Her arms are tied to her side as she looks around to see the arrow boy checking on the pink sparkly one. “Ugh!!! Lonnie! Somebody, get your asses over here!” She yells for backup as explosions are happening all around her. She writhes in her constraints and attempts to reach down and bite through them.

As she struggles, she hears the pair next to her talking about their next moves. “I know you want to help all of these people Glimmer, but there aren’t enough of us. Pretty soon you’re going to run out of magic, and we’ll be in even more danger.”

“Ugh! I know, Bow.” Gah, Sparkles voice is so annoying, Catra thinks. “It just isn’t right. First, we find this awesome sword in the woods that I know my mom is gonna be proud of, but then we can’t even do anything when it comes to actually saving people.”

“No, Glimmer. We could save people, but there’s just too many of the Horde soldiers and just not enough of us to stop them. And hey, we also caught a Horde soldier. That’s something.” The arrow boy’s optimism is sickening.

Catra continues to struggle in her restraints especially afraid of what’s to come with this ragtag team. Ugh!

Unexpectedly, Huntara shows up from behind, looming over the two squabbling concealed behind a bush. They’re going back and forth with each other and hardly notice her presence. Then, she grunts like an animal about to attack.

Bow and Glimmer are facing the opposite direction but smell an intense threatening alpha close by. After hearing Huntara’s grunt, they slowly rotate their heads towards the imminent danger and their eyes shoot wide open.

Catra cackles from her position on the ground. “Oh, you two are in for it now! Hey! Hunter lady, come get me out of this!” She claws at nothing trying to use brute strength to get out of her entrapment.

Huntara just stares down at her and looks back at the two behind the bush. “Hey, you two.”

They squeak in response as they both hold each other’s hands in front of their chests, nearly cowering on the ground.

“Get up.” She commands them and they immediately respond. She walks over to Catra and picks the wiggling girl up and throws her over her shoulder.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Catra does not like this one bit. She learned some history about alphas and what kinds of ugly things they can do to people. Her instincts start to kick into overdrive. “Put me down and untie me you idiot!” She starts to panic and sweat, releasing her own pheromones.

“Relax, Kitty. I’m not gonna eat you” Her smile is devious, but her tone sounded tired. “You!” She points at Glimmer who almost faints on the spot. “Can you get us out of here?”

Glimmer’s mouth gapes open at the sudden change in direction this conversation is taking. She attempts to speak, but nothing comes out, so Bow speaks for her. “Technically, no. Well, she’s never tried with more than one person.” His eyes shoot to her with concern.

“Well,” Huntara says, “looks like today’s the day we find out.” She shoves her hand forward and places it on her shoulder.

“What!?” Catra’s voice is high pitched and squeaky as she interjects. She’s completely thrown off and confused. “What the hell is happening? You’re with the Horde! Take me back!” She wiggles more and tries to scratch Huntara.

The taller woman grabs Catra by the tail and holds her out with an extended arm. “Woah, Kitty! No biting, or I’ll do something you’ll more than regret.”

Catra is writhing in pain at this point. There’s just too much weight for her tail to hold and the pressure almost feels like she’s about to dislocate something. She calms her movements for a moment, but her breaths are still coming out quickly, panting. “Fine!”

“Alright,” Huntara tosses her back up onto her shoulder and Catra’s head hangs down her back. “Let’s do this Princess, we don’t have all day.” She looks left and right, making sure that there’s no way they could be spotted as deserters.

Glimmer gulps and reaches her hand out for everyone to grab onto. She musters all the power she has for fear of this giant alpha. If she wasn’t so scared, she’d probably be impressed, or worse turned on and now is not the time to be having thoughts like that. She closes her eyes and before they know it they’re all sputtering into Glimmers magic.

They land close to the tree line of the whispering woods, it was only about 100 meters away from where they originally were.

“Glimmer!” Bow reaches out to catch the spent princess before she falls to the ground. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine” she responds, but knows she used far more magic than she should’ve if they wanted to make it home safely.

“Blegh, I think I’m gonna be sick.” Catra starts to gag from behind Huntara and the giant lady drops her straight to the ground with no remorse. She hits the ground hard and rolls onto her side as she tries to calm her stomach by taking deep breaths.

“Well,” Huntara says “not as far away as I would’ve liked, but it’s something.” She starts walking off, making her way through the woods.

Catra stirs from her vomiting stupor, “wait! You can’t just leave me here. With these two!”

Huntara turns back to them, “I can do whatever I want. Plus, you’re their prisoner, not me.” She turns to walk away again.

Glimmer and Bow just stand next to each other glancing back and forth between the two.

Catra starts to panic and she’s about to lose her shit, too. She thrashes on the dirt frustrated with her situation and confused as to what just happened. So what!? She’s just defecting!? “Ugh! You coward! Get back here and untie me! I’ll show you…” She manages to pull her elbow up past the ropes and pulls her arm out the rest of the way. She claws at them and they easily fall to the side. Her insides are boiling with anger.

Huntara finally turns just in time to see Catra leap towards her face. She dodges to the left, but not without Catra utilizing her strong legs and clawing at the older woman’s chest. Huntara hisses at the pain and runs to take down the pretty-kitty. “Urrrgh!” She reaches her hands out and is able to grab one of Catra’s arms, although she was trying to reach for her tail again. That had seemed to be effective.

Catra turns her whole body sideways and latches her legs around the woman’s torso – hand still trapped by the large woman. The move is pristine as she uses her agility against the slow brute strength of Huntara. She reaches her other hand to the woman’s face and gives it a slash leaving claw marks across her face.

Huntara screams in pain and uses both of her arms to grab the damn cat off her back using bone crushing strength.

Catra claws the woman all the way up her back until she’s being held out like a child. Huntara doesn’t even give her the chance to retaliate and she throws her forward smashing her body against a tree knocking her unconscious.

The older woman pants, her lungs working overtime after that fight, and tries to stand straight. She hisses at the deep lashes Catra left in the muscle of her back. She looks over to the other two standing off in the corner hugging each other. “You idiots gonna tie her back up?” Her voice is harsh, but so is the pain from her back. “I don’t suppose you can heal with that magic of yours.”

Glimmer’s eyes are wide as she realizes the question is directed at her. She smiles uncomfortably, “uhm… no. Sorry?”

“Ugh, of course.” She looks up to the sky and realizes that it’ll be dark soon. Inside the forest they go. She takes one last glance over her shoulder at the calamity that’s occurring and the screams that are drifting to her ears. She just breathes a heavy sigh. “Let’s get movi… Dammit, you idiots still haven’t tied her up!?” Her voice is now full of exasperation.

Bow pipes up, his whole body as stiff as a rod as he runs over to Catra’s still limp body. She groans as he nervously releases the mechanism from his arrow. It comes out with much less velocity when it’s been hand released and he’s able to tie her back up with the knots her learned from a book once.

Once Catra is tied up tight, Huntara moves to grab her. She sighs heavily as she hoists the damn she-devil onto her other shoulder – the one that’s not clawed through. “Damn kids.”

“Bow,” Glimmer whispers screams at him. “We need to get home tonight! There’s no way my mom won’t be mad at me if she finds out we left. I don’t even know if we can trust these people!”

“I know, Glim, but we don’t have much of an option. You’re magic is practically drained. We’re lucky you can still walk.” They both follow behind Huntara as she carries the half dead cat. “Let’s just stick it out until morning and we can head straight for Bright Moon. She’ll be thrilled we found that weird sword and a Horde soldier prisoner. Right?”

She sighs, “yeah. I hope so.”

---

Catra eases her eyes open as she comes to. Everything is really dark as she looks around. She sees light off in the distance in the shape of a body. “Hey!” She winces at the pain in her head and claws her fingers over the skin of her face.

She still sees the silhouette of light. She walks towards it and it moves away from her.

Confused, she takes another hesitant step forward and it does the same. “What the hell?”

She starts to run towards it and it takes off like a bolt of light. She tries to keep up but she can’t.

Soon, another body comes into view. It’s just so far in the distance that she can’t make out who it is. The light form drifts their trajectory towards them. Catra is even more confused as they approach this person and Catra can finally see who it is.

“Adora?”

The light figure makes a B-line for Adora.

“Adora watch out!” She reaches for her best friend, but it’s too late. The light consumes her. It changes her and it shifts her. Then the flash of bright light surrounds them both and it leave a warm comforting feeling. She can smell the comforting scent of Adora and a much stronger desirable scent coming from her. The two scents intermingle and Catra sees stars behind her eyes. She opens them once more to be in the arms of Adora, but she’s different. She’s wearing white with gold trim and her hair is cascading down over her back. There’s a sword in the hand that isn’t cradling Catra’s back. She looks up into those familiar blue eyes and starts to melt.

---

Huntara finally feels they’ve travelled far enough not to still be chased by the Horde. She has so desperately wanted to leave that place. They only ever did horrible things, and she just kept leading those poor baby alphas to the slaughter.

Her moment of reflection is interrupted when she hears whispering from behind her. “Ugh, when is this gonna stop?” The girl complaining about her feet, no doubt. Damn omegas. Some are fierce and some are just plain princesses. She rolls her eyes and wants to continue marching forward, but the cat starts to stir on her shoulder. That is one thing she does not want to have happen again. She drops Catra to the ground like a sack of flour. She hears a snap come from the fall and wonders if it was a twig or her fragile little kitty bones.

The noise catches the others’ attention. They’re heads snap up after dragging their feet for the last two miles.

“Alright, we’ll make camp here. Bright Moon should be about 10 clicks that way.” She points to their right side. “We can finish the trip in the morning.”

“Oh thank goodness!” Glimmer falls to her hands and knees as she lets the throbbing in her legs ease up. Bow reaches down to make sure she’s okay. “What are clicks?” She directs the question at Bow and he just shrugs his shoulders.

Huntara starts to get things ready for the night. She’s heard some crazy stories about this forest and doesn’t want to know if any of the damn things are true. She reaches for some dead branches on the ground and starts gathering them together.

Catra stirs from her fall moments ago and groans with her face in the dirt. “What the literal fuck?” She rolls to her side and sees the behemoth a few yards away gathering shit. Her head pounds from all the chaos and anger still boiling inside.

“Hey look, the kitty’s awake.” Huntara turns and drops the wood down at Catra’s feet.

Catra grunts from the disrespectful display, but she knows that she’s clearly in no position to retaliate. She looks around to make sure they aren’t alone, and the massive witch didn’t just kidnap her for her alpha desires. She thankfully sees the other two picking up much smaller excuses for sticks in the distance.

“Ugh, why are you doing this?” Catra spits out between clenched teeth.

Huntara continues to grab more branches and drop them in front of Catra. “Yano, you’re a confusing little one. You have the spunk and feistiness of an omega, but you reek of a beta. You almost take me on asking about some alpha friend of yours, but that alpha is in prime condition for an omega. She’d never go after some beta. You’re very curious, kitty.”

“Ugh! Tell me what you know about Adora. Where are they keeping her?” She figures if she’s going to be left for dead eventually, then she at least deserves some information first. She wiggles some in her restraints, but Bow made them much tighter this time around.

The older woman continues to set up camp, hardly paying any mind to what Catra is saying. She sets up the base posts for a shelter and makes sure they’re steady. “Hmmm Adora. Which one is that again?”

“Ugh! You just said you knew her.”

Huntara thinks deeply. “Oh right, the one who gave me the heart eyes.-“

This causes a reaction from Catra and she starts to thrash once again. Growling deep in her throat she spits out “bullshit! Adora’s not into you, you friggin monstrosity.”

“Oh yeah? Then who is she into? You?” The woman taunts Catra finding her childish reactions to be quite funny. Oh, to be young again.

“What!? N-no. I don’t know! She’s my best friend, but I know she wouldn’t be into you, ya meathead.” She is panting with irritation and her constraints are making her fuming mad again. Who am I kidding? Adora always stares at the dumb jocks with muscles in the locker room. She rolls her eyes.

Bow and Glimmer make eye contact wondering how long this is gonna last. Glimmer just rolls her eyes, shrugging.

“Yeah,” Huntara starts “Adora is something else. She definitely has potential. She out races all of the other alphas and doesn’t take any of their shit.”

“Heh, of course she doesn’t.” Catra says it proudly.

“Yep! She’ll probably end up with some omega. They always do. Especially the ones on that side of the Fright Zone. They’re always so desperate to find the best ones.” Huntara just goes on her tangent as she finishes putting together the makeshift awning to protect them from elements. This is quite entertaining.

Catra starts to lose control of her reaction and of herself. All she can see is a group of flighty omegas standing around her Adora. They’re pouting their lips and giving off their bullshit scents to get her attention. Catra loses control of her emotions. “Who are they? I’ll rip out their throats!”

“Hopefully, none of those vying omegas are in heat!” Huntara chuckles and continues to taunt Catra. Each jab making her grin bigger and bigger. “Oh man, she hasn’t even been trained to resist those pheromones yet. She’ll be-“

“Shut up! Shut up already!” Catra’s insides are blazing hot with jealousy. She never thought she could feel this way, but there’s no way in hell Adora is going to be tempted by all of those pathetic excuses for omegas. Adora is mine! She sits there panting her fury away. She knows she’s not the best at holding in her emotions, but this subject just forces them out of her. It’s like there’s something else entirely taking her over from the inside.

“Hmmm,” the older woman finds herself at a loss. “You are definitely interesting. You even react like an omega.” She taps her chin. “When was the last time you ate?” She looks over to Catra with this questioning look as she just finishes tying her last knot.

Catra, flustered, tries to focus on the question. She’s still so agitated from Huntara goading her. “Why?”

The older woman squints her eyes with this deadly glare at Catra. “No reason.” Her mood completely shifts back to when she was torturing the poor feline. She moves to pick up the extra wood. “You other idiots have enough wood yet? I’m already done with the shelter for crying out loud.”

Bow and Glimmer look at her amazing craftmanship as it almost sparkles with how pristine it is. Their jaws drop in amazement and they take what they have over to her.

“Great, now drop those here and we’ll get started on a fire.” Huntara directs them. They seem much more relaxed knowing that camp will be set up and it doesn’t look like they’ll die anytime soon.

“Hey! Meathead! I’m talking to you!” Catra huffs out panting breaths as she still can’t seem to control the way she feels about the omegas flocking to Adora. “Why do you want to know when I last ate!?”

Chapter 7: Mental traps

Adora pants as she leans over her knees catching her breath. Her and the other alphas have been training their sense of smell. Apparently now that she’s an alpha her senses are much keener than they used to be, which is understandable. But the new and improved sense of smell has also become somewhat of a burden. She’s never been coaxed awake by someone walking by her room with breakfast before.

They tell her that all new baby alphas’ instincts start working in full force. For instance, what a more realized alpha might let slide, a baby alpha instead just doesn’t know how to control themselves.

Adora has been realizing a lot about herself is different. Her lungs feel stronger as they expand and allow her to breathe more deeply. Running has not been a problem lately and if anything, she appreciates the boost in stamina.

I thought I was competitive before, but now! She internally laughs as her eyes get determined. She sees other alphas roaming around the arena in search of an explosive device. They were only given a few seconds to remember what it smelled like before they were dropped into the simulator. Adora catches a familiar metallic scent just barely with the twitch of her nose. She closes her eyes and follows it, but just barely opening them on occasion as to not run into anything. It keeps getting stronger and her wild competitive nature starts urging her on.

She climbs over an obstacle and then another as the smell increases. Out of the corner of her eye however, she notices that there’s an alpha close by. She’s been lingering closer and closer to Adora in the simulators, no doubt trying to jump in the last second and steal her victory.

She catches the direct trail of the scent and hastily runs for it. She follows it until it fills her sinuses. Adora looks around the immediate area. I know it’s here. It’s gotta be! She turns left then right in search of the key component and finally spots it a couple meters away in the center of a cracked tree. The explosive component shines brightly as the light from the top of the simulation catches it. She turns and sees that female alpha running towards her.

“Aaaah!!” The female runs at Adora with fierce intensity. Her teeth are borne, and she looks ravenous. Adora catches the alpha as she leaps towards her midsection. The two tumble backwards as the female attempts to take out Adora from the competition. They both hit the ground hard.

The female alpha has light skin, very similar to Adora’s, and dark flowing hair. She rears back a punch to throw at the blonde, but she puts up her simulated shield stopping her from following through.

Adora starts to feel exhilarated at the challenge. She hasn’t had anyone come after her directly before. It has only been challenges and team building exercises, but this is different. The alpha uses her strength to smother Adora and pin her to the ground. She wants Adora to submit –

That gets Adora’s attention as she begins to realize this isn’t some game like she used to play with her childhood friend. This is dominance. She’s heard about it from the alpha orientation she finally went to on Scorpia’s orders. Alphas fight for dominance and the better alpha always comes out on top. A surge begins to run through her veins as the other tries to grab an arm to pin her with. She feels the heat rise and a growl releases from deep in her throat. Her eyebrows knit together as she focuses. She pulls her arm back with so much force is makes the other female fall over her shoulder.

The alpha’s body skids away into a rock formation. Adora takes the opportunity to get up and run straight at her. She lands on top of her grabbing at her limbs and pins her down. She hovers closely to the other’s neck as she growls. A scent comes off the woman beneath her and she feels her become lax. She recognizes the submission without even having any reference, or previous experience.

She grunts and raises herself off the other and makes her way over to the area she spotted the explosives. Other alphas are getting closer, but she’s already had her eyes on the item and picks it up right away.

A buzzer alarms overhead as she does so, and it lets everyone know the simulation has been completed. She looks up and around noticing the other alphas heading towards the exit. She looks back at the spot where she pinned the other woman and doesn’t see her. Well, that was intense. She turns as leaves the arena dropping the scrap metal into a bin.

Adora still tries to fight down the urge of her alpha making its’ presence known in her mind. She closes her eyes and cranks her neck enough to pop it before she finally starts to relax. She looks around as they all receive a debriefing on the training and catches the eyes of the alpha who she dominated. I dominated you, she says in her mind as she holds their eyes. The other looks down and away.

---

After a tense session Adora starts to make her way to the chow hall with everyone. She is finally getting a chance to relax from their long day. She grabs her food behind everyone else in line and makes her way over to a table. Meals haven’t been the same since she left the other side of the Fright Zone. She always ate with Catra. The thought instantly brings longing in her chest. A deep remorse from what happened…

She shakes her head free of those thoughts. She’s sure Catra is doing great and she probably doesn’t even miss Adora. Catra has always been the one who didn’t get too caught up in emotional stuff. She probably still eats with Lonnie and the guys.

Adora rolls her eyes as she shoves another bite of food into her mouth. Sometimes Scorpia and her were here at the same time and she would eat with her. Her positive attitude always keeps Adora excited about her training. Talking to her about stuff just always makes her feel better. Scorpia just has that effect on people, she supposes.

But today she doesn’t seem to be around. Adora would usually be able to hear her as soon as she enters the dining facility. She just chalks it up to missing Scorpia today and she’ll just see her later.

Out of nowhere, she senses a presence behind her. The scent familiar, she turns and notices the alpha from before. She looks at her with her eyebrows knitted together.

“Hey,” the other female says. “Can I sit here?” Her chin is up in defiance, but Adora doesn’t take it as disrespect. She’s known her fair share of distrusting soldiers in the Horde. Hell, she shared a bunk with one for over a decade.

“Sure.” Adora continues to eat the slop on her plate while the other woman sits next to her right side. They sit there in silence for a few breaths as they both start to eat.

“I’m Dometria.” She looks over at Adora, shoving food into her mouth after she spoke.

Adora looks over at her realizing the trepidation of the other. “Adora.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Oh.”

“You’re pretty strong.” She turns to Adora now facing her fully. Her left leg is draped over the bench, straddling it. “They sure do talk you up a lot. Not that I don’t get it, though.” She eyes Adora up and down – seeming to be sizing her up.

Adora’s eyebrows rise up her face. “Yeah, well if anyone else here was any competition, then they wouldn’t have to talk about me so much.” She wonders if Catra would be proud of that one. She was always trying to get her to smack-talk other people, but she just never felt the need to. It was always fun enough to give Catra a hard time and they would just give each other crap. Gah, I miss that.

The words just roll off her lips like she has to keep this one in her place. She could sense the other was trying to get a sense of her. Adora has always been somewhat of a nice push-over, but the alpha inside her will not let that happen. Not with this one.

“Heh,” Dometria halfheartedly chuckles. “Yeah, shit happens. But you know they’re just using us right?”

“Well… maybe, but I want to get control of my instincts. If they can help me with that, then I’m going to give it my all.” She turns back to her food, not letting the tone of this conversation disturb her.

“Why?” The simple question hangs in the air as Dometria looks back down to her plate.

Adora turns to her again. “Then, I can go out into the field sooner, and maybe get to see my friends again.” Adora clenches her utensil tightly in her hand. I have to get back, somehow.

“Good enough reason I guess.” Dometria eyes Adora warily. She shoves one last bite into her mouth and drops her utensil down to her tray. “Look, I want something similar. We should help each other out. Push each other to be better.” Her tone is serious, but also eager.

Adora’s eyes open wider in surprise. She definitely did not expect that to come from the overly competitive alpha. She eyes the woman up and down as she decides if she can trust her. In the least we could build off of each other until we make it out into the field.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Adora becomes confused worried her thoughts were discovered. “I’m not very bulky or big, but I’m strong and smart.”

Adora sighs internally knowing she didn’t read her thoughts.

“With both of our abilities we should be able to conquer this shit,” Demetria says with confidence.

“Sounds good. We should meet up regularly to go over stuff.” Adora takes another bite of her food after she agrees.

“Sweet. I’ll come by your room later.” Dometria goes to pick up her tray to leave. Adora nods her head in response. “Sure, okay. See ya later.”

Dometria walks off out of the dining hall and Adora sits there for a moment taking all that in. Hmmm. I’ll have to keep her at arm’s length… Her eyes close in content. This gray slop is so much better than the other kind!

Adora finishes her food and leaves to head back to her room. Since they’re finished with todays training, she heads to her room to grab her stuff to take a shower. She might hangout for just a bit because the showers are always full the first 30 minutes after drill.

She turns the corner and heads back to her room. She walks in noticing Scorpia is packing her stuff.

“Woah,” Adora says. “What’s going on Scorpia?”

The woman turns in the direction of Adora’s voice and startles from the surprise. “Adora! Oh man! There you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Well, there was the arena, the weight room and then our room, which is this spot and why I’m currently right here. But! I’m glad I found you. Have you heard what’s happened?” Scorpia extends out her claws in exaggeration like her mind is about to explode.

“Uh, no. I haven’t heard anything yet, at least I don’t think so.”

“Oh, man! So okay you may need to sit down for this.” The larger woman grabs Adora by her shoulders and gently picks her up to rotate around and place her down onto her own bed. Adora’s eyes are wide and she’s fairly impressed by the feat. Scorpia kneels to one knee. “Listen,” she sighs. “Force Captain Huntara… well… she got captured. By the Rebellion.”

“Oh…” Adora’s shoulders tense. “We’ve got to do something.”

“Woah, there Hotstuff. Lets not go hijack a skiff and take off on an adventure by ourselves; although, that does sound fun.” Scorpia puts her claw to her chin in thought and looks down in contemplation. She turns back, “no, no it’s a terrible idea. There’s nothing we can do right now. Lord Hordak knows and he’ll be planning a mission to retrieve her soon.” She looks into Adora’s eyes reassuringly.

Adora slumps down after finally taking a breath and hearing the truth in her words.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” She scares Adora out of her thoughts. “She wasn’t the only one. The unit they were with sent a young crew out with them, like four or five cadets. It was their first missions and uh, one of them got captured too.”

Adora furrows her brow in concern for the poor soldier. “Um. Wasn’t that the mission to Thaymore? What unit did they even go with?”

“Oh! Uhm, it was one of the old units on the far side of the Fright Zone…”

Adora’s heart sinks for just a moment.

“… yeah it was Delta 1-19. Why do you –“ Scorpia notices Adora’s shock. “Oh no, is that you’re old unit?”

Adora’s eyes lower to the floor, not really focusing on anything. “Yeah, it was. Have they said anything about the soldier that was captured?” She starts to wring her hands together in her lap.

“Oh, shoot. Yano, I haven’t heard anything like a name, but maybe I could look into it for you.” Scopria stands to her full height in front of Adora. She clears her throat.

Adora cuts her off from what she was about to say, though. Her mind wants to run rampant on all of the reasons she should be freaking out. “Why are you um… packing?”

The bigger woman puts her claw behind her neck in trepidation. “Right! I was just about to tell you. I’m you’re new Force Captain! Haha,” she says it very awkwardly as though she isn’t sure how Adora will take the new information.

Adora’s eyes widen at the news, “congrats! That’s a big promotion. Wow.” She gets up and extends her arms for an embrace, which is when Adora realizes her mistake.

Scopria beams at the support and reaches out to Adora. She picks her up squishing her arms to her sides and squeezes her in a big bear hug. Adora nearly suffocates in the woman’s strong arms. She sets the smaller woman down. “Oh! Sorry, I’m just so relieved that you’re excited for me. I was worried you’d be mad or something.”

“Mad? Where did you get that from?”

Scorpia looks down as she shrugs her shoulders.

“Scopria, you’ve helped me with so much and you work super hard. I’d be so proud to be your soldier. Plus I know you’ll take care of us newbies and trust me, we need it.” She winks behind her hand as if to clue in Scorpia that she has her work cut out for her.

“Oh wow! That’s just so sweet. Thank Adora. Gosh you’re just such a good friend. I’m going to finish up packing and then I’ll see what I can do about finding out about that soldier. I’m sure one of the higher ups have to know something.” She walks over and continues to pack her few things into a duffle bag and her gear unto a rucksack.

Adora huffs and drops her head down as she grabs her shower stuff. She packs things into a caddy so she can carry it all a little easier. I can’t believe they got Huntara. She’s so strong and big! This just doesn’t make any sense… If they could get her, then they could get… She doesn’t let her thought finish. She can’t even think about that right now, especially when she isn’t sure. It’ll only get her worked up and she doesn’t need that right now.

She grabs her towel and heads out to the showers.

---

She makes her way to where the alphas shower on this side of the barracks rooms. On the way she keeps catching glances from people walking by her. She grabs the collar of her shirt and sniffs wondering if she smells terrible or something. Her face twinges a little, but she doesn’t smell too bad. Her scent has been way more potent since she started developing her alpha characteristics. She doesn’t know how omegas could be so attracted to it.

She isn’t sure what everyone’s deal is though that keep looking at her, so she just keeps on walking. Then, one of them decides to stop her. “Hey, there alpha. You can shower with me.” Thankfully for Adora, their friend gasps loudly and berates her as she pulls her along, giggling their way to the other showers. Those locker rooms are for betas and a select few omegas on this side of the Fright Zone.

What is it with omegas? One wiff and boom, they lose their minds. A trace thought did remind her of the absolute absurdity of how the alphas were training with the manufactured omega scent a few days ago. She rolls her eyes at herself.

She makes it to the shower area and sets her stuff down at one of the lockers. She hears a couple people still showering and feels relief at how sparce they are. She takes off her clothes and grabs her caddy bringing it over to one of the open stalls. She hangs her towel just outside on a hook adjacent to her shower and turns on the hot water. She’s surprised there isn’t an open bay shower. That’s how they used to shower back in her old unit. It was open and vulnerable, but she never felt vulnerable at all. She knew everyone there and Catra was always just on the other side of her.

She huffs at her inability to not think about her best friend and walks into the stream of water. It scolds her scalp down to her back and thighs, but it brings relief with it. It washes away all the crap from today and she can just be. She inhales the steam and it soothes her throat and lungs. She lathers the soap onto her hands and rubs it down over her own stomach, rippled with muscle from the constant training. Then, she remembers when they were twelve:

“What the hell Adora?” Catra exclaimed ripping the blonde’s attention off the heat of the water and towards her instead. “Since when do you have abs?” The catgirl said staring at the blonde’s stomach. She’d stopped the movements of her arms that were lathering her own body in soap.

“Huh?” Adora looked down to her stomach. “You’re blind. I’ve had them since forever! Besides you have them too.” She pointed to Catra whose face was inflamed with a blush so cute Adora could’ve died.

Catra looked down at her own body and then back to Adora’s. “Yeah, but they’re not like yours. Yours are more muscley.” She reached out and touched the skin of Adora’s stomach, It was light like she could’ve just been making an observation, or light like she was reaching with trepidation, but Adora couldn’t tell. The fingers grazed down her stomach for a second and then they were gone. Adora felt way more than just the heat from the shower because of the touch from her best friend.

“Eh, yeah they’re pretty much the same I guess.” Catra said it so nonchalantly like she hadn’t just invaded Adora’s personal space and invaded so deeply that she left a trace of herself behind. The cat girl goes back to rinsing out her hair, but Adora couldn’t help but look at her just a little bit differently, even though she wasn’t sure why it was different. –

Adora groans at her attachment to her best friend and how it’s borderline obsession at this point. Why can’t I just be normal for once? Adora does her best not to focus on the woman that will not leave her subconscious. I don’t need to shift in here, ugh how embarrassing would that be?

Instead of forcing herself not to think of Catra, she tries to figure out what’s going on with herself. What does she have to do with all of this? I can’t believe I keep thinking of Catra like this. It doesn’t even seem right. The Horde doesn’t condone anything personal, hardly even friendships. She groans inside her head as she dissects her thought process. She also lathers up her hair making sure to get all the oils and dirt out. She gently scratches at her scalp loving the way her nails feel.

Why do I keep doing this to myself, she probably doesn’t even feel the same way? She pinches her eyes tight as the water flows over her head. The suds running down over her shoulders and her strong back. The tight muscles in her body coil and uncoil as she shifts her weight from one leg to the other making sure she rinses herself clean. I shouldn’t be dreaming of Catra the way that I am. It isn’t right. It’s like I’m fooling myself or taking advantage of the image of her. She digs the heels of her palms into her eyes in frustration and also making sure no soap gets in.

The mental torment of all the confusion brings tears to her eyes. She doesn’t want to lose Catra. She needs her back but thinking of her brings so much need and longing. She starts to feel afraid that she wouldn’t ever be able to see Catra differently than how she sees her in her dreams. There’s no way she could stand to be near her again without wanting to know what she truly tasted like, and that scares the shit out of her. They grew up so closely and promised that they’d always be there for each other. But now I’m not. Gah, she must hate me. She’s there all alone with Shadow Weaver. I have to get back to her. To protect her.

A surging, overwhelming need to protect Catra starts to take control of her alpha. The hormones coursing through her are strong and almost overpowering. But there’s a commotion in the locker room that startles her out of her thoughts. She opens her eyes when did I close them? And she turns the knobs to exit the shower. She grabs her towel and barely dries herself before she throws on whatever clothes she brought and rushes back to her room.

Notes:

ugh this is getting good. I have the story all mapped out and I can't wait. Thank you so much for your support!

Chapter 8: Startling revelations

Notes:

Something I just wanted to remind everyone is that the Horde lied to everyone about princesses and the rebellion. People of the Rebellion are supposedly cruel and diabolical. Just keep it in mind as you read this chapter. Sorry it took so long.

Adora makes her way back to her room from the shower. She notices that Scorpia was able to gather all her things and head out before she got back. Well, she won’t be going too far. She’ll still be my Force Captain, she thought. She lets out a sigh, realizing that the one stable thing she’s had since arriving here just disappeared. It’s like everyone else…

She mopes a minute longer only postponing drying and brushing her hair. She prefers it up when it’s wet though and lightly piles the majority of it on top of her head with a hair tie to hold it in place.

The previous realization and the culmination of everything, and everyone, that she keeps losing starts to torment her; and the voice of Shadow Weaver just tells her she doesn’t need them. But it only makes her feel more alone.

She clutches her hand to the fabric of her shirt over her chest. She grips it hard as she clenches and unclenches her jaw. Shadow Weaver has always made her feel like she shouldn’t need anyone, because she’s so great; but the pedestal she was always placed on was so lonely. The resentment the others felt towards her for always being in Shadow Weavers good graces would tear her apart. Shadow Weaver may be gone, but her grip feels like it’s just as tight around my neck as ever…

Tears start to burn at the edges of her eyes, but she catches a scent coming from down the hall. The alpha from within her cuts off her thoughts and she wipes away the tears that never had a chance to fall.

Adora hears a knock at the doorframe from behind her. She turns and meets with a familiar face. “Oh, hey Demetria.” She gives her small smile as if nothing had been racing through her mind only a few seconds ago.

“’Sup?” She holds her toothbrush in her mouth, nibbling on it every now and then, and her shower caddy in her other hand.

She must not have made it to the showers yet, Adora thinks. “Nothing much, just finished showering.” She looks down to her hands in her lap. “Did you hear? About Force Captain Huntara?” She finally looks up into amber eyes.

Those same eyes sharply cut to a corner of the floor before she responds. “Yeah,” She looks intensely back to Adora. “Whelp, that’s why you don’t get too close to anybody here. It’s easy to get caught up in battle.” She notices Adora’s furrowed brow at her response and backpedals, “it is unfortunate, though.” Demetria crosses her arms over her chest. “She was a badass. We definitely could’ve learned a lot from her.”

“You keep talking like she’s dead or something” Adora interjects.

“Well, she might as well be now that she’s with the Rebellion. They’ll probably torture her for information and when she finally breaks, they’ll send her to the Waste.” She shrugs nonchalantly.

“Yikes, you really think so? I mean – I know they’re heartless-bloodsuckers, but would they really do that? I figured maybe there’d be time to set up a rescue mission.”

A sharp bark of laughter left Demetria’s lips. “You really think Lord Hordak would waste his time for one soldier?”

“Well, Scor – Force Captain Scorpia said they would. They were briefing it now. Plus, she isn’t the only one. They uh, took another soldier. One from my last unit actually.” Adora looks back down to her hands, but she tries not to show this lightweight alpha how vulnerable she feels at the thought of one of her friends missing.

“Shit. Sorry to hear that.” Demetria awkwardly looks around the room, unsure of what to settle her eyes on.

Adora’s alpha can hear the pity in her voice and can’t stand how it makes her feel. She stands facing the woman. “Yeah, well we’ll figure something out. I’m sure of it. I’ll even offer myself to help if I need to.” Her gaze is fierce and determined.

Demetria sees the spark she saw in the training grounds once more. She smiles at the other alpha “I knew she was in there somewhere.” Adora makes a flustered and confused expression as Demetria laughs at her ineptitude. “Later, tough-girl. I’m gonna hit the showers. We’ll talk tomorrow at chow about how we want to tackle this training.” Demetria waves her hand and exits the doorway making her way down the hall.

Adora closes her door and knits her brows together once more in confusion trying to figure out what’s so funny.

Suddenly the door flings open and catches Adora completely off guard. Her alpha kicks in as she spins around and lunges at the body entering the room. Nobody involved has a moment to think before Adora’s reflexes to defend herself kick in. “Ow,” says the voice from the body that was just shoved into a metal wall. Scorpia’s massive body is pinned from Adora’s forearms and realization hits Adora like a freight train. “Scorpia? Shit! I’m sorry.”

Adora pulls back and wraps her arms around her own body trying to feel more in control.

“Woah! Killer instincts, Adora. Nice one.” Scorpia is hardly phased by the physical confrontation. Her exoskeleton probably providing all kinds of shock absorption and protection. She chuckles and puts her claw behind her head as she apologizes. “Geez, I guess I should probably knock next time, especially since we aren’t roommates anymore. Gosh, I’m really sorry about that Adora. I wasn’t thinking.”

Adora almost took the opportunity to tell Scorpia it was her own fault and not the larger woman’s, but she was cut off before she could even let a word out.

“Oh, hey! I got some intel on the other person that was captured from your unit.” Scorpia uses her big claws to grab at Adora’s shoulders and gently push her until the backs of her knees were at the bed. “Ok, you should probably sit down, because I have no idea if you know this person and I don’t want you to like faint or anything. This way you’ll already be sitting and it’ll be easier, so you won’t hurt yourself. An –“

“Scorpia,” Adora sits now holding her hands around Scorpia’s forearms. Adora attempts to use the position to keep them focused enough so Scorpia will tell her the damn name. She lets out a breath. “Ok, I’m sitting.” Adora does her best to calm the both of them. “Tell me who it is.”

“I think you mentioned their name before.” Scorpia winces through her words and Adora tenses at her statement. She doesn’t hardly talk about her previous unit, but she knows if there’s one person she’d talk about it would be… “It’s a soldier named Catra –“

All sound, including Scorpia’s invading voice, begins to fade and become nothing. Adora looks to the ground like she’s staring off into the distance. Her breathing starts to increase and her mind begins to run rampant with thoughts of a tortured Catra. She can see her and hear her screaming in pain as her mind concocts scenarios that have only been reiterated by the Horde.

Scorpia starts to notice Adora’s off gaze and reaches down to look her in the eyes. She repeats her name hoping at some point Adora will come back to her. But she doesn’t…

Adora can see Catra tied up and struggling to escape and something finally snaps like a branch being struck by lightning in the midst of a storm. A low rumble escapes from deep within her chest and the glazed over look becomes focused and primal.

Scorpia starts to realize that Adora is about to lose herself to her inner alpha and tries to snap her out of it, but she can’t.

Adora’s hormones and need to protect and rescue Catra take over. She grunts as she feels confined in Scopria’s arms and rips herself away from her. Her heart races as her alpha instincts kick on and a glowing bright light invades the entire room.

The light is so blinding Scorpia can barely see, or understand, what’s happening. She shields her face momentarily until it fades. What’s left is the form of a much larger and much stronger looking Adora. “Woah! Adora?! Okay, buddy. I’m gonna need you to calm down.”

Adora stands there in this new primal form panting in ragged breaths. Her instincts are screaming inside her head in full force and she eyes where the door is. I need to save Catra! She starts for the door, but the other woman in the room tries to intercept her.

“I cannot let you go out there like this, Adora.” Scorpia stands face to face with a now much taller version of the young blonde. She’s firm in her stance and goes to grip the younger woman’s much larger arms.

Adora stares into her face, snarling, and goes to move the woman in front of her out of instinct – I need to leave this room and make my way to the skiffs – but Scorpia holds her ground. Adora starts to struggle and grunt in frustration.

Scorpia grips her tighter. She knows the pheromones coming off the alpha in front of her were shockingly strong. She’s never been near an alpha with this much raw energy. The blonde exudes dominance and Scorpia wants to back down, but she knows her friend needs her right now. “Adora, we need to come up with a plan. Catra,” Adora glares into her eyes at the mention of the missing woman’s name. “That’s who you’re worried about, right?” Scorpia nods her head slowly as though she was trying to bring Adora back by coaxing a response. “We’ll find Catra, but you need to calm down. You can’t go out there looking like this, my friend. People are going to notice, and you are going to be at the end of all of Hordak’s experiments. You won’t be able to find your friend like that, huh?”

The words, although hushed to keep Adora from full on raging through Scorpia, seemed to be breaking through her enraged state. Adora’s brow softened and she seemed to have been sensing the other woman’s soothing pheromones. She steps back and tries to shake the fog from her brain. She isn’t quite sure what’s going on. The need to find and save Catra is still in the forefront of her mind, but she’s beginning to find herself again. She puts her hand to head.

Scorpia reaches forward to grasp at Adora to make sure she doesn’t fall. “That’s it. Come back to me, buddy.”

Adora’s head starts to clear. She looks at Scorpia and starts to realize that her face is parallel to the other woman’s. She meets her eyes and then immediately looks down to see what obstacle she must be standing on… Her eyes shoot wide and she lunges backwards. “Ahhhh! Wh-what?” She reaches down to her body and grips at her new clothes. She turns her head to the left and makes eye contact with herself in the mirror. “Ahhh!” She screams again and falls backwards. With everything happening she distracts herself so much that her inner alpha retreats. She falls beside the bed returning to her normal size, muscles and clothes.

Adora reaches her hands to her head as she wonders if she hit it at some point. Her voice comes out shrill, “Uh!... They didn’t talk about that in alpha orientation!” She frustratingly looks over to Scorpia expecting her to know what’s going on, but the woman looks on with wide eyes.

“No… no they didn’t.” Scorpia is short on words, probably one of the first times in her life, and huffs out a breath of relief after. Talking down a shapeshifting mega-alpha is stressful stuff.

“Wh-what do I do? Should I tell someone? Lord Hordak? Shadow Weaver? She might know what to do –“

“Are you crazy!? You want to bring this to Hordak? Shadow weaver is beyond scary and would totally pick you apart!”

“No!” Adora exclaims. “You don’t know her like I do. She… she won’t hurt me. But she… she might have some answers or something.”

“I don’t know. I don’t like this idea one bit.” Scorpia shakes her head but knows they can’t keep this a secret forever. Adora is lucky she was the one that saw her and not some conniving little cadet looking to get ahead in life.

Adora’s mind is running 100kph. She has no idea what’s happening to her and her heart aches for Catra. Her eyes drift back and forth at what could happen. “You said Lord Hordak was planning to set up a mission to retrieve them, right? Maybe we could make sure we’re on it so I can rescue Catra.” Her eyes scream desperation and her heart continues to ache with need. She needs to save Catra. Her inner alpha isn’t relenting and she isn’t sure what will happen.

Scorpia looks down after she kneels to Adora’s lowered body. She has to do this carefully. Saying the wrong thing could set her off again and create that overpowered alpha. The, now, larger woman sighs deciding what she has to say. “Look, Adora. The mission is too dangerous, especially if you don’t have,” she’s at a loss for words “that, under control, then there’s no way we could safely take you.”

Adora’s brow begins to furrow and tears form in her eyes at the helplessness she begins to feel.

“But, listen! Maybe, if you start learning to control your alpha urges more, then I might be able to get you on it.” She looks down to Adora in sympathy, not pity. “We can’t risk you losing control like that again, you understand? It could be really dangerous, for others and for you.”

Adora does her best to keep her control over her emotions, but it soon becomes very difficult. She lets a few tears fall, then she quickly wipes them. She looks back to Scorpia. “Okay then. I’ll do it. How much time do I have?” She maintains the steadiness of her voice as best as she could given everything that’s happened.

Scorpia sighs. “A few days. They need to prepare a specialized team.”

Adora gives her a curt nod and raises herself off the ground. “I’ll do it.” She releases her breath slowly and turns to face Scorpia. “Thank you, Scorpia.”

The other woman lowers her eyes. “Oh, it was nothing. You were pretty intimidating, though.”

“It can be hard to stand up to your friends, and I’m really grateful you did.” She absentmindedly rubs her arm with her opposite hand.

“Hey, don’t mention it.” Her eyes go wide,” but like seriously, don’t mention it. To anybody. If they knew I knew, then we’d both be in big trouble.”

Oh, Adora understood trouble. She’s caused enough of it with Catra to learn that lesson early on. Her heart pangs at the thought.

“Alright,” Scorpia starts, “well hey, if you need anything Adora, please don’t hesitate to come to me.”

Adora looks up to her with a grateful smile. “Thank you… Force Captain.” Her smile widens slightly.

The older woman gives her a big grin and then an even bigger hug. “Of course.” Scorpia leaves the room, which thankfully isn’t too disheveled, then Adora locks the door and just cries until she sleeps.

---

She’s always in her dreams and tonight is no different. Although, it is different.

Adora enters a small town that looks familiar, but she can’t place it. She looks around and notices that there were Horde vehicles and tanks strewn throughout the town. There were a few small fires, but ultimately looks like a successful Horde mission. Adora looks around to see if anyone is still in the vicinity.

Her senses are thrown off by all the smog coming off of the vehicles. She continues to look and listen for anyone in the area to see if she should be cautious. After an unfruitful search, she puts her hands together cupped around her mouth and shouts “anybody here?”

It was a mistake. She shouldn’t have said anything, because she’s immediately tackled to the ground from behind. The weight hits the middle of her back and forces Adora’s body to land roughly onto her stomach. Her arms attempt to catch herself and end up underneath her chest. She grunts and does her best to shift her position, but the body on top has her pinned. She struggles enough to get her arms out from under her body and the being on top of her grabs them quickly and digs sharp blades into her wrists. “Aghh!” She turns her head to the left to find the damned hands that sunk into her skin.

“Adora?” After the blonde turned her face, the other person realized who they had tackled.

Adora immediately recognizes the other’s voice. “Catra?” Her voice cracks with the singular word. Tears start to sting her eyes as a flood of emotions hit her hard. She can hardly handle this situation. She leans her forehead back to the ground to hide the storm warring inside.

“Shit, Adora I didn’t know it was you!” Catra notices the pain on the other’s face and leaps off her body, but Adora just caves in on herself. “Hey,” Catra sounds softer than she wanted to, but reaches to touch the blonde. She’s afraid she’s finally done it. She’s made Adora hate her.

Adora can hardly feel the pain in her arms anymore, she can only feel the desperate pang of guilt and sadness for Catra being captured. She inhales through her nose a long and steadying breath, but when she tries to relax all she does is inhale the most incredible scent. She turns to face Catra who’s reaching out to check on her. Adora’s eyes are squinting in the light of the day, but she sees Catra’s outline of her beautifully wild mane.

“Adora, why are you crying? Did I hurt you that badly?” Catra is kneeling, straddling over the blonde still laying on the ground. Catra grabs the girl’s wrists and sees barely noticeable small, red, crescent shapes in her skin and doesn’t understand. She’s hurt Adora way worse than this before.

When Catra was examining her arms Adora was able to see her face better. She could see the worry and confusion on it and also how incredibly sexy she is. Adora’s stomach fills with need as the sweet scent fills her nose once again. She knew Catra smelled good, but this is just the beginning of amazing. Adora reclaims her arms back for the moment as she continues staring into Catra’s confused face; which is now aimed directly at her. She shoots her hands back out clasping her arms around Catra’s waist and she pulls the smaller girl on top of her. She falls back to the ground and Catra’s full weight is pressed against her body.

“Adora, wha –“

The blonde grasps at Catra firmly nestling her comfortably so their bodies pressed flush against each other. The sensation brings her a sense of control as Adora runs her left hand up and down the length of Catra’s back while the other presses her lower back and hips down into Adora’s sturdy frame.

Catra is caught off guard from the initial movement, but when she realizes they’re doing this again, she softens herself and languidly molds her body to fit Adora’s. Her thigh slides in between Adora’s legs and she can feel the heat of her core radiating. She clears her throat, “Adora, we gotta stop meeting like this.” Catra relaxes in her arms and begins trialing her fingertips over the other’s muscular arms.

The sarcasm falls on deaf ears when all Adora can do it continually run her hands down the lithe body on top of her. This is a dream, Adora knows, and she wants to make it last, but… another part of her feels badly. She’s groping the body of her best friend, who’s been captured and is in danger, and all Adora can think about it is ripping her clothes off. She groans at her inability to stop, but the body on top of her is a much-needed reminder that she should. Adora stops her ministrations and opens her eyes. She looks into a concerned mix of blue and yellow.

“Adora, what is it?” Catra’s eyes aren’t as soft anymore. She can feel the hesitation and is worried she’s definitely overstepped somehow.

Adora’s eyes begin to water again and her lower lip begins to tremble.

Catra sits up extending her right arm to the ground by Adora’s head and her left is reared back. She’s so unsure of what to do, but her heart is ripping apart at the sight in front of her. She hates when Adora cries, but is she the reason? She hesitantly extends her left hand to the side of the blonde’s face and feels relief when Adora leans into the touch. “Adora,” she waits until Adora looks into her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Adora presses her own hand to cover over Catra’s and she closes her eyes as she relishes in the sensation. “I…” she starts but can barely get past the knot in her throat. “You were captured.”

Catra’s face contorts and she warily retreats her hand from Adora’s face.

“The Rebellion got you and Force Captain Huntara, and I’m just useless and I can’t even leave to rescue you.” Adora sits up as Catra backs up a fraction of a step. She reaches out and grabs at the other’s wrist to maintain some connection, because the distance, however small, is torturing her.

“How do you – oh yeah, this is a dream.” Catra rolls her eyes. “Yeah, Huntara, more like traitor. She handed herself over and let me get roped along with her!” Catra exaggerates her words with her hands and goes to stand up. “Fucking Force Captain my ass.”

Adora knits her brow together in confusion as she leans back on her arms staring up at the other woman. “Scorpia never told me that. She said you both got captured.”

“Okay,” Catra rolls her eyes, she’s surprised they haven’t rolled out of her head by now. “I don’t know who Scorpia is, or whatever, but that’s exactly what happened. Trust me, I was there.” She crosses her arms over her chest.

Adora stands to her feet warily, eyeing the other woman. “Uh, right. You were ‘there’ but this is a dream so you weren’t.”

Did Adora seriously just use air quotes? “No, you idiot, this is my dream and yes I was there. Y’ano,” she waves her arms airily “like in the real world.”

Adora is beyond confused. “What?” She looks as Catra like she has a second head growing from her shoulder. “This is my dream Catra, and in the real world you both were captured. Lord Hordak is devising a plan to come rescue you.” The confusion, in possibly one of the weirdest dreams ever, is making Adora frustrated. Ugh, I should’ve just enjoyed the dream the way it was going earlier.

“Wait,” Catra closes her eyes and tries to focus. “So you’re in my dream, but you’re also saying that I’m in your dream?” Her eyes widen at the impossibility of this right now and memories of a larger Adora with a sword floods into her mind. “Are we in the same freaking dream?!” Her face fills with blood as a blush overtakes nearly her entire face as she thinks about what they were doing moments ago.

“What?” Adora looks at her like she’s joking and starts awkwardly laughing. But the prominent blush on Catra’s face and her disbelieving eyes speak otherwise, and her laugh starts to die down. “What?!” Her hands shoot to her face as they grip the sides of her head. “Are you serious? So, you’re asleep right now?! With the Rebellion soldiers who took you?” The last question sparks a revelation in Adora’s mind and anger starts to burn inside her. Her need to protect Catra starts rising in her chest again as her inner alpha senses my mate is in danger.

Adora ignores the word mate that her alpha uses to describe Catra and decides after half a second that she’ll have to take care of that one later.

Catra sees the look of fierce determination in Adora’s eye and a wave of arousal hits the pit of her core. Ugh, focus idiot. “Yes, I’m with them, but I’m fine. I can take them, but Huntara is helping them keep me tied up. We’re in the whispering woods.”

Adora starts to pant in anger as the new information is divulged to her. “She’s what?!”

Catra shuts her eyes trying not to let the alpha’s scent sway her. “Shit, Adora. Stop… acting like that. I can’t fucking focus.” A blush creeps up onto Catra’s face after that admission, but she really needs her to take a chill pill. Her arms extend out placing her hands on Adora’s chest.

Adora looks down at her hands and takes a calming breath. Her voice is lower “sorry… I’m working on controlling it.” She slides a hand over one of Catra’s own hands and clenches her jaw. “I’m going to find you. I’m going to get a spot on the rescue mission, and I’ll come get you.”

Catra chuckles lightheartedly at Adora’s determination. “Always have to be the hero, don’t you?”  There’s some harshness to her words.

“Do not!” Adora’s tone is defensive as she waves her hands animatedly and backs away from Catra’s touch.

Catra moves half a step closer to close the space again – afraid she’ll lose Adora if she moves another inch. The movement was done absentmindedly, and she tucks her chin down to hide her embarrassment. She presses her hands more firmly over Adora’s chest, nowhere near her breasts. Catra couldn’t even imagine going there now knowing this is actually Adora – well sort of.

Her eyes never look up into blue because it would make this moment too much. She furrows her brow in disbelief that any of this even happening. She runs her hands up Adora’s collar and then out to her firm shoulders. She keeps her eyes on her right hand as it trails down over Adora’s biceps.

The blonde bites her lip trying to contain whatever this feeling is inside her. She lifts her hands and rests them on Catra’s waist. “Catra, I –“

“Don’t ruin it.” The shorter woman closes the gap completely and tucks her head onto Adora’s shoulder. The blonde can feel puffs of air hitting her neck as Catra nuzzles closer into her.

---

Adora is ripped from her dream as the overhead alarm disturbs her sleep. “Fuck.” Worry instantly hits her because she’s lost connection with Catra too soon. They needed more time to talk. I need more information, she thinks. And she is not going to think about everything else they’ve been doing in their dreams… was that the first one we’ve shared? Adora’s eyes go wide at that thought. “How is this happening?!” She plants her hands onto her face and slowly drags them down in exasperation. She’s learned a lot in the last 12 hours.

Chapter 9: Visions of Golden Light

Notes:

Forgot to add some possible trigger warnings. There is mention of potential sexual abuse and vivid depiction of violence.

Catra grips her arms tighter around the body that fades away. Her eyes shoot open to find Adora gone. Panic rises in her chest until she remembers that this is a dream. She runs her claws through her hair scraping at her scalp. She does her best to ground herself. “Shit just keeps getting weirder.” She huffs.

---

Catra’s eyes crack open at the sudden sound of a twig breaking. She turns her head and looks around at her surroundings. She sees the campfire has died out from burning all night and beyond that she eyes a body shifting. Once her eyes adjust and her night vision becomes focused, she sees Huntara stuffing a bag. She whisper yells in her direction “hey! Pssst.”

The body stops moving momentarily but then finishes stuffing the item into her bag. She pulls the draw strings snuggly and tosses the sac over her shoulder. She moves quietly over to Catra’s still tied up body and kneels, getting awkwardly close to her face. “What do you want kitty-cat?”

“Where are you going? Untie me and take me with you.” Catra starts to rotate her body some so that Huntara has room to cut the ropes in a safe spot. She doesn’t want her to cut off her tail or something. The thought alone sends shivers down her spine.

Huntara chuckles softly. She raises her hand to reach back for her knife, but when Catra looks away and is distracted trying to maneuver herself, Huntara grabs her knife and swings it towards the cat-girl’s head. She uses the blunt end of the knife to hit Catra just behind her right ear. The taller woman hears an audible grunt as she swiftly knocks her unconscious.

She isn’t sure if she’s done the right thing or not, but she knows she has to go off on her own. Having an obnoxious, opinionated, little, angry cat wasn’t going to make things easier for her here on out. It’s time to finally cut all ties and leave the Horde. It’s time to make something better for herself and being captured by princesses isn’t in her game plan.

She grabs a large stick she had started to whittle last night and blows off the dust. The unmistakable replica of the stone from her homeland rests on top. It was a piece of home she’s never been able to forget. She shoves down the dark memories and sets off on her trail. She gives one last glance back at the tied-up girl. Eh, she’ll be alright. She has enough fire to burn this whole planet down. No way she’s not going down without a fight, she thinks. Huntara turns her back and leaves camp

---

Catra opens her eyes and reaches for her head. She looks confused as she tries to remember how she got here. She’s finally untied and the woods around her look much more vibrant than before. The air feels more charged with energy and she feels her tail bristle. Something around this place is creepy, she thinks. She tries to focus. She could’ve sworn she remembers hitting her head on something. As she continues to trap herself in thought, a golden light blinds her from somewhere close by. She hisses at the pain it brings her and clamps her eyes shut until it fades. When it does, she attempts to look around to find the source, and about thirty meters away she sees a golden silhouette with flowing hair. The form beckons her to come closer, so she obeys. Something about the being hypnotizes her. She’s within a few feet from it and something about its’ presence makes her shiver. She doesn’t understand how or why, but she knows she can already trust this thing. She feels… peace and her curiosity gets the better of her.

She moves just in front of it, allowing herself room to flee if she needs to, but something tells her she doesn’t. After a moment it reaches its’ hand out and gently caresses the left side of Catra’s face, placing it’s palm over her heated cheek. Catra, still confused, leans into the gentle touch. The connection to the being brings instance comfort. It reminds her a lot of Adora… it clicks then, and Catra opens her eyes. When did I shut them, she thinks, then looks up into the face of the being. The outline is broader, but unmistakably Adora.

The Adora-like-being points her arm downwards towards Catra’s right hip. The cat-girl waits to feel its’ presence, but nothing comes. She looks down and realizes something is in her own hand. She raises it up in confusion from not knowing how it got to be in her possession. She shrieks in a high pitch and jumps away to her left – dropping said item in the process. She looks down at it disdainfully. The blue sword with a gold hilt lays there as the form of a larger Adora continues to point at it. Catra looks back to the golden figure and wants to refuse, but something inside of her is calling out. A part of her can sense what the Adora-being needs and she moves to reach down for the sword. She picks it up, momentarily bearing the weight, until she hands it over to the glowing person.

As soon at she takes hold of it the being raises it above her head. The bright light flashes again and Catra really wishes she could get a warning when weird glowing happens. She hisses as it burns her retina. As it fades, she looks back to see a more familiar figure. It’s… “Adora?”

Adora’s figure looks in her direction and steps closer. She leans her head down so that their foreheads are touching. After sheathing her sword to her back she cups her hands gently around Catra’s neck lightly rubbing her thumb over her jaw.

Catra’s heart starts to thrum in her chest. She closes her eyes and places her own hands around Adora’s.

---

Catra jumps from her position on the ground, waking up and realizing she’s still tied up. Her head pounds at the sudden movement and she groans at the pain.

“Oh, look Bow. Sleeping Beauty is awake.” The sound of the girls voice right now is more than just irritating.

“Sleeping Beauty? Oh! You mean her.” He laughs at himself awkwardly and Catra wants to roll her eyes, but the pain is preventing her.

Glimmer huffs, “yes I mean ‘her,’ Bow. You!” She kicked the bottom of Catra’s feet causing her to recoil and grunt. “Where’s the big buff lady? Did she run off to tell the Horde where we’re keeping you? Answer me, Horde scum!”

“Aaaggghhhh! I don’t know! Gah, why do you have the most annoying voice in the world?” She winces at the pain brought on by her yelling, but she gets extreme satisfaction from Glimmers guffaw. “I have no idea.” Anger rises in her throat. “She left without me… this morning.”

“Aww –“

“Bow! Not helping” Glimmer interjected.

“Sorry.” His crestfallen voice matches his face Catra notices as she rolls to her back and stares up at the two. She sighs at the incompetence of these idiots. Her eyes are caught by a gleam from behind the sparkly one’s back. She rotates her head and notices the shining gold from a familiar hilt attached to what looks like a bright blue blade. Her eyes shoot open wide. “Where did you get that?!” She points with her eyes as she shifts from the blade to Glimmer.

Upon realization at what Catra had meant, Glimmer became very protective. “None of your business, Horde solider. Now, get up. We need to get moving.” She pushes a bit of royal air into her tone that sounds like a snooty-pompous ass.

“First, tell me where you got that sword.” She glares at Glimmer, revealing what little patience she has on the subject.

“The Whispering Woods, now shut it. Get to your feet. We’re going to Brightmoon.” She turns to face the other guy, “mom is going to be so impressed!”

“Look,” Catra draws their attention back to her. “I don’t care about any of this, -“

“Ugh!” Glimmer groans. “My heat is going to start soon. We don’t have time for this! I’m surprised my mom hasn’t deployed the whole Army yet.” Catra’s eyes widen in concern.

“What army?” Bow says at the worst time possible. It gives Catra a confusing, yet not so surprising revelation.

“Wait!” Catra starts chuckling. “You guys don’t even have an army?” She continues to cackle in her high pitched laughter. “Why have we not attacked the kingdom, yet?” She rolls onto her side in a fit of laughter, completely ignoring the fact that Glimmer mentions her heat.

“Bow! Not in front of the prisoner!” She leans her head back dramatically – Catra is surprised she didn’t just hit her head on the hilt of the large blade – and the guy’s face dissolves into a sheepish grin.

Catra sobers herself after remembering her weird ass vision, or whatever. Adora had the sword in her hands. She was a giant light person and then became herself again. Hm, seems pretty self-explanatory, she muses.  So Adora is a giant golden lady? Now, that doesn’t make sense. She tries her best to remember everything that’s happened when it comes to the unconscious moments with the magical being. The sword has to be for Adora.

She’s knocked out of her thoughts when the other two stop their bickering and direct their attention back to her. She gives them a blank stare and responds, “What?”

“You heard us, Horde soldier. Now get on your feet and start walking.” Glimmer does her best intimidating voice, but Catra has heard worse, much worse. She’s been intimidated by a witch of darkness her whole life. It’d be nice if I could go one day without thinking about the hag.

She rolls over onto her back from being previously seated in the dirt and looks up at the pair. “Oh, I just don’t know if I can go on,” she speaks dramatically and flops onto her side, “whoops guess I can’t walk.”

“Ughhh! You’re insufferable. Bow, grab her please so we can get back.” Glimmer is obviously frustrated, and it brings so much joy to Catra, she’s just not sure why.

Bow dreads his newly appointed job and slowly steps towards the tied-up cat. “Alright, lets take this nice and slow.” He reaches down to her foot to grab at her ankle and she sits up and hisses in his face. He falls backwards onto his butt and Catra laughs loudly. The fear in his eyes is what makes it worth it, she thinks.

Bow stands and brushes himself off and looks over his shoulder to Glimmer who takes pity on him. “Hey!” She yells it to get Catra’s attention. “Do you want to get hit over the head again?” She glares and continues after receiving the most obnoxious eye roll from the cat-girl. “Ugh! Now, I know what my mother has to deal with. Just tie another rope to her and drag her, Bow.” She turns to grab said rope and he moves to quickly tie her.

Catra may not fear these people, but she could definitely go without a concussion… She huffs and plants all her body weight down making it as difficult as she can for Bow to tie the rope. He finishes and they start dragging her. Her hair ruffles against the ground as she’s pulled, thankfully, the grass is nice and even.

After about five minutes she finds herself contemplating everything that’s happened. She was abandoned by Huntara. That lousy traitor. And she’s still captured by these ridiculous people that are taking her to Brightmoon. She can’t exactly escape, although these chumps are pretty much powerless against her. But the sword… I don’t know why, but Adora needs that sword. She scrunches her nose. Thinking of the blonde again brings back some interesting things. She remembers her last dream… their last dream. Oh yeah! I forgot that was a thing. She huffs and rolls her eyes. I probably looked like such an idiot. Just throwing myself at her and smothering her with my … she groans again. Stupid feelings, stupid hormones.

Just then, her overly sensitive nose smelled something unfamiliar. It was sweet, but not really Catra’s cup of tea. She looks down towards her feet noticing the pair walking in front and she becomes even more confused. “Hey!” She yells it and the two flinch, but they don’t stop moving. “Which one of you morons smells weird? It’s invading my nose and my personal space.” She shudders and draws out the last part groaning like a child.

They both turn to her, but Glimmer is the one blushing like a madwoman. “Can you like not? For ten minutes, please!”

“Well, since you asked so sweetly.” Catra showed her fangs on that one. She loves seeing the red cross Adora’s cheeks. Making her feel embarrassed at any chance she gets is one of her favorite past times. This isn’t as satisfying, but it is fun, nonetheless.

“Really?” She asks with a bit of hope and a lot of surprised confusion.

Catra cackles immediately. “C’mon Sparkles, that was too easy.” She doesn’t even finish her statement before Glimmer groans up to the heavens. Adora would’ve so laughed at that one.

“Glimmer, just ignore her,” Bow says. “Look, we’re not getting very far. Maybe, one of us should go ahead to get help from Brightmoon. It’ll give us more time and I’m sure your mom would be happy to know you’re okay.”

Glimmer looks at Catra, and then back to Bow. “You need to hurry, Bow. I might beat her to a pulp before you even make it back.” Her jaw tight with irritation doesn’t go unnoticed by the feline.

He chuckles nervously knowing Glimmer’s temper quite well. “I’ll make it as fast as I can. Promise”

Promise, the word flickers through Catra’s thoughts raising memories she’d thought were long gone to repetitive trauma and Shadow Weavers dark magic. A bit of sadness bubbles to the surface thinking of Adora. Ugh, I need to get the sword to Adora, or Adora to the sword. These idiots won’t let it go without a fight, though. That’s for sure. She looks over at the two hugging before Bow parts ways with them.

“Hm? Everyone keeps leaving.” Catra sounds nonchalant and she can tell that even the sound of her voice is starting to grate on the other woman’s nerves. Glimmer is clearly trying to calm herself before she explodes. “That scent of yours just drives people away, huh?” She normally would’ve looked at her claws to punctuate her lack of empathy for whoever was in the crosshairs of her attitude, but unfortunately, she’s tied up.

What was also unfortunate was her miscalculation at how Glimmer is or is not able to contain her anger. “Aggggh!” The sparkly girl runs over and shoves Catra up against a tree. The scent of her heat is coming off her in waves as well as her clear aggravation. A growl starts from deep in her throat and Catra forces herself not to cower from the overbearing pheromones.

Catra snarls at the other girl and waits for the impending backlash of her big mouth. Instead, she’s dropped onto her butt and her tail pinches between her body and the ground. She hisses in pain. She levels a glaring look over at the other who is curled in on herself.

Glimmer has dropped to her knees and grabs at her stomach. “Ughhhhh… No! This can’t be happening now!”

Catra stares with narrowed eyes completely unaware of what she is witnessing. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Very funny, asshole.” She groans again, “like you don’t know. Just like a Horde soldier to torment people.” Glimmer’s scent is in full force now.

Catra can see beads of sweat form on the other’s brow as she curls in on herself in pain. “Hey! I literally have no idea what’s happening, so keep your virus carrying body over there. Got it?” She turns to sit perpendicular to Glimmer, ignoring her groans. “Probably some magical cancer or something.”

Glimmer deadpans towards Catra. “You mean… you really don’t know? What a heat is?”

Catra glares at her over her shoulder, feeling completely foolish at her outburst. “Right! Well, duh. I knew you were in heat, but you’re seriously sweating everywhere. I was worried you were going to vomit on me.” She rolls her eyes and turns back away from the other.

Glimmer rotates her body facing Catra again but sitting on her backside until the cramps pass. “What are you? A beta, right? Omega’s go through heats. They’re like a period, but 10 damn-times worse.” She swallows thickly.

“I know what a stupid heat is, okay? Maybe you should go sit over there, or something. I don’t – “

Catra’s attention is caught by something else. She catches a hint of something in the air. She’s not sure at first until her ear flicks catching the sound of the small noise.

Glimmer’s brow furrows as she looks at the cat sniffing the air. “Hey, what is – “

“Sshhh. Shut it.” Catra’s harsh in her tone, but she needs silence. She turns towards the approaching breeze. She catches a hint of something, and her eyes blow wide open. “Sparkles.” She says the name with a grave seriousness that throws off the other woman. “Untie me. Right. Now.”

A laugh tumbles from Glimmer’s mouth and she winces in pain that it causes her abdomen. “Why the hell would I do that, Horde scum?”

A few magical animals leap out of one side of the tree line and sprint past them. Both women furrow their brows in confusion and look towards the direction they came.

Catra whips her head back around to glare at Glimmer. She moves so fast she nearly falls over. “Untie me right now, you idiot! Before they get here! Now, move dammit!”

“Who?” Glimmer asks with confusion, incredulity, and anger.

The pair hear a deep laugh come from the direction the animals had fled from.

“Smell the air you dumbass! It’s a pack of alphas. Now fucking untie me!” Catra’s glare is furious and grave. Glimmer understands the potential dangers her statement would bring upon them, if she were correct.

And by the scent wafting into her nose, Glimmer’s eyes widen in terror. She can’t move. She can hardly breath, until Catra’s name-calling and fidgeting brings her back to reality. Glimmer scrambles over to the other woman and starts working on freeing Catra. Their best bet is to work as a team. “Shit!” Glimmer starts to lose her composure as her fear addled brain fumbles with the knots.

“Use the sword, dumbass!”

Glimmer reaches behind herself at the utter brilliance of that idea and uses it to slice away the rope. But it’s in vein. They rise to run off in the opposite direction.

The scent of the alphas is now pungent as the pack makes their way through the trees, inching closer to the pair.

The two hadn’t gotten far before Catra senses they’re coming from all around them. More are approaching from the directions their running in. It’s a fucking trap! Her hand extends out crossing over Glimmer’s chest and she halts Glimmer in her path. Catra looks left, then right and ultimately decides to leap upwards. She extends her claws and traverses up the tree.

Glimmer’s eyes widen in horror realizing now more than ever that you can’t trust a Horde soldier to save your damn life. The gut-wrenching betrayal she feels, after having released the cat who left her, rips through her core and the anger just bubbles. Sharp hot tears reach the edges of her eyes as she clenches her jaw tightly.

 “Well, well, well what do we have here?” The deep voice that sounds like gravel startles Glimmer and her legs tremble. Fear, that’s what she feels, nothing else. She turns and looks around the immediate area to realize there’s roughly 8 alphas in this group. She trembles as she breathes heavily. She could run, but they would chase her, and catch her easily. It would take too much of her stamina that she’s already lacking from not being fully charged with magic. So she freezes in place, trying to determine an open opportunity to either strike or flee.

The group crowds around her and they inch closer releasing grunts and haughty laughs. The top alpha of the group speaks. Glimmer can tell he’s this groups primary alpha with how cocky and arrogant he is. He takes a deep inhale through his nose. “Hmmm, something smells good.” He disgustingly licks his lips like it’s his given right to take what isn’t his. “The name’s Tongue-Lashor. You can probably guess what for, but in case it isn’t clear...” He slithers his disgusting tongue out quickly flicking it rapidly, like there’s something respectable about harassing someone. He moves closer to her, tauntingly slow as he tries to make this agonizingly slow – this show of dominance. This disgusting power trip that he so clearly is getting off on. He approaches Glimmer and inhales again. He reaches out his hand to cup the woman’s face.

“Yano, boys. I’m glad we made that move from the Waste. Wouldn’t have come across such a prize.” He lowers his voice as he directs his words to Glimmer. “Now, are you gonna make this easy, or –“

From out of nowhere Catra leaps from the treetops slashing her claws through the flesh of the alpha’s face and throat. An ugly gurgling scream comes from his lips as she slices through the flesh of his arteries. The blood fills his airway and she watches, only for a moment, as he drowns in his own fluids.

“Who the fuck wants to fight me next?” She lifts her eyes to the group after just having taken out their supposedly strong leader in as little as a whip of his stupid tongue. She flares as much intimidation as she can through her blazing eyes.

Don’t get her wrong. Catra isn’t interested in the sparkly princess in the least, as far as her heat goes, but no one that disgustingly arrogant and abusive with their alpha status deserves to live.

A flash of Adora crosses her mind just briefly – curious about what kind of alpha she’s growing into. And then, another flash of a large glowing Adora appears in her mind as well.

 

Notes:

This chapter was just dreadful. I could not finish it for some reason, thus the extended break. I still hope you enjoyed nonetheless.

Chapter 10: Catra's conflict

Catra glances over and catches sight of the wide but firm eyes of the princess. She can see the obvious horror. Could’ve been worse, Sparkles.

Her fingers are spread apart ready to tear through something, or someone else. Her position screams she’s ready for retaliation and she scans her eyes over the appalled group members. The only noises in the last few moments have stopped, but the smell of iron fills the air as the blood continues to flow out onto the ground – drops still falling from her claws.

Her adrenaline is still pumping. She’s needs to do something quick before the shock fades from the other alphas. She had the element of surprise on her side for this kill, but she doubts with Glimmer as a distraction and a liability that she could take on the rest of the pack.

“I was about to capture my prize before your blockhead alphas interfered.” Catra reaches down and takes Tongue Lashor’s whip from his side. Cool, she thinks.

Glimmer’s eyes go wide and a brow dips in confusion at the direction Catra decides to take. She looks around and tries to see how it landed on the group.

One alpha up on a nearby branch growls, “your prize my ass! You’re not even –“

Catra flings the end of the whip at the vulnerable idiot in a tree and yanks them off. She hears the wail before the crunched bush beneath them.

“Anyone else care to object?” She puts as much of her built up anger from the day into her voice and her lip begins to curl into a snarl. She knows deep down that she’s outnumbered, but 2 of 8 down has made her odds a little better. Plus, she can tell these idiots have no sense. They probably won’t even attack all at once and just try to show dominance one by one. Losing their top alpha breaks the hierarchy and they’ll have to fix it. She can see the conflict in their stupid faces. Are we really gonna let a beta take our omega, her inner voice makes them sound petulant as she mocks them.

A tall female with horns on her head runs at Catra screaming out some kind of battle cry. The alpha inches closer and Catra turns and flings her whip at her. She tangles the alpha up and throws them onto the ground. She reaches her hand down and around the alpha’s throat and looks to the others.

“Okay, this is how it’s going to work.” They snarl, but nobody moves. “I’m going to spare the rest of you and your friend,” she looks down at the one in her grasp. “And you’re going to let us go. Find yourselves another tasty morsel and leave us alone.” She bares her teeth on her final words and clamps her fingers tighter on the female’s neck to show the severity of her threat.

Another one pipes up after a firm grunt. “Alright, enough.” The amphibian creature reaches out a hand as if to physically stop Catra, but doesn’t move any closer.

Catra drops the alpha from her grasp and as she rises she shakes the whip off of her body. Catra backs up towards Glimmer and keeps her eye on every single one there. She roughly grabs Glimmer’s arm, enough to hear a hiss, and starts walking in the opposite direction. C’mon Sparkles, play it up a bit. She looks over to the other girl who seems to get the hint.

Glimmer tries to pull away her arm – grunting as she does so. “Let go of me!”

Catra shoves the female in their new direction of travel and finally turns her back to the pack of alphas. When she feels as though they’re far enough she leans into Glimmmer’s ear. “I don’t suppose you even have a lick of magic left, huh?”

Glimmer shakes her head grimly.

“We need to move,” Catra says. “It’s only a matter of time, before they finally figure something out and come after us. How far is Brightmoon? Do we have time to make it there?” Catra’s gaze is intense and fiery. She doesn’t want to die today to protect some dumb princess.

“It’s just a bit shorter than a day’s travel without my magic.” Glimmer looks down at her feet as they continue walking. Catra can sense a bit of apprehension coming off her.

“Hey, look,” Catra starts. Glimmer turns her eyes towards her in surprise at the change in tone. “I’m not actually going to like mate with you, or whatever. I only said that to get them to back off.” Glimmer gives her a soft smile which makes Catra extremely uncomfortable. “That would be like so gross. Let’s just get moving.”

Glimmer sighs and rolls her eyes. She’s not surprised the snarky ass would return to no avail.

They start to pick up the pace and Catra does her best to cover their tracks as they come to a river. It’s roughly 20 meters wide. She fights her instincts tooth and nail but realizes that this option is their best bet to get some space from the alphas. She grits her teeth. “C’mon, let’s go this way. We need to mask your scent somehow.”

They start crossing the river with Glimmer going first and Catra following. There’s no way in hell Catra was going to go first and realize there’s some deep pit in the middle of the river that swallows her whole. She’d rather send in the idiot first to do it for her. The water isn’t too high to be overwhelming, but it is unfathomably uncomfortable. Catra winces as she takes each step. The main reason she makes Glimmer go first is so that she can’t see the pained looks Catra is clearly sporting right now as she treks across her nemesis.

They’re about halfway across the river when Catra inches closer to the other woman. Glimmer is still carrying the sword on her back and she’s clearly distracted – she hadn’t said a word really since they got away. Catra reaches for her whip and grasps it firmly as an idea comes to her head. She releases the end of it towards Glimmer’s ankle. What follows happens all so quickly in succession in the matter of a few moments.

Glimmer screams at the attack and lunges forward as she trips. She falls into the water and she reaches out her hands to catch herself. She rotates and falls to her back trying to turn and grab the sword to protect herself.

But Catra lunges over top of her body and she reaches for her wrists. They struggle as Glimmer tries her best to keep her head above the water.

“Argh! What... are… you doing?” The water splashes and spills over her face. She sees the ferocity in Catra’s eyes. She can hear the metal of the blade scraping the floor of the river beneath her and her fear starts to amplify with the water washing over her face.

Suddenly, the world turns pink and sparkly as the two are ‘poofed’ and reappear on the opposite side of the river. Catra looks around confused and nauseous after what had just happened. “What the f –“

Glimmer shoves a knee into Catra’s stomach, and the other female falls to the side from the hit. She gasps for air as Glimmer recovers from whatever in the hell just happened. She gets to her feet quickly to prepare for another attack.

Catra lifts a hand as she continues to cough the air back into her diaphragm. “Chill out!” She says in between coughs. “I thought you said you had no magic left.” Her voice is colored in confusion and pain.

“Why would I tell you anything honest? I knew I couldn’t trust you, Horde scum!” Glimmer’s breathless as she recovers as well from her own recuperation with oxygen.

The brunette grunts in frustration before she moves to stand. As she gets to her feet she yells at the other, “we need you to not smell of sex all the way to Brightmoon. What’d you expect? I had to wash the stench off of you somehow.” She’s panting with frustration as she stares at the drenched woman across from her. Glimmer’s hair is sticking to her face and she has her arms out to the side as to avoid the cold touch of her wet clothes.

“You, what!?” Glimmer’s voice gets shrill with her outburst. “You though tripping me and attempting to drown me in water was the best way to relay your idea? You didn’t think for a damn second that I’d probably agree and get in the water willingly?”

A realization clearly dawns on Catra’s face. “You would’ve? Hm, I’ll keep that in mind next time.” She crosses her arms indignantly.

“Ugh!” Glimmer yells. How has nobody killed this woman before now, Glimmer wonders. “You’re insufferable, you know that?” She gestures wildly with her hands and splashes water on the other woman from how wet her clothes are.

Catra flinches from the water, snarling with disgust from it. She looks at Glimmer heaving with anger. Then, a smirk comes to the brunette’s lips. She loves getting a rise out of this princess. There’s just something about the thrill of it. She wants to antagonize it and feed these flames. She shakes her head and realizes what she was considering.

Before she has time to recover from her maddening brain Glimmer shakes off more water. Her scent is still strong and filling Catra’s sinuses. She snarls, “let’s just get moving. We need to make it to Brightmoon. Hopefully, Arrow boy made it by now.” She walks towards Glimmer and clips her shoulder as she walks by her. It causes a growl to be released from the other female and a smirk falls back onto Catra’s face.

As they walk in relative silence the brunette can feel a pair of eyes on her. She turns her head an looks back at Glimmer, who immediately looks down at her feet. They continue walking when Catra feels it again. “Got something on your mind, Sparkles?”

The other woman stays silent as though she’s combing through her thoughts carefully. “Why did you do that?”

Catra turns back to look at her in confusion, “I told you –“

“Not that…” she wrings her hands over her clothes to relieve them of some dampness. “You came back. Why?” Glimmer’s tone is soft and contemplative.

Catra continues drudging forward through the thicker part of the woods they’ve come across yet. She slashes her claws through particularly rough spots clearing a path. “You really think I’d just let those pieces of garbage do that to you?” She looks back questioningly and Glimmer shrugs. Catra turns forward again to continue moving. “Yeah, I wouldn’t have much faith in me either” she says.

They continue forward in relative silence when they make it to a clearing in the woods. Catra shoves out her arm stopping Glimmer’s movement. She looks left and right. “What, are you trying to get captured?”

They look around and see in the distance a little home tucked in a cove of a tree root. They both look at each other and then back at the home. Glimmer shrugs her shoulders and walks in the direction of the house. Catra rolls her eyes at the stupidity of the other woman just barreling through the clearing like they aren’t trying to hide from anyone.

“Maybe there’s food.” Glimmer yells over her shoulder and Catra hears her stomach grumble. She growls at her body’s betrayal.

The brunette jumps out from the brush and stalks towards the house in a very defensive manner. She keeps her eyes scanning on all sides of the clearing. I hate this stupid magic forest… She makes it to the house and stands just behind Glimmer’s shoulder.

Glimmer reaches for the doorknob and winces in pain. When she does, it makes Catra jump like a frightened cat. “What is it!?” Catra screams from the startling gesture.

Glimmer flinches at the volume of her voice and continues to hold herself. “Ugh,” Glimmer says. “It’s nothing. It’s just my heat. I’m cramping really badly. Being dehydrated doesn’t help, either. Let’s just get inside. It doesn’t seem like anyone’s home and I haven’t heard any noises.”

Catra simmers down and smooths out the fur along her tail – a habit she’s being doing since she was little. Her ears are pinned back to her head as they enter the home. She hears a noise from upstairs and her ears perk straight up. “I don’t think this is a good idea. What if some crazy woods people are in here or something?” She looks around in different directions.

Glimmer moves across the room and doesn’t notice a set of stairs leading to the upstairs. “There’s no way up there. It must be an animal or something.” She hisses in pain again and a low groan comes from her throat. “Let’s just eat something quick and decide on what to do.”

Catra nods reluctantly and looks around the cottage for any signs of food. There’s a wooden cabinet standing off to the side of the room. It’s surrounded by knick-knacks and random trinkets. There are hats hanging on hooks accompanied by a few pans. She reaches for the doors and opens them both simultaneously and dust puffs out from the sudden movement. She shakes her head free from the floating particles and lets out a sneeze, then another. She hears a snort come from the other side of the room. “What the hell are you laughing about?” She says through gritted teeth.

“That’s your sneeze?” She says it trying to contain her laughter. “It’s like the tiniest squeaky sneeze I’ve ever heard.”

She growls and hunches her shoulders upwards in defense. “Shut the hell up, Sparkles.” She looks through the damn cabinet for something edible. She finds some morsels of cookies and pastries. Thankfully, they’ve been covered from all this damn dust, she thinks. The delicious looking pastries sit on a white decorative stand that are encased with a glass dome. She debates on eating all of it for herself after the teasing she just endured but thinks otherwise as she hears another groan coming from the other woman. She sighs, “hey, I found something.” She hears shuffling approach her and she moves out of the way.

Glimmer gasps at the sight and she reaches quickly for the food. She shoves one fully into her mouth and keeps her eyes closed as she savors the flavor. She doesn’t dare open them to see the smug, judgmental look on the other’s face. She eats two and suddenly her stomach pain starts to wane away. “Oh, thank goodness. I was almost literally dying of hunger.”

The sun starts to set in the distance as Catra glances out the window. She fights the idea of staying in for the night for safety or venturing out to get to Brightmoon faster. Then again, I could swipe the sword and run back to get it to Adora. The mention of Adora’s name makes her heart sink. She thought of Adora still out there in the Fright Zone trying to come up with some asinine plan to rescue her. That Hordak of all people was trying to come up with some team. There’s no way. Why would they give a shit about me? –

“Watcha thinkin’ about?” Glimmer’s soft voice invades her mind. Catra turns and glares at the other woman who flinches and responds with her own angry look. “Geeze, I was just asking…”

Catra sighs and looks back out the window. “Maybe we should stay for the night.” She turns back to Glimmer. “But not for long. We have to keep up the lead we have on those alphas and make sure they aren’t still following us. What with you and your sex beacon still going off.” She raises her hand gesturing to Glimmer’s entire being.

“It’s called a heat, ya jerk. Not that you know anything about that.” She grumbles the last part to herself, but with Catra’s sensitive hearing of course she picked it up.

“You’re right. I don’t. Good for you.” She turns her head back towards the window.

Glimmer’s ebbing anger and desire bubbling towards the surface is making her edge towards the confrontation on the topic. She wants to poke at Catra. She wants this tension to stop. She wants it to peak and release! “What are you anyways? You say you’re a beta, but that hunter lady said you’re like an omega.”

Catra growls. She hates how needlessly intrusive the other woman is being. “It’s none of your damn business.”

“Yeah, well you’re the one out here giving me a hard time for something I can’t control. How can you speak on anything that you don’t understand?” Her temper is beginning to flare as the heat inside her grows. She doesn’t find her enticing sexually, but Catra’s stubborn, angry self just stirs something in Gimmer that she can’t explain.

Catra thrusts her body around nearly throwing herself upright towards Glimmer. “I don’t know! You happy? I don’t what the fuck I am. I don’t know why it’s so fucking confusing, why no one can tell what I am, not even myself!” Her chest is heaving from the anger bubbling up and out. She grits the rest out through her teeth. “What’s it to you anyways?”

“Ugh! You’re so infuriating. You pretend to be so pretentious like you know everything, but you don’t even know yourself? You can’t talk about any of this, because you have no experience. So just back off with your backhanded remarks.”

“I have experience! I know what it’s like to not be in control of your own body! Especially because of magic and that disgusting shit is like,” she gestures wildly with her hands, “thick suffocating bullshit! You don’t know what it’s like to be controlled with it, or abused with it, or threatened with it! You’re a prissy princess who gets whatever she wants and uses her magic to hurt other people!”

The two women are facing each other. The anger coming out in waves from both of their bodies.

“How can you say that!? You don’t know anything about me! I don’t use my magic to control or hurt anyone! I only use it to protect myself and the ones I love from you! Horde soldiers like you. You pillage and you destroy, and you hurt others without a care. I don’t know who hurt you to make you think that those things are true, but they’re wrong! The Horde causes pain, not my magic.”

“Ugh! What do you know!?” Catra’s had enough. Her emotions are overflowing with rage, pain and loss. She sees a flash of Shadow Weaver halting her movements with magic as she takes Adora away from her. She lunges at the princess and converts their verbal conflict into a physical one. She unsheathes her claws to tear apart the magical torment in front of her.

Glimmer expects her move and reaches out to grab at Catra’s wrists. They hold positions like their sheer will, will subdue their opponent. Then Glimmer pushes her weight over onto Catra. She pushes her back up against the table she was just perched on a moment ago. Their bodies are close and pressing against each other as the anger and frustration pours out of them. Catra, feeling extremely uncomfortable, flips their positions as she leans to the side, then she pulls Glimmer to the ground and collapse on top of her, straddling her waist. They continue fighting for dominance. When Catra gets a hand free, she reaches to claw at Glimmer’s face, but she rolls her head away to the left to dodge it.

While Catra is momentarily off balance, Glimmer juts her hips forward and tosses the brunette over her shoulder. Glimmer flips over and sees that Catra caught herself on her hands and knees. She reaches for her right leg trying to pull the brunette backwards to punch her, but Catra quickly rolls onto her back and kicks out her left leg. It makes direct contact with Glimmer’s shoulder and she winces in pain.

The two are scrambling to dominate the other to show who is right. They need to prove to the other who is better – which side is better. After a few moments of pulling hair and scratching skin they’re breathing heavily. Glimmer has Catra’s arm twisted in a weird angle and Catra is digging her claws into Glimmer’s calf muscle. The two refuse to relent until they hear a loud grumbling sound. They stop moving their bodies and the only sounds they can hear are their own heavy breaths.

They both turn their heads towards the front window. The sound came from outside.

Catra shoves Glimmer and attempts to rotate her body from underneath her to get up, but Glimmer just sits atop her, frozen.

“You heard that right?” Glimmer seems to be more than startled by the noise, but Catra just huffs and gives her a hard push to get up.

“It’s probably nothing,” she says as her heart races in her chest. I hate magic, why is everything in this forest so creepy? She crouches lower as she moves to the window, so that she won’t be spotted easily. She looks out to her right then her left, but nothing is amiss. Her eyes squint as she tries her best to look past the glaring sun setting just beyond the treetops and she sees something move. Her eyes widen and she puts her hand to her brow to block some of the light.

“What is it?” Glimmer whisper yells across the room to Catra who nearly jumps out of her skin from the disruption.

Catra glares back at her and through gritted teeth says, “I don’t know. Do you mind? A little busy here.” She turns back to see a large creature coming their way. Her eyes shoot open and she tracks it’s body with her eyes. She opens her mouth to say something, but at first she can’t get anything out. What the fuck is – “Shit!” She leaps away from the window and a huge body bulldozes into the wall.

“AAaaaAAHhhHh!” Glimmer’s scream is alarmingly and annoyingly loud as they both dive out of the way. “What the heck is that thing!?” Her eyes are blown comically wide in horror.

“I don’t fucking know, now move!” Catra shoves Glimmer’s shoulder awfully hard with both her hands. The jolt causes her to come back to Etheria.

They start making their way to a side window that was taking advantage of a separation in the root structure of the tree. Catra flings it open and as they climb out the big bug thing keeps smashing into the poor little house.

They make it outside and the monstrosity realizes they’ve left and redirects it’s trajectory. It rolls backwards as it’s whole body encases itself into a ball.

The young women take off on a sprint to avoid it, but there’s no escaping it. Catra decides there’s no outrunning this thing and turns to face it. She stands there bracing her body with her arms out, claws extended, and her breathing heavy.

As it comes closer, she leaps to the side and dodges out of the way as it rams straight into another tree. She takes the opportunity to launch herself onto it and starts clawing its’ metal exterior. She slices her way through, but nothing is enough to be fatal. She grabs ahold of the surface as she leaps down the side of it – dragging her claws through the metal creating a loud shrieking noise. The giant bug is hardly affected as Catra makes it back over to Glimmer.

“What do we do!?” Glimmer looks at the bug recover and move away from the tree. It begins to barrel it’s way towards the pair. As Glimmer looks on with horrified eyes, Catra shoves the woman out of the way of it’s huge body. “Oof.” The sword dislodges from its place on Glimmer’s back and slides about 3 meters away. She looks up and reaches for it, but Catra tumbles in front of her grabbing the sword simultaneously as the bug inches closer. She raises it and the creature pauses. Catra’s eyes are shut, since she’s assuming she would be squished.

Instead, a bright flashing light appears in front of Catra and she falls to the ground. She looks up between her fingers at the blinding light. The golden form of Adora stands in front of her holding the sword aloft to the bug. The cape and the hair is much different than her usual form. The brunette inhales sharply at the surprising form and watches her as the form of the woman turns her head back to Catra. It was like she could feel her concern and feel the warmth radiating off her – all for Catra.

The bug shuts down and plops its body to the ground. The light disappears and the sword clatters when it hits the ground.

Catra sits there looking at the sword and feeling like a piece of her was ripped from her chest. The loss of the presence puts Catra at a loss for words.

“What. The. Ever-loving-shit was that!?” Glimmer’s eyes are trained on the sword as well, her mouth slack as she gapes at it.

Catra looks over realizing that the other woman is there. She feels as though her emotions are written all over her face and spewed out in the open for Glimmer and everyone to see. Disgusted with herself, she clenches her jaw and composes her grief. Her eyes turn back towards the sword.

She had thought for a moment the beast had plowed into her causing another vision to occur, but this is all happening in real life. Glimmer’s presence is a testament to that. She gets up and moves to grab the sword again. “I don’t know… but this is why I’m still here.” In an attempt to change the subject she says, “I’ve never seen anything like that in the Fright Zone. Don’t you like know everything that lives in this forest?”

“What!? Why the hell would I? Who was that golden woman!?” Her impatience and concern is loud and disconcerting as Catra worries it might draw unwanted attention.

Catra drops the sword and moves forward to throw her hands in the other’s face. “Will you keep it down a little? Damn.” Glimmer shakes her head and leans backwards to avoid Catra’s unwarranted touches.

“Ugh! Will you stop trying to control me? You are my prisoner here and if you –“

“Your prisoner?” Catra’s brow furrows in annoyance. “I’m pretty sure that’s twice that I’ve saved your life. So, you should show a little more respect.” She folds her arms over her chest indignantly.

“Ugh!” Glimmer clenches her teeth and her fists as her hormones begin to rage inside of her. She shakes her head and breathes her frustration out with a groan. “Yano what? You’re right.”

“Damn right I – what?” Catra looks like she’s being pranked – eyeing Glimmer with suspicion.

“You’re right, you have saved me.” She opens her eyes after having calmed down. “Twice actually, and as hard as it is to say… Thank you, Horde sc… I mean – what is your name anyways?”

Catra eyes her with reservation. With one brow raised she shifts her weight onto her other leg as the silence between them drags on. “Oh, now you care?”

Glimmer throws her hands up in exasperation. “Why do I even try?” She turns around and starts to walk away.

The brunette can hardly understand why Glimmer lost all her frustration in just a matter of moments. She’s never met anyone that’s ever been able to own up to their own shit before – besides Adora.

“Catra,” she says as she looks at the ground in front of her. “It’s Catra.”

Glimmer pauses in her movements and turns her head as if to direct her words towards the other person. Her voice is lower, “thank you, Catra.” She continues walking further into the woods deciding not to snicker at the woman’s punny name.

The brunette picks up the sword and debates with herself on what she should do now. She has the sword and Glimmer isn’t much of a crack security officer. She can escape if she wants to. She looks into the blade hoping to see a sliver of Adora, but she only sees herself looking back.

She hears something shuffling in the brush nearby and lurches forward to grab Glimmer's arm. "What is that?" Glimmer asks in a hushed tone.

Abruptly, Catra hears a whirring sound before she’s encased in a net. She falls to the ground writhing in her new, yet familiar, prison. She writhes and struggles against the constraints. Catra opens her eyes to see Glimmer looking down at her with wide eyes and Arrow boy falls from a branch to her side. She turns to him. “Bow! How did you –“

“Glimmer, thank goodness your safe!” Bow grips her shoulders and pulls her into a tight embrace. He pulls back to talk, but still maintains his grasp on her arms. “We tried to find you where I left you guys from before, but I couldn’t locate you, even with my tracker pad. Then, I smelled some alphas scents lingering and I really started to worry.”  As Bow begins to ramble his escapades to her she looks around and sees droves of the Brightmoon guard filtering in around her. A few had reached down to pick up Catra off the ground. “Glim, you started your heat.” That regains her attention. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. Are you okay?” He sniffs the air absentmindedly and Glimmer can feel the security of Bow’s presence. She knows he would protect her if she ever needed it.

Catra begins writhing in her trap. “Arrghh! Let me out of here!”

The brunette’s voice carries and Glimmer turns to pay her attention. “No wait –“

“Princess, this Horde soldier is a prisoner of Brightmoon. We’ll be taking her to the palace with us and we’ll be escorting you home.”

Before she could hear Glimmer’s further protests Catra loses consciousness as another –familiar even – sensation overtakes her body… Fucking magic, is her last thought before going unconscious.

Notes:

I am alive and there will be more. Stay safe out there!

Chapter 11: Ruined Secrets

Notes:

Let's just not talk about how long it took me to get this out there.

Adora opens her eyes and starts walking through the corridor to get to the showers. She never had to worry about taking a morning shower before, but her new hormones make her reek first thing after sweating in her sleep.

She rounds the corner to enter the locker room.

She does usually wake up early, but this is the first time that she enjoys the space all to herself.

Adora undresses out of her clothes automatically and places them within the locker behind her. She grabs her towel and washcloth and makes her way over to a stall. Modesty isn’t an issue for Adora as she makes her way over. After changing and showering in front of almost everyone she knew, it was almost natural.

She hoists the towel onto a small hook just outside of the curtain and reaches in to start the water. She thinks she hears something coming from the entrance, but as she turns to see who’s coming in, there’s no one.

She looks back to see her water is hot – as hot as it will get here in the Horde –  and walks under it. She sighs at the slight amount of relief it provides as she rakes her hair out of her ponytail. She snaps the band around her wrist and leans her head further back into the water.

Adora hears small consecutive taps coming from the entrance of the locker room. The sound is so familiar, but for some reason she can’t pin it. It’s like her head is still foggy from sleep. She tries to listen more intently, but the noise stops again.

She reaches for the soap dispenser and pumps out a handful of ivory scented liquid. It’s the only soap that’s used in the Fright Zone. She’s surprised though, because as she lathers it into her scalp she doesn’t smell the scent of ivory, but of something more earthy.

Adora squints her eyes in confusion as she continues to lather her head with soap. Suddenly, a locker slams shut. She jumps a little as the sounds startles her, but she continues washing. She lathers the same soap down her arms and over her chest – her brows remain furrowed at the alarming slam.

The tapping starts again as she continues to clean her body. Like the tapping of nails to the ground. The sound gets closer until it stops right in front of Adora’s stall. She looks forward seeing a shadow on the other side of her shower curtain.

“Adora?”

That voice, she thinks. Adora sees claws and furry feet on the other side of the curtain. Her brow furrows as the pieces all begin to fall into place. She reaches for the side of the plastic liner to open it “Catra?” Her voice littered with surprise and excitement.

She opens the shower liner a bit to poke her head out and her excitement quickly washes away as nobody is there. She starts breathing faster and her face is riddled with confusion. Adora pokes her head out further into the walkway to look left, then right, but she doesn’t see anyone there. She slips back into the stall, her brow knit together as she tries to rationalize what just happened. I could’ve sworn I heard –

“Adora.”

The blonde grabs for the shower curtain again sliding it open and shoving her head and shoulder out. “Who’s there?” Her voice is strong and fearless, like she’s demanding the person to show themselves.

“Adora, it’s me.” There’s a pleading tone to those words.

She steps out trying to understand what’s happening and throws on her blue towel. Soap still slides down her muscled arms. They flex as she clenches her fists.

She walks back over into the main area with the lockers, but she doesn’t see anyone immediately. The area is large and separated by two rows of lockers dividing the room. She makes her way towards the opposite wall past the first row of lockers, but she sees no one. She then walks to check beyond the final row. As she comes to the edge, she hears a whimper. A sound that churns a sickening feeling in her stomach. A sound that resonates in her bones down to the center of her core. A fear starts rising in her throat and her alpha stirs with concern. “Catra?”

Adora turns the corner and again sees no one.

Her heart starts thudding loudly in her ears and she sniffs the air to catch her scent, an almost instinctual move, but she senses nothing. She can’t smell Catra, but she knows she heard her. Adora’s breathing picks up with her panic. Things aren’t making sense and she doesn’t know why.

Adora makes her way back to the center of the room facing the walkway to her shower that’s still running. She hears the whimper again coming from the stalls. “Catra!?”

“Adora!” The scream is filled with fear and uncertainty.

A wave of heat flares through Adora’s body as the pain in the other woman’s voice triggers something inside of her. She goes to move, to run, towards her best friend, but she feels like she’s running through wet cement. Her movements are slow and the urging need to get to Catra continues to course through her.

She starts to see a shadow of a figure laying on the ground surrounded by steam from the still running shower. The body is curled in on itself and trembles on the tile floor. Adora still can’t smell Catra and confusion still whirls in her brain. “Catra! How did you make it back? Are you –“ She reaches for the other woman’s body but her hand passes right through it. Adora’s eyes shoot open wide with horror. She clenches her teeth together and feels as though someone is playing a trick on her.

“Adora… They got me.” Catra’s voice breaks through “… m-magic…” she groans in what sounds like pain.

Something inside Adora snaps. She feels her inner alpha taking over the moment Catra’s voice cracks. She wants to lunge forward and grab what she can of the woman, but she knows it’s not an option. She’ll only be grabbing at smoke. Her mouth moves as she tries to think of anything to say, but nothing will come out. Visions of Catra being tortured by numerous princesses fill her mind and her anger spills over into grief. Tears form and prick at the corners of her eyes. Suddenly it’s all too much…

---

Adora startles awake gasping for a breath she desperately needs. She continues to pant heavily as she looks around her bunk. She throws herself out of bed and nearly falls over. The change her body took while she was sleeping is completely unexpected. She looks down at her body and realizes she’s in her other form. The dread continues to fill her heart as images of the dream still dance around in her head. Her alpha screams at her to run and track down her best friend, but deep down she knows that’s not the best course of action.

She tries to calm her breathing as she clenches and unclenches her jaw. It’s hard to focus on much of anything other than those scared words echoing in her mind. But Adora knows, now especially, that she can’t let it control her. She can’t let the urges take over. She grabs a standard issue Horde under shirt and starts wringing her hands around it, whirling it tighter and tighter. She tells herself ‘it’s okay’ like a mantra. She needs to calm down and the difficulty to get there is almost overwhelming.

After several attempts, and after finally sitting down on her bed, she feels herself shift back into her smaller body. She sighs as relief and dread both fill her heart.

She needs to prove to Scorpia that she can do this. She can handle herself for this mission. The longer she thinks on it, the more she thinks Scorpia would be proud of how she handled this just now. She was able to stay conscious of herself and her actions. That’s a pretty big first step, even if she says so herself.

She looks over at the clock realizing that she’s up a half an hour before the alarms blare out in the morning. Adora decides it’s a good time as any to go shower. Hopefully, there isn’t anyone there so she can just relax; although, after that dream she isn’t so sure the shower is the best place to do that. At least this morning they have combatives. She’ll be able to take out some aggression as she forces other alphas into submission.

---

Training that morning goes exactly as Adora had hoped. Doing combatives with the other cadets helped her focus her mind along with her body. The standard martial art requires her to not just use her muscle but also strategy. She worked up a sweat thrashing other people on the floor and throwing her body into several uncomfortable positions, but it gave her a moment to ground herself and try not to think of Catra groaning in what sounded like pain.

She does her best to shake that dream from her mind. But she also can’t stop thinking about how they’ve been sharing dreams and it probably wasn’t just a dream. That thought fills her heart with dread.

She clenches her jaw and tries to remember that she’s powerless if she can’t keep herself under control. She breathes deeply and plans on talking to Force Captain Scorpia about it later.

Adora doesn’t have time to shower and instead just decides to run off to the chow hall to fill her never ending pit of a stomach. She sits down at a table with a few other alphas from her class and they all seem a little put off. She lifts her right elbow just slightly to get a whiff of herself and realizes she probably stinks worse than the forge – she was right. She smiles to the others warily.

Demetria sets her tray down at Adora’s left side. She slides her legs over the bench style seat and leans over her food. She sniffs the air and looks around the table as if just catching on. She looks over to Adora with curious eyes. “You trying to intimidate people?” She asks it so nonchalantly, but it takes the other woman by surprise.

“Me? What? No, I-I…” She scrambles to find her words as she looks across the table at the other people not making eye contact with her. She chuckles a little and turns back to Demetria. “I wasn’t trying to. I didn’t get a chance to shower earlier.” She tugs the collar of her shirt away from her skin as she catches her scent one more time. She shrugs her shoulders and shoves another spoonful of grey slop into her mouth.

Demetria nods her head in understanding. She turns her attention away from the other woman and locks eyes with an alpha across the table. She bucks at him, like she’s trying to intimidate him with her presence. He easily flinches in response. She looks over to Adora who has a small smile on her lips, eyeing between her bite of food and the poor little alpha being messed with.

“You ready for the scenario training later today?” Demetria says it as she shoves another bite of food into her mouth.

“Yeah,” Adora responds excitedly. She’ll get the chance to prove to Force Captain Scorpia that she’s been improving her skills and she will be a huge asset to the mission to get Catra.

“Good, because there’s a big mission coming up. I didn’t get all of the details, but it’s important and they’re going to be calling on some of the new alphas to help.” The woman shoves a spoonful of food into her mouth and uses her spoon to move around the rest on her plate.

Adora inhales sharply at the surprising news. “I wonder if it’s to go after those other Horde soldiers that were kidnapped.” Her face was set with determination and a lick of hope rises to her chest.

“Eh. I don’t know. They didn’t say anything about a rescue.” She eyes Adora as if gaging her response, then looks back down to her food when the blonde doesn’t betray her feelings. “Welp, I’m leaving to get dressed. See you at training.”

Adora shoots her a little wave as she focuses a little too hard on her food. I have to talk to Scorpia. She’ll be able to help get me on that team. I know it.

---

Adora heads down to training after she made a quick stop back at her room. She used some wet wipes they usually use to clean their weapons to clean under her arms. They were always handy in a pinch and this is definitely one of those necessary moments.

She walks up and seems to be one of the last people to arrive as she steps into formation. They stand there in front of the simulator waiting for their training to begin. She looks left and right at the never changing green walls of metal until she sees white hair poking around a corner.

Scorpia walks around and goes to stand in front of her platoon. “Alright, cadets!” She then turns her back to them and whispers “man that’s so cool to say.” She whips back around with one arm behind her back and a face of command plastered back upon her like a mask. “Today, you’ll be training as a unit. There will be many challenges along the way, but nothing you haven’t seen before… Miles! Click the thingy!” She shouts at a young scrawny beta that’s been assigned to the unit as a clerk of some kind. He jolts and fumbles with the switch, then clicks the button.

Scorpia clears her throat. “As I was saying.” She begins to pace in front of the large digital screen showing a rudimentary map of their scenario. “Each team is assigned to go in covertly to uncover crucial information from one specific princess. THIS” She points harshly to the screen, “Is princess Glimmer of Brightmoon.” There are some dramatic gasps coming from the crowd, but Adora’s jaw is set, and her eyes are glaring. The figure on the screen is a flurry of glitter and a devilish snarl.

“You will be going in to capture her and extract whatever intel you can. Got it!?” Scorpia has really been working on her voice of command and she is rewarded by grunts and howls from the raging alpha cadets. “Alright, then. Line up!”

The alphas move to get in order to be near their friends. Adora looks left and right and then notices Demetria in her row. The woman’s eyes are firm and determined as she looks back at Adora. They both smirk at each other.

One team goes first before Adora and she looks around to see if she has time to ask Scorpia about the mission coming up. She’s pretty far away from her and she begins to wonder if she can step out of rank to go talk to her.

Then, a cold chill runs up her spine. The feeling is so familiar that she couldn’t go a day in her life not knowing what it is. She turns her head left and right but doesn’t see her. Since she’s in the last rank she doesn’t notice the figure standing directly behind her.

“Adora.” The voice so smooth and gentle sounding, like the rattle of a snake before it bites you. Adora gulps and clenches her jaw. She turns and a scent she has never noticed before hits her now much more sensitive nose. She scrunches up her face in disgust as Shadow Weaver stands before her. The older woman reaches out her hand and caresses the young alpha’s cheek. “Now, Adora, don’t be rude. How is training going. It’s been too long since I’ve seen you. I assume you’re performing excellently.” The eyes of her mask squint in what Adora has only assumed is a calculating look.

Adora swallows. “Yes, Shadow Weaver.”

The woman pulls her hand away from Adora who had inadvertently been leaning into the touch a little too much. She just notices it as Shadow Weaver pulls away.

The older woman gives her a smile that can only be seen in her chilling eyes. “Oh, I am not surprised to hear that. Your force captain has been keeping us up to date on your progress.”

“Us?” Adora questions.

Shadow Weaver shifts out of Adora’s direct line of sight and reveals a tall ominous figure behind her. “Yes, Lord Hordak knows all about your endeavors and has come out to witness it firsthand.” The man grunts in disdain, but otherwise remains neutral.

Demetria side eyes the conversation happening near her and sweat drips down her cheek. She understands the detrimental nature of the training in front of her. It’s about time she proves her worth, too. She sets her jaw and watches the team going before them with rapt attention to make sure she retains as much as she can for their turn.

Adora sets her jaw and looks down as she contemplates raising the question to her previous superior. But before she can, the buzzer goes off as the other unit of Cadets gets blow up from a notional explosive device. Adora shakes her head and moves to get her gear on. Their team is up, and she has to prove herself to them so she can go save Catra. The thought alone sends a jolt through her alpha. Her sense of smell heightens as well as her other instincts.

Her group lines up next to the doors and they slide open. The group of four alphas enter the arena and they connect their devices to link with the system. Adora speaks “alright, lets keep this neat and simple. We get in, get the details and get out before the princess’s guards find us.”

The other alphas look to her and accept her lead, even Demetria. They walk through the simulation of the woods just outside of Brightmoon castle until they reach the southeastern wall. Adora gives silent signals to each of the cadets and they all move on her signal.

Shadow Weaver and Lord Hordak look on with interest.

The group manages to scale up the wall and make it into a side window. Adora checks the map on her wrist locator and takes a moment to decipher it. She signals two alphas to head down corridor on the left to see if they can locate any roaming guards while Adora and Demetria stand off to the side behind a statue guarding the right corridor.

Demetria goes to stand when Adora smells the air. The blonde sticks her arm out and stops the other woman in her tracks. Demetria snarls at the aggressive grab until Adora points down their corridor at a guard starting to walk their way. They both watch as the simulation walks down another hall way.

The other pair returns without making any kind of noise and they all make their way down the left corridor to the stairs that lead up to the princess’s room. Their intel states that she will be there, but to keep an eye out for guards that make their rounds every 10 minutes, or so.

They all make it up the stairs and notice the room with the door ajar. Adora doesn’t smell anything out of the ordinary, but there is something sweet coming from her room. She can’t quite place it though.

They make their way closer, and the scent is much stronger, but they all barge through making sure to close the door and jam it up. The princess hasn’t even been triggered yet to notice them and that’s when Adora realizes it. The smell is sweet and strong, and the young alpha begins to shift right then.

Each alpha turns abruptly as the scent fills their noses. They can’t fight the changes of their bodies, but they have to fight their instincts. “The princess is an omega?” Adora says. Glimmer turns and glares at them. Each one wants to fight and each one wants to fall prey to their instincts.

The simulation of Glimmer disappears into thin air and reappears in another part of the room. Adora knew she was magical, but this is unexpected. The blonde looks to the other alphas to make sure they’re still on task. Demetria is holding her own, but the other two seem like they might cave any second. Adora yells at them, “stay focused and track her!” She dodges a magical burst shot at her head and dives behind a pillowed table. She furrows her brow at the ridiculousness of it and refocuses her efforts on tracking the princess.

Glimmer yells and bursts her magic at the other three cadets bouncing around the room. Adora waits until she has the perfect moment. The glittery princess lands right near her and Adora grabs her arms and forces her into a submission hold.

Her scent is right in Adora’s face and it is arousing, but there’s something off about it. She isn’t sure what. Even though her body is betraying it’s affects, her mind is clear headed. She grips the simulation harder and Adora intends to get straight to business, getting as much info as she can. “Alright, tell me where the bases are that house your soldiers.” She grits it out through her teeth.

Glimmer wiggles trying to free herself – unable to poof herself away as Adora has a firm hold against her, and the simulation can only do so much. The pink woman laughs softly and the tone caresses Adora’s ears. “Is the big bad alpha going to make me submit?”

Adora’s eyes shoot open at the lewd comment, but she can tell it has some affect on herself, her inner alpha.

“No?” Glimmer asks in a teasing tone. “Maybe one of these other strong alphas will know how to take care of me.” She looks over at the other cadets and the blonde shakes her out of her reverie.

“Tell us!” Adora screams at her, but she can also tell that the simulation is having an effect on the other alphas. She turns to look at them and commands “you two. Out of the room and look out for the guards roaming. Demetria,” she looks to the other alpha sensing that although she is having a hard time focusing, it isn’t as bad as the others. “Help me interrogate her.”

Demetria gets closer and shakes her head trying not to let it overwhelm her. She reaches down with the blade in her hand and places it under the woman’s chin. “Talk.”

Suddenly, the lights and the simulation fall black. The robot Adora was holding onto flitters out of life and mechanically tries to reset itself. The blonde releases it and it scampers across the room to set up where it was located before.

The doors to the training area open up and Scorpia walks in. “Guys! That was great!” She walks up and pats one of the other alphas on the back and nearly knocks him over. Shadow Weaver slithers inside as well, leaving Lord Hordak by the far wall – he was never great at interacting with the cadets, and he only liked to observe the fruits of his labor.

“Well done, Adora!” Shadow Weaver coos over her efforts and walks past the other cadets. Demetria looks down to the ground with a look of disdain written on her face. She huffs it off and walks out of the simulation with the other cadets to put away her gear.

Shadow Weaver continues, “you continue to impress us. You know, I was quite displeased when I knew you’d be taken from my watchful care, but here you seem to be flourishing.” Her arms widen in grandeur as she gestures to the space around them. “It seems I was right about one thing.”

Adora furrows her brow, “what’s that?” She awkwardly chuckles at the praise.

“That Catra has always been a terrible influence on you.” Shadow Weaver’s tone is light and airy like she didn’t just give Adora a crushing blow.

“Hoo, yeah!” Scorpia awkwardly intervenes the conversation. “You did, wow, you did great Adora. So did the whole team! I’m just so impressed. It’s not easy to ignore the scent of an omega like that.” She chortles thinking of her own experience.

Adora looks up. “Speaking of Catra.”

Scorpia’s eyes go wide. She had hoped they would move on and change the subject, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

Adora continues, “I heard there’s a mission coming up to go look for her. I want on the team. I think I could really be a big asset. You know, I know all of her quirks, and…”

Adora is cut off by a sinister laugh. A laugh that goes on for far too long. Shadow Weaver regains her composure a moment or so later. “Oh, Adora.” She says it through a Cheshire cat smile. “There is no mission. Catra was lost, a casualty of war.”

Adora’s heart utterly shatters and drops to her stomach at the words.

Shadow Weaver continues, “it would be quite a waste of resources to go after one cadet. Let alone one so…” the words are said so flippantly, “useless.”

The blonde can hardly continue to listen as the news hits her.

Scorpia is looking anxious as she looks at Adora’s crestfallen face. She puts her pincers to her mouth in worry and shifts her eyes between the two women.

Adora starts to breathe heavier, faster. “What do you mean… lost? She…” The words get caught in her throat and she has a hard time registering what’s happening. The last dream replaying through her mind. Catra curled in on herself calling out for Adora’s help.

The memory destroys every chance she has at controlling herself. Her alpha knows her mate is in danger and not a single person gives a damn about her! The blood starts to roar in her ears as her eyes lose even more focus from the conversation. Her breathing is coming in too quickly.

“Adora wait!” Scopria tries to reach for her, tries to move her somewhere else, or at best try to prevent what is going to happen.

Adora thought she could be good enough and work hard enough to get on the team. But now she knows that all she’s been doing is wasting her time!

Her vision shifts and a blinding light flashes to fill the entire room. Shadow Weaver covers her face from it and the rest in the immediate area does as well. Adora stands tall and radiating power in her new form.

Shadow Weaver gasps “Adora!”

Adora’s alpha completely takes over and her instincts are blazing through her. She has one goal in mind and it’s to find Catra. She plows past the others and goes to make her way out of the building, barely catching a glimpse of wide red eyes following her every move. She reaches for the door, then unexpectedly, she can’t move another inch. Her whole body vibrates with a magic she isn’t used to feeling very often. That magic was usually reserved for Catra.

Adora grunts at the thought and pushes through the barricade of magic. She moves another few inches until… BAM!

Everything in Adora’s vision goes black as she falls to the ground. She hears whispers of “secret weapon” and “plan” before it all just stops.

Notes:

Living in a house with only one laptop while everyone does online school is just an awful experience. Highly not recommended. Thanks for sticking with me!

Chapter 12: The Spare Room?

Notes:

I'm just gonna leave this here and back away slowly...

Adora awakens with a start. The last moments of her encounter with Shadow Weaver still on her mind and the fact that she needs to save Catra. She pushes herself up from the standard Horde bed and looks around at a room she doesn’t recognize. The walls are even more sterile than she’s used to and it’s colder somehow.

She stands to her feet only to have Shadow Weaver seemingly materialize right in front of her.

The old woman reaches out her hand to cup Adora’s left cheek. She tuts, “Adora, you should lie back down. You had quite the fall.”

Adora looks at her in disbelief. “I didn’t fall. Y-you used your magic on me.”

“Well, I had to my dear. You were about to storm off without a single plan in mind and I had to make sure you didn’t do anything too rash.” She inches closer to Adora – her hand never leaving her cheek. Her thumb gently swipes Adora’s soft skin. “Adora, you should know that without reinforcements those princesses will be a terror to deal with. If they have Catra,” Adora’s eyes widen, “then you must be more cautious.”

The words drip from Shadow Weaver’s mouth like honey, but they give Adora a sick feeling in her stomach. “We have to go after her,” she says with conviction. “She could be in danger and being tortured for information. It would be best for the Horde to retrieve her.”

“You are quite right.” She says so deceptively sweet. “Catra probably doesn’t have the fortitude to withstand a princess’s torture, let alone survive it.” She eyes Adora’s reaction and receives what she had hoped. The blonde’s eyes widen just slightly and her lip quivers with anger at that revelation. “She’s probably being tortured right at this moment.” She looks down and Adora’s eyes are beginning to glow beneath her enraged features. “Now, Adora. We don’t want to lose our focus, now do we?” The tone she uses is bittersweet as it flitters into Adora’s brain.

The blonde looks down and away as she realizes how easily she was riled up. She knows Weaver makes a good point and she shouldn’t be losing track. That’s exactly what the princesses want her to think.

She hardens in her resolve and looks back up at her. “What do we do now?”

Shadow Weaver folds her hands in her lap and leans forward just slightly. “Well, I’m glad you asked, Adora.”

---

“Mom! You’re not even listening to me.” Glimmer throws her hands up in exasperation. “I told you that she saved me. I gave you every detail. Why won’t you let her out?!”

“Commander Glimmer!” The queen’s eyes are stern as she looks down to her daughter. She pinches the bridge of her nose as she breathes a calming breath, but it does little to ease her frustration. “How can you not see the danger in letting a Horde soldier roam free through the castle? She could flip on you in a second! You never think these things through.”

Glimmer’s eyes widen at the accusation. “You never trust me! I’m trying to tell you that I have this under control. She saved me out there from those disgusting alphas and you’re telling me that means nothing to you?”

The queen walks forward, arms outstretched as if to ground her daughter from her hysterical train of thought. “Glimmer, I understand that you went through something out there with that soldier, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t a part of the Horde anymore. That doesn’t mean that we can trust her! It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just don’t want you to get hurt.” She gently squeezes her shoulders and Glimmer looks down at her left shoulder disdainfully.

“There’s something more going on here than we both know. I can feel it.” Glimmer looks to her mother with determined hope in her eyes. “She wanted the sword and when she was able to hold it, something happened. There was a golden light, with a powerful magic coming from it. Mom,” she pauses. “What if it has something to do with She-Ra? Do you have any idea what that could mean for the rebellion?”

Angella’s features become tight with frustration. My daughter is just as stubborn as her father. She raises a hand to her face to soothe herself once more. “Glimmer,” she says it sternly. “This is not up for discussion. The ‘would be,’ ‘could be’s’ and ‘what if’s’ won’t help us win the war. We have to focus on what is in front of us and we currently have a Horde soldier in our dungeon.”

Glimmer crosses her arms. She just isn’t getting anywhere with her mother. “You mean the spare room?” The young princess’s attitude is difficult to hide and it’s the final straw.

“Glimmer! I don’t want to hear another word of it. She is our prisoner, and she is dangerous. I won’t have you in that room at all.”

“Ugh!” The groan lasts longer than it should, and the sparkly princess stomps her foot before she vanishes in a shimmering poof of magic.

---

Catra groans as she slowly wakes from her magic induced coma. She rubs her head as the fog continues to lift from her periphery. She looks around and sees pink and purple walls with glamorous decorations adorning the room. The brightness gives her more of a headache than the magic. She rolls her eyes and looks down at herself. Well, I’m still in one piece, she thinks as she runs her hand over her tail. She sheaths her claws to make sure those are still intact as well. She sighs with relief when they appear immediately.

Once she’s gotten her bearings, she starts to really take in the room around her. She raises an eyebrow in confusion as to where she is. Is this a simulation? Am I dead?

Before she has a chance to confuse herself even more, the door slams open. A tall woman with wings enters the room and Catra’s eyes never leave her as she gracefully enters with three other women in uniform.

“What’s your name and unit?” The tallest of the guards’ questions Catra, but the feline’s eyes remain glued to Queen Angella. “I’ll ask you again, Horde soldier,” the guard comes closer to the perimeter of magic surrounding Catra. “Name and unit?”

“You can torture me with magic all you want. I’m not telling you anything.” Catra bares her fangs and her claws as she prepares for a wicked attack. She’s been told stories of magical sorceresses, but she’s already endured from one of the sickest of them all. She can take it.

“Torture?” Angella says. “We don’t torture people with magic. That’s barbaric.” Her eyes are fiery with determination and slight disgust at the accusation. The queen folds her arms as she continues to observe.

Catra’s eyes widen a fraction. “Bullshit. You’re telling me you have an enemy prisoner that could give you vital information that could stop the war and you’re not even going to try to get it out of me? What? Are we just going to sit in a circle and hold hands until I puke it out?”

The queen raises an eyebrow at the child in front of her with slight horror. She can’t even begin to imagine the brainwashing and manipulation that goes on in the Fright Zone, but this does give her some insight. “It doesn’t surprise me that the Horde would tell you such things.” Angella does her best to choose her words carefully. Even if Glimmer had vouched for this girl, it was difficult to trust her and Angella could now see exactly why that is. “Have other people used magic on you in such a manner? People outside of the Fright Zone.”

Catra knows she hasn’t, except for Sparkles poofing them to some new location, but never the kind of magic she expected. She had always been told by Shadow Weaver that’s how princesses operate. They use their magic for horrible experiments and torture. Obviously, she knew the stories the cadets heard were exaggerated to scare the babies – hell, Catra practically made up most of them. But, from the moment she experienced the magic from Shadow Weaver, she just assumed they were all like this, or worse. “Yes, torture. Like holding people under magic spells that make them hurt themselves or suck the air out of their lungs. Or-or cause increasing pain like electricity frying every cell of your body.” She spits it all out in a fury as she begins to feel herself unravelling.

All that the queen can do is look on with pity as she shakes her head ‘no.’

The revelation begins to take a toll on Catra. All the shit she was put through had no meaning or purpose. It wasn’t to make her stronger against the enemy. It was only to punish and control. She knew Shadow Weaver was a fucked-up witch trying to use and manipulate them all, but she couldn’t be honest about this one thing?!

Catra’s eyes look left and right as she processes what’s happening. She starts breathing heavily and far more quickly than her body can handle. As she hyperventilates the young woman starts scratching her claws through her hair, dragging them against her scalp. It provides something to hold onto. A pain that reminds her what’s real. She closes her eyes and finally the pain from gripping her hair causes her to remember where she is and what’s happening. She’s losing her shit in front of the enemy and she cannot show weakness. She looks back up at the queen who now looks on with concern. “Stop looking at me like that!” Catra snarls out her words. She’s losing her temper as she huffs out panting breaths. She’s on the verge of panic as the air doesn’t seem to fill her lungs enough. She clenches and unclenches her fists. The pain from her unsheathed claws giving her a constant reminder of what’s real and currently happening.

All Angella can do is look on with slight horror at this child coming undone before her. Watching her go through a series of revelations about the undoubted lies that have been fed to her.

Catra can’t look at their faces anymore. They’re filled with pity and Catra is anything but pitiful. She clenches her teeth and sets her jaw. All she can think of to soothe her racing mind is the alpha on the other side of Etheria. Her face. Her touch. It soothes her. She can’t lose control at a time like this. She needs to get to Adora. After a moment, she’s able to relax her hands and jaw. She says, “So then, if you don’t torture people, then what do you want?” Her voice is low and raspy as though she’d screamed all night long.

Angella’s face hardens once more. She concedes, “Why were you in the woods? What is the Horde planning?” Her voice is icy as she commands explanation.

Catra rolls her eyes and huffs. She can see the family resemblance in her air of snooty royalty, but the Queen has more regal elegance than the whining sparkly one. “What makes you think they’d tell me anything? They lied to me before.” She turns at the end with a snarl on her lip.

The queen stiffens and asks again, “And why were you in the Whispering Woods?”

The feline whips around to face the queen fully. “Because your sparkly princess and Arrow Boy tied me up and drug me through the entire thing,” Catra says it with impatience. She finds it imperative that she doesn’t disclose anything. She knows Sparkles probably told the queen about the sword, but she doesn’t trust any of these people. Catra only knows one thing and that’s that people lie to get what they want out of you. She won’t reveal all her cards this soon.

“And yet you protected Glimmer, why?” The queen’s eyes squint slightly in suspicion.

Catra huffs again not wanting to dwell on the nagging sensation she’s had this entire time about why she didn’t just run for it. She puts her hands on her hips attempting to regain some of her tough, confident exterior. “No one deserves that from a pack of alphas, even if she’s an annoying bratty princess.” Catra says the words as though she’s a little ashamed to admit them out loud.

Angella’s face turns neutral and unreadable as she tries to assess the person in front of her. She makes the command decision to leave on that note and doesn’t give Catra another word.

The feline’s shoulders relax some as the interaction ends and she tries her best to hold it all in. Her mind turns itself to the only thing keeping her from losing it, or well, the only person. She tries to focus on the foggy dream they shared while she was in that mental prison. Adora was there in the Fright Zone showering. She tries not to dwell on that part for too long, because it’s of little use right now. Adora was so close, yet so far away. She kept trying to reach for her, but it was no use. The feeling just makes her angry and desperate to get to Adora. You’d think after all this time, she wouldn’t still be so focused on getting to Adora, but it’s like this pull she has no control over. She needs to get to Adora, protect her. Something doesn’t feel right.

---

Glimmer paces in her room while Bow sits on one of the floating pillows. “Ugh, I just don’t get it Bow, why doesn’t she trust me? We did all that work to get a Horde soldier and the sword, and she doesn’t listen to a word I say!” She throws her arms up in exasperation.

“Well,” Bow starts, “maybe she’s right?” His voice goes up in pitch at the end. He throws his hands up in defense as Glimmer turns abruptly to face him. “Now, just listen.” He settles his arms back down, “She is a part of the Horde Glimmer, and your mom just wants to make sure everyone will be safe. Maybe it’s not that she doesn’t trust you, she just doesn’t trust Catra.”

Glimmer’s mouth turns into a flat line, “That’s exactly what she said Bow… but I don’t care. She’s wrong. Catra came back for me, and yeah I get that she’s a Horde soldier. I, of all people, realize that they can’t be trusted, but I think she’s the best chance to help us with the sword. She made all this magic appear after she held it up to that monster! There has to be a connection somewhere I just don’t know what it all means.” She puts her hand to her face in contemplation.

“Well, maybe she’s She-Ra?” He says it with more confusion than confidence.

“No, I don’t think so.” Glimmer’s brow is furrowed in contemplation as she starts pacing again. “She doesn’t do any magic. I think it was just the sword. She looked startled when the glowing light came from the sword and she seemed to like, recognize the figure or something.” She drops her hand and groans. “It just happened all so fast I can barely remember it except that it was really bright, and she’s super adamant on staying with the sword. Ugh! Why doesn’t it make sense, Bow? Make it make sense!” Glimmer’s hands are wrapped up in the collar of Bow’s shirt by the time she finishes her exclamation.

The boy’s hands are up in defense again and his eyes wide from shock. “I don’t know!” His voice cracks.

They pull apart and begin to settle when a guard rushes into the room. “Princess! The queen requests your presence in the war room.”

Glimmer and Bow look at each other and make their way out to the queen.

---

As everyone in the war room settles, the queen addresses the room “We’ve received word from our scouts that there may be trouble in Plumeria. We’ll need to send a team out to fully survey the area and assess the needs of their kingdom.”

Glimmer’s hand shoots up. “Oh! Bow and I will go. We’ll even take She-Ra’s sword and ask for people to join our rebellion. I’m sure the news of She-Ra will really get people excited about the Princess Alliance again.”

“No, Commander Glimmer.” Glimmer instantly deflates as her mouth drops to protest, but the queen raises her hand. “We can’t afford to send you out onto the frontline, especially because you’re in heat. You barely made it back from Thaymore. We cannot afford to lose you.”

“But you can lose someone else? That makes no sense. I can handle my heat symptoms with some magic from the mages before we go. You know Bow and I are the best suited for this mission! Especially if we try to recruit Plumeria back into the Alliance. We’ll need a strong presence and…”

She’s cut off by the queen, “Alright.” After a moment of hesitation, “You may go. But you will take a guard with you, and I expect you to be in and out.”

Glimmer poofs from her chair over to the queen and squeezes her in a big hug. “Oh, mom! You won’t regret it! We got this and I’m sure Princess Perfuma will be on board with us.” After a gentle squeeze back from the queen, Glimmer poofs back over to Bow’s side.

“Glimmer,” the queen starts, “you must promise me that you’ll take care of yourself. A heat can be very draining even with magic to tame the primal instincts. You must take a steed with plenty of supplies.”

Glimmer groans, “I know mom. I’ll take care of myself and drink plenty of water. I will not mess this up.” With a cheesy grin she poofs Bow and herself out of the war room.

The queen rubs her forehead and hopes for the best.

---

Shadow Weaver looms over Adora in the logistics room. “Now, Adora. I have tried to tell Lord Hordak your pleas for Catra and he too thinks it’s a waste of resources.”

Adora turns down her head in disappointment with her eye firmly fixed on the corner of the room. Her inner alpha churns from feeling so out of control and helpless.

The old sorceress pulls her from her inevitable downward spiral. “But… after some deliberations he has agreed for a small team to head out for retrieval.”

“I want to be on it. I have to get her back.” Adora’s face is set with determination and a flicker of hope.

“Well, yes of course. That’s part of the plan. Force Captain Scorpia will take you and a unit out for retrieval. And in order to not waste resources on such a minimal mission, you will also assist another unit with their mission. It seems they’ve run into a few… inconveniences along the way.” Shadow weaver is methodical as she chooses her words wisely.

“Is it princesses? Because that won’t be an issue.” Adora is nearly jumping out of her seat to pack for this upcoming mission. She doesn’t care what else it entails if Catra is saved from those princesses and their magic.

“Oh, Adora. I know it won’t and that’s exactly why you’ll be going. Don’t disappoint me. Remember, Catra’s life may be on the line.” Shadow Weaver floats over to the door to exit when she’s interrupted.

“Wait, where did you say this other mission is? We need to start at Thaymore and work our way on. Catra said…” Adora’s eyes go wide and she tries to recover. “Catra’s said before that they torture prisoners of war with magic. That can’t just be anywhere. It has to be at one of their prominent bases.”

Shadow Weaver’s eyes narrow slightly, “Why yes, only the most highly regarded prisoners go to Brightmoon, and other kingdoms of the like.” She pauses in contemplation, “therefore, Catra must be somewhere else. She’s just a cadet, what could they possibly want from her? She’s probably holed up in dusty basement somewhere.” The older woman continues to leave when she stops at the frame of the door. “And your mission is to Plumeria. There’s a unit there preparing to strike as soon as the energy collection equipment is up and running.”

Not another word and Shadow Weaver leaves Adora to her own devices. She looks down into her lap and realizes she almost let slip about their shared dreams. After the last time I told Shadow Weaver something she completely changed everything. I should keep that to myself for now.

Chapter 13: Crushing Defeat?

Glimmer poofs herself and Bow into her bedroom and she starts pacing. “Okay we need to get ready, Bow. This is going to be a great mission! I can feel it.” She continues to gather things from around her room.

Bow looks at the ground with his hand nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know, Glimmer. Your mom has a point.” He makes eye contact as she abruptly turns to face him. “Y’know? About your heat. Glim I get them too. I know how much of a toll they can take, and you just started the first full day.”

She walks up to him reaching to take ahold of his hands. “I know, Bow. I feel crazy already, but it’s not too bad. Plus, like I said, I’m going to get the mages to perform some magic and it’ll totally dilute most of my heat. You already know how good they are.” Her eyes shine with excitement for the upcoming mission, but the worry is still clear on his face. Glimmer leans in further and wraps her arms around Bow’s shoulders for a hug.

He instinctively wraps his arms around her waist and takes a small inhale of her scent. It’s comforting as much as it is enticing. He’s always loved Glimmer’s scents no matter what was happening. The small gesture really does soothe him. She pulls away and he looks into her eyes. “Okay, but we’re going to be extra careful and I’m going to set timers on my tracker pad to make sure we’re keeping up your water intake.”

He starts to get this nervous crease in his forehead when she looks at him sweetly and smiles. “Okay, okay Bow.” She giggles, loving the consideration her best friend gives her. “I’ll drink lots of water.”

“And you’ll tell me if you start to feel bad, right?” His face is as serious as he can make it while he stares into her eyes.

“Fine! Yes, Bow I’ll tell you.” She smiles while still holding onto his hands and the excitement starts to bubble back up. “Can we go, now? I want to get a nice head start on this mission. It shouldn’t take long getting my treatment, and then, I’ll be in tip-top shape.” She magically disappears.

Bow stands there with his unsure smile fading slowly after she left. I just hope she knows what she’s doing.

---

Gimmer finishes up with the mage assigned to help her tamp down the effects of her heat and heads out to find Bow. She lets a few bursts of magic flow through her hands and she smiles at her renewed state.

She teleports to the runestone to bask in its’ energy for a last-minute recharge. Her body feels alive and tingly as she stands beneath it. She opens her eyes after shutting them from the euphoric sensation and just admires the stone. It gives her power and hope. She knows they’ll one day end this war and her kingdom will get to live in a peace it hasn’t known in what seems like lifetimes.

After absorbing as much as her body will allow, she quickly teleports away to find Bow. She lands herself back in her room but doesn’t find him. She walks out and makes her way to the war room where she finds Bow checking over the map for their mission. “Always prepared, arnt’cha?”

Bow startles and turns to smile at her. “Yeah, I just want to make sure we know what we’re walking into. Some scouts reported some Horde tanks rolling up the southern pass to get to Plumeria. I wanted to load the information onto my tracker pad, so we could keep an eye out.” He continues to look down at his pad resolutely while he downloads all the information.

“Well, are you just about ready to go? Got your… bow and stuff?” She says to make him loosen up.

He chuckles and turns to face her again. “Yes, I’ve got my ‘bow and stuff.’ You look good. Did it go well with the mage?”

“Definitely. They took care of me right away and I don’t feel any cramping or overloaded pheromones. I just hope it’ll hold out long enough to finish up this mission. I know we’ll totally be able to handle ourselves, but I hope we aren’t walking in the woods like we did with Catra.”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely. How’s she doing anyway?” Bow’s curiosity is piqued.

“I haven’t had a chance to check on her lately. I know mom has her up in one of the rooms under lock and key. She’s having Castaspella come down and use one of her truth spells on her. I guess mom is hoping she’ll prove her innocence or something? I have no idea what she’s aiming at, honestly.” Glimmer’s face is of indifference, but she is still thinking of how Catra saved her when she could’ve run away. Twice! “Ugh, I know she’s Horde scum, but…”

“– But, you’re having second thoughts?” Bow finishes with a sweet smile.

 “Don’t look at me like that,” she scolds as she folds her arms. “But, yes. Maybe.” She looks down at the floor.

Bow continues, “well, hey. She saved you and that’s good enough for me. I’m glad you’re alright, Glimmer.”

She smiles back at him. “I’m glad too… Okay we’ll figure out the Catra thing later. It’s not like she’s going anywhere.” She gestures to link their arms together and Bow follows suit. They poof away shortly after.

The pair land just outside a nearby town and begin to make their way on foot. They wanted to save as much of Glimmer’s magic as they could considering they were walking into an unknown situation. They don’t want another “Thaymore Situation” on their hands. It nearly left Glimmer without any magic. That won’t happen again. Bow couldn’t stand to risk Glimmer like that, especially while she’s in heat. The mage’s magic works just fine, but her body is still going through something. “Hey, Glimmer?” Bow asks after a thought pops into his head.

“Yeah?”

“When you’re in heat do you ever… want alphas?” His question is timid, which isn’t like Bow.

“I mean yeah, I guess. There’s like this innate urge, but I don’t want it to control me, y’know?” She talks over her shoulder while he trails behind. “It’s like, of course I would love someone to…” she pauses as nerves begin to rise talking about this with Bow, “…Someone to make the heat easier,” she makes a strangled face at her awkward verbiage. “But I don’t have this strong pull for it to be an alpha, necessarily.”

“Oh.” A smile creeps up onto Bow’s face.

“What about you?” She asks with equal curiosity. “I don’t know of a ton of male omegas. Do you… want an alpha to mate you?”

“Woah. Mating? … geesh. That’s just so serious and…” he pauses to collect his thoughts. “I mean my heats are sometimes unbearable, but I guess I see it like you do. I don’t want my instincts to control me and who I want. Like why should I mate with someone purely on instinct? It could end up so awful.” His gaze zones out as he contemplates that scenario.

“Exactly! Like, I want to be with someone who gets me.” She blushes and feels a warm sensation all over. She continues, “someone who’s my best friend.” Her words end with a wistful tone and the thoughts she’s conjuring are stirring something within herself. Ugh, she needs to focus, or the mage’s magic would’ve been for naught. As she shakes her mind free of impossibilities, she gazes forward to see the ever-beautiful Plumeria off in the distance. “Bow, look! We’re here. This is going to be so great.” She takes off running towards their destination with a glowing smile on her face.

Glimmer’s words thrust Bow from his train of thought, and he runs to catch up to her.

They slow their pace to regain their breath and notice that some of the trees are dying or are already dead. Their smiles fade somewhat, and they look at each other noticing the other’s concern.

---

Adora’s heart is pounding within her chest. She’s finally able to go out on her first mission as an alpha, and not only that, but they’re also on their way to rescue Catra. The sensation that lights up her chest is indescribable. Adora knows how much she misses Catra and desperately desires her safety, but the feeling in her chest is greater than she’s ever felt before.

Focus, she hears from her inner alpha – the reminder getting her mind back on track. This is a serious mission with actual princesses. She needs to be on her A-game. If not, then something could happen to Catra, and that thought just burns a fire in the pit of her stomach.

She shoves the last few crucial items into her satchel and loads up her gear for the trip to Plumeria. It’s only their first stop in order to advance the Hordes forces to get closer to Brightmoon, so Adora understands the higher priority. Plus, it’s providing her the mission to get Catra back, so she won’t complain. She just hopes they can accomplish their mission quickly so that they can begin their next mission: to rescue her best friend.

Adora sniffs the air and detects the putrid smell of death wafting in from the hall.

“Adora,” Shadow Weaver speaks in that sickeningly sweet tone. “You’re ready to get Catra on your first mission?” She reaches the alpha and halts her movements with a hand on the blonde’s shoulder. Adora faces her with determined eyes. “My, I sure hope you’re able to accomplish your mission in Plumeria before Catra’s potential demise. I can only imagine how they must’ve broken her down, so weak and small.”

That lights something in Adora she didn’t know existed. She hates the words Weaver uses when she describes Catra’s situation and the tone she speaks in regarding her mate. There’s that word again…

The thought is gone the moment Shadow Weaver opens her mouth. “Well, you better be off. Wouldn’t want Catra being tortured any longer than is necessary.” Her gaze lingers on Adora for a few more moments after she speaks to calculate the result they had on the young alpha. Adora’s nostrils are flaring as she breathes in and out and the older woman believes her words had the desired effect. She glides her way towards the exit.

---

Glimmer runs up to Princess Perfuma and holds her hand out in greeting. “Princess! It’s lovely to meet you, I’m Commander Glimmer of Brightmoon. We had some scouts report that you needed some help, so here we are!” Glimmer’s excited exuberance shone through each word.

“Oh,” the flower princess’s response is a little lack luster compared to what Glimmer had expected. Perfuma notices Glimmer’s offended face and corrects herself, “Oh! I’m sorry. It’s just that we thought that there would be a lot… more of you.” She smiles sheepishly and glances at Bow with the unknown guard Glimmer had forgot was with them.

“I know there isn’t much of us,” Glimmer gestures her arm towards her companions, “but we’re excellent problem solvers and fighters.” She smiles brightly at Perfuma in order to boost the other woman’s confidence in her.

“Sure! Yes, that’s lovely.” Replies the flower princess. “Well, we’re so glad that you could make it. We’ve been having some… issues, lately.” She says it as the flowers she conjured in her hands wilt.

“Yeah,” Bow interjects, “we noticed the forest isn’t looking so good here.”

“We are going through some tough times, but as long as the Heart Blossom remains strong, I just know we can make it through.” Her smile falters as more flowers being to wilt around them.

“We heard the Horde was in the area, you don’t think it has anything to do with that do you?” Bow questions.

“The blight did hit as they arrived,” Perfuma expressed through a fearful face, “but, I’m sure the universe will right itself again. Come! Let me show you around.” Her mood flipped a complete 180 degrees giving the two whiplash.

As they walked, Glimmer felt it was time to mention the other reason they were present. “Princess Perfuma, there was another reason we’re here. We wanted to talk to you about this.” She unsheathes the sword from her back, and it flickers a beam of light. “We believe this to be the sword of She-Ra.”

Perfuma’s eyes go wide with a shimmer as she gapes at it.

“We believe that She-Ra will show herself again.” Bow explains, his face full of hope.

“Oh, my” Perfuma says. “It’s so shiny,” she smiles brightly. “Oh! Do you know how to use the sword? It could be quite useful to healing my lands.”

The pair look at each other confused and Glimmer responds, “We don’t know how to use the sword. I’ve seen its’ magic once when someone else was holding it.” She immediately thought of Catra and confusion arose. “Wait, this thing can heal?”

Perfuma smiles brightly. “Oh, yes. It’s been said that She-Ra has healing capabilities for all of Etheria. She would be able to heal our land. Maybe this person was She-Ra! The one who held the sword. There has to be a connection.” Her eyes were hopeful.

Glimmer gives an incredulous look to Bow after hearing those words. There’s no way in hell Catra could be She-Ra, the benevolent protector of Etheria. The pink haired princess begins to laugh uncontrollably. She wipes away a tear. “Oh, now that’s good.”

Perfuma’s expression is all confusion as she takes in the interaction.

Bow chimes in, “you see, the person who held it was a Horde soldier. There’s just no way it could be her.”

Glimmer starts another fit of giggles. “Exactly! She’s insufferable.” She rolls her eyes and wipes her face.

Perfuma doesn’t take their judgment lightly. “Well,” she says in a serious tone, “It seems like the universe has a plan for her and if she’s the only one who’s managed to make the sword perform magic, then she must be important.” She turns to walk away on that note.

Gimmer calms down after that lecture and regrets her tone.

An explosion is heard from across the land. They all look to see where it had come from and notice a large plume of smoke off in the distance.

“It’s got to be the Horde,” Bow proclaims. “Maybe we should go and check it out.”

Glimmer is on the verge of agreeing when Perfuma interjects “Oh my, no we shouldn’t.” She looks down to her palm. “This is my power.” A blossom forms in her hand. “We aren’t enough to take on the Horde. We know that the universe will right these wrongs and give us back the power of our land. We just want to live peacefully.” Her smile returns and Glimmer is starting to get irritated.

“Look,” Glimmer starts, “the Horde is doing something to your land. Don’t you want to find out? See if we can fix this mess?”

Before Perfuma can respond, a local runs up to them, alarmed. “Princess! The Heart Blossom… it’s fading.” The words were spoken somberly from the muscle clad woman.

They all take off sprinting back to the tree. Perfuma falls before it with her hand on the stone. “It’s getting worse.” Another explosion sounds off from where the Horde is operating. “I have to get my people to safety. Thank you for trying to help, but we’re outnumbered.” She turns away before they can even respond and begins to escort her people to gather their things.

“Ugh,” Glimmer exclaims, “this is not going how I expected.” She turns to the smoke and with resolution says, “Bow, we have to do something. We don’t have She-Ra, but we have each other. Maybe we can go scout some weak points or, or just find out what’s happening to the land.” She starts walking off.

Bow places his hand on Glimmer’s shoulder. She turns a little surprised. “Okay,” says Bow, “but really quick, just drink some of the water we brought. If this goes badly, like I think it will, then you’re going to need your strength, Glim.” His smile is soft and kind.

She sighs feeling rushed at the urgency of the matter. “Fine, Bow. Give me the damn bottle.” She holds out her hand irritated at the fact that he’s of course right.

He reaches into his bag and digs around a little before he grabs it, revealing it with a bit of flair. Glimmer grabs the bottle and pours a mouthful that she quickly gulps down. She thrusts it back to him and takes off towards the smoke. Bow follows her trying to replace the bottle where it came from while keeping the contents of the bag inside. He finds a bit of paper that he scribbles a last-minute goodbye to Princess Perfuma. He gives the note to one of the hunky guys carrying some containers of food. Hopefully, the princess will change her mind.

---

Bow, Glimmer, and their one guard they keep forgetting about, look upon the giant metal base camp. Its’ fumes are overpowering, and they can see some of the machinery digging into the branches of the trees.

The trio duck back down behind their bush and decide on what to do. Bow voices, “well, it’s pretty well guarded.”

“Yeah,” Glimmer says, “maybe we could teleport to the tops of those trees to get a better view. Then, I could see where we need to go and take out anyone who gets in our way.” She punches her fist into her other hand for emphasis.

Bow reaches out his hand to cover Glimmer’s fists. “Or, we could teleport to the trees to get a better view and reassess our plan from there.” He smiles cutely at her knowing how effective it is.

Glimmer groans. “Fine.” And in a flash all three of them are up in a tree looking down. The guard gets a little off balance when Glimmer reaches to stabilize them. They smile sheepishly at their blunder.

The three peer down and see that the machine is pretty large as well as the number of troops surrounding the hideout. They sit tight and overhear one of the soldiers. “Alright, you heard the boss. We have that battalion heading our way for support. Let’s get this operation up and running to full functionality!” They bark the orders and soon everyone is dispersing to do their final checks.

The pair glance at each other with concern. Glimmer speaks, “what are we gonna do Bow? There’s more of them coming and we don’t have any help.” She sounds a little exasperated.

“We have to get down there and do something,” he says with finality. “Anything we do will be better than just sitting her. Maybe you could distract them with some teleports while I sneak behind them to check that machine. We need to destroy it. It might save the Heart Blossom.”

“Okay,” Glimmers face is colored with concern, and she looks to their guard. “I’ll teleport us all down there and you two try and stop the machine.” They all nod in agreement and prepare for battle.

Glimmer poofs them all to the ground on the inside into one of the back corners. It’ll at least give Bow enough time to wait until it’s safe and then move in on the machine. She looks at him with a warm smile before teleporting off. She lands herself behind a canister containing who knows what and waits for her best chance. She sees the front gates opening to the camp and there’s a massive load of people marching in. There’s a huge blonde woman at the front of the unit along with a scorpioni woman. Glimmer gasps at the untimeliness of their plan and teleports back to the others.

“Bow,” she whisper yells, “the other unit has already gotten here.”

They overhear the commander from before, “Oh! Force Captain, you’re-you’re early.” They give the scoprioni woman a solute and she does not look happy.

“Why isn’t this place up and running!? We have orders to take out Plumeria and you’re not even prepared.” The woman turns away slightly to face the blonde woman and loudly whispers, “man this is so cool! Being in charge is a piece of cake. It’s just a lot of yelling.” The scorpioni turns back and continues to berate the commander of the camp as they walk further out of the groups sight.

Glimmer looks upon the blonde woman and feels something inside of herself stirring. “Oh, wow.”

“What? What is it? Do they see us?” Bow’s uneasy rant shows his anxiety as his voice squeaks.

Glimmer’s mouth opens and shuts as she tries to formulate words. “I-uh, no it’s not that. She’s just uh… very big. Do you think she’s an alpha?” She smells the air and the aroma wafting to her is clearly an alpha’s scent. Her mouth waters a little.

Glimmer smacks herself. “Get ahold of yourself Glimmer. You’ve seen plenty of attractive alphas. She’s no different.” She turns the corner to look back at the alpha, and she catches the woman sniffing the air. Something makes the hairs on the back of Glimmer’s neck stand on end as she sees the woman catch on to what she’s smelling. Her eyes turn into a fiery blaze that makes Glimmer’s feet turn into cement blocks. “Crap!” She teleports all three of them to a more secluded part of the camp that she thankfully noticed earlier.

“What?” Bow asks, “what is it Glimmer? What’s wrong?” His concern is painted all through his voice and he grabs her shoulders to get her to focus.

“She… I think she could smell my heat. She was sniffing the air and-and I don’t know. She looked over in our direction. I just freaked a little.” She rubs her eyes with her hands as she tries to get ahold of herself.

Bow decides. They have to do something about the polluting device, and they need to get out of here. It’s up to him since Glimmer is going through something. He aims one of his explosive arrows towards the machine. He fires one after another, after another. The consecutive explosions can be heard from their location, and something snaps Glimmer out of her stupor. They all turn and look to see the outcome.

Soldiers are running and trying to fan some of the flames out. It looks like they took out a big chunk of the machine, but the soldiers are already trying to fix what they can. The three look at each other and decide that it’s now or never. They run out with their screaming battle cries. The Horde soldiers turn and look at the trio with confusion until the pieces fall into place that they were the ones to set off the explosion, then they charge in retaliation.

Glimmer comes upon two guards and teleports away so that they hit each other with their electric wands.

Bow loads up his arrows and flies them across the courtyard. They connect with a cluster of Horde soldiers, and they all get tied up. Without realizing, their personal guard protects Bow by deflecting a laser baton that was aimed directly for his back. The two stand beside each other as the threats continue to pursue them. Out of the corner of Bow’s eye he sees the giant blonde woman running for Glimmer.

Glimmer notices the giant woman and dodges her advance by teleporting away. She materializes behind the larger woman and shoots magic blasts at the back of her head. The blonde turns and advances on her. Her face is full of this scary determination. Glimmer realizes she may be in trouble with this one. They continue to punch and throw blows for a few consecutive minutes that easily feels like an hour.

The woman finally grunts and launches herself at Glimmer. She grabs ahold of the princess’s arms and pins her to the ground. Then, something else catches the princess’s attention. Glimmer begins to feel the sword attached to her back practically vibrating beneath her. But her attention is quickly regained by the blonde woman hovering above her inhaling deeply. Glimmer assumes the worst as she thinks this alpha is about to sense her heat and do unspeakable things. The blonde’s eyes are full of hate and she finally speaks, “Where… Is… Catra!?” She roars it out of her mouth getting splashes of spit on the princess’s face.

Glimmer looks so confused as she surely is. “What? What do you want with her?” Then, a revelation dawns on her as moments from inside the woods bombard her. The golden figure that rescued them and the connection to Catra. “Are you –“

She’s cut off by an exploding arrow that lands directly next to them. The blonde woman puts up her arms to deflect some of the explosion, but she does end up on the receiving end of most of the blast. She falls over and off Glimmer. Then, her body transforms back into a smaller woman wearing a simple Horde uniform.

Confusion is plastered all over Glimmer’s face as she stares down at the seemingly lifeless body next to her when she hears Bow. “Glimmer! Oh, my goodness I was so worried. C’mon, we need to get –“

Before he can finish speaking a horn blares out in the distance right before a loud crash and bending metal sound comes from the other side of base. They turn and look to see Princess Perfuma gliding in on a tidal wave of plants. Her people haul in behind her as they each begin taking out numerous Horde soldiers. “I always said the Universe would repay the Horde for what they’ve done. Well, I guess that day is today,” Perfuma exclaims.

The group takes down a vast majority of soldiers and Glimmer continues to blast them while Bow finishes his quiver of arrows.

Glimmer catches sight of the scorpioni woman picking up the unconscious blonde and taking off into the woods on an undamaged skiff. She squints her eyes in confusion and decides she’ll be speaking to a certain feline here in the next day or so.

After some of the smoke clears, the group rejoices in their victory. There are plant vines lining the entire perimeter of the base camp and soldiers are being gathered as prisoners. Glimmer jumps and Bow embraces her tightly. He sets her down and gives her a quick glance over. “Glimmer, are you alright? I saw what happened.” His eyes are full of concern for the woman before him.

The princess looks down to the ground in contemplation. “Yeah,” she starts, “I’m okay Bow. I think… I think she was looking for Catra.”

His eyes go wide a bit. “That’s… kind of a relief. I was so worried she smelled your heat.” He holds her hands close to his chest.

“I know, I thought the same. I really thought she was going to hurt me after smelling the air so thoroughly. I could tell she was a really strong alpha. I just… After she scented the air she asked me…” She looks into Bow’s eyes. “She asked me where Catra was. I wonder if… maybe she could smell her on me?”

“That’s one powerful alpha. You haven’t even been near Catra in the last 24 hours. How could she still smell that?” His mild concern turns to worry.

“I don’t know, but it seems like we need to talk to the Horde scum about this.” She shakes off the fear that filled her entire body from the entire experience and she inhales some of Bow’s calming pheromones. She smiles softly.

They return to the heart of Plumeria where the Heart Blossom lies, but it only looks marginally better. Perfuma’s face is still downcast as they realize the Horde was certainly messing with their land, but it doesn’t seem to be the only reason for the dimming of their stone. “I wonder what this could mean? Our magic seems to be depleting for some reason.” She turns to face Glimmer. “Have you had any difficulties with your rune stone?”

Glimmer shakes her head, “no… but we’ve been meaning to address the other kingdoms about joining the rebellion.” Hope springs into her voice, “we could ask if they’ve had any issues like this. Our magic seems to be connected and if there’s something wrong with your stone, it’s only a matter of time before it affects the others. If you join us, I’m sure we could get the Heart Blossom working again with the help of the other princesses?”

Perfuma’s face softens at her speech. “You inspired us. You kept positive when we were so negative, and I want to thank you for that. So yes,” she says a little begrudgingly, “I will join the Princess Alliance with you. Let’s figure this out and fully restore our stone!” She announces it and the people around them all cheer.

---

Scopria returns the skiff to its’ proper location. She climbs down with Adora and she takes off towards the infirmary bay. “Watch out!” She yells to get people out of her way. She makes it to the infirmary and lays Adora down onto one of the beds. The blonde has some bruising and bleeding from the blast, but she’s definitely still breathing. Scorpia calls over one of the medical technicians and they get right to work. Oh, c’mon buddy. You can make it. I know you’re stronger than this.

The bay doors burst open and Shadow Weaver enters in a flurry. “What happened?” Anger and disappointment are clear in her voice.

“She had one of the princesses in her grasp, but one of the other guys shot an exploding arrow right by her body. It took her out and she hasn’t woken up.” Scorpia regrets all those times she got Adora excited to save her friend. She knows this is somehow her fault.

Weaver doesn’t turn from Adora and raises her hand in Scorpia’s direction, “leave!” She says with finality.

Scopria walks out the door with her head hanging low. She has to make up for this. She just knows she can help with this. She has to. For Adora.

Chapter 14: The Truth Comes Out

Summary:

Lets keep the momentum rollin

The doors to the so called “dungeon” fling open as an ornate woman with dark hair waltzes in with a flourish. It catches Catra off guard since nothing much happens here. She was busy grooming herself a few moments before. It’s too bad she finished, because she could’ve given this priss a show she doubts the older woman has ever witnessed before.

“Where is the trespasser!?” She announces to the heavens.

The guards look at each other with a snicker. Seconds later, Angella flies down onto the massive veranda and walks into the room. “Ah, Castaspella. Thank you for joining us,” says the queen.

“Ah, yes and you’re fashionably late as always,” says Castaspella with a cheeky grin.

The queen bites her tongue as she enters further into the room. “As I relayed in my message, I have a prisoner here that we need to question.” She waves her arm in the direction of Catra and the feline snarls.

Castaspella recoils at the rude gesture and moves closer to inspect the woman behind the shield of magic. The older woman steps closer reverently as she looks upon the interesting creature. She holds her hand out as though she could touch her.

“You have a staring problem,” Catra unsheathes her claws, “I can fix that.”

The older woman drops her hand, but she doesn’t let it deter her forward movement. She knows she’s protected by the shield after all. “Interesting, you’re a chimera.” Yes, Castaspella can tell even with the glowing tone of magic surrounding the other woman.

“A what?” Catra looks down at her own body self-consciously, like this woman somehow sees through her. Catra hasn’t known much about herself or where she’s come from, and this woman dissecting her with her eyes is making her extremely uncomfortable.

“A chimera,” she smiles devilishly.

“What’s a chimera,” Angella interjects.

The dark-haired woman turns her attention to the queen and answers, “a chimera is form of extremely rare magic. It’s where your genetic material is derived from two distinctly different individuals. It usually occurs early in gestation. There isn’t a whole lot we know about it, but it is rare and can sometimes be the perfect formula for a unique form of magic.”

Catra starts to get creepy experimental vibes from this woman and recoils.

“Castaspella, I do require your specific skill set for questioning her. We can discuss this later.” Angella finds this all interesting, but unfortunately, she has more pressing matters.

“Right,” Castaspella says with a flourish. She turns back to Catra. “Alright, now. Just hold still.” She waves her arms and creates a myriad of symbols in midair.

Catra hasn’t seen magic like this before. She tries to move or to say something to stop what’s happening, but she freezes. Almost like it’s her body’s automatic response in a situation like this. She gets angry at her inability to act, and the magic is thrown and passes over her body. She braces for the pain, but nothing comes. She opens her eyes after flinching from the impact that never came and looks around confused. “What did you do to me?” Catra starts panting as her anxiety grows.

The queen responds, “It’s a truth spell, don’t try to resist it. You won’t be able to.”

Catra feels like a caged animal being poked a prodded for some sick fuck’s pleasure. She growls, but it does nothing to scare Angella, although she gets a small quiver out of Castaspella once more.

“What does the Horde want? Why were you here?” Asks the queen.

Catra growls again straining her body as if she can fight the magic purely by will alone. She grunts, “I don’t know, except that they want to end the rebellion for good. I was at Thaymore on a mission to capture the town.”

Angella fires off the next question, “what are they planning?”

The feline grunts, but she can do nothing to hold it in. “Like they would tell me their plans? I’m just a cadet. They don’t tell me shit, and even if they did, it was probably just to manipulate me.” That hurt even coming from her own mouth, but she knew it was the truth. They’ve been manipulating all of them her whole life.

The queen isn’t surprised by the response. She supposes there really isn’t much else to ask especially for a low-ranking cadet. But suddenly something else comes to mind that she would like to know the truth about. “Why –“ the queen begins, “Why did you save Glimmer?”

Well, that sure as fuck was not what Catra was expecting. “I –“ Catra stumbles to find the words. She looks down indignantly at the floor. She can’t control the truth from spilling over, “I already told you that no one deserves that from a pack of alphas.”

The queen looks on not fully convinced. She can’t wrap her mind around it. A Horde soldier that was raised and bred for war, doesn’t just let the princess that’s holding her hostage succumb to the wills of a group of alphas? “Bullshit,” she says and Castaspella lets out a dramatic gasp. “You could’ve gotten away. You could’ve been free and back to your unit. You’re smart enough, skilled enough. You could’ve survived the entire journey back. But you stayed, why?” Her voice grew harsher with each passing word.

Catra grits her teeth as she doesn’t want the truth to spill. She can’t reveal all her secrets to this woman she hardly knows. She clenches her claws into her thigh, and she winces at the pain. It usually helped with Shadow Weaver’s dark magic, but this is too pure and simple. It isn’t painful or invading, just open. “Because I have to find Adora, and Glimmer had the sword. I couldn’t run off without it.”

After that revelation, Angella’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why? Who is Adora?”

Catra strains against the magic once more and holds her breath as she clenches her entire body, her blood roaring in her ears. “Because. I don’t know why, but I’m having visions that –“ she strains to hold in her words. She forces her hands from her thighs to scraping at her scalp. She drops to her knees, and she groans from the exertion, “Adora needs the sword. I don’t know why. But every time I touch it, I see her. I have to get to her she’s –“

 The feline’s words cut out again straining against the rushing rapids of her thoughts. They fall so effortlessly out of her mouth, like the metal clad walls she’s spent her entire existence building had a gaping hole rupture through the center. A growl starts deep in her throat. Then, the words, that have crept in before during the darkest of nights, escape without her permission. “She’s my mate” her voice is blown and gravely like she just let slip her deepest held secret. The words startle Catra as she looks around, specifically at the floor. She’s uttered those words from deep within herself, but she doesn’t even fully understand them or where they’re coming from. She regains her breath as she pants to replace the depleted oxygen.

Angella looks on at this woman. At least she got her answer. It wasn’t what she had hoped, but it has confirmed some of her suspicions about Catra’s intentions. Her eyes turn downcast, and she sighs – thinking of her own mate. Angella clears her throat, “that’s all for now.” She turns to leave.

“I meant what I said before.,” Catra pauses as the queen barely turns to acknowledge that she spoke. “No one deserves that. No one.” She still pants to regain her breath. Today was turning out to be more exhausting than she thought possible.

The two women turn to leave Catra to her own devices and the guards escort them out.

Suddenly a burst of magic appears before Catra, and she audibly hisses.

Glimmer lands with Bow behind her back, her hands on her hips and a scowl to match her mother’s. “Okay fess up, who is this Adora? Is she a gigantic blonde woman, ripped and muscly, smells like… sandalwood and sweat?”

Catra hisses at her words, this bile rises in her throat at Glimmer describing Adora like something she seeks after. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Sparkles. I think your heat has gotten to your head.” She down right sneers at the woman.

“Ugh,” Glimmer is just as fed up with this situation as the next guy. “Will you stop being insufferable for two seconds?” She walks closer to Catra and stands firm without an ounce of fear. She’s seen this bitch run for her life just like she did back in that forest. There are cracks in those frustratingly high walls she has wrapped around her. “Look, I want to figure some things out just like you do. You were talking about the sword and how you’ve been having visions of this ‘Adora.’ I just need to know if she’s the one I saw when we –“

Glimmer is cut off by Catra coming as close as she can to the magical barrier. The feline sniffs the air taking in the fullest capacity her lungs would allow. It is faint, and difficult to get past the smell of the electric magic surrounding her, but she can smell her. She can smell Adora, and her eyes dart towards the source. They narrow in a suspicious, an angry kind of way. “Why do you smell like her?” She is also picking up the faint, but still detectable traces of Glimmer’s heat and a boulder feels like it drops into her stomach. She hisses an ugly sound. “You were with Adora!?” Her tone is very accusatory.

The sparkly princess throws her hands up immediately in self-defense. “Woah there, Horde scum. Adora attacked me.” She pauses momentarily, “it isn’t like that!” Her nose crinkles. She continues, “she jumped me after gaining the upper hand and before I knew it this giant alpha has me pinned to the ground. I think she could smell your scent on me. I mean, fuck at first I thought she was hot, but –“

“Shut up!” Catra feels somewhat feral – it had been a long day for her. She knows Adora’s out there and the dummy found Catra because of her scent. She knew I was with Glitter.

Glimmer pulls Catra from her thoughts once more. “She didn’t do anything! I didn’t do anything, thank you very much. I don’t jump on every hot alpha I see.” Glimmer crosses her arms at the accusation and Catra growls at the way she flippantly describes Adora. Glimmer groans again. “We’re getting off topic.” She sighs and puts her fingers to her temples to focus. “You said you were trying to get the sword to Adora –“

“How do you know about that?” Catra asks feeling exposed.

“Oh. We were standing just outside. I heard everything.”

Catra groans into her hands. This day is just bullshit.

“Anyways,” Glimmer continues as she rolls her eyes. “I think, by your obvious reaction, that we must’ve run into her. Tell us what we need to know about her. She was huge and strong. If Bow hadn’t blown her up, I probably would be –“

“He what!?” Catra leaped at the magical barrier, which gave a small jolt. But it’s nothing compared to the anger that just welled in her chest.

Bow finally enters the conversation, although not willingly. He has his hands raised in defense, “woah! It wasn’t that close.” His voice squeaks, “she was on top of Glimmer I had to make sure –“

“Why was she on top of you?!” This conversation was not going well. Everything they were saying was further angering Catra and this bile kept rising in her chest at every mention of Adora and Glimmer. Glimmer who also happens to be in heat, and Catra knows what happens when omegas are in heat. They’re like beacons of sex just trying to lure in an alpha to fuck. The idea of Adora being lured by Glimmer of all people makes her want to thrash her claws through anything she could get ahold of. She has only felt like that when Adora made new friends when they were younger. She hasn’t felt the urge much since.

Glimmer nearly implodes, “Oh, my shit! This conversation is getting out of hand. She tackled me! I told you this. That’s how she smelled you on me. Stop freaking out! I don’t want your precious Adora.” She blows the few hairs that somehow fell in her face from this trainwreck of a conversation and sighs in frustration.

Catra calms down at Glimmer’s vehemence. She doesn’t smell that much like Adora so what she’s saying does seem plausible. She tries steadying her racing heart. She shakes out her mane and tries to get control of herself. This magic truth crap is doing weird things to me, she thinks. After a few more breaths she regains some of her control. “Adora is my,” she cuts herself off and her eyes dart from side to side as longing and confusion flood her brain. “She’s an alpha soldier, we knew each other in the Horde.”

“Okay, that’s good. We’re getting somewhere.” She looks at Bow and releases a heavy load of the exasperation that’s been building.

Something said earlier is bugging Catra. “Why do you keep saying that Adora is so big?” As far as Catra remembered, Adora was modestly muscular, but definitely not as big as the pair are making her seem.

Glimmer looks at her stunned. “Uh, because she’s huge!” She gestures widely with her arms, “like 8 feet tall and arms as thick as my head.” Glimmer’s rant cuts short when she remembers after the explosion that the woman shifted somehow becoming smaller. She thought the explosion was just giving her a concussion and causing some confusion, but maybe she did really see a burst of light after the woman fell to the ground.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Catra’s getting frustrated. Were they talking about her Adora, or not?! “Adora is a few inches taller than me and a bit thicker, but not much. Trust me, they barely feed us.” She rolls her eyes at the memory of grey slop and ration bars.

“Okay well,” Glimmer starts, “that’s the one who tackled me and left that scent on me. I don’t know what else to tell you. There was some magical light after she was hit by Bow’s arrow and her body was smaller when that big Scorpioni woman grabbed her and ran off.”

“Someone grabbed her?” Panic rises a fraction in Catra’s voice.

“Yeah,” Bow interjects, “it was someone from the Horde. She was giving the commander of the stronghold a hard time about not being ready for their advancement on Plumeria. She was kind of funny, actually.” He chuckles as he remembers the banter.

“It was probably a Force Captain,” Catra says absentmindedly as she tries to make sense of what they’re telling her.

“A Force Captain? That’s like a high rank, or something?” Glimmer asks.

Catra looks up quickly realizing she said that out loud. She shouldn’t give away any more information about her forces. “Not really, but they have some responsibility.” That was a half-truth, and Catra starts to feel the gaping hole in her mind beginning to close as the truth spell wears off. “This still doesn’t make sense. You said she was tall?”

They both nod and Glimmer continues, “yeah. She had long flowing hair too and bright blue eyes. Actually, they were almost glowing.”

Catra looks up abruptly as a memory comes back to her. After she was struck by Huntara, she had a vision of a big glowing woman that felt very similar to Adora and again in the woods when the sword helped save her and Glimmer. She shakes her head and tries to make sense of this.

“What?” Glimmer interjects, “what is it?”

The feline looks up with disdain. She doesn’t trust them, and she can’t give them everything, or they might see right through her. If Adora is already turning into this magical thing before having the sword, then what does it all mean? She somehow has this shapeshifting power, but she also… needs the sword? But why? What is the connection? Catra’s eyes widen for a moment as her brain goes on a different tangent. If she’s shifting in front of other people, then that means more people know about it… and that means. “Fuck.” Her eyes shift from one tile on the floor to another as she begins to piece together a part of this unfortunate puzzle.

Glimmer grows in frustration as Catra seems to be having some epiphany without them. “What is it? Tell us. Maybe we can help.”

It’s an olive branch, Catra knows, but this is too sensitive. For all she knows, she’ll tell them, and they’ll just use the information against her, just like Shadow Weaver would. Speaking of Weaver, if more people know about Adora’s new form, then obviously she knows. There’s no way that hag hasn’t been keeping tabs on Adora, her golden child, ever since she left. She probably watches her sleep for fucks sake. I can’t trust anyone, she thinks. “I need to get to Adora. Take me with you on your next mission. She’s connected to that sword for some reason. We can find out more when she’s with us, and she’ll be more reasonable if I’m with you. If she attacked you and was asking about me, just imagine how much simpler it can be if I’m already there.” She’s pleading and it makes her want to vomit, but it’s her best chance.

Bow and Glimmer look at each other and speak silently through their eyes. It’s really weird. Glimmer finally turns to her, “how do we know you won’t just jump into her arms at the earliest convenience. We need some collateral, something to make sure you don’t try anything sneaky.”

Catra rolls her eyes. She supposes that’s a fair point. It was her first plan of course, but they’re smarter than they look. She’ll have to try something else. Her goal here is to get the sword to Adora so she can complete this weird ass cosmic mission and return back to the Horde with the dummy. “Okay, fine. You can tie me up. I don’t know how much she’ll like seeing me bound, but maybe you can… hold that sword to my throat or something. She’s not dumb.” Well, not all the time anyways, she thinks, “she won’t attack.” Catra just likes to give Adora a hard time, but she’s very capable in combat and a great decision maker.

The pair make lingering eye contact again and finally come to a conclusion. Glimmer nods her head once at Catra, “we’ll think about it further. In the meantime, maybe we should do some more research on this chimera thing.” Glimmer turns to Bow, “if she really does have magic, then maybe it can help us find She-Ra.”

Bow looks nervous as he contemplates something, but ultimately smiles softly at Glimmer.

The princess sighs and takes a few steps closer to Bow so they can teleport out of there undetected. She turns back to Catra before they leave, “I’m sorry we hurt your friend. I’m sure she’ll be alright.”

Before Catra can retort something sarcastic, they’re gone.

She’s left alone once again after those tumultuous affairs.

First, the queen berates her about Adora and then she endures that nonsense just shortly after. Her body is screaming at her in pain from what she caused herself earlier. Normally, pain always helps keep her more in control of herself, but this time it failed her. She lightly rubs the pads of her fingertips over her aching scalp and doesn’t even bother with her thighs. That’s definitely going to bruise, she thinks. She applied too much pressure that time and nearly broke the skin.

She moves over to lay down on the cushion and does her best to not lay on her injuries. It proves to be challenging, but eventually she curls around herself just right. Her eyes close and she begins to think of Adora and about going back to the Horde together. Her ‘barely-a-plan’ could work she supposes. But then, she realizes something…

If she goes back, then who’s to say they won’t just get separated again. That bitch Shadow Weaver has done everything in her power to keep them apart, especially after she found out about Adora being an alpha – that sickening bile rises back up at the memory. Weaver hadn’t even bothered trying to talk to Catra or see if her physical changes could be promising. It’s always been about Adora. Sweet, cocky stupid Adora. She’s always hated how Weaver would pit them against each other as though it would drive a wedge between them. But she failed at that too because it’s only brought them closer.

If we go back… then we won’t be together again. Not in the way that... she doesn’t allow herself to finish that thought. They’ll only separate us. The thoughts continue to reverberate through her skull. Even becoming a Force Captain doesn’t ensure that they’ll be stationed together again, and Catra isn’t sure how much more she can go without her. She isn’t sure what’s happening, but Adora is pulling her into her orbit and she’s so close to just letting it happen.

Being vulnerable and aware of feelings is not Catra’s forte. She’d much rather claw her own eyes out, but it’s almost like her emotions are becoming more forceful in nature. They’re becoming increasingly difficult to ignore or nullify.

In the quiet solitude of her “prison” she lets herself feel. She lets herself want. She wants strong hands gripping her arms and pulling her close. She longs for the brief hint of Adora’s scent from before. The scent that brings her a calming peace she’s never known.

Suddenly, feeling is becoming entirely too much to handle and Catra shuts it down. She can’t think straight when all she can sense is her need for Adora to be right here, right now.

She breathes out a long breath that chases away most of what’s plaguing her mind and does her best to drift off to sleep. It had been a long day.

---

Glimmer and Bow poof back inside of Glimmer’s bedroom and they move to sit down.

Bow’s brow is pinched together in contemplation. “Do you really think finding out about her chimera magic could help us find She-Ra?” He looks at her with soft, worried eyes.

Glimmer senses his trepidation, “yeah. I do.” She says and moves to hold his hands.

He looks down at their entwined fingers and gathers up the courage. “I think,” he pauses, “I might know someone who can help us.” His eyes never leave their hands.

The princess tilts her head in confusion as she waits for Bow to continue. But then she asks, “that’s great bow, who is it?”

He sighs a hefty breath, resigning his tightly held secret. “There’s a study that’s not too far from here. It has tons of books and information that I bet would help us figure out about Catra.”

“Great! We should go tomorrow. Get a jump start on figuring this out.” She smiles enthusiastically.

Bow’s face is still neutral. “There’s just one more thing I should mention.” He moves his hands slipping his fingers over Glimmer’s to calm himself. “The people who own the study,” he glances into her eyes before returning them to their hands. “They, um. They’re my dads.” He doesn’t look up not even when Glimmer nearly inhales the entire rooms worth of air from her audible gasp.

Chapter 15: Tempting Fate

Summary:

Sweeeeeet. I'm trying to reason with myself to complete this story before I start another one. I already have a couple ideas in mind. Ugh it's just so tempting lol

Catra opens her bleary eyes and notices the weird room she’s still trapped in. She lifts her head and smooths her hand over the side of her face. It was smooshed against the fluff of the cushioned bed she had slept on. It felt like her fur was standing up on end. She unfurls her tail from around her body and it flattens out to her side.

The extremity hits something. Probably a pillow, she thinks. There’s like 50 on this bed alone. It’s probably why her back is killing her. Going from the stiff cots in the Horde to the floor of the woods was an easier transition than this is.

Then, Catra hears grunting from what she thought was a pillow and she shoots up out of the bed landing on all fours with her hackles raised. She hisses in the direction of the sound to immediately deter any threats, but the lump of a body that was laying next to her is still out cold.

She approaches slowly and reaches out her hand to move the blankets that had covered her intruder. Blonde hair comes into view. Catra’s heart sinks to her stomach as she leaps up onto the bed. She pulls the blanket back more to reveal Adora curled up in what looks like pain. The feline reaches out to the body facing away from her once again. She grabs for the other woman’s shoulder. “Adora…” she barely whispers out while trying to rotate the blonde’s torso towards her.

When Adora’s body is turned, Catra can see some marks along her jaw and neck.

Catra’s eyes go wide. “Are those… burns?”

Adora’s eyes are still pinched shut almost like she’s in pain and Catra’s heart sinks further. She reaches to touch the non-injured side of her face.

“Don’t.” A voice comes from across the room and there’s a shadow lingering there.

Catra’s eyes grow angry, and she moves to stand, unsheathing her claws to protect the woman lying on the bed. “Who the fuck are you?” It’s almost like this person is at the edges of her mind. They’re just out of sight that Catra can’t make out who they are.

The person moves towards Catra slowly shifting into a clearer picture and the one standing in front of Catra is Adora. A much taller and stronger version of her. The feline goes to smell the air and only smells the blonde. There’s just more assurance and confidence coming from this other Adora. Then, a realization hits her. “Are you the one who attacked Plumeria?”

This person smells the air and it’s almost as though they’ve taken in an intoxicating aroma. They’re jaw slots open and eyes close. The Adora impersonator moves closer to Catra slowly, but purposefully. Her legs are thick like tree trunks climbing high to a nice rear. The person stops in front of Catra.

The felines heart is racing in the presence of this being. Adora’s scent is thick in the air and something else. It’s something much stronger and more potent. It makes Catra want to close her eyes and clench her legs together.

The other person looks shyly down into Catra’s eyes as she lifts her large hand to Catra’s cheek and lightly brushes it with the tips of her fingers.

“Adora?” Catra says a little breathless.

The woman before her closes her eyes and bites her lip. “I’ve missed you so much,” she whispers. It almost looks like she can’t contain her emotion but is trying her best to be delicate with the situation – especially because Catra’s claws are still out.

The feline looks on confused, but she raises her hand to grip at the forearm near her head. The clawed hand grips firmly and begins to ascend up Adora’s arm. Sharp claws lightly trailing along a firm tricep. “How is this possible?” she sounds mystified and looks down to the other Adora on the bed.

The woman smiles and brings her other hand out slowly, still not wanting to startle Catra. She moves that hand to Catra’s lower back pulling the feline forward until their centers are touching, stomach to stomach.

Catra feels flushed as their bodies connect and she looks up into bright blue, half lidded eyes. There’s something about this moment that just feels so charged. Like she can sense this Adora wants her and nothing else. But confusion still clouds Catra’s mind as the fog from earlier still remains, then it clicks. “This is a dream. You’re in my dream.”

“I am,” Adora smiles softly. “I’ve missed you. It’s really distracting how good you smell.” She softly presses down on Catra’s lower back and the two feel closer somehow than they were before. Adora grunts in what Catra can only assume is… pleasure.

Catra’s eyes close at the sound. She feels as though her world is tilting on its’ axis and the only thing keeping her steady is the tight muscle she’s holding onto. Then, Adora’s voice brings her out of her stupor.

“We don’t have a lot of time.” This new version of Adora is so confident and sure. It brings a sense of ease to Catra’s already tense body.

The feline shakes her head some to clear the cloudiness. “Wh – what do you mean?”

Adora moves her hand from the other woman’s cheek and lightly brushes her hair away from her forehead. She looks into Catra’s eyes longingly before she catches another waft of the woman’s scent. It causes her to tighten her grip a little as she moves her hand from Catra’s back to her hip. She squeezes the flesh there due to her need building inside of her.

Catra feels the intensity of the gesture and clings to Adora as well. She brings her arms up to wrap around the blonde’s shoulders, flexing her claws into tight muscle. She leans up onto her toes and, without hesitation, Catra begins marking Adora. They had always done it when she was younger. When she knew nothing about her instincts; although, Shadow Weaver had beaten it out of her for the most part. Saying she was “disturbed” and “shouldn’t be touching others in such a manner.” It’s always been so challenging to ignore them around Adora in the past, but she learned the hard way and forced herself to disregard them.

This time though, is proving to be nearly impossible.

Adora accepts each sweep of Catra’s head, her cheek leaving her own scent behind on Adora’s shoulders and neck. It further pushes the larger woman to grip more at Catra’s backside. Squeezing and kneading the plump flesh and then, reaching under the backs of Catra’s thighs. She gently lifts Catra who instinctively wraps her legs around the woman.

The feline lets out a lewd sound from her throat, leaving hot heat in its’ trail on Adora’s skin. Catra feels flushed and heady as her body seems to be moving on its’ own accord. She pulls her head back from Adora and investigates blue orbs. She can feel Adora’s breath hitting her in the face. She digs the heels of her feet into the blonde’s back and grinds her center on Adora. The other woman’s reaction is a deep and guttural moan. If it were any other person, Catra would find it appalling. But having it come from Adora is just decadent. She clenches her jaw and a moan escapes through her gritted teeth. She’s never felt their connection so powerful.

The scent fanning off Adora’s skin is making Catra’s mouth water.  

The blonde makes a pained sound and slowly sets Catra down. Upon her descent, Catra’s center lightly glides over a delicious bulge protruding from between Adora’s hips. The two are panting from how fast their hearts are beating and all Catra can manage to think about is the gift that changed their lives forever mere inches from her. Her fingers twitch and a rush of arousal hits her core. Catra remembers what it was like to touch it for Adora – the look of pure bliss. She wants to give that again. The feline reaches her hand to delicately graze over the fabric covering her prize.

Adora retracts her body reluctantly and looks Catra in the eyes. Catra sees pain in them. “You need to go,” she says sternly. “It’s not safe. She’s in my head and she’ll find you. I’ve been keeping her at bay, but you know how powerful she is.” Adora’s eyes are sad. She had Catra for a whole two minutes and it’s just not long enough.

“W-what? Why? Who are you talking about?” The anger is rolling in ten-fold after each question. The idea of another woman with Adora at a time like this is fueling a fire the sparked from their very intensely hot moment. She can’t think clearly except to keep anyone away from her Adora.

The blonde moves closer. Her eyes becoming softer as she reaches out to ground her mate again. Her hands rest on the feline’s hips and she looks directly into Catra’s eyes. “I was knocked out and Shadow Weaver is using magic to heal me.”

Catra flinches at the mention of Shadow Weaver. If she’s involved, it must be bad.

But, as if Adora can read her mind, “it’s not that bad. I’ve just been unconscious, and I think she’s trying to figure out what’s going on with me and my shifting. It feels like she wants the magic for herself.” Her eyes become downcast and her jaw clenches.

Catra knows all too well of the depths Weaver would go to, to get her hands on something, or someone, powerful. “So, it is magic that’s causing you to shift?” Catra asks.

“Yes, but that’s why you can’t be here any longer.” She looks down sadly at Catra as though this is one of the most difficult things they’ve ever had to do. “She can’t know you’re here or connected to me at all. Who knows what she’d do?” Adora takes Catra’s hands delicately. All the blonde can think about is protecting Catra.

The feline looks nervous and shocked at the same time. She’s also feeling about five other emotions at the same time as well, but she can’t even begin to think about those, now. “But, but I just found you. I need to talk to you. They know you know me and are looking for me. How – “

“We don’t have time!” Adora’s voice increases in volume. Then, she slumps to the floor on her knees clasping her head on opposite sides with her hands. It’s like there’s a deafening noise trying to rip through her ears. She screams an awful sound as she yells to the heavens. Her eyes are glowing brightly, and the sound is breaking the walls of the room. Catra looks down and around at the falling stone. She dodges what she can until something nearly lands on top of her head.

Adora looks in her direction and reaches to protect her.

---

She shoots up right from the cold metal table she’s been laying on. Her head is pounding as she wakes to the bright florescent lighting. She reaches to touch her head as if it will reduce the pain, but it only increases when she happens to touch too close to the curve in her mandible. She hisses in pain and pulls back her hand. There’s a something covering her face.

She turns to look around at the sterile room she’s in and notices a small mirror on the far side of the room. She rotates her feet off the side of the table and moves to stand slowly. She doesn’t want to push herself if there’s been too much damage.

She’s able to get to her feet without incident and slowly walks to the mirror. It’s dingey and dirty, but she can see the large area of her face and neck covered in leaves and purple goo. The mess has a dark glow to it that specifically reminds her of a familiar dark magic.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you.” As if materializing out of nowhere, Shadow Weaver enters her periphery, her words dripping with an indiscernible eeriness.

She nearly has a heart attack from the surprising jolt. She must be off her game if Weaver was able to get the best of her.

“Adora,” she coos, “you need to take it easy. It’s not every day you get blown up by rebels while trying to rescue your friend.” The old woman stands to move closer. “That needs to stay on until you’re healed. It could get infected.”

Adora realizes where she is and remembers what happened. It’s as though all her memories are flooding back to her. She was blasted away by someone in Plumeria. She caught someone who knew where Catra was, and she… she just let them get away. She didn’t even get a bit of information out of her it all just… She clenches her jaw even though it causes a sever amount of pain and she slams her fist onto the countertop.

“Now, now. Don’t want to break any bones while we’re at it. Come, dear. Tell me what happened.” Weaver’s voice is sickeningly sweet, but there’s something in it that makes Adora want to tell her everything.

“We were ambushed by rebellion soldiers. One of them was a princess with these sparkle powers.” Adora makes an annoyed face, then continues. “I could smell Catra on her, like they had been near her recently. I was so sure of it. I was about to interrogate her when I was knocked unconscious.”

“Ah, yes. Well, one of the soldiers had explosives and that’s what caused your little… mishap. Your injury there,” she points to Adora’s face “is a massive burn that nearly blocked off your airway. Were it not for my quick thinking, you may not have survived.”

Adora’s eyes go wide as she looks to the floor. “Shadow Weaver, I don’t… I don’t know what to say.” She looks back up again to Weaver as a flood of emotion makes her throat clench, “thank you. I swear I was just a little caught off guard, but next time –“

“Next time? What do you mean ‘next time?’ There will be no ‘next time.’” She catches the downcast face Adora pulls, and it makes her lips twitch upwards.

“But! I’ll do better this next time! I won’t fail. I guarantee it.” Adora’s eyes are determined and fiery. She must do this. She needs to get Catra back. Her alpha stirs at the thought and she begins to pant through her anger.

Her eyes glow when Shadow Weaver looks back over her shoulder. “Oh, I don’t know, Adora.” She hums in thought, “It seems to be too dangerous for you –“

“Arghh! It’s not! I can do it. I have to. I’ll take out anyone in my way.” Her nostrils flair as she heaves breaths through her nose. The thought of letting Catra rot in the hands of princesses fuels an unquenchable fire.

Shadow Weaver smiles a wicked grin under her mask and continues. “Well, if you’re so determined… maybe I could have a word with Hordak about reattempting.”

“Yes! Thank you, Shadow Weaver. You won’t regret it!” Adora’s smile reaches all the way up to her eyes.

“Oh, I’m sure I won’t.” Weaver turns to leave feeling far more smug than necessary. “Oh, and as for the bandage. I’d give it a few more hours and then take it off slowly. If you pull too quickly, it could take off a layer of your skin.” As if she wasn’t already pleased with herself, the look of horror ghosting Adora’s face was the cherry on top.

---

“No.” His gravely response is direct and to the point.

“But Lord Hordak, you must see the potential of this situation. We have an alpha with unknown magic. We can use it to benefit our cause and it seems that finding this soldier is a big trigger in releasing the magic. I believe if we play our cards right, we can use this to our advantage.” Shadow Weaver tries her best to appease the man on the throne. His short temper and lack of long game planning tends to infuriate her, but she also knows how to placate him.

He looks down on her unimpressed. “We can’t waste the resources to send more troops to find one soldier.” He grows irritated with her incompetence regardless of a source of powerful magic. It can’t compare with his technology.

“I understand my liege, but that’s why we play it in our favor. She seems to believe the princesses are holding her captive. We could use her as a weapon. Weren’t you just saying how advantageous it would be to take Salineas’s Seagate? We could capture the water and restrict their routes.” Her hands are clasped together as if she were pleading with him. A man in charge is easy to manipulate so long as you make him think he has all the power.

He contemplates this perspective yet seems reluctant. “Fine. Use minimal resources possible. I don’t want our troops wasting time on your pet projects, especially if they continue to prove to be unfruitful.” At that, he turns and waves her out with his hand.

---

Adora walks her way to the chow hall. She feels like she hasn’t eaten in weeks. How long was I out for, she questions.

Before she gets to open the doors to satisfy her hunger, someone startles her.

“Hey, Adora” Demetria says nonchalantly like Adora hadn’t been unconscious or blown up with this stuff on her face.

“Oh, hey, Demetria.” Adora is not excited to see her. This tension, or competitiveness, is just radiating off her and Adora doesn’t have the energy to deal with this.

“How’s your face? I heard a little about what happened.” Demetria’s tone isn’t of concern, but curiosity.

“Well, it hurts like a bitch, but I’ll be alright. Shadow Weaver gave me something that’s supposed to help the healing process.” She lightly runs her hand over the now much dryer bandage and realizes it may be just about time to get them off. Especially, if she wants to keep her skin. Her eyes widen at that train of thought.

“Yeah, an explosion will do that to ya.” She gets into Adora’s personal space as though she was about to touch her wound before the blonde pulls out of reach. “So, do ya think you’ll still be able to train? Or go on any other missions?”

“Yeah,” the blonde looks on with irritation. “I’m going to make sure of it.” Adora reaches out for the door to the chow hall and shoves it without any other thought. She heads inside to get into line.

“Oh, Adora!” Scorpia screams nearly from the other side of the room.

Adora grumbles into her one hand while the other holds onto her tray.

The scorpioni woman makes it to her and lifts Adora up. The blonde’s face is of utter shock and embarrassment. “Oh man. I’m so glad you’re still in one piece! I found you all crumpled up on the ground and I was just so worried.” She pulls Adora in for a tight hug.

Adora, for her part, tried the best she could to escape the larger woman’s clutches, but she loses this battle of strength and forgoes trying to get out of her hold. She sighs loudly and says, “hey, Scorpia. I’m so sorry you were so worried. I didn’t even see the thing coming.” She awkwardly puts her hand to her head.

Scorpia sets her down, “oh I know! I saw the whole thing. You were so focused on that princess and trying to… to-to… what were you doing exactly?” She looks at Adora concerned. Others begin to look on and notice the scene happening in front of them.

“Oh!” Adora exclaims looking around at everyone staring, nervously. “Nothing like, like that… I-I mean she was in heat of course, but that’s not –“

“Wait, she was?” Scorpia looks at her bewildered. “I did not pick that up. Huh! You sure got a good sniffer on you.” She slaps her giant claw on the woman’s back and Adora nearly coughs up a lung. “So that’s why you tackled her,” she says with a frown. “Man, I would’ve thought you had that under control.”

“What? No! It’s not that.” Adora finally gets her ration bars and slop, and her mouth salivates at the prospect of body being satiated. They walk over to an empty table.

“Hold on, Adora. You’re telling me that’s not why you jumped her? I thought you sniffed it out and were… like, y’ano?” Her eyes shift awkwardly side to side.

Adora’s mouth drops open, “why would you think that? I-I don’t want her…” She groans to get rid of her fluster. “I smelled Catra on her. You know that soldier that went missing? My friend? Well, I could smell her on that princess, and I just lost it. I jumped her and I was about to question her when I got hit. I smelled her heat after I got close to her.” She looks down a little embarrassed for some reason.

Scorpia makes an ‘O’ with her mouth in realization. “Man, we were that close? Ugh! Well, you know what they say: ‘try, try, try again,’” she chuckles nervously. “But seriously we aren’t going to try again, right? I mean you got seriously hurt.”

“Pshhhh. I’m fine, Scopria.” Adora doesn’t even believe what she’s saying. “Look, Shadow Weaver is giving me another chance. She’s talking to Hordak right now and I’m pretty positive about the whole thing.” She looks down at her plate of food worriedly, and then she looks back to Scorpia. “I have to get her back Scorpia. She’s really important to me. I…” she pauses, “I need her back. She’s… too important not to.”

The other woman looks on with slight pity. She can tell this means a lot to Adora and she wants to support her friend all the way. She moves her hand to rest on the blonde’s shoulder. “Alright, bring it in.” She pulls Adora tightly to her chest, squishing her. “We got this. We just need to stick together next time. Maybe we could plan it better over some games, or hot cocoa.” She smiles brightly.

“Uh, sure Scorpia.” Adora uses her arm that isn’t being held captive and lightly pats the woman’s strong shoulder. She then shoves herself out of the crushing grip. “We definitely need to plan something. I’ll let you know more of Weaver’s plans as soon as I do.”

---

As Adora finally makes her way back to her room, she closes the door and moves in front of the mirror. She looks at the large covering on her jaw and neck and decides it’s now or never. She pulls at one of the edges and the leaves surprisingly peal away easily. The first one lays in the sink, and it reveals delicate light discolored pink skin. She removes the other large leaves and rinses away whatever goo was left over.

She made sure to be gentle when handling the sensitive new layers of skin. She looks on at herself, at this reminder of her failure. It burns still with the burden of her lack of awareness. I was so close to finding her, she admits to herself.

Images of Catra in a bright room with a waterfall flash in her mind. The feline’s hair was disheveled and Adora was touching her cheek and looking into large, worried eyes.

Adora snaps out of it and starts breathing heavily at the intrusion. It seems almost unbelievable. She doesn’t remember dreaming recently, but that felt like a memory.

She scratches her head and pulls out her hair tie. The loose locks fall around her shoulders, and she attempts to rub the confusion from her temples.

All she can think about is that princess’s face. It was angry and glittery, full of devastating magic. She probably tortured Catra with it, she thinks. It burns a fire in her stomach. I was so close! –

“Dammit!” She screams and slams her fist down onto the steel counter. It had barely dented, but there was enough give from the metal to not break Adora’s hand. She grits her teeth at the physical pain and tries to ignore the emotional hurricane that’s wreaking havoc on the inside of her.

She lifts her shaky hands to rest over her eyes as the darkness brings a certain peace. She feels comfortable enough to cry these angry tears. Tears that represent what she despises most. That she let Catra down, and she was useless as soon as that blast took her out.

She’s back to square one.

Her hands turn to fists, and she vows not to let it happen again. She will get Catra back and this next mission will be a success, as if her own life depends on it.

In some ways it does.

Chapter 16: Secrets Revealed

Summary:

I'm posting this after grammar checking and while I was going through, I ended up adding another 2k words lol. Forgive me if the end has some mistakes.

Catra wakes with a squeaky yelp. She was just about to be crushed by something in her dream. Wonder what happens if get hurt during those, she inquires. She reaches down her arms and pats over her head for any injuries. That was just too weird.

A flurry of magic fritzes into the room and Catra’s hackles raise at the intrusion. Catra grunts, “do you mind?”

“What are you complaining about? You’re a prisoner. You don’t get privacy.” Glimmer crosses her arms as Bow gives her a disapproving glare.

At least someone notices her maltreatment, Catra thinks. The feline rolls her eyes and shifts away from them. “What do you want, Glitter?”

Glimmer groans at her name being incorrect for the thousandth time. “That’s it! I tried being nice Bow, but I can’t. She’s infuriating.” The sparkly woman gesticulates wildly with her hands and the sight out of the corner of Catra’s eyes is pleasing.

“C’mon Glimmer, you aren’t exactly being friendly either,” Arrow Boy says.

He’s really on the ball today with having Catra’s back. She snickers and turns to face them fully. “What do you want, Sparkles?”

“It’s not about what I want, okay? I was trying to be nice. You said you wanted to help us, and we need more information about your,” she gestures to Catra vaguely, “situation.”

“My ‘situation?’” Catra’s eyes narrow in suspicion.

“Yes! Y’ano, your whole potential magic thing. We need to learn more about it and Bow recently told me where we might be able to get said information.” She turns to face him admonishing him slightly.

“I’m sorry, okay?” He throws his hands up in with frustration. He didn’t mean to keep it a secret from Glimmer. It just wasn’t something he was trying to focus on. You know with a whole war raging on and all. “It’s just a lot of family drama and I didn’t want to…” He sighs as he gives up trying to placate Glimmer, and he turns to Catra, “they have a huge collection of artifacts. They’re historians and they can probably tell us something about you being a chimera. Glimmer is hoping we also might be able to learn more about She-Ra.”

Catra’s ears lay back somewhat against her head. The idea of learning more about herself could prove to be beneficial, at least she’d be able to walk around and stretch her legs. “Okay.”

Glimmer turns to her, “okay? You want to go? I didn’t think it’d be so simple, honestly.” She makes a moue and sharply points at her. “Okay, what are you up to?”

“What is it with you and ulterior motives? Trust issues much?” Catra raises to her feet and her tail lightly flicks behind her.

“Well clearly you have some agenda, otherwise why would you be going? I seem to remember a certain cat being tied up and drug through the woods by Bow, just to be infuriating.” Glimmer glares at Catra.

“Oh, shucks. You caught me.” Catra dramatically throws her body onto the bed and her arm on her forehead. “How ever will I escape, now?”

Glimmer doesn’t even react before she teleports into the magical prison to sock Catra with a pillow to the face. She immediately teleports out with a more than smug smile on her own.

Catra sits up seething. She does her best to let that shit go and turns back to the pair.

Bow snickers at their antics.

“You’re right,” Catra says and the pair immediately turn their attention to her. “It is selfish for me to go. I want to know what I am. I’ve never known anything about myself or where I’ve come from.” She stares into Glimmer’s eyes, “I want to know what this all means.” She’s surprised at how easily that lie rolls off her tongue, or at least she tells herself it was a lie. Suddenly she thinks of bright blue eyes boring into her as well.

“Plus,” Bow says in a tone to raise the positivity. “It’ll be a great chance for us all to get to know each other better! Catra, you want us to trust you so you can see Adora soon, maybe this is just what we need?”

His optimism makes Catra gag, but she also feels weirdly comforted by his candidness. It’s a rarity to come by in today’s day and age. “Right,” her face looks like she was the cat who caught the canary. “See? He gets it.”

Bow’s smile is wide, and he clasps his hands together in front of his chest.

Glimmer looks at Catra with disbelieving eyes and approaches her prison. She raises her hands and Catra flinches the smallest twitch as she touches the perimeter, not sure what to expect.

The princess gives a sly smile, then releases the magic and turns to walk away. “Well, we should get going. My mom is going to flip shit if she sees us.” She turns to face the two of them and holds out her hands with a smug grin.

Catra knows where that grin is coming from, and she despises her for it. The electricity in the air sparks and Catra closes her eyes as she reaches out her hand.

---

They poof somewhere outside of the castle and Catra falls to the ground on her hands and knees. She dry heaves as her stomach doesn’t sit well with Glimmer’s magic.

Glimmer giggles annoyingly and they start walking off behind Bow as he leads the way. “It’s not too far from here, but it is a trek.”

“Great,” Catra says sarcastically. She notices that Glimmer isn’t carrying the sword and a part of her deflates. Well, she won’t be able to make any daring escapes without it, so it looks like she must surrender herself to this new kind of torture.

“So,” Glimmer interrupts her thoughts. “Do you guys ever do anything other than train in the Horde?” Glimmer asks.

Catra assumes it was directed at her considering her company, but she wants to play dumb to get on Glitter’s nerves. “Yeah, Arrow Boy. Did you guys have fun?”

Glimmer rolls her eyes, “that’s not even clever. You’ll have to try harder than that, or is that how you had fun? Seeing who could be the biggest ass?” She giggles at her own snarky comment.

“Actually, yeah. How’d you guess? Been reading my diary?” Catra walks and launches herself over a large tree root.

“No, just a guess. You’re pretty easy to read.” Glimmer also climbs over said tree root and continues keeping a watchful eye on their prisoner. “What about Adora?”

The name catches Catra off guard, and she stumbles.

Glimmer teleports and grabs Catra’s wrist before she falls down a steep hill. They look at each other momentarily, almost like they’re acknowledging what just happened, and it makes Catra uncomfortable. She whips her arm away from Glimmer and she continues marching on.

“What about her?” Catra grumbles out.

Glimmer huffs out a heavy sigh, “well, I don’t know. She seems pretty important to you. You mentioned her a few times.” The princess prods purely based on her curiosity.

Catra rolls her eyes since she is not sure she wants to tell them anything. They don’t seem the manipulative types – she looks in Bow’s direction as he whistles a tune. I mean, he’s whistling for fucks sake, she thinks. Her eyes shift and she focuses on her surroundings. It makes her racing heart a bit more calm before she starts talking again. “She’s my closest friend.” She looks down at the ground as she climbs over more roots and fallen foliage. Those words sound wrong coming out of her mouth, but they’re much safer than what she thinks Adora might be – what she calls her in her deepest thoughts.

Bow and Glimmer glance at each other and he nearly squeals as hearts form in his eyes.

Catra shifts directly in front of him with her finger pointing in his face. “Alright, whatever this crap is,” she swirls the appendage in a collective gesture, “stop it. People in the Horde have friends, too, idiot. Now, just shut up and listen.” She pivots on her heel and continues walking in the vague direction Bow had given them earlier. “We did everything together. She uh… used to pull pranks with me and beat people up that gave me a hard time.”

She hears Bow straining to prevent himself from gushing at her words. She appreciates the attempt, but still rolls her eyes. “Recently she uh… started showing signs of being an alpha. They train alphas in a different…” she realizes she might say too much about the Fright Zone, but then she remembers who she’s talking to. She continues, “it’s just a different area. They tell everyone that their training is separate to protect others from their instincts, but I think it’s bullshit.”

The two don’t make a sound as she continues to talk, “So my, uh,” what was Weaver technically? Oh, right, “Well, this bitch, she took Adora as soon as she heard about her shifting in her sleep.” Catra’s face rushes with blood at that admission. It’s innocent by itself, but the actual events that took place are quite personal. “Shipped her off without even giving us a chance to say goodbye,” her voice cracks a fraction – she isn’t sure they could’ve heard it with their average hearing, though.

“That is so awful, Catra. I’m so sorry.” Bow’s voice is calming and not at all filled with pity, there’s only pure remorse.

“Yeah, well. Shit happens, I guess.” She continues marching on as they enter a clearing in the woods.

The pair make eye contact at hearing her story and something inside them just bleeds for Catra. They couldn’t imagine being separated for something so stupid. The moment impacts them deeply as it’s the first time Catra has ever opened up about anything without it dripping with sarcasm or snark. Bow reaches for and lightly squeezes Glimmers hand, and then, they continue moving to stand behind Catra.

All three of them look up at what appears to be a large building with vines and roots creating a modicum of concealment.

Bow sighs, “Okay, we’re here.” He turns to face them both. “But here’s the deal. My dads, they don’t know everything about me or what I’m doing, and I’d like to keep it that way, okay?” The pair nod hesitantly. “I wrote home a while ago about how Glimmer and I are taking classes together and, that recently, we met this bad chick who teaches martial arts on campus.” He smiles with a huge awkward grin.

Catra nods her head approvingly and Glimmer just gapes at him.

“Bow, what are you talking about classes? What is going on here?” Glimmer’s voice was starting to raise as the new information just keeps revealing more insanity.

The young man holds his hands up, pleading. “I know it’s weird, but they think I’m secretly in a historian’s academy and they can’t know that I’ve been fighting Horde soldiers and putting myself in danger. They just… won’t understand.” He sighs from the stress of their impending situation.

Catra’s arms are crossed and looks between the two dramatic ones and starts marching towards the door. “So, what kind of martial arts did you tell them I know? I don’t want to look like an idiot, oh, and did you say I was a blackbelt? I could totally pull that off.”

Glimmer groans sliding her hand down her face. “Of course, you’d be okay with lying about this.”

“Hey! Don’t hate the player, hate the game master over there who lies to his dads.” She snickers.

Bow looks down as he sighs deeply. Then, he smiles awkwardly at Glimmer, and she sighs resigning herself to this little charade. All three step up to the main door and Bow knocks before entering.

“Dads? I’m home on break! I brought a few of my friends from the academy. Hello?” He calls out into the… library?

Catra stage whispers to Glimmer, “who the hell lives in a library?” she asks sarcastically.

Bow turns to glare at her, and she frowns remorsefully waving him off.

They continue walking in further when they hear a commotion coming from another room. They walk towards the sound and enter another larger room. There are tons of vases and other primitive artifacts lining the walls. One of them has the form of a woman riding the back of a dragon. She’s holding a sword in her one hand and Catra feels like she’s getting déjà vu. She blinks away the dream like memory and continues moving into the room behind the others.

A man with long dreads sashays into the room with another man behind him. It startles Catra, but only for a moment, because the men see Bow and rush to him, crushing him in a hug.

“Dads, how’s it going? Y’ano, since I’ve been gone… at the academy?” His smile is pinched, and a dead giveaway.

Catra turns to look at other weird stuff that lays around the room and Glimmer stands close by Bow.

“It’s been great! We found a new artifact after some research near a first one’s ruin.” The dad with dreads continues to chatter to Bow about their adventures while Glimmer sidles up to Catra.

“This is just too weird.” She says it like Catra is supposed to care or something, but the feline just nods her head. “I mean look at him. He put on a sweater! That covers his stomach! It’s like I don’t even recognize him anymore.” Her voice turns into a petulant whine.

Catra rolls her eyes. She was about to retort, but Bow’s dads interrupt them.

“This must be Glimmer and…?” The one with short hair responds.

“Catra.” The feline says proudly.

“Yeah,” Bow intervenes, “remember I told you about our new friend that was into martial arts?” He turns and points his arms in her direction as if they needed visual guidance. Catra rolls her eyes.

“Dads we actually were wondering if you could help us out with something.” Bow says matter-of-factly.

“Sounds great!” The short haired man says. “Let’s get you guys some tea and have a seat. Let’s catch up, son.” He looks at him with so much pride, it churns something in Catra. It’s like seeing this thing she’s always wanted, but never received. It hurts and she doesn’t know why.

She follows the crowd as they set down on a few couches. Catra sits with her tail swaying slightly.

“Lance,” the short haired man calls out, “don’t forget the snacks, too.” He smiles at them.

“On it, George!” Comes the other voice from another room.

Glimmer is utterly in shock as she takes this all in. They’re just so nice and normal, she thinks.

“So, how do you all like the academy? It must be rigorous. Oh! You must’ve come here to look at our First One’s artifacts. We have one of the largest collections.” George gets all of that out in nearly one breath.

Glimmer smiles awkwardly as Catra just picks at her claws. Bow finally interjects, “it’s great! We all just finished finals and boy are we sure glad it’s over.” He laughs stiffly as Lance comes out with the tea.

“Oh! I’m just so excited you two are here. Bow doesn’t really bring by any friends. Y’ano he’s just so shy. Do you want to see baby pictures of him? I even have some of him taking his first bubble bath.” Lance clasps his hands together in the exact same gesture Bow does.

Catra laughs, “Oh I gotta see this –“

“Nope!” Bow stands up and pushes to get the two off of the couch. “I’m going to show Catra and Glimmer my room, now!”

They’re all rushed out the doors and Catra turns on her heel with a hiss. She doesn’t like being man handled, but she tried to remember it was Bow she was talking about.

“Guys, I’m so sorry. I know this is weird –“

“Yeah!” Glimmmer interjects. “Talk about weird. I thought you didn’t want to talk about your past because it was painful and dark, but your dads are so nice and normal!” Glimmer’s exasperation is evident in her hair pulling and Catra just leans against the wall looking bored.

“Shhhh,” he motions for her to calm down some. “I know this isn’t what you were expecting, but you saw them. They hardly let me get a word in. It’s just so tough to tell them what I want. They just don’t listen. I know this is all made up, but it’s been the easiest way to do things.” He looks downtrodden when his eyes raise back up to meet theirs. “Look, let’s just get in there and ask what we came here for, then you two can head back while I finish up my ‘break from school,’ and we can figure it all out when we get back.”

“No,” Catra says nonchalantly. “We need to figure this out now and make our next move. Adora is going to be out there again, and I don’t want to miss my chance to get to her. We need to take care of this today.”

Bow grunts in frustration especially when Glimmer agrees with Catra. That’s a damn first. “Catra’s right, Bow… That felt weird to say, but we need you. And your dads need to accept you for who you are. Not some made up story that they want to hear. If they love you as much as I think they do, then they won’t care.”

“You don’t get it Glim. My dads are completely against the war. That’s why I trained myself in archery and ran away and told them I was in a made-up academy.” Bow looks flustered as he tries to explain.

“So, you’re just going to lie to them forever?” Glimmer says frustrated.

“Not forever, just the foreseeable future.” His eyes are pleading as he looks at them. “Plus, with all their knowledge and artifacts I’m sure we can learn all we need to know about Catra and She-Ra.”

Catra moves off the wall, “I’m in, but only because I can’t wait to see this boat crash and burn.” Her laugh is squeaky and high pitched as Bow drops his head.

The three find themselves back in the large study. Catra walks around the perimeter of the room as she eavesdrops on what Bow is trying to get out of his dads. She could tell by the men’s scents that Lance was an omega and George was an alpha. She supposes that’s how Bow has so many siblings. Yeah, Lance let that little bombshell loose a few moments ago and Glimmer looked like she might blow a gasket. Then, she hears her name being mentioned and she turns fully back to the group.

“- Castaspella said she was a chimera, and we were…” Bow’s voice is cut off as Lance and George look at each other with strange expressions.

“We wanted to ask as soon as we saw, but” George rubs his hand on the back of his neck shyly, “we just didn’t want to make any assumptions and offend your new friend.” He smiles sheepishly turning his attention to Catra. “I’ve never met an actual Magicat before, only read about them. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He reaches out his hand and she just glares at it. He awkwardly puts his hand down as Bow continues to speak.

“Exactly, and that’s why we’re here. Castaspella, who is Glimmer’s aunt, said that she’s a chimera and we weren’t sure what that is exactly. We were wondering if you had any information that we could look through? Also, we found a pretty cool artifact while we were…” Bow’s eyes widen at his inability to come up with a lie on the spot and he turns to Glimmer.

“ – we were on an expedition for our mutual class.” She finishes for him.

“Right! It’s a class about ruins and we both stumbled into a new section where we found a sword. It looks like First One’s tech, and we aren’t sure what it’s for.” His statement sounds more like an opening for explanation by his parents.

Lance just clasps his hands together with all this new information being brought to his attention. “My, you two have just been so busy. Stars, where to even start?” He looks to George. “Did you bring the sword with you? We might be able to take a closer look.”

The pair in front of him both look downcast as they hadn’t brought the sword. Glimmer perks up, “we didn’t, but I bet I could tele –“

“What Glimmer was about to say,” Bow looks at her sternly because she was just about to spill the beans about her magic and she smiles sheepishly. He continues, “…is that she might be able to use my tracker pad to contact someone who could bring it for us?” He looks at her skeptically.

“Yeah, totally was going to message someone to uh, bring it! Yeah, they’ll bring it out for us.” Glimmer chuckles awkwardly and tries to figure out a moment she can escape to teleport back to Brightmoon.

Catra chuckles a squeaky laugh at Bow’s lack of confidence. She marches forward, “yeah, I wanna hear about me, now.”

“Absolutely. I’d never in my life think that we’d see a Magicat in person. Y’ano, since they went underground.” Lance states nonchalantly, like he wasn’t about to destroy Catra with a single sentence.

“They what?” She says a little perplexed.

George runs up and down the stairs quickly, grabbing a scroll in the meantime. He unfurls it dramatically and places it atop the large table they were near.

Catra gets up to look over his shoulder at the parchment. “What does it say?” she says a little breathless.

“From what we can tell,” George starts, “the Magicats are a feline race that were thought to have gone extinct with the arrival of the Horde. But!” he exclaims with his index finger in the air, “Lance and I uncovered old records from the previous rebellion officials.”

Lance cuts in, “from what we found, it appears that there was a gentleman by the name of Prince Orwahl who was gathering and distributing supplies to the rebellion. He mentions that he was close to being discovered by overhead Horde aircraft carriers and was in critical danger if he were to be discovered aiding the rebellion.”

“Then!” George interrupted his love, “he was introduced to a being that could perform illusionist magic that made his cargo invisible, thus protecting him from the Horde’s wrath. He described the being as someone with cat like features and briefly mentions the species ‘Magicat’ in some of his other personal records.”

“Some even say that She-Ra had introduced the pair after rescuing their queen from the Horde. But it was most likely a member of the previous rebellion alliance since She-Ra hasn’t been seen in nearly a thousand years. The queen was kept in imprisoned for years under the Horde and the Magicat people wondered if they’d ever see her again.” Lance gesticulates his hand across his body like he could wade through time itself.

“Wait,” Bow says, “so they are alive?”

“We believe so,” says George. “However, it is only speculation and there isn’t anything concrete about their location, but there was one, and only one, mention of a place called Halfmoon.” His excitement of sharing information dies down as he looks over to Catra. Her face is one of confusion and bitterness. She continues to stare at the scroll as if she could simply force it to reveal more answers. But George continues, “It’s uh, said to be located underground. That’s why the Horde hasn’t found them, and it’s also why there appears to be so little on record about them.”

Catra’s hair stands on end as she feels everyone’s eyes on her. She straightens and moves to sit on the couch clutching her hands into fists.

Glimmer moves to sit next to her, but she’s also aware that she should leave enough space between them as to not smother the other woman. The princess asks, “what is there about her being a chimera?”

Lance’s eyes light up somewhat. “Well, there’s even less about that. I believe there was a prophecy told from even before the First One’s inhabited the planet. It states that chimeras were to be revered. Their dualities were a source of great and powerful magic. See, Magicats were already capable of magic – simple illusions, tricks of the mind that sort of thing. But! Chimeras were known to have far greater powers. They’re said to be of two spirits that inhabit the same body. They reasoned that having two souls created a stronger source. This made them sacred amongst the Magicats.”

George remembers solemnly, “there’s also only mention of one that we’ve found in any archives, and he was said to be the greatest weapon against war. He delved in magic that hadn’t been conjured yet, and he brought forth some of the techniques that are used today.” His tone is grave in a way that shows his distaste for magic.

“So what does this mean?... I-I have magic?” Catra’s voice started to get a little high pitched as all the information dawns on her.

Glimmer reaches out and grabs her hand. Catra was digging her claws into her skin and Glimmer’s sweaty hand makes the sting in her palm worsen. She’s grateful for the grounding sensation, but also awkwardly looks down at their combined hands.

The princess saves her from her thoughts when she continues to speak. “She hasn’t exactly shown any signs since we’ve known her. The only thing that’s actually happened is that she gets the sword that we found to do things. I think… I think She-Ra saved us once.”

The men in the room all glare between the two in some level of shock. “She saved you?” asks Lance.

“Yes,” Glimmer says firmly.

Bow chimes in nervously, “yeah! She told me all about it. There was a small incident at the school when… uh this bully was picking on Gimmer.” Bow chuckles awkwardly and hid dads start to notice his odd behavior.

“Anyways,” Glimmer grumbles after hearing that tall-tale, “Catra held up the sword and this woman in gold light saved us – I mean me,” she looks at Bow’s concerned expression shift.

“Huh,” Lance said before George interjects. “You should probably give that sword to your teachers. You kids shouldn’t be messing around with magic. It’s dangerous.” His face is stern as he says it.

“What is your problem with magic?” Glimmer asks a little defensively.

“My problem is that I was there when the first princess alliance failed. It was a waste of time, resources and precious lives.” George’s whole body is tense as Lance comes up behind him to rest a hand on his shoulder.

Glimmer glared at him, and she decided he didn’t need to see any swords today, thank you. And that she wasn’t going to be making any daring attempts to retrieve it.

George continues, “magic is unstable and unpredictable. People all throughout history,” he raises the scroll about Magicats, “have tried to control it and manipulate it for their own purposes. It’s only a weapon and nothing more.”

“Dad stop,” Bow raises to his feet. Hearing his dad unknowingly talk about Glimmer, and potentially Catra, it angers him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Not as much as you think you do.”

“Excuse me?” George responds.

“There is nothing wrong with magic. You’re right, that it matters who the wielder of that magic is and that in some cases it can be used incorrectly. But not all magic is bad and not everyone who uses it is bad either.” Bow’s hands are raised visually showing his frustration and Catra’s ear twitches at the statement.

George’s face is in shock. “And how would you know?”

“Because, I…” he pauses as the sweat beads on his brow and his pulse quickens. He decides resolutely that this is the right thing to do. Bow rips the fabric from his abdomen, and it tears away turning his sweater into a crop top. Bow gestures to the women on the couch, “I’m friends with Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon and I’m fighting in the rebellion.”

Glimmer chances a small sparkling wave as she’s properly introduced.

The men’s eyes widen dramatically as Lance audibly gasps.

Bow continues, “We’re doing good and I’m so happy to be fighting to protect people.” He glances down, “I’m not a shy bookworm and I’m not interested in becoming a historian.”

“Bow,” Lance says, “why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because! You don’t listen when I try to tell you things and you just always assumed I was going to run the library when you retired, but I don’t want to do that. I want to be a fighter and help save Etheria from the Horde. I just can’t lie about who I am, even though I know I’m breaking your hearts.” Bow lets out a sigh as he finishes.

George walks over to him, and hugs Bow. “What breaks our hearts is that you felt you needed to lie about who you are.”

Everyone, except maybe Catra, started to get a gleam of mist in their eyes at the gesture.

“But, I’m a fighter and you hate fighters.” Bow tries to explain.

“I could never hate you. Never.” George says to his son. Then Lance joins them and they’re all hugging. George pulls his head back and addresses the other two in the room. “Get over here, your family too.”

Catra is milliseconds away from declining the polite gesture when Glimmer drags her by her hand over to the huddle. The feline is on the outside with her free hand patting Bow’s back near his dads clasped hands, making sure to keep her body physically distant from this gushy freak show. She laughs internally at her description.

The group untangles themselves and Catra finally tears her hand away from Glimmer’s sweaty, but freakishly strong grip. Catra rubs at her wrist and discretely checks the small pin pricks in her palm.

As they all compose themselves Bow steps forward. “So Catra hasn’t shown any signs of magic, do you think it could be something the Horde did?”

Catra shakes her head in contemplation, “not directly at least. I had a master torturer back in the fright zone who used magic to punish me. If I had shown a hint of magical abilities, her ass would’ve been all over mine. Trying to steal it somehow. The woman is obsessed with power.” Catra rolls her eyes.

Bow’s dads look upon each other after hearing that concerning statement. George speaks, “you’re a Horde soldier?” The concern is clear in his voice as he laces his arm protectively across Lance’s chest.

Bow stands to ease their minds. “She was, yes. But she’s… on our side, now.” He looks over his shoulder with a sheepish smile and a shrug at his inability to come up with anything better.

Then, Lance speaks, “There are techniques to incapacitate one’s magic that I could see them potentially using. Even something as simple as a drop of elixir would do it.”

The feline’s stomach just drops at hearing the information. Something so simple could be so life altering. Her breath comes in a little faster than normal and she feels like she’s being suffocated.

Glimmer puts her hand on Catra’s again and this time it doesn’t elicit an outward reaction. The princess asks to no one in particular, “Do you think it could be her magic connecting to the sword?”

As the other people in the room speculate about Catra’s powers having influence on potentially She-Ra’s sword, Catra sees blue eyes and blonde hair dancing in the back of her mind. She clears her throat. “I don’t think I have magic that’s connecting to it, but I think it might be something else.” She pulls away from Glimmer and rubs her hands together nervously. She can’t believe that she’s about to do this.

“What else could it be?” Bow asks genuinely.

“I, uh… have a connection to… to Adora. The one you saw fighting –“

“You mean the one who nearly took my head off?” Glimmer rolls her eyes.

Catra huffs, “yeah, she uh… we’re a lot more connected than I let on. We’re really close and I keep…” she sighs heavily. All the weight of this afternoon weighing on her heavily. She decides she wants to concede a little. Give and take are important to sharing information. She’d be dumb not to share this now considering what else it could lead to. “I’m having visions of her and her golden vibrant form. She’s radiating light and… magic, maybe? She might actually have something to do with all of this.” She couldn’t imagine how crazy they’d think she was if she told them about the shared dreams, so she keeps that tidbit to herself.

“You can’t seriously believe someone from the Horde could possibly be our She-Ra?” Glimmer’s tone is full of incredulousness.

Bow’s brow is furrowed as he looks at Catra. “I mean, why not?” he asks. “The Horde takes in people from all over Etheria.”

“Exactly,” Catra interrupts. “And Adora and I don’t have any parents that we know of. We’ve only had each other the whole time we were in the Horde. She’s… she’s all I have.” The slight tremble in Catra’s voice betrays herself as she tries to hide the vulnerability away.

Glimmer’s face softens at what she hears and nods.

That’s when Bow’s tracker pad starts blaring with an alert. He checks it, “oh this is not good.” Then, the tracker pad starts ringing in his hand.

“What Bow? What is it?” Glimmer asks.

He turns around the communicator and they see the queen’s face on the screen with an incoming transmission.

Glimmer squeaks with shock. “Well, answer it! Just um,” she says as she moves to stand next to Bow and completely encasing the screen with only their own faces. “There.”

He presses a button and the call answers. “Glimmer where are you?” the queen demands. “The prisoner has escaped and we’re on full lock down.” The queen’s voice is stressed and dire. “Get back here immediately so that we can ensure both of your safety.”

“Mom, trust me it’s fine! We were just finishing up. We’ll be back in a jiff, okay bye!” She taps the end transmission button and Bow’s eyes are wide at Glimmer’s decision to hang up on the queen. “Okay, well sorry for rushing out the door, but we really should get back to Brightmoon. Right, Bow?”

Bow shakes himself from the shock and agrees. “Right,” his voice squeaks, “we should totally get back and clear up that mess with the prisoner. Dads do you think you could look into what Catra said and let me know when you find out?” They nod, “Great! Love you!” Bow tries to awkwardly remind everyone that his dads don’t know that Catra is a prisoner who just recently had been captured.

The pair move closer to Catra and she starts to get an uneasy feeling – mostly due to the impending magic ride back to Brightmoon. Before she can protest, they’re all covered in bright pink magic being whisked away.

Bow’s dads just look at each other wondering: ‘what the hell?’

---

The three end up back in Glimmer’s bedroom and Catra is at least already sitting down on a soft surface when her body catches back up with space and time. She still reaches a hand to her head from the dizziness of it all.

Glimmer paces back and forth as soon as she landed. Catra supposes if she had magic her entire life, then she’d probably wouldn’t have had an issue either. Her bitterness churns in her stomach.

“Okay, everyone just stay calm. I’ll go find my mom and tell her everything and…”

“Wait,” Catra demands, “you can’t tell her anything.” Panic starts rising under the surface of her skin. She hasn’t lived a life where she could ever trust adults with her life.

Glimmer turns to her, and her eyes are pinched in confusion. “Why not? She could help us figure this out.”

“Because I don’t trust her. I don’t even know her and for all I know she’ll just interrogate me more and punish me.” Catra’s body is shaking, relying on it’s baser instinct, like when she knew she’d be in trouble with Weaver. It was almost like her mind was operating on it’s own accord.

“What!? She isn’t going to punish you. You haven’t done anything wrong –“

“I escaped Glimmer! As far as she knows I’m on the run slicing peoples’ throats just to get out of here.” The panic is obvious now that the feline uses the princess’s actual name.

It unnerves Glimmer seeing Catra like this, seeing someone so impenetrably strong that could unravel so quickly at the thought of facing a woman with magic at her disposal. She sighs as she looks to Bow. They share a look and understanding begins to seep into Glimmers bones. Catra said she was tortured with magic, I can’t even… her thought fades as she faces the feline. “Alright fine. I’ll go find her,” Catra visibly tenses, and her eyes widen a fraction. Glimmer raises her hands in a placating motion. “I’ll find her and let her know,” she gestures vaguely as she contemplates her options. “I’ll tell her we took you to the yard so you could stretch your legs.”

Catra scoffs because she doesn’t think it’s a strong enough excuse. She is at least somewhat positive Glimmer won’t reveal any of her truths that they uncovered today. “Fine,” Catra concedes as her hopes lie in the princess, her captor, her… well she doesn’t really want to explore that train of thought further.

Glimmer teleports away without another word and the two are left alone.

Bow glances at the calculating look on Catra’s face. “Hey,” he says and her eyes dart to his. It almost makes him flinch. “I know this all seems… different than what you expected, than what the Horde portrayed. But Gimmer and the queen are decent people. They don’t want to hurt you or… torture you.”

His face is of concern, and it makes bile rise in her throat. Today, had been another intense day of getting gob-smacked around with information that was still flooding her brain. “Whatever.” She holds her arms to her chest, and she begins to pace. Keeping her body moving prevents her brain from short circuiting.

Suddenly, a spritz of magic fills the air and the queen and Glimmer are amongst them.

Queen Angella looks livid. The sight raising Catra’s hackles as though she needs to prepare to evade her wrath. Her arms are out from her sides and she’s heaving heavy breaths.

Glimmer grabs Angella’s arm and halts her forward movement. “Mom! I told you we had her out in the yard. We tried to stay out of sight, because we didn’t want to get in trouble. I was hoping we’d be back before anyone noticed.”

“Glimmer, she is a prisoner. A dangerous one at that, you can’t just let her out on your own accord. There has to be measures taken into place for something like that. Extra security, and a secure location where she can’t escape.” Angella ticks off each item on her fingers.

Bow chimes in, “Your Majesty, it was my fault. I told Glimmer that with my new arrows that I’ve been tinkering with that I would easily be able to keep an eye on her.”

The queen glares at Bow, “that is a reckless and naive thought to assume, Bow. You both could’ve been at risk.”

“Of what?” Glimmer exclaims. “She doesn’t have magic and I had tied up her arms for extra security. Please, just trust me, mom. We didn’t do this without thinking it through.”

Angella sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose. “Glimmer, you know I trust you, but you have to be careful. What about your heat? Have you even gotten the mages to perform another spell?”

“I know, mom and yes I’m fine. That’s why we made sure to be prepared. And she did great!” She gestures to Catra. “She was even able to open up and tell us about her time in the Horde. It’s terrible there, mom. They torture them with magic.”

Catra felt uneasy as Glimmer began to bring up anything they’d talked about, but the princess lands on a less complicated topic and the feline’s tail slows from franticly twitching.

“I know, my love.” She turns to Catra with a look of pity and Catra rolls her eyes and looks elsewhere. “People in the Horde are known for the atrocities they put others through.” She sighs again, like she’s lost at least 10 years on her life from today’s events. She reaches her arm out in a gesture towards Catra. “Come, we’ll be escorting you back to your prison.” Catra looks between Bow and Glimmer and nods curtly.

Angella walks with a few guards towards the prison room. She opens the door for Catra and the feline walks in preparing to be encased again.

“I’ll leave you.” She gestures lightly towards the room for Catra to enter. “There are guards outside of your door and along the exterior of your balcony as well as on the ground.” Her face is unreadable as she continues, “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through,” Catra wanted to gag assuming she knew where this was heading until, “but do not mistake my kindness for weakness.” Her eyes bore holes into Catra’s and she turns abruptly to leave the room.

The feline exhales as though she’d been holding it for some time. She replays the events from today as she wanders over to a couch that looks much more comfortable than that poofy bed. The cushions are firm and sturdy. Her shorter stature allows her to fit on it with her limbs extended, but she finds more comfort curling up on a single cushion.

She sighs as the revelations hit her again. She could have magic inside of her, or she did. Before the Horde ruined her. She probably had a family. She never deluded herself to dream, or hope, of a family out there waiting for her return. It had just always been Adora. No one else gave a damn about her, but the realities cause her stomach to wretch as she gags on nothing. She could have someone. There could be other’s who wonder what happened to her.

Stop deluding yourself. You were abandoned and worthless little wretched thing. Nobody wanted you and that’s exactly why you’re here, the thoughts make her head hurt as she refuses to let her body have the oxygen it desperately craved. Weaver’s voice had always been the one to rip her hope to shreds, but Adora… The thought of bright blue eyes shine in her mind and she releases the grip she has on her closed throat and allows the air to gush back in to replenish what she lost. She heaves gaping breaths and tears prick at the corners as Adora and all of this confusion makes her feel so out of control. She hasn’t felt like this in ages, since Weaver had thrown her into a hole without food for two days. She emerged so weak and exhausted even though she spent what time she could asleep. Seeing Adora’s face had been the reprieve she desperately yearned for – she hadn’t let Adora go as they held each other that night.

Adora had been the only light in the Horde.

As she drifts off she thinks of Adora and her living in their home one day just outside of a town. She had been raised to fight, but with everything ripping her mind in two, she just wants simplicity and freedom from all her trauma.

She doesn’t feel as though the Horde can offer her much more now that she’s gone.

Who’s she kidding, she’s always stayed for Adora. She’s the only reason that place is bearable and the Horde is Adora’s life, her mission. She’s so headstrong.

It has been nice not to be at the end of Weaver’s wrath. She’s probably grateful for Catra’s capture. She always resented their friendship and how Catra was always holding Adora back, even though she came up with just as many schemes and ideas along the way.

The bitterness rises at her and Adora’s complicated past.

Her head hurts from thinking so much, she’d probably just be better off letting sleep take her.

Maybe she’ll be there…

Chapter 17: Run

Catra awakens from another dreamless night. She rolls her eyes behind closed lids and huffs out an exasperated breath. She has so much to tell Adora. Why can’t she just dream with her already? Ugh! I really need to figure out how this stuff works, she thinks.

She reaches up and pulls away the blanket that wound itself around her body and she leans into a big stretch. She is not used to the softness beneath her. The couch offers a bit more structure in its’ firmness, but she hasn’t felt her back be so comforted and supported at the same time.

The feline moves to stand as her bladder is screaming to be relieved, and suddenly, a spritz of magic is the only warning she gets before Glimmer appears.

Catra yelps a high screech and Glimmer just giggles as her fur and tail stand on end. “What the hell, Sparkles?”

Glimmer rolls her eyes, “I came to talk to you.” She moves to sit down on the couch that’s still warm from Catra’s body. The corner of Glimmer’s mouth twitches but is quickly replaced by confusion. “My mom didn’t put you in a magical barricade?”

Catra runs her hand over her face as she tries to calm her racing heart. She sighs heavily, “yea, your mom mentioned something in the realm of ‘I may be nice like sunshine and rainbows, but I can also beat you into submission.” She laughs with a short exhale through her nose. She’s not going to mention how hot she found the whole ordeal. Can’t give Sparkles the satisfaction.

A loud abrupt snort comes from the pink princess, and she says, “yeah, that sounds like her.” She looks back down to the cushion as she collects her thoughts once again. “Anyways, I wanted to tell you that I was able to convince my mom to make a diplomatic mission to Salineas –“

“Okay, what does that have to do with me?” Catra rests her hands on her hips as she eyes Glimmer.

“Well, if you’d let me finish,” Glimmer says not so subtly under her breath, “we told my mom that this was purely diplomatic and that there won’t be any fighting. After the meeting though, Bow and I talked it over and we want to bring you.”

Catra makes a bemused face and Glimmer continues, “we’ll have to convince my mom, but I figure it’s better than lying to her. She can actually try and learn to trust you instead of being so afraid.” Glimmer rolls her eyes.

Catra’s hand comes to rest on her face as she listens to this half ass plan. “You’re telling me you want to convince your mom to take a prisoner out on a mission where ‘said prisoner’ could potentially run, or kill you, or both?” She actually uses air quotes as she speaks.

Glimmer deflates some, “well, yeah, if you say it like that it sounds bad.” Glimmer shakes her hands across the front of her body like she’s trying to physically clear the air. “Look, you want to find Adora, and we could use an extra pair of hands. Salineas isn’t doing too well due the Horde’s repeated attacks against their city. It’s also one of the most direct routes to Brightmoon by water. With them on our side we could control the seas. We need to secure an alliance with their princess, Mermista, to strengthen the rebellion. So, this is a pretty huge mission for us.”

“Why are you telling me all of this? I’m your enemy. ‘Horde scum,’ remember?” She points a razor-sharp claw to her chest.

“I don’t know, are you my enemy? Would someone save their enemy from a disgusting pack of alphas, or prevent their enemy from being crushed by a giant monster, or play along with a lie an enemy had told their dads?” Glimmer’s indignation rises as she recounts their adventures and feeling the need to question every moment like it hadn’t mattered at all.

“Yeah, well, that last one I got something out of it, so…” Catra picks at her nails as she talks, then she looks to Glimmer who scowls.

“I really thought we started making headway and that maybe…” she sighs heavily. “I thought maybe we could be friends. But if you’re telling me not to trust you, then I guess… I shouldn’t.” She crosses her arms over her chest and drops her eyes to the floor.

The feline’s eyes widen slightly. Something in Catra felt like she was losing control of this situation very quickly. Without the princess on her side, she’s as good as done for. She has to recover this. “Yeah, well… you’d probably be a really annoying friend. So…” She trails off. It’s honestly the only way she feels she can fix this moment: cutting the tension with sarcasm; like they’d done before. She’s never been friends with anyone new. How the hell do you even make friends? The people she knows in the Horde she’s known her whole life and they were all just forced together in their shitty situation. This is all awkward and new territory.

…Part of it feels like a betrayal to Adora…

Glimmer pulls her from her mental spiral, “being annoying is just a tactic I use to torture my enemies.” She looks at Catra sourly, but then releases all her frustration with a sigh. “I know it sounds like a long shot, but we could both benefit from this.”

Catra looks into Glimmer’s eyes to see if there’s an ounce of doubt. The feline is sure that Glimmer won’t hesitate to remind Catra of her fury if she were to betray the princess. “Fine.” Glimmer begins to brighten at her acceptance, “But! We need to come up with something better to tell your mom.”

Glimmer’s brow pinches together signaling her understanding and immediate formulation of another plan. Then, a memory spikes from their trek in the Whispering Woods together. “What if I tell her we could use you as a bargaining chip. Tell her that we discovered from the last mission how much their forces want you back. We could use you as like a shield if we run into any more Horde soldiers – as like a backup plan in case we run into trouble.”

If she was worried before about their lack of plan, then Catra is definitely losing hope after that one. The feline’s face screams ‘you’re and idiot’ and she pinches the bridge of her nose. “I guess we could use the lack of intel on the Horde in our favor, because I am telling you I’m currently worth less than a bargaining chip.” She laughs mirthlessly. Her experience in the Horde has always taught her that she is expendable, especially from Shadow Weaver. “We might be able to swing it. But she’ll want to take precautions. What would you propose?”

“Um,” she pauses to think, “we could bring an extra guard to watch over you?”

“No, that’ll be such a hassle and you don’t actually have to watch over me.” She rolls her eyes.

“Don’t I? What was it you said? Oh yea, ‘you could run, kill us, or both.’” Glimmer beams quite proudly at her jab, but Catra just rolls her eyes.

“Real cute. Would you just… tell her I’ll be chained up. I don’t have any magic abilities to get out of it, so she can rest easy.” Catra folds her arms over her chest again.

After a moment of pause Glimmer says, “you know, now that I think about it… there wasn’t really anyone but Adora asking about you.”

Bringing up Adora reminds Catra of what the Rebellion wants most. “What if we tell her that you should bring me to draw out Adora and that we think she has something to do with She-Ra? You could bring the sword and we could make a whole thing of it.” Her stomach churns with something unfamiliar. She didn’t need to mention bringing the sword, but she knows it’s for Adora. And with that sword they could both escape together. No more Horde, or Rebellion. But… why does a part of her feel this darkness inside? She’s lied before, no problem. So why does this not feel right?

Glimmer interrupts her hidden crisis, “how are we supposed to tell her about She-Ra without telling her about your visions? She’ll need proof, or a reason, that we know she might be She-Ra.” Glimmer chews her lip nervously.

“Shit… well, what if you tell her about the Whispering Woods when I lifted the sword, and her form came out? You can tell her you saw her at Plumeria when she landed on you –“

“You mean when she attacked me? Yeah, that sounds pretty good.” She says contemplatively.

“Yeah, whatever. Well, go and tell her. You barged in right before I was about to relieve myself.”

That gets a cackle out of Glimmer. “‘Relieve’ yourself?” she mocks.

Catra’s temper flares. She growls and lunges for the princess.

The princess teleports away with an undignified squeak and Catra lands on the couch where her body was previously perched. The feline huffs and makes her way towards the bathroom.

---

Bow’s tracker pad comes to life while he is tinkering with one of his arrows. He notices and grabs it to answer a call from his dads. “Hey, guys!”

“Bow?” George says with ear piercing loudness. “Ah! There you are!”

“Dad! You don’t have to yell,” he says while lowering his own tone. “You just talk normally, and I can hear you just fine.” Bow’s smile disarms his father’s agitation with technology.

George smiles back. “Ah,” he clears his throat “yes. Hello. We just wanted to get back to you now that we’ve discovered a few tidbits about Catra’s Magicat situation.”

That gets Bow to give his full attention to his dad as he grabs the tracker pad with both hands. “So, what did you find out?” he asks.

Lance squeezes his face in front of the screen while pushing George’s out, and interjects “well, it seems there’s a location where Queen C’yra – the magicat queen that was saved by the previous rebellion – had stayed. It’s located near Seleneas. Apparently, the queen was hiding out there temporarily, but the reason is unknown. She may have left further knowledge about the whole situation. It just seems so unlikely that the queen of the Magicats had no knowledge of a child chimera born within her lifetime.”

George clears his throat and steals the tracker pad back, putting his entire face back in the center of the screen. Lance at least has the awareness to look remorseful. “We think that there could be more knowledge at this last known location. It could even lead to why she was captured by the Horde. We can send the coordinates to your tracker pad.” He smiles awkwardly, “that is all we have to report. Bye-bye for now.” He waves and the screen cuts out before Bow can respond. He chuckles softly at their antics and feels relief and love wash over his heart. Then, reality sinks back in, “I’ve got to tell Glimmer.”

---

Bow runs to Glimmer’s room and as soon as he opens the door he’s greeted with a leaping hug from the princess.

“Bow! She said yes! Mom said yes to our mission. We have to take like five hundred precautions, but she said yes!” Glimmer nuzzles into Bow’s neck and he can feel her smile on his skin. He breathes in her scent and as intoxicating as it may be, it is also so soothing.

Bow sighs as he gently lowers Glimmer to the ground but keeps their hands connected. “That’s great, Glim.” He looks at her fondly and continues, “I just wanted to thank you for the other day. Yano, with my dads. I know it was a bit of a shock, but you were there for me at every weird turn.”

Glimmer just looks at him softly with a sweet smile. “You don’t need to thank me, Bow.”

“I know, but I want to, because you’re amazing and that was so thoughtful. You were there when I needed you and I really appreciate it.” Bow says it genuinely and Glimmer can tell.

The princess pulls him into a softer embrace, and they just take a moment to let themselves be. She inhales his smokey scent, she’s assuming from tinkering with his tech, and she’s never felt safer. Her stomach clenches as the end of her heat is just around the corner. She reluctantly pulls away, not wanting to ruin the moment with any of her weird hormones scaring off Bow. She clears her throat. “Well, of course, you’ve been there so many times for me and my crazy mom. It’s only fair.” She smiles and fiddles with one of his soft hands.

“Right,” Bow says nervously. “W-what was it you were saying before?”

She stops touching his hand and looks back up into his eyes. “Right! My mom said yes – to bringing Catra for our mission. I told her about how the sword show me She-Ra in the Whispering Woods and that she looks just like that girl who we met in Plumeria.”

“Princess Perfuma?” Bow asks confused.

“No!” she says swatting his arm. “The one who jumped me.”

“You mean the alpha who attacked you?!” Bow’s face is appalled. “Does she know about that part? Because I doubt she would’ve said yes –“

“Exactly! That’s why I didn’t mention that part in full detail. But, with a few precautions we’ll be allowed to take Catra with us and try to lure out Adora. Bow, this could be huge for the Rebellion! Having She-Ra and her magic could end the war.” Her voice quivers with a lifetime of hope.

Bow looks to her with an uneasy expression. “Glimmer, that’s great. But. She was pretty tough too, and I just don’t want you to get all of your hopes up on this one person.”

“I’m not!” she lies through her bright smile. “If that doesn’t work out, then worst case is we’ll still be able to talk to Princess Mermista about joining the Rebellion.” She snorts a little, “I mean, she’s no She-Ra, but it’s better than nothing.”

He smiles weakly at her explanation. “Okay, so when do we leave?”

“Well, there were a lot of stipulations. We have to chain up Catra – which she agreed to in the first place!” she says in response to his wide-eyed expression. “Then, we have to use one of my mom’s recommended sea captains to get us there.” She continues counting the conditions off on her fingers. “And we have to acquire a boat, call her when we leave and when we get there as well as show her proof that Catra is ‘still in custody.’ Her words not mine.” She takes a deep breath to refill her small body with oxygen. “Should be a piece of cake.”

Bow laughs again nervously and rubs the back of his head with his palm. “And we’ll need to get Catra on board with all of this.”

“Too easy. She’s the one that came up with most of the plan, anyways.” She turns and leaves Bow confused as she makes her way to the feline’s room.

They burst through the door and startle Catra. She tries her best for it to seem imperceptible, but she fails as her tail poofs out behind her. She quickly runs her hand along the appendage to lay the fur down flat. “Well, I didn’t teleport into your room this time.” Glimmer says not so sympathetically.

Catra just hisses in response.

“Okayyy,” Bow says in a placating manner. “So, we have a plan and also, I have news from my dads.”

Both women turn to him surprised.

“Apparently, we’ll be heading in the right direction because they told me that the queen of the Magicats was hiding away in a location near Seleneas. They think there could be something left over from her stay there that might give us clues about her people, or even Catra.” His excitement grew with each word.

Catra huffs in disbelief – and maybe terror. She doesn’t know what to make of the whole thing, except that she’s been trying to be more focused on getting Adora. She can’t dwell on that other stuff too much, because it’ll probably drive her mad. “Let’s just get this over with. What’s the plan Sparkles?”

“This!” She disappears for what seems like a second and returns with these gaudy looking chains in her hands.

Catra takes a step back and before she can squeak out a response they’re already on her wrists. She deflates as she was about to tell her she was going to relieve herself before they left, but she also realizes she doesn’t want to deal with Glimmer’s teasing.

“Alright, let’s head out. My mom set us up with a few of her recommended boat captains and we can be on our way.”

Catra clears her throat. “Aren’t you forgetting something,” she says.

When Glimmer just squints at her in confusion Catra reminds her, “the sword, dumbass.”

The lightbulb turns on immediately and Glimmer is gone and back within a few moments. “Now, we’re ready.”

---

The three make it down to the port where Angella had instructed them to find their boat captain. A few men were standing around the front talking to one of the queen’s guards. They ushered Glimmer over, but before she got too far Catra had stopped her with a ‘pst.’

“I say, we agree to one of these captains and then ditch ‘em. They’re gonna know too much about our situation and I won’t ever be able to take these chains off. We need to find our own captain.” The cloak Catra was wearing was a good enough disguise to hide her chains from public eye. The queen’s biggest concern was alerting too much attention to the group.

Glimmer looks to Bow as they weirdly telepathically contemplate her words. Glimmer speaks first, “you’re right. I’ll talk to them while you two slip inside and try to find us someone better. When no one is looking, we’ll make our way out of the harbor.” Her confidence shines through each word and Bow smiles exuberantly. He pulls Catra towards the tavern and they sneak in while Glimmer engages with the guard, distracting them completely.

The two walk inside and look around. There are tons of people guzzling down their drinks and a few on the verge of passing out altogether. Catra lowers her hood and makes her way further inside, while Bow trails behind with his hands gripping the backside of Catra’s cloak. His face looks left and right as if to determine where the good guys are. Catra huffs at him and stalks confidently towards the bar. She places just her hands on the counter and looks to the barkeep. “Hey!” That got their attention, and they spared a glance at the feline. “You got any boat captains in here?”

The person huffed, barely giving her an acknowledgment, and they turned back to the patron they were fetching a drink for. Catra growls and looks around. She tries to look for anything identifiable of a boat captain.

Bow grabs her attention with a yank on her cloak and says, “there. I heard him talking about his boat and he has a mustache!” His heart eyes sicken Catra, but she rolls her own gold and blue and they make their way over to the guy.

“Hey,” Catra demands and the guy’s feet fall from the table. “Are you a boat captain?”

“Am I- am I a captain of these fair seas, you ask!? But of course! The name is –“

“Yeah, cool I don’t care.” Catra knows this kind of fool and isn’t in any mood for shenanigans.

The guy scoffs at her audacity and places his hand over his chest, appalled.

Bow intercepts, “what she means to say is, ‘Hi! We’re looking for a captain to take us to Seleneas. Would you be able to help us?’” Bow’s eyes sparkle at the opportunity to be within the man’s orbit.

This whole place reeks of alphas and all Catra can do is think about Bow being an omega. At least he’s not in heat, because anyone with eyes can see this place isn’t filled with the most honorable of people. She grabs Bow roughly and not so quietly whispers to him, “knock it off.”

Bow gulps but continues to smile.

“The name is Sea Hawk and you’re talking to one of the greatest sea captains of all time!” He flourishes his hand into the air and Catra starts grinding her teeth.

“Look, I don’t care who you are. You’re coming with us to Seleneas. Now are you coming the easy way,” she pauses to gauge his fear, “or the hard way?”

“I will not be intimidate- Ah!”

After a short scuffle Catra waltzes out of the back door of the tavern with Bow dragging the unwilling captain by his boots. “Did you have to knock him out? I think if we just would’ve asked nicely and offered him a reward he would’ve –“

“He would’ve continued to annoy me, and we don’t have time. Who knows how long Glimmer can distract those people before they start to notice we’re missing?” Catra realizes she said the princesses name a moment too late when Bow smiles fondly at her. “Shut up, Arrow Boy.”

As if summoned, Glimmer materializes. “Okay, we have like 5 minutes before the captain we ‘hired’ realizes I’m not on the boat anymore.” She reaches out for the tracker pad and uses it to call queen Agnella back. After the second ring her mother answers and Glimmer waves at her through the screen. “Okay, mom! We’re about to shove off.” She quickly turns the camera around to Catra who raises her shackled wrists along with a bored look. “Prisoner is all chained up and we’re ready to go!” She brings the camera back around to herself.

“That’s great Glimmer, why don’t you give the tracker pad to the guard and –“

“Actually, mom I have to go! They’re signaling us right now! Thanks for everything, bye!” The short princess hangs up on her mother knowing that she’ll be satisfied enough. She releases a breath of air she felt like she was holding through that entire situation; and then, Glimmer looks between the two and their expressions are bewildering. She looks down at the ground by Bow’s feet. “Wha-who the hell is that?” She nearly screams.

“Calm down, Sparkles. This” she gesticulates to the man with his rear end up in the air and face planted into the pier “is our new captain. Plucked him right out of the tavern.” She smiles smugly.

“He’s unconscious!” She looks down at him and stares dumbfounded.

“Yeah, he was getting on my last nerve.” Catra crosses her arms in defense.

“He was so nice though, before Catra beat him up.” Bow says giving the feline a disapproving look.

“Yeah, tell us how you really felt about him,” she calls him out, “something about his amazing mustache?” She flares her hand in a questioning manner.

Bow’s face turns bright red. “I just meant that it was impressive is all.” He shoves Catra’s shoulder and looks over to Glimmer who’s smile is a bit stilted.

“Whatever, can we please get him out of sight now? We need to wake him up so he can take us on his ship.” She peers down at him, “if he’ll even take us, now.” She gives Catra an admonishing look that seems familiar.

Catra can’t place it and turns to walk away behind some cargo. They drag him and sit him upright against a box when Catra slaps his face. The other two look at her like she murdered the man. “What!? He needs to wake up.” She goes to slap him again when Glimmer interferes and grabs him by the collar shaking the life out of – or into – him.

“Momma, no!” Sea Hawk exclaims as he comes to. He clears his throat as a pink blush fills his cheeks. He clears his throat, “I mean, where am I?” He rubs the side of his head, then looks up and sees Catra. He visibly flinches his entire body and reaches to Bow for protection.

The young man blushes as Sea Hawk cowers near him, then he speaks as soothingly as he can. “Hey, buddy, we just want to know if you could still take us to Seleneas, like you said.”

Sea Hawk gapes up at all of them and then quickly rises to his feet. He wipes away the dirt that gathered on his clothes and says, “I absolutely will not!... until she apologizes to me.” He literally pouts afterwards.

Bow and Glimmer look to Catra waiting for her to make the next move and Sea Hawk dramatically looks the other way wiping a tear from his eyes.

She grunts, “fine! Sorry. You all better, now?” Catra is completely condescending as she says it, but Sea Hawk’s eyes are as clear as the sunny skies above them.

“Why, yes! Thank you. So, what’s this about – taking you to Seleneas? I am very close personally with Princess Mermista.” He holds his hand to his chest.

“You are!?” Glimmer says with too much naivety, in Catra’s opinion.

“Why, of course. We are on a first name basis I’ll have you know. But I do wonder, what’s in it for me?” He pulls the edge of his mustache between his fingers.

That get’s Catra’s attention, “how bout I don’t beat you into submission, little man?” She clenches her fist tightly with the weight of the shackles digging into her wrist.

The captain makes a ghastly scoff and once again flinches towards Bow’s protection.

Glimmer growls under her breath. “Alright, I’ve had enough. Catra, quit antagonizing. You!” she points at Sea Hawk, “take us to your boat. We’re shoving off in the next 2 minutes.” The pink hair powerhouse storms off towards… “where’s your boat?!”

The man lifts his hand pointing delicately towards his ship, “th-there it is.” The two women make their way to the boat – Catra reaches out her wrists to Glimmer signaling the removal of her cuffs and the metal drops to the ground. Sea Hawk faces Bow. “My, aren’t they pleasant.” He says with derision. “Didn’t even ask me about any of my adventures.” He sulks as the two men also make their way to the boat – Bow patting his back, consoling him as they go.

---

“Alright guys, my tracker pad says the coordinates for the hideout location isn’t too far from where we are.” Bow places his tracker pad on a table so everyone can see.

After an hour or two at sea, Catra is so glad to hear they might be on land soon. She’s thrown up probably 3 times, but at least she’s got nothing left at this point. “Thank the stars! I need to get off this boat,” she grits out.

A giggle comes from the princess’s mouth and Catra shoots her a death glare. “That might’ve worked on me a few weeks ago, but not anymore.” Her smile is genuine, and she reaches over to pat Catra on the shoulder.

Bow interjects, “thankfully, it’s not too far from the Seleneas Sea Gate. We might be able to trek the rest of the way, but it might just be safer to go by sea.” Bow’s knowledge of maps is quite helpful, but Catra doesn’t care how far it is. She will fight tooth and nail not to get back on this damn thing – her face flushes green just thinking about it.

The captain of the boat had thankfully shut up after Catra vehemently threatened to throw him overboard, but he pipes up. “Ah! But of course, you all know about the mermads? They live close in this area, we will, as Bow put it, want to be cautious.” He rubs at his chin like he has something important to think about.

“Don’t you mean ‘mermaids?’” asks Bow.

“I most certainly do not! ‘Mermads’ is a term coined by yours truly. I’ve encountered them on rare occasions and the last time nearly led me to my own demise! They literally almost drove me mad as my boat started veering towards the land – thus the name. We must be cautious.” His arms rest on the bow of the boat looking out in all directions as if he could spot them.

Catra and Glimmer share a mutual look of unamused skepticism. They then move past him and continue over to Bow like they never heard anything.

Suddenly, the boat comes to a lurching halt, and everyone flies forward. Catra landing on Glimmer who lands on Bow. The three of them grunt in pain. Then, they hear a loud cry.

“Land, ho!” Sea Hawk exclaims as the crash has him bent over the mast.

The women grumble as they get up. Glimmer reaches out a hand for Bow and he offers her a small smile as he grasps it. After they all stretch out their bodies from the crash landing, they try to assess and look around. At least, Catra is. She doesn’t know what kind of weird stuff they’re magically trying to do.

Bow begins to climb down off the ship to scan the area with his tracker pad. He hopes he can pick up on any magical creatures. But as he waves it one final time he looks back up to the others with a wide grin. “All clear!”

Catra grumbles something about not trusting dumb technology under her breath as she uses her keen nose to sniff out anything weird; unfortunately, all she can pick up on is ocean water – she gags slightly.

They all dismount the ship and make their way further inland. Bow cuts the mounting tension, “it –“

“Aaaah!” The ear piercing screech comes from Sea Hawk, “Y-“ he clears his throat “you startled me.” He sounds more than a little embarrassed and it makes Catra snicker.

“As I was saying,” Bow grimaces and looks back down to his tracker pad, “the coordinates for that hideout location is about a hundred meters ahead.”

Catra’s heart speeds up almost uncontrollably as a wave of panic courses through her. She notices her nearly gaping appearance and takes off immediately in the direction he was pointing. No going back now, she supposes.

They make it through thick brush when Catra finally sees this crumbled mess of brick and stone. If you look at it from the right angle you might be able to tell that it once was a structure with a roof. But the roof is caved in at the edges and all other pieces of it have been decimated. The wood from frames and windows is blown out and scattered near their feet. She continues walking forward in awe of the destruction.

“We’re here,” Bow says softly.

“Stars, what happened here?” Glimmer’s voice is just as gentle if not more so in sadness.

Catra lifts a tattered remnant of cloth. It’s a deep red, a red she would recognize anywhere. “What do you think?” Her tone is sardonic; although, it’s laced with something more somber.

Sea Hawk manages to keep any retorts to himself as he just gapes at the wreckage.

The feline makes her way closer to the building. It can’t be anymore than a 5x5 meter hut. The claws on her feet dig into the rubble as she scales some of it to enter.

“Be careful,” Glimmer reminds her as loose debris falls next to her. “It doesn’t look stable.”

Catra looks back momentarily but continues forward. She isn’t sure what she should be looking for. This place is trashed. Literally. There’s broken glass on the floor from plate ware, ripped shreds of cloth are strewn throughout, and scraps of paper are charred and ripped throughout. She goes to sniff the air and old dust is all she picks up. She can’t help what comes next and she sneezes a high-pitched squeaky noise.

A gasp can be heard from behind her. She turns her torso to the sound and Bow has heart eyes. He’s staring at her like she gave him a new bow or something. She doesn’t exactly know what Bow likes… “What’s with you?” she tries to sound gruff.

“How did we not know you had the cutest sneeze of all time?” His hands clasp together as he continues to stare at her in awe.

She growls, “Shut up! I am not cute!” As she stomps a foot to the ground, some of the retaining wall against the hill begins to topple towards her. She screeches in fear and suddenly the sparkly air around her encompasses her being and she’s warped out just before it falls on her.

The pair land back by Bow and Catra is still cowering like she was about to be crushed. Déjà vu hits her like a bullet train from that dream she had, weird. Then, reality grips her, “get off me!” She flounders and catches her breath. She looks at Glimmer who looks a bit miffed for her efforts. “No, it’s just… ugh. Can we please just get this over with?”

“Hey, look.” Bow says with sincerity as he points to the fallen wall. From where the stone had been previously sitting, there is a box peeking out of the hillside.

Catra gathers her nerve again and makes her way carefully towards it. She reaches for it while she balances on some of the fallen debris. She grabs it by the tips of her claws and just barely yanks it free. The dust covering it wipes away by her hand as she makes her way back to the group. She lands gracefully just as a cat would and she hands the case to Bow.

The archer lifts it to his eyeline as he examines it. It has some intricate designs on the outside, but the locking mechanism is what catches his eye. His brow furrows as he looks at it. The circular hole isn’t for a key he’s seen before. “Wow, this isn’t something I’ve seen before.” He hands it to Glimmer, and she takes it carefully. She turns it over a time or two in her hand and takes note before passing it.

Her hand extends towards Sea Hawk to look, but Catra snatches it back out of her hand with a glare. Sea Hawk deflates.

The feline’s gut is telling her to shove her claw into the lock, but she isn’t sure why. She’s picked locks before with them, but it takes forever, and she usually needs an additional tool. She inhales and lets out a deep sigh. She decides to trust her gut and places her pointer claw inside. She feels something clicking into place as her nail is fully sheathed. She then slowly rotates her finger, and the box opens. Her eyes reveal her confusion, but she reaches inside anyway. She pulls out a bit of paper that had scribbles on it and hands it over to Bow. She continues to look bewildered at the case as she removes her claw.

“I can’t read any of this.” Bow’s frustration rises and hands off the paper to Glimmer.

She holds it out and rotates it as though she just needs to see it from the right angle.

Catra gets tired of their antics, and she reaches for the paper.

Glimmer looks like she’s about to argue, but immediately concedes the paper over to the other woman.

 The feline looks back at them with a raised brow. “What, no one ever taught you how to read?” She snickers and her eyes begin to scan the page.

“Wait,” Bow gets her attention. “You can read that?” She nods. “Catra that isn’t a language I’ve seen before – trust me, my dad’s have taught me few.” He shakes his head.

Blue and gold eyes squint in his direction. “You can’t read this?”

The two shake their heads at her and something like bile rises in the pit of her stomach.

“Well, what does it say?” Glimmer asks.

Catra looks back to the paper. It’s dated from almost two decades ago. “Someone is talking about running away in search for their lover, cliché much?”

Bow coos softly at the revelation and silently nudges her to continue.

“It’s a woman, she’s talking about being pregnant and trying to find her partner. Their love was forbidden.” She rotates the paper as the scrawling continues. “She came here to have the baby in secret, but she’s worried th-… the Horde will find her.” Catra gulps and a sickly feeling rises to her throat. “A prophecy says that her child will be born a…” Catra stammers and drops her arm to her side, clenching her fist but also trying to remember the delicate parchment between her fingers.

Glimmer asks, “what does it say, Catra?” She reaches out slowly to offer a hand.

Catra’s entire body is shaking. She isn’t sure the words will come out past the raging fire in her throat. It feels like it might combust.

Then, Bow reaches out to grab her arm and puts the other behind her back. Glimmer inches forward too, and lightly places her small hand on Catra’s wrist, hoping she can save the paper in her hand.

Catra takes a sharp inhale and finally has the capability to get a word out, “chimera.” A sob racks her body and everything within her is demanding she leave. She can’t let them see her this way. She’s too vulnerable. She drops the paper and runs.

---

Adora’s standing in the middle of the chow line, when unexpectedly she starts to feel a deep sadness in her chest. It starts out small like she feels like she lost something, but then it grows stronger. The pain is indescribable. She reaches her hand to her chest, her tray clatters to the floor and she falls down to her knees.

Demetria and Scorpia look at her with questioning looks. “Did she eat something?” Demetria asks disbelievingly.

But Scorpia shakes her head quickly. “We haven’t even gotten that far in line yet.” The larger woman reaches down to grab at Adora’s shoulders and investigates her face. “What is it Adora?” Her voice starts to take on a worried tone.

Yet, Adora can’t do much of anything but let tears stream down her face. Her grip on her chest turns her knuckles white, and the physical pain feels better than the intense grief she suffers from within.

The pair look at each other and Demetria is the one to speak first. “We have to take her to Shadow Weaver, maybe she’ll know what to do.”

Scorpia grimaces, because deep down she knows that’s not the choice anyone would choose, but she has a point. Adora has been changing and maybe this is a part of it. She can’t let Adora continue to be in pain. The larger woman collects her resolve and picks up the blonde and throws her over her shoulder – making sure to avoid any sharp spikes from her shell.

Adora just continues to writhe in her grasp and the tears don’t stop. She tries to breath and get her emotions under control. Something feels off. She has no reason to be sad, so where is this coming from?

Scorpia gets closer to Weaver’s sanctum. She knows she isn’t allow to disturb her, but considering the circumstances, she’s hoping for reprieve.

Thankfully, Scorpia doesn’t have to worry about knocking on the door, because Adora’s cries of pain bring Shadow Weaver out into the hall. “What is all this –“ her tirade halts as soon as she sees Adora. “What’s happened?” She reaches for the younger woman desperately, nearly blowing Scorpia in the head.

“I-I don’t know! We were in the chow line, when she just fell over in pain. She didn’t say anything about feeling sick.” The fear in Scorpia’s voice rises as Adora’s cries get louder and Shadow Weaver’s anger ignites.

“Out! Get out!” She yells it over her shoulder, waving her cloaked arm in Scopria’s general direction.

The larger woman cowers, and tears begin to form in her eyes. She doesn’t know what’s happened, but she feels responsible somehow.

Once Scorpia leaves, Weaver begins to assess Adora’s body. She’s giving off a magical energy that seems familiar, but ancient. Something Shadow Weaver hasn’t seen in a long time. She raises her hands and the magic she uses is like a scan that goes down Adora’s body. Said woman is so distraught she’s inconsolable as well as incredibly distracted.

Shadow Weaver assess as much as she can about the situation, and more than she should be allowed with Adora in such a vulnerable state.

The older woman hums to herself as she begins to detect a connection of some kind, a link.

Before Weaver has a moment to investigate it longer, Adora’s cries begin to subside, and her body seems to relax. The older woman huffs in frustration. She was so close, but as soon as she raises her hand to further examine the young woman Adora opens her eyes. She wipes at her face and looks around the room. “Where am I?” She turns her body to face Weaver and she looks around to get her bearings.

“You’re in my sanctum. Scorpia brought you here as you were writhing in pain. What happened to you?” She questions her with an air of exasperation.

The blonde blinks a few times to get the tears to clear from her eyes and gets herself into a seated position. “I’m not sure.” She rubs her head in attempts to clear some of the headache that was rising in her temple. “I was in line for food when this spot in my chest started aching. It was like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Well,” she remembers when Catra was ripped from her life, but she refuses to bring that up in front of Weaver. “Well, it kind of felt like I lost someone, or something.”

The older woman nods sagely, “I scanned your body to assess for any immediate emergencies that may have been taking place in your body, but whatever you felt wasn’t physical.” Her mind is twisting with the information, wondering how she could play this appropriately. “There is something called Maho. It’s an old form of magic that leaves traces with the people we love.”

The word “love” makes her stomach drop.

Weaver walks around the table to get behind Adora. She watches her stiffen and she gets a moment of gratification. “It has been said that intense emotions can be felt through the traces.” She lays her stiff hand on Adora’s shoulder. Now for the blow. “This pain you were feeling could’ve been from an interrogation being carried out. Those princesses need to know our plans.” She can feel Adora’s body vibrate, and her breathing pick up.

“It did feel like… anguish.” Adora’s mind races with the possibilities. She starts to feel her own pain build in her chest. She fails at every turn, even when she’s doing nothing. She can’t sit here anymore. She jumps up and rounds on Weaver. “I have to get back out there.”

“Child, you just had an episode, maybe you should take it easy.” She reaches out as if to appease the younger woman.

“No!” Adora swats away Weaver’s hand. “We need to make plans, now. I’m going to go get Scorpia and we can start formulating.” Adora storms out.

Weaver’s smile begins to form behind the mask.

---

“Gee I don’t know Adora. This sounds crazy!” Scorpia trails behind the woman while Demetria looks at the Scorpioni with disappointment. “Do you even know where to start?”

Adora glances to the side acknowledging Scorpia, but she doesn’t respond. Instead, she just leads them to Shadow Weavers office.

The older woman is standing there patiently as they all enter the room. She had already set up a holographic map anticipating how this may go.

Adora walks up to the map and analyzes their positions. She’s spent so much time preparing for a moment like this… she should be excited, but all she’s filled with is dread. “We have forces just outside of Seleneas that have yet to breach the Sea Gate. Look here,” she points at a path along the borders of Seleneas that wraps around tightly to the land leading to Brightmoon. “We can see here that our most direct route would be through Seleneas. It’s our best bet. And since we saw princess Glimmer at Plumeria, she may be on a mission to scout other princesses for support. Seeing that The Land of Snow is furthest out of reach, it’s the most probable target. Worst case, we can capture access to the seas and extend our reach even further than before.”

Shadow Weaver hums lightly as she eyes the map. “We’ll need a large enough force to take down any remaining forces. The Seleneans are a proud people not willing to give up their territory.”

“We’ll take it from them. I’m sure of it.” Adora’s tone is determined, and it causes some concern to Scorpia.

Demetria clenches her fist and chimes in. “Great, I’ll get the paperwork started for one of the units to mobilize on Seleneas at the earliest chance. If we do this right, we could be out by sunrise.”

“Great, get it done. We’ll need backup. Get two ships to accompany us. It should be more than enough. Scorpia,” she turns to the larger woman noticing her raised eyebrows.

“Uh-uh, y-yes?” Scorpia raises her arm into a salute as she awkwardly fumbles.

“We’ll need to get a few alphas in our ranks, can you get on that?” Adora points her finger right at her.

“Sure!” The Scorpioni turns to Shadow Weaver who nods. Scorpia gathers herself to leave and scampers out the door.

“Nicely done.” The older woman pats her back lightly. “You will lead the unit to victory and recover what you’ve lost.”

Adora clenches her fist and nods. Her brow is furrowed and serious as she plans her own personal strategy.

Notes:

Sorry for the delay. Had a lot going on these last few months, but I haven't given up. I have so much planned for this fic. Let's keep it rolling.

Sorry friends. I was trying to finish this chapter and thought I came up with something solid, but when I started to write the next chapter, the extra 1,000 or so words was too good to do separate. Sorry for any inconveniences to people who already read it, before the update lol

Chapter 18: Deadly Fall

Catra finds herself running through thick brush that gets tangled in her hair; yet she rushes forward through the ripping pain, because it’s the one thing that makes sense. This basic fact of life that injury causes pain is easier to struggle with than this aching loss within her chest. A loss she’d never known to begin with, because she has never been afforded the opportunity.

She gets to a small clearing and shakes her head as she sinks down to her knees and sobs deeply.

Each moment has her careening through her emotions that she’s kept at bay her whole life.

She’s worthless, Shadow Weaver would tell her. Her own family didn’t want her. And come to find out that it all might’ve been stolen from her. The Horde enacting their disgusting vile attacks onto innocent people. She’s known for so long that the Horde was evil. There have been so many signs. She knows she mostly stayed because of Adora, or she would’ve left a long time ago. Then, even Adora was taken from her and used like a machine to fight a war that was never theirs to begin with.

She runs her hands down her face and her mask drops from the crown of her head. She hears the metal clang to the floor, and she loathly stares at it. This symbol of who she’s been her whole life. Who Weaver wanted her to be. Someone the Horde can manipulate and turn into one of their mindless soldiers. She kicks the offending metal and launches it a few meters from herself. And she just sits and cries – the rest of her body is just exhausted.

Rustling comes from behind her, and a hand reaches out tentatively. As it makes contact, Catra’s body flinches.

“Catra.”

The voice startles her because she knows that voice. It’s imprinted on her brain and the trauma it’s brought runs deep. She sits bolt upright as the shadows slither away from her. Her eyes are panicked and shifting all around. Her heart thrums in her chest and she hears more movement coming from the same direction.

“Catra!” She hears someone calling for her and she panics. The voice is different, thankfully. She was so frightened by Weaver’s puppets that she forgot where she was. How did they get here, she questions.

Her thoughts are interrupted again as she hears the crunching of Bow’s boots. The feline looks around to find her escape, but he’s too close, and her heavy breathing will surely give her away. She hisses in the direction of the sounds Bow’s making on his way through the brush. He stops and for a beat she hopes he’ll run away from her.

But then he speaks, “it’s okay Catra. I just want to be here for you… You’re hurting.” His voice is calm.

“Shut up!” she screams at him. She tries her best, but it comes out wet like she’s been breaking down for hours.

He pauses for just a moment, takes a breath, and tries again, “I don’t have to come in, if you want? I can just be here… if that’s better.” He pauses for a response, but presses more, “I’m here for you Catra. I don’t want to leave you.”

“Why?” her voice sounds weak and broken, like a child’s… it sickens her, and she squeezes her eyes shut. “Everyone leaves me…”

Bow bites his lip and thanks the stars he was able to hold in his gut reaction to fawn over her earnestness. “But I won’t,” is all he can blurt out in the moment. “I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.” He peeks through the forestry and can see her kneeling on the ground with her hands digging into her scalp. “Please, let me make sure you’re, okay?”

The words are so sincere, she almost believes them. She isn’t sure she can make noise, so she nods her head lightly.

Bow notices her gesture, and he walks slowly to get closer. Due to the way she’s sitting near the edge of brush he can only manage to sit behind her. He so badly wants to hug her, or offer a gentle touch, but, thankfully, his intuition tells him that physical affection doesn’t necessarily mean love and kindness for everyone; he doesn’t know what lies in her past and doesn’t want to make things worse. So, he just sits there and respects her in this moment.

“Hey, buddy,” his candor is gentle and welcoming as he keeps talking. “Why don’t you take your hands out of your hair. It looks pretty painful.” He winces as he says it, because he notices some of the torn-out portions of hair on her head and some small smears of blood trailing down her fingers. “Is it okay if I release some pheromones to relax you?”

“No,” is her immediate response. There was a sound of unbridled fear escaping from that single word, so Bow just nods and sits there unable to help her. It’s a maddening feeling for someone who likes to fix things to not be able to help in this moment. So, he decides to just sit there and wait. And maybe she’ll come to him when she’s ready.

After long minutes Catra finally releases her hands from her head and they drop to her lap. “Why, Bow?” Her voice comes out ragged.

He shakes his head and his heart fills with grief for her. “I don’t know.”

They sit like that for a while, until Catra turns herself to face the young man. The ache in her chest is softer now, but still present. “It’s stupid, really. I never even met her…”

“It’s not stupid.” He says, his look is firm, but not judgmental.

A few more tears escape, and she quickly wipes them away. “Adora and I always talked about having parents, but… I only did it for her. I never thought mine were alive, or even if they were, they didn’t care about me… I never would’ve guessed I was…” she chokes up, but clears her throat, “taken.”

All Bow does is listen.

The pair spend the next few heartbeats just sitting there, until they hear the others coming through the brush close by; and Catra sits back and wipes at her eyes. “I probably look like shit, huh?”

He chuckles softly, “only a little bit.”

They both smile at each other. Catra appreciates his honesty.

“Bow?” Glimmer calls out from just beyond the shrub line they’re encased in.

The young man looks to Catra for confirmation that she’s okay to welcome more people and she nods with a tight smile. “We’re in here, Glimmer” he calls out.

The princess turns to face his direction and she catches a whiff of Bow’s scent. She reaches through and wiggles her way in without too much damage. “Catra,” her voice is laced with concern and care. “Are you alright?” Glimmer moves to sit next to Bow and hands him the long-forgotten note. Sea Hawk sits furthest away. At least he has enough awareness to not make the moment more uncomfortable.

Catra tries to clear her throat, “yeah. It’s just a lot, yano?”

“Yeah, actually… I kind of do.” Glimmer looks to Bow for encouragement, and he nods softly. “My dad died fighting the Horde when I was really young. Granted, I still have my mom, but… it hasn’t been the same without him. I-I know it’s not the same, but –“

“You still lost someone… I never even knew mine. So, don’t feel too bad.” She gives a dry smile as if sarcasm is still an appropriate coping mechanism.

Bow interrupts, “did you read the whole letter?” He has it held lightly in his hands as if to offer it back.

The feline coughs a bit to clear her throat more. “No,” she sniffs and reaches for it. She tries to find where she’s lost her place and begins paraphrasing it again. “She goes on to talk about the prophecy and how the chimera baby will bring Etheria’s revival. She’s starting to get worried the Horde is close and finishes the letter by wishing love to her ‘beloved.’ It’s signed: ‘C’yra.’” She drops it once again.

“Wait.” Bow speaks first, “like queen C’yra. Queen of the Magicats?” His eyes are wide as he turns to Glimmer.

The princess chimes in, “she was rescued from a Horde base. That’s what your dads said, Bow.” She looks over to Catra to find her face blank, except for a quivering lip. Glimmer’s eyes begin to gloss over as tears rise in her eyes.

Sea Hawk raises to his feet and launches himself over Glimmer’s shoulder as he bursts into tears. “This is so awful! How could they do this to you?” He continues to cry as Glimmer tries to shove him off herself.

Catra scoffs at the buffoon’s behavior, and she rolls her eyes. “We should probably keep going,” Catra does her best to sound normal.

Glimmer finally throws the grown man off her back and stands in agreement. She clears her throat, “yes, let’s get moving.” She fumbles as Bow clears his throat and offers a reproachful look. “That is if you’re still up to it, Catra? You went through a lot just now.”

The moment couldn’t have been more awkward as all eyes are on the feline. She stands and then runs her hands over her mane as some tactic to regain control. She then responds with, “yeah, whatever.”

Bow tentatively pulls out his tracker pad as he keeps an eye on Catra. When the pad starts pinging, he sees there’s magical signals beginning to surround them. “Uh, guys?” He turns it and points. There are four bodies merging in on them.

They all huddle together as they face their impending guests, shoving Sea Hawk out in front.

As soon as the little bodies make their way through, these troll-like beings emerge with sharp teeth.

Sea Hawk gasps, “Mermads! Run!” As soon as he tries to move one of the creatures starts singing. The two men stop dead in their tracks and turn to face the little creature. Then, all four begin to sing. The women look at each other confused, but realization dawns on them simultaneously that they need to get out of there. The men start following the creatures further into the forest when Catra climbs the highest tree. She launches her body towards the little vermin with a guttural growl morphing into a deadly hiss. Her hands and claws are drawn as she barrels down towards their little bodies.

The creatures let out an adorable cry as they flee into the distance. She takes off after them and yells over her shoulder, “get them to the sea gate! I’ll be right behind you.”

Glimmer nods at no one in particular, and she grabs the guys by their shirts. She looks over her shoulder through the foliage and spots the coast. Quicker than a blink she teleports them towards it. They all fall onto the sand and the men try to regain their awareness.

“What happened?” Sea Hawk says with his hand on his head.

“Catra saved you from those stupid ‘mermads’ you were going on about. They started to sing.” She folds her arms over her chest after she helps Bow to his feet.

“That was so weird,” the archer says, “it was like one second I was worried about what would happen and the next I’m in some dream/fantasy world.” He turns to look at Glimmer and blushes. “But I don’t remember anything. Uh, yup. Not a thing. Darn.” He continues blushing until he spots Catra making her way over to them. “You made it!” He says, not to change the subject or anything.

The feline dips her hands into the water and flicks away the grime. “Yeah, I needed to get out some anger.” She shows her canines as she smiles.

Bow gasps, “you didn’t kill them, did you?”

His appalled face is just perfect, and she takes satisfaction in it. “Of course not, idiot. I just scared the shit out of them.” They all make a face of disgust. “Not literally, you dumbasses.”

The rest of them just laugh as she returns all the way over to the group.

Past their shoulders, Catra can see this infamous sea gate and points at it to refocus their attention.

“Perfect!” Glimmer cheers and takes off sprinting towards it. “Let’s go!”

Catra rolls her eyes and gets to all fours as she runs to catch up to the princess. The other two do their best as well.

When they reach the gate, a lone soldier runs to the bottom. “Wait!” he says, “halt!” His breathing is labored as he approaches. “Who goes… there?” he says in between breaths.

“I am princess Glimmer of Brightmoon. I request a meeting with princess Mermista.” Glimmer speaks with an air of royalty.

“Yes! And tell her Sea Hawk is here!” He turns to the group. “She will be delighted to see me.”

“Ah, yes princess Glimmer.” The guard says completely ignoring the captain. “Follow me.” They begin to march towards the castle.

“That was too easy,” Catra whispers to Glimmer, “I could’ve told him I was princess Glimmer, and he’d lead me right to her? Chumps.”

Glimmer giggles, but she admonishes her lightly.

Everyone notices the lack of people around and Bow is the one to vocalize it. “So where is everyone?”

“Oh,” the guard says, “well everyone has fled since the sea gate has been deteriorating.” He gestures to the large structure. “They fear their own protection from the Horde.” He scuttles up the stairs as the rest follow him.

He leads them to a grand door and escorts them inside, but Sea Hawk takes the lead, “Princess Mer –“

“Ugh!” Her groan is long and drawn out. “Not him again.” She lazily points towards Sea Hawk and the rest of the group stairs at him. “Are you with him?” She points the question to the rest.

Glimmer scoffs, “no! He brought us here on his ship.”

“Why yes!” Sea Hawk saunters forward and grabs the sea princess’s hand in his. Her look of surprise and disgust says everything. “Why, princess Mermista and I have known each other for a long time.”

The princess sneers, “one party at the underwater convention is hardly –“

“The night was as grand as my affection for you, my dear.”

Mermista blushes lightly, then pulls her hand away to rise out of her throne. She walks towards Glimmer. “I’ll do whatever you want, if you get rid of this dumb alpha.” Her arms fold across her chest and Sea Hawk’s face deflates.

“Of course!” Glimmer looks sharply to Bow to get him moving and then turns back to Mermista. “I am princess Glimmer, of Brightmoon.” She extends her hand, “it’s so nice to meet you.”

Mermista looks at her hand until the uncomfortable silence eats at Glimmer, and she drops it.

Bow hushes some words to Sea Hawk, and the lone captain moves to leave.

This whole time Catra’s just standing there and taking in the scene. The princess and the captain have a weird dynamic. This Sea Hawk is either just an innocent imbecile, or the world’s most clingy predator. She rolls her eyes. People are annoying. She continues to glance around the room at the ornate structures until Mermista starts talking about the seat gate.

“Yeah, the Horde has been like hitting it from all sides. The damage is pretty extensive, and I don’t know if we can get it back up n’ running.” She walks towards the large window, and they all gaze out to the large deteriorating gate.

That’s when they see it.

A barrage of Horde ships sailing closer to the gate. “Shit,” Mermista says.

Glimmer chimes in to take charge, “we need to head to the shoreline. We can’t let them take Seleneas.” The panic rises over the calm regal tone in her voice.

“Adora,” Catra whispers it like a prayer, and they all run down to make their way to the front of the Sea Gate.

Bow looks left and right, “Glimmer we need Sea Hawk. The boat needs to be ready in case we have to bail.”

Glimmer groans and fizzles away.

Catra starts to feel jittery, like her moment is closing in. What does she decide? Obviously, she needs to find Adora, but how will this play out? Can she even get the sword away from Glimmer?

---

Adora was in fact able to gather the needed forces for her plan within a matter of hours. Once she’d gathered intel that princess Glimmer had boarded a ship with a prisoner and was heading for Seleneas, the blonde knew they needed to act quickly. Adora decides to go by land as she leads the pack of alphas to Seleneas. She fully understands the necessary forces on the sea, but what if the princesses decide to flee inland? She’s got high hopes that the princess made a bad call and decided to bring Catra.

Glimmer got away from her in Plumeria, but Adora won’t make that mistake again.

Now, they’re huffing it on land and hoping to corner in the princesses. If they do flee, and Catra is with them, then the princesses will try to escape with Catra in tow.

Adora storms through the foliage in her larger form. Her eyes are set and determined, and all she can think about is the possibility of finding her.

That’s when it hits her…

The scent. She’d recognize it anywhere. It’s alluring and thick, like the feline had been here not that long ago.

Adora’s heart rate picks up and her adrenalin is pumping. She’s found her! She’s not a failure. She can save her.

As Adora starts to follow the scent, she traverses past some rubble that appears to be remnants of a dwelling. Catra had been through here and continued towards the tree line.

That’s when she sees it.

There’s fur caught in some of the branches of the brush. The branches are thick, and some are covered in thorns. She must’ve been trying to run through it. Adora reaches for the hair and can see that more than a few strands were pulled from the roots. She brings it to her nose and inhales lightly. “Be careful where you step. I have a scent.” She looks to the other alphas who acknowledge, including Demetria. “Stay behind me.” She swallows the lump in her throat, and anger begins to boil in her stomach as she follows the torn hair. There seems to be a clear direction that Catra was heading in. When Adora gets through the roughest parts of it, she enters a small clearing.

There are multiple scents here, and there’s even one she recognizes from Plumeria. It takes her a moment, but then it clicks and Adora grinds her teeth. Her breathing picks up and her mind takes a leap… The pain she felt from the events earlier and the connection Weaver mentioned. It all builds a raging fire in her chest as she thinks about what princess Glimmer could’ve been doing to Catra. She’s heard before how heinous princesses can be, but she never thought it would happen to someone she… she knew – to her family. Her alpha reminds her faintly of the term ‘mate,’ and it offers a cool breeze over the raging fire inside of her.

Demetria gains the blonde’s attention as she picks up something from the ground. “What do you think it is?” She hands the red metal over to their leader.

Adora knows exactly what it is. Her hand trembles as she reaches out to grab the mask that has adorned Catra’s head since it was first able to fit. The blonde takes it from Demetria’s hands and turns it over in her own a few times. Her brow is tight with anger, and she says firmly, “let’s go. She’s in there. It’s time to end this.”

---

Catra dodges a few blasts from the canon aboard one of the ships manned by Ocatavia. She would berate the woman if she weren’t so hell bent on finding someone.

Another blast hits the shore as Bow launches arrows and Mermista dives into the water.

The feline launches herself onto a larger statue to get a good look at all the ships. Yet, she doesn’t see blonde hair anywhere.

Abruptly, one of the cannons connects with the Seagate and the sound reverberates through Catra’s bones. The light fizzles and cracks. A second blast from the cannon is a direct hit and it goes out completely. Then, there’s a raucous roar of cheering coming from the ships. Catra looks to all of them as she scans everyone’s face, but no sight of the one she’s looking for. “Dammit!” Her frustration and drained emotional-self releases what she can in the single word.

Before long she spots Glimmer and the others floundering towards the inner parts of the city. She makes eye contact with the princess and before long she’s teleporting them both back to the group.

“Where were you?” Glimmer asks frustratedly, “we really could’ve used your help.” The tension is clear in her voice.

“Yeah, well we would’ve still been losing even if I was with you. I was trying to look for Adora. We need her to get She-Ra, so I was working on that part.” Catra’s heart thrums and hopes that was convincing enough.

“…Oh,” is all the princess murmurs as the group runs inside of the city. They can hear people making their way beyond the gate.

Mermista leads them to a back alley. “Okay, we just have to make it a little further, then we can escape through one of the underground tunnels.” She slips momentarily but catches herself and uses the water to destroy the large wooden boxes behind them. It creates a blockade and provides cover for their back side. “Haha!” she says proudly.

Sea Hawk swoons, and then dramatically screeches as some of the debris nearly hits him.

They continue running through the brick streets when they reach an opening in the buildings around them. It seems to be where the market probably takes place and is in the central part of the city. The group prepares to continue running when they hear a voice scream for Catra.

The feline turns towards a gate at the far end of the marketplace and there she is. The instant urge to run and leap onto the blonde’s body feels like an instinct. But instead, she remains transfixed as the large muscular alpha barrels towards her… along with eight other alphas. Catra’s eyes go wide when she sees them, and she hears the others behind her preparing to fight. She turns to the group and tells them, “I’ve got Adora. Just leave her to me.” She starts running off in the huge warrior’s direction.

Adora sees Catra making her way towards her freely and the other alphas begin to run at the princesses. She nearly has her in her arms – stretching them out wide to grab her when Demetria launches herself between them.

Catra squeaks and dodges the alpha. When she stands again, she looks back at Adora with an irritated look. “What the hell?”

Adora feels just as shocked when she looks over to Demetria who rises again and goes after Catra. “Demetria! That’s Catra, we’re taking her back –“

But the alpha has already started a pursuit with the feline.

Adora’s alpha enrages within. She thought she was clear on this. How could Demetria do this to her!? “Demetria!” She growls fiercely as she chases down the pair. Her heart is hammering in her ears as she watches the woman she’s been trying to rescue be attacked by one of her own alphas. The inappropriate conduct and disregard for Adora and her orders makes her want to beat Demetria to a pulp. She’ll learn not to fuck around with my mate, her inner alpha voices.

“Adora!” Catra yells out a wine as the other alpha continues to chase her. The sounds of Catra in peril kicks the blonde’s body into high gear. She’s about 50 meters behind them.

When the feline turns to confront Demetria, the alpha tackles her to the ground and rears back to throw blows. But Catra is far too fast for her. She swipes her claws through the other woman’s arm, and she finds enough room to escape while the alpha cries out in pain.

Adora has nearly caught up until Bow’s arrow launches a net around her. She growls with frustration and begins to stretch and bite at the ropes. Her alpha is furious. She doesn’t understand what’s happening, but she will tear Demetria to pieces if she lays a hand on Catra!

Meanwhile, Glimmer throws sparkly punches at one of the alphas which blinds him momentarily enough for Mermista to encase him in water and launch him through the roof of the building next door. The pair high five after the alpha doesn’t make any further attempts to fight.

Sea Hawk is running across the marketplace as he fleas two enraged alphas when Mermista rolls her eyes and trips the pair with a water-whip.

Catra turns to see Adora laying on the ground. “Adora! Quit laying there and help me!”

Adora rolls her eyes playfully at the feline, “what does it look like I’m doing?” She grunts with effort.

While on her way to continue chasing the feline, Demetria gets caught up with Mermista and Bow.

That’s when Catra uses the opportunity to run over to Adora. She unsheathes her claws and releases the woman from the net in one quick swipe. After they get the rope off, they both hurry to their feet. Adora’s towering over Catra with her hand behind her neck, and the feline is suddenly in awe as she stares up into bright blue eyes. The flashes of a golden warrior blur in her memory. Catra’s mouth goes dry, and she doesn’t remember what she was going to say. Before they can even begin to reconcile the pull each of them feels towards one another and the lure of their pheromones, another alpha gets thrown near them into a pile of barrels; unfortunately, it completely disrupts the moment of reverie. Catra studders momentarily, but grabs Adora’s shoulders, “hey. Meet me on one of the ships. I have to get that sword from the princess, and I’ll meet you there.” The scent she is breathing in is intoxicatingly Adora, but almost tenfold. It’s nearly enough to distract Catra from her plans entirely; especially since her dry mouth is suddenly not so dry anymore as her hands squeeze the muscle beneath them.

Adora nods tightly and reaches to wrap her hands around Catra’s waist. The action draws a surprised squeak out of the feline, but Adora continues to stare into blue and gold. She longs to say everything she’s felt the last few agonizing days, but the sound of crashing bodies and battle cries force her eyes to close, and she lets go. “Get to the one on the far right. That’s the one I stored my gear on.”

Catra’s hands are still gripping at Adora’s muscled shoulders – her claws reflexively kneading into it. “Ugh, just go,” she pushes Adora’s body and the two split just in time before another alpha is tossed in their general direction.

Catra punches an alpha that lunges for her and after a few leaps she finally makes it back to Glimmer and Bow. The pair are huffing and puffing as she arrives. “Wow, you two are out of breath already?” She looks to her claws as Glimmer guffaws at her.

“You were running away! You didn’t do anything.” The pink princess blows a few hairs from her face. “And where did Adora go?”

Before Catra can retort Bow gains their attention. “Guys!” He points in the direction of a loud roaring crowd heading their way. “I’m almost out of arrows. We can’t keep up!”

Catra clings onto her plan for dear life as she tries to come up with some excuse out of thin air. Her eyes twitch towards the sword. It’s now or never. “Look, Glimmer, just give me the sword and I’ll get it to Adora. I told her to meet me in a safer location. This way the Horde won’t be able to interfere.” She looks to Glimmer’s eyes pleadingly.

Glimmer glances at her face and sees the earnestness in it. She does her best to shove the twisting knot of fear and distrust down as she reaches for the sword. Before she hands it completely over, she says, “I’m counting on you.”

Catra swallows a thick gulp from her dry throat, “I know.” She grits her teeth at what she’s about to do, and then, Glimmer hands it over. Catra nods firmly, “The rest of you should head back towards Sea Hawks boat. Get it started and we’ll meet you there.”

Mermista groans, “what about the Seagate? We need to fix it and take back my city.” Her fear and anger trembles past her lips as she speaks. “We also need to get the remaining civilians out.”

“We’ll work on getting the last of the remaining people out before we head to the ship.” Glimmer turns to Catra, “when you give the sword to Adora, maybe she can use it to fix the gate and save us.”

The feline’s jaw clenches before she responds, “yeah, maybe.” She cuts it short and takes off, separating from the group. She’s heading back towards the shore as she dodges multiple Horde soldiers and their pillaging masses tearing through the city.

She unexpectedly runs into a brick wall, or at least it felt like a wall; but when she opens her eyes again, she’s staring up at a large woman with white hair. Before she knows what’s happening the woman grabs her and picks her up bridal style. “Kitty!” the large alpha lets out as she nuzzles into Catra’s fur.

The feline pushes the woman’s face away. “What the hell are you doing!?”

“Oh! My goodness, I-you’re completely right. Apologies. Man, you are just too cute!” She says all of this as she puts Catra back onto her feet.

Catra wants to scratch this woman’s face off. “I don’t have time for this!” The feline runs off past the woman, leaving her agape. Catra is much too fast for her. She also narrowly dodges the eye of Ocatavia when she squeezes out onto the rocks near the shore. She makes it to the gangway of the far-right ship and hightails it up onboard. She looks out to try and find Adora in the amassing crowd, but she can’t really get a good look. So, she turns and leaps onto the rails and runs up to furthest point on top of the boat; it’s nearly 20 meters high. When she gets there, she leans over the rail, scanning, until she finally sees Adora making her way through the crowd. Man, she’s slow, and she laughs internally as a sense of relief washes over her. This feeling of finally getting what she wants. Being where she’s supposed to be. Having Adora back in her life.

Then, a wicked laugh comes from behind her. She gasps and turns immediately, dropping the sword as it clatters to the ground near her feet. “You always were an annoyingly strong climber. I knew I should’ve declawed you as a kit…” Weaver begins to step closer to the young woman.

All Catra can do is stand there in fear. She doesn’t know what this woman has done in the last few weeks, but she damn well knows she wasn’t trying to find her. Catra hates how Weaver makes her feel small and insignificant. She’s learned more about herself and her own power. It’s about time she’s tried owning some of it for herself. “Shut it, you witch.”

Shadow Weaver gives a mocking surprise gesture but continues to taunt. “Well, you’ve gotten even more foul mouthed since you’ve been out of my presence. I did not think it possible.”

“Stop it!” Catra’s hand flings up to her head, brushing back the hair that has fallen forward, as she tries to maintain her composure. “Tell me about my mother!”

That was something Weaver was not expecting. She regains her composure as to not let the young woman know she’s been caught off guard. “You came to the Horde, motherless.”

“That’s a lie! Tell me the truth. For once in your damn life.” Catra is seething. She knows on any other day Weaver would use it against her and call her crazy, or unhinged, but dammit, she does feel a little unhinged after the weeks of revelations she’s endured.

Weaver lets go of her facade and continues to approach the woman.

---

Down on the ground, Glimmer and the others make it to Sea Hawks Boat. He comes from the hull, “alright! We are up and running.” The three of them look onward at the scene unravelling in front of them. Easily a hundred soldiers tearing through Seleneas and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do.

Glimmer clenches her hands as she waits for Catra to show herself. She starts to pace and worry her lip when Bow lightly grabs her hand.

He slips his hand in hers and she looks to him with fear clear across her face. She knows it was a risk, but was it worth it? Bow’s smile is soft, but not really reassuring, because he isn’t so sure how this will work out either.

Mermista interrupts their moment with a drawn out “uh.” Then she continues, “is that your cat?” She points up to one of the tallest ships’ towers where Catra is up against a rail with some creep looming over her.

“What the hell?” Glimmer’s caught between confusion and concern. She isn’t sure what she’s seeing, but from this vantage point, it doesn’t look good. She growls, but before she teleports away Bow squeezes her hand.

“Be careful,” he says worriedly.

She smiles softly at him. “I will.” And then she’s disappeared.

---

Adora is making her way through the ruffians when she looks up to the boat where she is supposed to meet Catra and scans for her face. She’s been waiting so long for this moment. Of course, Adora isn’t so sure what the sword has to do with anything, but Catra said it was important, so she knows it is, too.

The blonde doesn’t see Catra until she’s just at the shore looking straight up to the boat. She can finally see her standing on the lookout deck, but something isn’t right. Catra is facing away from her, like her attention has been pulled elsewhere.

---

“Tell me who my mother is!” She’s fuming at this point.

“Why would you come all the way here to ask about something so unimportant?” She tries to make a sneering gesture when Catra screams at her again.

“I know your bullshit games, Shadow Weaver. I’ve been to the hideout where C’yra stayed before she was captured.” The name makes Weaver’s face drop into a scowl.

“You know nothing –“

“Stop lying!”

Shadow Weaver is less than a foot away from her, but Catra isn’t going to let her deter her line of questioning. She wants answers now, dammit!

Then, Weaver grabs her by the front of her suit and begins to push the younger woman back into the railing. “Your mother was a filthy… disgusting… animal.” Catra’s hackles raise as a hiss escapes her lips, but Weaver is not deterred. She not only continues pushing the feline, but also her rant, “we threw her in the dungeon and out came a yowling little runt. We would’ve put you out of your misery right in front of her, but” She pauses to watch the fear in Catra’s eyes. “She escaped and left you behind to die. Why don’t you just give up and let Adora end the war for the Horde, like she’s always been meant to do?” Just as Shadow Weaver was pushing Catra over the railing with her black magic tendrils, Glimmer shows up and throws a punch right in Weaver’s face. The old witch stumbles back a bit, and she quickly moves to leave.

But Glimmer is just a moment too late, and the tendrils of darkness had already shoved the feline those last few inches causing her to careen over the railing. With a yelp, she reaches out as her back bends awkwardly, and she barely catches her claws on the lower rail.

“Well, that was a little too easy.” Glimmer says it as she watches Weaver’s retreating figure, but she doesn’t see that Catra went over the rail. That’s when the princess hears claws scraping on metal just as Catra’s hand slips.

---

Adora’s eyes had been glued to Catra nearly the entire time as she traverses the ship. And while she continues to make her way towards her, this gut-wrenching feeling grows inside her. Adora leans over a rail and looks upward. That’s when she catches princess Glimmer arriving and throwing a solid punch. She can even hear when it makes contact! Then, she sees Catra’s body being pushed over the rail. “Catra!” The anguish in Adora’s voice is audible. All she sees is Catra reaching out with one arm to grab onto anything she can reach, and her body is dangling from above. Tears escape Adora’s eyes, and her whole body is aflame with adrenalin. She runs further up the stairs leading to the deck. Her alpha is pushing her to go faster before something terrible happens.

As she nearly reaches the last leg of the winding case of stairs, she sees a body fall out of the corner of her eye. She thrusts her body up against the rail and screams out, “no!” Her throat burns from the cry as she watches Catra’s body fall. Time slows and she reaches her hand out like a lifeline, but Catra is already well out of reach. Milliseconds tick by as she watches the fear bloom on Catra’s face. Eyes wide and full of terror.

When Adora’s brain finally starts working again and time moves faster, she readies herself to leap from the stairs. But just before she launches herself over it to save Catra, a flurry of pink flashes around the feline and then, she’s gone.

Adora stares down at the deck agape as she should’ve seen her mate’s body flat on the ground, broken from the impact, but she sees nothing. Her heart is breaking and pounding inside her chest. Her tears still well in her eyes and as she blinks, they fall. Her pupils scan the immediate area, but then her brain finally pieces it together. Glimmer had saved Catra from falling to the deck.

Adora allows her body the privilege of breathing again as she inhales a sudden gasp of air reviving her heart; she nearly falls down the stairs from relief. Her hand grips the railing to maintain a hold, and she continues gasping for breath and wiping away the tears from her face. She leans forward and grips her arms around her head. The pressure is just enough to soothe herself momentarily. Catra survived.

---

The women hit the deck of Sea Hawk’s boat with a thud. Glimmer pushes Catra off herself and starts yelling, “what the hell happened? Why were you up there?” Glimmer’s eyes squint suspiciously towards the other woman. Catra’s eyes were welling with tears and the shock in them alone tells the princess enough. “Oh… are you okay? Who was that woman?”

Catra swallows the lump in her throat for a second time that day. Hearing Adora’s wailing cry makes her stomach clench with a sadness she’s never felt before. All the events from today, and of recent, are all taking their toll. She sniffs and says, “that was Shadow Weaver.” Her voice sounds broken.

Glimmer looks at Bow with concern and she looks back to Catra when she realizes something is missing, “where’s the sword?”

Catra’s eyes widen in horror and looks back over to the lookout point.

Glimmer then groans as she teleports away.

---

When Glimmer lands on the lookout deck she’s face to face with Adora. The woman is huge in stature and the scowl she’s giving Glimmer could kill armies. Glimmer’s heart begins to beat faster when Adora steps closer. The princess can feel the grief and anger seeping out of the alpha’s pores. She quickly rotates her head and finds the sword near the edge of the railing and teleports to grab it. When her hand grabs the hilt, she hears, “wait!” Glimmer’s head shoots around and sees the woman reaching for her.

Adora’s voice is wet and cracked, “is she… hurt?”

Glimmer clenches her jaw, then speaks “Catra’s fine.” She can see Adora clenching her jaw and fighting the urge to lunge at her, but after hearing those words the blonde’s relief is visible. “Look, I know you don’t know me, but we need you.” She clenches the sword tighter to her chest as a sense of apprehension rises in her gut.

The sincerity in the princess’s voice throws Adora off. She stares at her warily. Her anger at the princess’s actions ebbs for just a moment.

Glimmer continues, “this sword is supposed to connect to someone Etheria calls She-RA.” Glimmer’s eyes are soft as she takes in a rattled, but relieved Adora. “We think you can help us.”

“How can I –“ Adora’s question is interrupted as Shadow Weaver and Demetria, as well as a few other alphas join the lookout deck. The older woman blasts magic at the princess and just misses before Glimmer teleports away. All Adora can do is stare dumbfounded at the place she used to be in.

Demetria runs up to Adora, “hey! You alright, ‘Dor?” She moves to place a hand on her shoulder when Adora releases a deep guttural growl.

Adora turns on Demetria and pushes her up against the same rail that Catra had nearly faced her death on just moments ago. She growls again as the woman facing her tries to fight back. “Why were you chasing her? We were supposed to work together!”

“Enough!” Shadow Weaver shouts and the two reluctantly separate. Demetria is panting as her fear subsides for the moment. “That is not what’s important.” Weaver and Demetria glance at each other and the older woman nods for her to leave. As the younger woman walks by, Weaver places her hand lightly on her shoulder. Weaver acknowledges Adora again, “what’s important now, is your conquering victory over Seleneas.” As soon as she says it, the alphas in the background shout and holler their praises. Demetria even begins to clap after she rubs her chest from the pain.

Adora looks confused as she looks to the other alphas and looks back down over the railing at the city where she had found Catra in. She was so close. Her body transforms back to its normal size as she takes in the momentous occasion. Today has certainly taken its’ toll and she needs time to decipher what Princess Glimmer was talking about...

---

The group hears the commotion going on in the distance as their boat sails back towards Brightmoon. The solemn moment takes a toll on everyone aboard.

Glimmer sheaths the sword on her back and turns to the group. She takes in Mermista’s defeated look and the rest of their faces as well. She sighs deeply as she drops to the deck of Sea Hawk’s boat. “Well, we all made it out of there in one piece. I tried to talk to Adora before I left with the sword, but this sorceress was shooting magic at me.” She eyes the group nervously as she tries to choose her words carefully. Then, she looks to Catra who’s eyes are blown wide in… fear? Glimmer reaches out her hand and places it on the feline’s arm, but she flinches away like it had burned her. Glimmer looks on even more concerned than before. “Catra, are you okay?”

Catra sneers as though she was about to give a nasty retort, but the words die in her throat as this lump rises and chokes her into painful sobs. She tries to keep it at bay with every ounce of her will, but the fire behind her tongue burns and she can’t control it any longer. Everyone manages to stay back while her body betrays her.

The image of a petrified Adora reaching out for her flailing body races through Catra’s mind and she dissects Shadow Weaver’s words. She’s never cared about me a day in her wretched life. All she does is manipulate whoever she can for more power. And she’s got Adora right where she wants her. There’s only one way out of this, she decides in just a matter of moments. The feline looks frazzled as she turns back to Glimmer and the rest of the group. Catra’s made up her mind and knows she can’t do it alone – she is resolute.

Catra looks Glimmer in the eye and says, “I wasn’t planning on just finding Adora.” She pauses as the bile rises in her throat. Glimmer’s face begins to contort. “I was trying to get her the sword and leave back to the Horde.” Tears usher down her face without permission.

Bow gasps and Glimmer can only look on with a vengeful stare. “I knew it,” she says.

Catra withers at her harsh words. “I’m from the Horde. It’s all I’ve ever known… Adora is all I’ve ever known.”

Bow makes a sad hum at how cute it was, but Glimmer turns her glare onto him. He sheepishly looks in another direction.

The feline continues, “I just wanted her back. I wanted everything to go back to how it was before… before Shadow Weaver took Adora from me.” Catra swallows the burning lump as best as she can once more. “But it won’t ever be the same because Shadow Weaver won’t let it happen. She’s never wanted me. She’d rather just… use me, like every other thing she can get her hands on.” The words hurt as the reality of them truly settle into her bones. She’s never had a home in the Horde, or with Weaver. She only ever stayed for Adora.

Glimmer crosses her arms, “and what? You thought you could do the same to us?”

“I…” that stops her dead in her tracks. “You’re right, I wanted to use you so that I could get back to the Horde. But that’s not what I want anymore. And not just because I have nowhere to go…” Catra remains on her knees as she looks down at the deck. “But because… none of you deserve this…” Her voice gets quiet, “Adora, doesn’t deserve this.” Then, she finishes with more resolution in her voice, “And I want to help.”

Bow touches Glimmer’s arm softly and he releases a few of his pheromones that he knows will soothe the princess. She looks into his eyes with residual anger and concern. His are asking for her to try to listen to Catra.

Sea Hawk’s eyes are briming with tears and he reaches an arm around Mermista. To which she replies with a disgusted scoff and a stiff arm to his ribcage. He tumbles down over the immediate railing and onto the lower deck causing a chuckle to rise from the group.

Glimmer turns back to Catra and looks at the defeated woman. “How do I know I can trust you?”

Catra raises her head again to meet her stare. “You don’t. But I have nothing left, and I’m still your prisoner, so,” she cuts herself off – not sure if anymore words could help anyways.

The princess mulls it over. There has been this dreaded feeling in the pit of her stomach that something like this would happen eventually. Glimmer doesn’t like to be proven right about this one. She could’ve lost the sword to the Horde on top of losing Seleneas... But they didn’t. And Catra could’ve kept lying to her, but she didn’t… Maybe this was the wakeup call Catra needed. The feline had thought going back would be the end of it. She could live like she did before, but now she knows that she can’t. Glimmer didn’t hear everything Shadow Weaver said to Catra, but clearly it wasn’t the warm welcome she expected. The princess huffs a sigh and relents. “Oh, shut up Horde scum.” Glimmer smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. In fact, she rolls them for good measure. “But I swear, if you try any more shit, you are dead to me. Got it?”

Glimmer’s anger looks suspiciously like a queen Catra has had the pleasure of meeting. The feline quirks a small and reluctant smile. She knows she doesn’t deserve this forgiveness. Catra doesn’t think she could ever forgive someone for breaking their trust like this, but that’s what makes her different from Glimmer. “Thanks, Sparkles.”

Glimmer reaches down and Catra meets her in the middle. The princess hoists up the feline before throwing on her shackles. Catra looks down befuddled as an all too delighted smile crosses Glimmer’s face. “Still my prisoner, remember?”

“Damn, Sparkles.” Is all Catra says before she sits back down on the deck. Her gut still twists at Adora’s fearful cry, but she’s alive and Catra knows the blonde idiot won’t stop trying to look for her. Then, it hits her, like being doused with ice cold water. “Shit…”

Bow, Glimmer, and the rest turn at her outburst. “What?” Glimmer asks.

“That’s what she’s doing.” Catra stares wide eyed down at her cuffed hands.

“What who’s doing?” Bow chimes in this time.

The feline looks back towards everyone. It all seems so clear – once you think like a manipulative sociopath. “She’s using Adora and her alpha. I know Adora is trying to find me. She’s determined.”

“Wonder why…” Glimmer not so subtly says under her breath to Bow who snickers.

Catra glares at her but continues. “Shadow Weaver is using Adora’s alpha to strategize against the rebellion. She’s using her need to find and rescue me as a ruse.”

“Damn,” Mermista says.

"What should we do?" asks Sea Hawk.

“I don’t know, but we need to figure out a way to get to her.” Catra tries hard to focus on strategy.

Glimmer hums, “well, let’s not dwell on it too harshly. We need to get back to Brightmoon and think of our next steps anyways. Since Seleneas has been taken, things have become a little more urgent. We need to recover from this loss and prepare ourselves for the next battle.” Her voice has an air of confidence Catra hasn’t quite seen yet. As the most powerful person (Catra would try to argue against that, but she lacks actual magic) they’re all depending on her leadership. The group continues on in silence as they sail closer to home.

Hopefully, Catra could call it home… but that’s wishful thinking at this point. She only has one home and the idiot is fighting for people who couldn’t care if she lived or died.

Sea Hawk shouts, “this reminds me of a fantastical shanty about –“

“No!” the group responds in a resounding voice.

They’ll figure this out. They have to…

 

Notes:

Ugh, I wanted this chapter to be full of longing and angst and I just had such a hard time writing it. I hope it turned out okay. I'm kind of happy with it lol.

Also, I've been thinking of ideas for my next fic. Wanted some input from people in the comments.

Was thinking EITHER:

-Modern College Softball AU
-Modern Polyamorous fic with some LOK characters
-Mid-Century Modern angsty forbidden love fic.

I'm leaning more towards the first two. lol I'm not stopping or giving up on this fic, but the creative juices have been flowing and I want to dabble into something else. Thanks for sticking with me! And thank you for comments, Kudos and support!

Chapter 19: More trauma...

Notes:

I’m writing this here as a disclaimer. Any of the information that I’ve added about real life supplements are dramatized for the writing of this fic and in no way relate to how they’re used, or affect the body in real life. The one mentioned below, I actually use when I work out, but other than that, there are no other uses or expected outcomes that I know of. Talk to your doctor if you have questions.

Adora storms into her bunk room and slams the door shut. She’s furious about how today’s events unfolded. There’s an after-action review that she’s supposed to be preparing for, but she mostly has unanswered questions, like “what the hell was Demetria doing?” Adora is positive that the soldier knew the plan, because she was a part of the huddle, in which they made eye contact! It’s driving her crazy. There has to be something else going on here.

“And what was all that stuff Princess Glimmer was talking about? They need my help? Yeah, I bet, to defeat the Horde and take victory for themselves, probably.” She rambles out loud to herself in a disbelieving tone.

The blonde wants to punch things, she’s just so angry. Tears begin to usher at the corners of her eyes as her anger and disappointment steep further into her heart. “I almost had her. We were together and I just lost her! How can that princess say she needs my help when she punched Catra square in the face?” She grips the metal bedframe harshly. “She’s just lucky she caught her, or…” her words trail off as the knot in her throat threatens to choke her. The moment where she had almost lost Catra still haunts her soul. She shakes the feeling out of her mind to refocus. “This has to be a mind game or something. What else could it be?” She tries her best to rationalize everything that took place. She had seen Glimmer punch Catra over the rail and then she tells her they need her.

Her brain feels like mush as she falls back onto the mattress. She runs her hands down her face, but nothing seems to clear the foggy picture built up in her mind. It just doesn’t make sense.

A ragged sigh escapes her. She forces herself to get up, and she grabs the jacket that she’d thrown across the room. She’d entered here a little frazzled and she’s not leaving feeling much better. The door slams shut as she exits.

---

Catra screams as a robot throws a serving tray directly for her head. She runs down the dark hallway in hopes of finding Sparkles or Bow. As she approaches a turn, she drags her claws through the flooring to maintain traction and runs into the arms? No, into the pigtails of a deranged woman. Catra feels the need to scream again, but the woman covers her mouth with one of her tendrils of hair, and it makes the feline want to gag.

“Shhh,” the woman warns, “the bots are triggered by sound.” The woman places Catra back onto the ground, and she guides her in the other direction.

As soon as they walk behind a huge framed picture, the pair fall through a trap door causing Catra to scream her lungs out once again. In a panic, she stretches out her clawed feet and hands to prevent herself from falling into a death trap! Her breathing is rapid as panic turns into fear. Then, she hears voices.

“Where is she? I thought you found her?”

“I-I did! She was right behind me.” The voice of the woman sounds perplexed, and her face enters the opening of the tunnel looking up the trap door. “Ah! There she is!” She points at Catra, and Glimmer squeezes her head into view.

The princess can see the frantic look on Catra’s face, and she lets out a chuckle. “Get down here, you scaredy-cat. No one’s gonna hurt you,” she mocks.

“Psht,” she pauses for a beat, “Bow! You there?”

The young man pops his head under the opening, “hey buddy! All clear.” He even shoots her a thumbs up. That’s proof enough for her.

“Alright,” the panic in her voice isn’t as audible as it could’ve been. She retracts the claws on her hands at first, then one foot at a time until she’s sliding down the vent again.

Glimmer scoffs, “you’ll listen to Bow?”

The feline dusts off her clothes as she makes a bored face at Glimmer. “I mean, yeah. It’s Bow.”

“That doesn’t even explain anything,” Glimmer says under her breath.

The attention of the group is drawn back to the other woman in the room. “Okay! So, my robots have been infected with a virus. It seems to have turned them into hostile murder bots. They’re usually so docile and helpful! But I was working with this First One’s technology, and it seems to have infected my bots with something.” She looks to the group as though that was an effective summary of what’s conspired here, but the group looks at each other with brows raised and confusion clear as day. “Oh! I make robots to do things for me. Like small tasks. Um,” she taps her chin lightly, “I was working with old technology, uh,” she pauses to think, “you see technology is the combination of mechanical parts that make –“

Catra raises her hand to halt the demeaning explanation. “We know what technology is, nerd. Now, how do we kill these murder bots? Also, who the hell are you?”

Bow and Glimmer catch on to Catra’s quick evaluation of the conversation and they both make a face. Bow clears his throat, “this is princess Entrapta. We told you about her on the way here. She’s known for her expertise in technology and inventing.”

“You were talking to me on the way here?” She looks at her claws and begins to pick at them.

Glimmer rolls her eyes, “pain in the ass…” she mumbles. “Anyways, Entrapta was just telling us all of this when we were able to pick up the activity near you. It looks like her lab is where the signal is the strongest. I bet if we make it there, we can stop whatever is happening. I mean, there’s no way we can destroy her army of bots.”

Catra scoffs, “speak for yourself, Sparkles.”

That causes Glimmer to clench her jaw. A retort on the tip of her tongue when she’s interrupted.

“Attack it at the source of infection,” Entrapta ponders momentarily. “That could work!”

A sigh escapes Glimmer’s lips, “Princess Entrapta, if we help you get control of your bots, would you consider joining the rebellion with us? We could really use your expertise and you’re clearly brilliant.” Glimmer aims for flattery.

“Well, that is true. I am, but the last rebellion didn’t work out so great. How will you ensure the effectiveness of it this time around?” Her question is straight forward.

Glimmer stutters for only a moment when she pulls the sword off her back.

Entrapta immediately steals it and places it up above her head as though she could get better lighting to inspect the new device. “Oh!” She exclaims loudly enough to hurt everyone’s ears and then continues. “This is first one’s technology! Wherever did you get it? Can I experiment on it?” The princess’s eyes widen comically.

“No!” Catra and Glimmer both say simultaneously. They give each other a weird look and Entrapta hands back the sword.

“Oh, I am so jealous. That is a piece of work. It must be very powerful.” The princess continues to ogle at it while Glimmer replaces it on her back.

“Well, we could possibly use it. It’s She-Ra’s sword. What if we can use it to stop whatever is happening?” Glimmer asks the group, but Catra’s stomach drops.

The feline isn’t so sure this will work. It’s not theirs to just use when they want. It’s Adora’s. The feeling of possessiveness rises in her gut as her emotions whirl around inside. “What if you break it?” she interjects.

“C’mon, it isn’t that fragile.” Glimmer’s reasoning is based on, what, weight?

“Well, it is First Ones’ technology and seeing as it’ll be up against other First Ones’ tech, it might just be okay.” Entrapta’s reasoning is just as bad as Glimmer’s.

A low growl comes out of Catra’s throat, “just give it to me. If I really do have some mystical magic inside me, then maybe this’ll help bring it out.”

“Wait! You’re magic?” Entrapta’s voice is filled with rapture and awe.

“She might be, but she hasn’t shown any signs of magic even since she left the Horde.” Glimmer just so nonchalantly drops.

“You’re from the Horde?” The mechanic asks in wonder.

Catra removes her hands from her ears after the assault just committed on them, “yes,” she grits out. “I’m a Horde soldier. I used to work for them, but they’re bad,” the feline’s tone is condescending – per usual. “So, I left to help the Rebellion. And one of your guys told me I’m a Chimera an –“

“A Chimera!?” the shrill scream from Entrapta causes everyone to cover their ears.

“Yeah, what of it?” Catra’s emotions flare at the other woman’s sudden interest and she gets defensive.

“I’ve only read about Chimera’s. They supposedly have mystical powers that stem from their ancestry. Being a Magicat, you should know all about this! Can you tell me anything important?” Entrapta extends out her recording device into Catra’s space and the feline hisses at her. She doesn’t budge from the reaction, but Glimmer puts her arms out to contain Entrapta.

“Okay, there. First of all,” Glimmer’s tone is defensive. “You know nothing about her. We said she was from the Horde. Do you actually think she knows about her heritage?” The tone Glimmer has is filled with incredulity and makes Entrapta shrink in on herself.

“Glimmer, stop,” Catra cuts her off. “I know what you’re trying to do.” She then turns to the cowering mechanic, “I have no clue about my family, or history, or heritage. So you probably know more about it than I do.” The defensive emotions eb for a moment as she takes in the stranger’s appearance and picks up on the princess’s lack of awareness for things like this. “All I know is that I’m apparently a Chimera and that includes some magical abilities. But I haven’t felt or shown anything my whole life.”

Entrapta perks up, “oh! That’s probably because of the beta alanine.”

The entire group looks at the princess like she’s grown a third head.

“The what now?” Glimmer supplies.

“Beta alanine.” She looks to the group inquisitively. “You’ve heard of it, I’m sure!” she says as she points to Catra.

The feline’s eyes narrow as she shakes her head in response.

“Oh,” the princess deflates and then quickly runs over to her computer. She taps a few keys and then pulls up some information on the large screen. “See! I was sure you would’ve known since you live in the Horde.”

The group is still confused as they exchange looks. Then, Catra steps forward since Entrapta is specifically talking to her. “What are you showing us? Explain, nerd.”

Now, it’s Entrapta’s turn to look confused. She slowly raises her hand to the screen where the information in question is being displayed. “This is information I acquired from the Horde’s database. It talks about how the Horde uses beta alanine, a non-essential amino acid, to suppress any of the creatures’ natural abilities for magic.” She pauses to look at everyone’s reactions, but no one speaks, so she continues talking. “Beta alanine is naturally made in the body at low doses, but the Horde has been supplementing it in their food to diminish magic! Seeing as they acquire creatures from all over the planet, it would be imperative that the individuals wouldn’t be able to harness any power that couldn’t be controlled by the Horde. So, in order to stay in control over their subordinates, they’d been dosing their food with beta alanine. It would diminish their use of magic, and it’s probably the reason you haven’t experienced it your whole life. It can also be used to suppress heats for omegas. Which they have done extensive experimentation on. I wouldn’t call a lot of it ethical science, though.” The enthusiasm dies in her voice during the last statement.

“Oh my fucking stars.” Glimmer’s words speak for everyone. “How do you have information from the Horde?!” her question, although imperative, isn’t what’s on everyone’s mind in this moment. Catra turns her head to glare at Glimmer who looks somewhat sheepish, “What? It’d be nice to know how, so we can do it again.” The princess turns her head to look away in shame. She knows Catra is going through a lot right now, but the Rebellion could really use new and vital information to stay ahead of the Horde. But she sets her own agenda aside for Catra to have a moment to process.

“Well, to answer your question, I was able to access it from one of their abandoned strongholds. It appears that their system isn’t as encrypted as they’d like.” Glimmer’s eyes brim with hope, then Entrapta destroys it with “but seeing as it’s disconnected from their current servers, I wouldn’t be able to access any current information.”

Glimmer groans into her hands at the unfortunate news.

The silence that’s stemming from Catra is nearly concerning and it catches Bow’s attention. “Catra,” he inquires and reaches out a hand before she bolts from her position.

The feline runs away from the monitors displaying further reason how the Horde has royally fucked her over. She runs. It’s just all too much. The information. The truth about who she is, it’s all stifling. She can’t breathe. The air attempts to flow into her lungs but the burning sensation won’t allow it to enter. It’s choking her. Why does this keep happening? Why does everything want her to burn to the ground? What about her life isn’t a lie?!

Her body slumps to the ground after running without thinking, and she writhes gasping to allow the oxygen to replenish her body. Pain is all she’s ever known that makes sense… and Adora. It’s easy to sit here and wallow and question if her entire life was a lie. Was Adora lying to her? Did she even matter to anyone? Her thoughts are cut short as arms begins to slowly wrap around her. The golden light blinds her retina even through her eyelids as tears escape through them. But the arms remain steady and strong as she’s lifted into an embrace. Her body clings to the lifeforce beneath her touch like a lifeline.

Then, the strangest scent passes her senses. A scent that shouldn’t be here. A scent that doesn’t belong in the place they are now. It’s Adora. Her alpha. The one she doubts even cares. The one who’s probably been lying to her all her life. But when that thought arises it’s extinguished by another stronger waft of pheromones that soothes her to her core. Adora’s scent has always been a grounding force throughout her life, just as her presence has been. And she cries. Catra clings tightly and she releases it. She lets it all out. The anger and the sadness. The confusion and the fear of being in a new place. Her plain stubbornness has gotten her to survive up until this point, but she’s exhausted. It’s all so much and she can’t hold it in anymore. She can’t play it off like it’s nothing. So she doesn’t.

The tears flow and flow until she’s spent and weak. She feels so weak and so vulnerable. She wants to clam up and shut this down again, because being vulnerable means there’s something or someone just around the corner to use and break you. But the pheromones don’t stop, and she’s never felt more at peace. The blinding light fades and Adora’s scent recedes, but the pheromones are still present. Another set of arms wrap around her shoulders and Catra is once again aware of her surroundings. She opens her eyes, and her head is tucked against warm brown skin. The other set of arms are attached to Glimmer.

A weak and scared part of Catra wants to shoot up and slash her claws, but she restrains herself. She couldn’t stand knowing that she’d hurt Bow. The one person who’s been consistently patient with her.

The pair can sense the feline has come back to reality, and they slowly let her go.

Catra’s ears are down and back as she feels their scrutinizing gaze.

Realizing this, the pair adjust themselves to sit on either side of her, and they don’t look at her at all. They just sit.

“Sorry for using my pheromones,” Bow breaks the silence first.

“Don’t be.” Catra’s voice is wrecked, but she gets the words out at least.

The following silence last longer than before if only to give Catra the room to sort through her thoughts.

Then, Glimmer speaks, “the Horde is a bunch of assholes.”

That gets a dry laugh out of Catra. “Hey,” she looks over in her general direction. “They’re not all assholes.” That causes Glimmer to bite her lip, unsure of herself. “But most of them are, so I suppose you’re not completely wrong.” Another dry chuckle escapes the feline, hoping that Glimmer understands her tone.

“How ya feeling?” Bow asks as delicately as he can.

“A huge part of me wants to shove it all down, like I used to. I want to just ignore it like it doesn’t mean anything.” She pauses as she swallows, “but I can’t.” Catra shakes her head solemnly. “I can’t keep… pretending like it doesn’t mean anything.” Her voice quivers at the end of her statement. “It fucking sucks and I don’t want to act like it doesn’t hurt.”

The others just sit quietly. There really isn’t much one can say to a sentiment like that. It’s true, and it’s painful.

“It’s easier to just avoid it.” Bow says. “Trust me, I know it’s not the same; but when I wouldn’t tell my dads about being a soldier, it was just easier to pretend like it wasn’t this elephant in the room. They couldn’t see the elephant, but it was always weighing on my shoulders. Ignoring it and living like everything was fine was just easier.” He lets out a shaky breath hoping he didn’t overstep in this moment. He didn’t say it to overshadow her experience, but to connect with her on it.

A few stray tears run down Catra’s cheeks at the simple explanation. It’s easier that they’re not looking at each other, because baby steps, y’know? “It’s not the same, but it’s still sucks.”

They hum in acknowledgment and the two omega’s reach their hands out for Catra’s. Their palms enclose over her balled up fists until she softens her own. Their hands join and they sit in silence. Catra releases a shaky breath and wipes her face on each shoulder.

Their moment of reverie is broken when Entrapta says, “Anyways. Are we going to use the sword or…” her tone dies as the end of her question fades to nothing.

The three laugh as they look at the mad scientist. start to help each other up to their feet. “Sure, ‘Trap,” Catra says.

“I am not trapping you at all. If anything, you are free to go. My bots on the other hand.” The princess makes a skeptical face.

Catra must be learning how to have patience, because she isn’t sure she’d be able to handle all of this on a normal day. She walks to the princess and places her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “’Trap is a nickname. Short for Entrapta. Friends use nicknames.”

“Oh,” she pauses in contemplation. “So we’re friends?”

“Yeah, ‘Trap. Friends.” Catra regrets her words as a shrill shriek nearly bursts her eardrums.

“Ah! I’ve never had real friends before.”

Glimmer and Bow share an unsurprised look as they follow the other two back to the main section of Entrapta’s room. Apparently, Catra had only managed to find herself down a rabbit hole of a hallway that led to a closet.

---

The three walk down the great mountain together after successfully garnering Princess Entrapta as an additional member of their rebellion.

Glimmer whoops into the air as she teleports herself even higher before landing herself back onto the ground, startling Catra at the same time. The felines hair stands on end, but she manages to give the princess and incredibly hard shove. The contact nearly throws her into a boulder. “Hey!”

“Keep you’re obnoxious glee to yourself, Sparkles.” She only says it with a small snarl on her lips.

Glimmer considers that a win as she smiles widely.

“So,” Bow starts. “What did you guys think of my sonic arrow? Really came in handy back there.” His smile is smug.

“Y’ano Sparkles, I don’t know what’s worse. Bow’s terrible attempt at ‘I told you so,’ or finding out that my magic has been suppressed my whole life.”

A bark of laughter escapes Glimmer’s mouth, “damn.” Is all she manages to get out between her chuckles.

“It doesn’t feel very good to be on this side of your sarcasm.” Bow pouts as he folds his arms and continues walking.

“Aw!” Catra leaps onto him and tucks his head under her arm for a clear and direct noogy. “That’s so sad for you.”

Bow fusses somewhat at the minor assault on his beautiful head, until he’s able to get her off himself; then, he chases after her as they run around Glimmer’s body.

“Children!” Glimmer says between giggles. “You two are insufferable.”

Catra stops running as this moment feels familiar, but different.

She used to mess with Adora like this… The pang of longing catches her off guard, and she clenches her jaw and stares off into space.

Bow and Glimmer’s laughter dies down, then they both grab one of Catra’s hands. She still looks down at the ground, but gives them a light squeeze. When Bow starts to coo at her she throws both of their hands away, like she had been burned.

“Hey!” Glimmer whines. “That was Bow, not me.”

“She’s right,” Catra says as she grabs the princess’s wrist and starts walking away from Bow. The pair laugh at his expense. But he catches up and they continue walking in comfortable silence.

But Catra had to just break it, “do you guys remember when Glimmer grabbed the sword and ran towards the death virus to destroy it and instead blasted her ass clear across the room?” Catra’s tone is facetious as hell.

An undignified scoff comes from the princess, “we agreed to forget that ever happened!”

Bow starts to giggle at Catra’s words.

“Nobody is safe from the wrath, Sparkles. You should know this.”

Glimmer’s eyes roll so hard they all swear she almost lost the ability to see.

---

Adora leaves the after-action review with no new answers. Shadow Weaver had commandeered the entire conversation and left Adora out of the whole thing. She’s fuming and her scent is betraying her as one alpha after another steers away from her path, until she bumps into someone. A growl escapes her throat immediately without her permission.

Scorpia, the one on the receiving end of such a sound, cows in front of her. It’s an unnatural thing to see such a large alpha be so intimidated by someone like Adora. I mean, Scopria’s arms are as big as the blonde’s head.

“Sorry, Scorpia.” Adora does her best to get herself under control. She looks back up at the large woman and her face has softened greatly.

“Don’t be. That was not what I expected from that meeting. She didn’t even talk about how Catra was there.”

Adora immediately perks up at that. “Right?! I mean, it was one of the reasons we were there, and she didn’t even care to mention it.” Adora slaps her thigh with indignant frustration and then realization hits. “Wait, you know she was there? Did you see her?” the hope in that question almost breaks Scorpia.

“Yeah, I did. I – uh kind of picked her up and got excited.”

The change in demeanor Adora exhibits from that response would scare the piss out of any beta, but Scorpia quickly corrects herself.

“I just! She’s so cute! And I wasn’t expecting it. And it’s obviously nothing.” The larger woman laughs nervously and begins to sweat under the scrutinizing gaze.

“It’s fine Scorpia.” Adora grits out. “What happened?”

“Oh, uhm… well I just said ‘hi’ and then she took off.” Scorpia’s sheepish look tells Adora that there’s probably more to their little interaction, but she won’t hold it against her. Catra has been on the end of Adora’s affection since they were kids. The feline has always been so soft and cute regardless of the rough exterior. It’s what makes Adora feel so privileged to be one of the few to see that softer side of Catra.

“It’s fine. I just don’t even know what to do right now. I was planning on addressing several mistakes made during that siege, but it’s almost like Shadow Weaver didn’t care. As long as she got the win…” that causes Adora to pause.

“Hey,” Scorpia reaches for the younger woman’s shoulder. “Why don’t we head to my bunk? It’s been a while since we’ve just hung out and relaxed. Maybe it’ll do you some good to vent and get it all out.” The hopeful smile on Scorpia’s face is too earnest for Adora to ignore.

“Yeah,” she sighs. “That sounds nice I guess.”

They make their way through the corridors and wind up in Scorpia’s room before long. The larger woman extends her hand towards the bed to offer Adora a seat. She takes it greatly as she rubs her temples. “I just don’t get it, Scopria. Shadow Weaver didn’t mention Catra at all in that meeting and she brushed me off every time I tried to speak up.”

“Yeah, you are a stickler for decorum. I was surprised you didn’t just launch yourself at her with how frustrated you looked.” Scorpia’s tone indicates humor, but she was deeply concerned.

“I didn’t want to overstep. She does outrank me. I just –“

“There was that moment where you started growling under your breath. I swear, like me and five other guys thought you were going to lose it.” The lighthearted chuckle at the end also reveals the nerves that were building in those moments during the meeting. It was tense to say the least. “Gosh, do you think that’s why she was smiling so much? I mean, she gets off on power. Maybe making you stew there was like exactly what she wanted.”

That makes Adora stop short before replying. “Seriously?”

“Yeah! I’ve seen her do it tons of times to other Force Captains. She’s power hungry.” Scorpia’s head droops as she shakes it from disapproval.

“Yeah, that makes sense, I guess. Why she didn’t let me speak. I’ve seen her act like that with other soldiers, but this is kind of the first time for me. At least that I’ve noticed.” She eyes Scorpia warily who only shrugs in acknowledgment.

When Adora sits back down, into the chair on the opposite wall, something crinkles underneath her weight and she shifts over to grab it. She pulls out a scroll and turns to Scorpia, “what’s this?”

“Oh!” the scorpioni perks up. “That’s my All Princess Ball invitation.”

Adora looks at the woman confused. “What?”

“Yeah! I’m a princess. Yano, Hordak crash-landed in my family’s kingdom and my family gave Hordak our runestone. So technically, I’m a princess.” Scorpia’s hand caresses the back of her neck as she awkwardly informs Adora. “It was all part of alpha orientation. I thought I sent you to one of those.”

“Riiiight, I must’ve dozed off at that part. It was incredibly long.” Adora runs her hand down her face. “But we should go! I’ll be your plus one and we’ll be able to get Glimmer to hand over Catra.”

“What!? That’s crazy talk. One, how are you going to get Glimmer to give you Catra? There’s no weapons allowed at the ball. It’s a diplomatic space. You must leave conflict outside. Two, the princesses hate me. They didn’t even like us before the war. I can’t imagine now.” Scorpia’s downcast look touches Adora.

“Hey,” she says softly. “Don’t worry about what they think. You’re a princess too. Don’t you want to show them that princesses aren’t all priss and prim? They’ll see you and learn something completely new about princesses. Plus, we’ll totally rock this ball, and they’ll have to love you!” Adora’s tone ignites some excitement in the larger woman.

“Wow, now that you put it that way. It would be really cool to show them that big buff girls can be princesses, too. My body doesn’t define me.” Scorpia’s smile grows wider with each sentence. “Yeah! Let’s do this! And we can try our best to get information about Catra. Maybe we could even strike up a bargain or something.”

“That’s such a great idea Scorpia.” Adora chokes up a bit on her words. “I haven’t thanked you enough for how amazing of a friend you’ve been about my situation. You could’ve let it go, or given me a hard time, but you’ve only been supportive. You’re such a good friend Scorpia.” Her words are earnest as she thanks her friend.

The larger woman’s cheeks blaze red. “Aw shucks. It’s nothing really. I’m sure you’d do the same for me! Like this ball! Gosh, I never would’ve had the courage to go without you building my confidence.”

This has been the best Adora has felt since she heard Catra had been kidnapped by the princesses. There’s this shimmer of hope beating in her chest, and she wants to snuff it out before it gets too big. She knows well enough, that having big hopes means dealing with great fallouts. But she just can’t help it. This feels right. Like they are supposed to go.

“Plus,” Adora adds. “It’ll just be me and you. We’ll be one tight unit going in without any fuss or fanfare. I bet we’ll be able to talk to Princess Gimmer. She was trying to tell me something before the end of our last mission. She said that they ‘need me.’ Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”

“What!? You saw Glimmer? And survived?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen her before, too. She teleported back up to the ship that day when she had punched Catra off the deck of the boat. She was grabbing the sword that Catra was carrying. She said she needed my help, but she didn’t have time to explain, because Shadow Weaver showed up and blasted magic at her.”

“Hm,” the larger woman puts a giant claw to her chin in contemplation. “I have no idea what that’s about. But maybe she was just lying to you. They say those princesses are just evil.”

“I know! That’s what I was thinking. Ugh,” she puts her palm to her forehead. This day is at least ending on a higher note. They’ll have to do something at the Princess Ball. “Worst case, we’ll come out of there with intel. Someone has to know about where they’re keeping Catra. And I’m sure when we bring her back along with whatever information we get, Hordak will be ecstatic.”

“I have never seen that guy smile, let alone be ecstatic.” Scorpia’s whole demeanor changes as she says, “but! We’ll sure give it a shot!”

“Great! It says the ball is in just a few days’ time. We’ll get ready and sneak a skiff out to make the trip.” Adora stands because she’s so excited. She’s so close to getting Catra back again. She’s not going to mess up this second chance.

“Awesome! I’ll see if I can find us some outfits to try on.”

“And I’ll read this scroll from top to bottom to get all the information together. Like uh –“ she reads a passage from the scroll, “courtesy depth?” She snorts out loud. “Oh, I am so going to win this ball!” She shoots her fist into the air.

“Alright! Let’s do this!” Scorpia says, feeding off Adora’s energy. The blonde pulls out a pen and some string, while Scorpia starts digging through some containers with frilly clothes. They’re going to rock this.

Notes:

Okay! We're moving along. I know it's shorter than I wanted, but it's mostly just a filler chapter with needed information. I'm already working on the next ch. So don't go too far ;)

Chapter 20: All Princess Ball

“What is a princess ball?” Catra asks as she picks up a scroll on Glimmer’s dresser.

Glimmer drops her jaw and says, “What is a princess ball? Are you seriously asking me that right now?”

Catra squints at her, not understanding the implications of what she had just asked, because well, it was a simple question about something she’d never heard of. “Yes,” she nearly hisses.

The princess drops the mirror she was looking into and gets up with Bow until they’re both standing in front of her. “The All Princess Ball is a tradition amongst the kingdoms. It happens once every decade and it’s finally my chance to go!” Glimmer explains with a little too much enthusiasm.

“Yeah,” Bow says, “it’s a place where all the princesses and their guests go to hang out and have fun!”

“Sounds stupid,” Catra’s sardonic tone doesn’t deflate Glimmer whatsoever.

“Of course, you’re going to bash it. You’re from the Horde. They probably told you we roast children and perform seances or something.” Glimmer folds her arms like she’s won.

She wasn’t wrong, but Catra would never admit defeat. “Psht, no. More of a ritualistic cock-fighting kind of deal.”

Bow balks at her, “Seriously?” he asks.

Catra simply shrugs her shoulders.

“Well, you’re all wrong. It’s a fun get together, where war and discrepancies aren’t allowed. It’s just a fun night to get away from it all and pretend like there isn’t an army trying to destroy our entire planet.” The princess is winded by the time she finishes, but she does have a point Catra supposes. Seeing as she’s been on the shit end of a lot of what the Horde has done to her recently. “I wish you could go,” she continues, “but it’s for princesses and their guests only. And Bow’s my plus one, so I don’t know –“

In the split moment between what Glimmer was going to say and what Bow says, Catra’s face falls facetiously like she was going to miss out on a banger. But Bow just has to open his mouth.

“Actually, I’m going with Princess Perfuma,” he says nonchalantly. “So, now you can go!”

“What!?” Glimmer shrieks and hurts everyone’s ears. “But you and I always go!”

“Yeah, and now thankfully, I have a date, and you can bring Catra.”

“But!” the princess whines. “It won’t be the same.” Glimmer isn’t sure what she’s feeling in this moment, but her emotions are raging at the idea of Bow dancing with an unmated alpha – cringe.

“I don’t mind not going,” Catra interrupts.

“Shut it!” the princess yells, and Catra mimes her face as she mocks Glimmer.

He stands and moves to walk out of the room, “it’ll be fine Glimmer,” Bow says. “I’m allowed to hang out with other friends.” He finalizes his statement with the closing of the door and doesn’t offer Glimmer another moment to speak.

The princess guffaws at her bestest and closest friend’s nonchalance at the whole thing. Sure, she could bring Catra now, but that’s completely sidestepping the whole thing!

“Damn, Sparkles.” Catra says with a shit eating grin.

But then, the righteous fury of the princess turns onto the feline. “Oh, don’t you even start. I am putting you in a dress!”

Catra’s ears fall behind her head, and she hisses at the princess.

“That’s right! Behold my fury!” Glimmer runs at the feline.

All Catra can seem to get out in the split moment before she’s teleported by a leaping princess is “Glim, no!”

The princess teleports them to the top of Glimmer’s room where her bed hangs. She laughs hysterically as they land, “you should see the look on your face!” she says as she hovers over Catra’s petrified body.

The feline’s eyes are bulging. Then, she sits up quickly shoving Glimmer off her to lean over the edge.

“Oh, c’mon. You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” The princess takes once last chuckle before she begins to hear dry heaving. She rises quickly to move closer to Catra and puts a hand on her friend’s back. “Shoot! I thought it would be funny, I’m sorry.” She watches as Catra gags on nothing but the swirling her insides are doing.

Catra finally just closes her eyes and breathes in slowly – hoping the moment would just pass already – all while Glimmer never stops rubbing gently on the feline’s back. The small circles Glimmer rubs begin to soothe her some.

After a moment or two more of silence Glimmer asks gently, “are you okay?”

“S’fine, Sparkles” she manages to get out. Catra sits back on her feet and Glimmer gives her some space. “Who do I need to nag to get my bed up here?”

The change of subject is a nice deflection and Glimmer happily takes it. “I’ll let Hermon know you’d like a change.”

Catra simply nods once as she contemplates what she could leap down on that would give her the safest landing.

“You don’t have to go,” Glimmer says tenderly.

Catra looks to her questioningly.

“To the ball,” she clarifies. “I know it’ll probably be nothing you’re used to and there are a ton of rules.” Glimmer chuckles lightly, “which I’m sure you’d probably ignore.” She adds that last part under her breath, but Catra’s ears could hear a pin drop in this massive suite.

“Yeah, probably.” Catra bites her lip in contemplation.

An awkward tension fills the room as neither speaks for a pregnant moment.

But Glimmer’s weakness for the uncomfortable causes her to fold first. “But I mean, that’s not me uninviting you, or anything. I just wanted you to know that if you really didn’t want to go, that you wouldn’t have to worry about it. There would be no hard feelings or anything.”

Catra just continues to stare at the princess with a look of confusion and feigning offense.

“Seriously!” Glimmer continues, “I won’t be mad. And you wouldn’t have to go, but I’d love to have you as my date. I mean, okay maybe not date, but my plus one.” Catra’s expression deepens in offense. “Not that you wouldn’t make a great date! I’m just saying that you know, I don’t think either of us would want it to be a date. Not that I don’t want to date you, or anything. I just don’t really think of you like that. Even though you’re like totally hot.” Glimmer makes a noise along the lines of a squeal and a chirp as she tries to shut her rambling ass mouth up.

“You think I’m hot?” the feline says with the straightest face possible until she just can’t hold it in any longer. Catra just bursts into a raucous round of laughter. She laughs so hard that she grabs at her stomach from the clenching pain it brings her. Tears begin to fall from her eyes and Glimmer does not think it’s nearly this funny. “You should’ve seen your face.” A few more boisterous laughing fits later and Catra finally sighs in content.

“You’re an asshole,” Glimmer says.

“So I’ve been told. That’s what you get for messing with me,” the feline finalizes her point with her flinger poking at the princess’s forehead. “Next time, think before you act, Sparkles.” And with that, Catra leaps from the bed down onto one of the nearby stools.

Glimmer makes an impressed face as she steels herself once more before teleporting down. “Well, so what’s the deal? Are you going with me, or not?”

“Well, gee don’t get all sentimental on me or anything…”

Glimmer can’t tell if she’s messing with her or not. “You know what I mean.” Gimmer crosses her arms over her chest.

A hefty sigh escapes Catra’s lips. “I guess… since you’re so desperate.”

A loud, single bark of laughter comes from the doorway and the pair turn to face Mermista. “Good one,” is all the woman says. The princess makes eye contact with Catra and the two share an amused look.

Glimmer acknowledges the other princess, “did you even knock?”

“Didn’t need to. I could hear you lovebirds bickering from outside.”

The two in reference look at each other with owlishly large eyes and begin to studder out their own explanations, each talking over the other.

“Save it,” Mermista says as she raises her hand. “I’m going too, but before either of you asks me, I already have a ride.”

“Aw shoot Merms,” Catra says playfully. “And I was so hoping to escort you to the evening’s pompous festivities.” She even snaps her fingers for emphasis.

Glimmer shoves her elbow into the feline’s ribs which earns her a glare and a hiss.

“Careful, don’t poke the kitty too hard,” Mermista intones her own meaning into the phrase as she walks away.

Glimmer just rolls her eyes and growls out a groan – her fluster apparent – as she closes the door.

“What, Sparkles? You don’t want to poke me anymore in front of Mermista?” Catra’s demeanor is nonchalant.

But Glimmer gets closer into Catra’s space and their faces are inches apart. “I don’t think you’d be able to handle this. It’s nothing personal.” The princess turns and walks back into the center of the room leaving Catra more than a touch pink. “Now, back to logistics. I was thinking of wearing purple! We could match –“

“No way in hell am I wearing purple. I’m wearing red. I look good in red. And I’m sure as fuck not going to wear a dress.”

“You’re not?” Glimmer asks as if the feline had a second head.

“No, gross. I’m not into it. I look good in it, but I’m not trying to attract anybody.”

“Well, I get that. But you don’t want to dress up, even if it’s just for yourself? Look pretty?”

“Pretty? Ew, no. Descriptive words I will accept are,” she pulls her hand up to count on her fingers, “hot, sexy, gorgeous. I’ll even accept sensational and handsome; charming is one of my go-to’s. But I hate pretty.”

Glimmer puts her hands up in a mock defensive position. “Good to know,” she smiles wryly.

“Also, why did you say that you ‘get that?’ I’m not trying to attract any dumb alphas, but I can definitely get anyone at your stupid ball thing.”

Glimmer looks at the feline disbelieving, “you’re serious?” Catra just looks at her, deadpan. “You’re clearly into this Adora person.”

“What?! I’m not into Adora.”

The singular raised eyebrow expresses exactly how much Glimmer believes that line.

“I’m not! She’s just… ugh. You wouldn’t understand.”

“I wouldn’t understand loving someone who means the world to you, but you’re too afraid to do anything about it, because you’re worried they’ll never feel the same and they constantly overlook you? Yeah, I totally couldn’t understand that…”

Catra grimaces, “it’s not the same as you and Bow.”

“How not!? It’s literally the same, but Adora is obviously in love with you. I mean she’s a little obsessed.” Glimmer rolls her eyes playfully, but it doesn’t land well.

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” It’s not that Catra thinks Glimmer is lying that’s causing this reaction; it’s that the princess could be right, and it scares the living shit out of her. Plus, relationships in the Horde are different. They didn’t get the healthy attachment style that Glimmer and Bow grew up with. They got hell. And what do you do when the incarnation of Satan raises you? You survive until the day comes where you can be free from the oppression. That’s all they’ve done their whole lives is protect and look out for each other.

Glimmer’s face falls, “you’re right. I’m sorry.” After a pregnant pause Glimmer continues, “so, what are you going to wear, then?”

Catra smiles a Cheshire cat grin – her fang even sparkles. “Well, now, I don’t know. I was going to wear a suit.”

“Oh! That’s totally cool. Spineralla’s wife showed us her suit she wore to the previous ball.” The encouraging tone was pleasant if not a little condescending, but Catra will take the nicety.

A moment later the feline is standing in front of Glimmer and her rack of dresses that she had been able to scour up. She had decided that if there isn’t anything she absolutely loves in here, then she’d get Glimmer to call on their tailor for a custom suit. It’s a win/win honestly.

Catra is still unsure about going to the ball, though. But that was until Glimmer started mentioning how she could get closer to Princess Frosta, and maybe a few other influential people, to get support within the rebellion. At least that’s how she’s going to swing it to her mother. In addition to that little gem, she’s going to reason with her mother that Catra has to go. It will show the kingdoms that people from the Horde are just as trapped in this war as anyone else. Which means we need to rise together to bring the war to an end – or some other random foo-foo crap she said.

It's a bit of a stretch for Catra, but she’s just more interested in proving Glitter wrong about being into Adora. She cares for Adora, and the dummy is gorgeous too, but that doesn’t mean she’s into Catra. They’ve just always been really close friends. Besides, it’s not like Adora has ever shown any interest. It’s always been about survival.

She shakes the thoughts from clouding her judgment any further, and she turns her attention back to what’s in front of her.

The rack is full of floofy dresses, short dresses, long dresses and even revealing dresses. Those catch Catra’s attention first. She pulls one off the rack and puts it up against her frame to get a look in the mirror. It’s also the first one she decides to try on.

Catra steps back in front of the mirror after a quick change in the closet. She’s in a long black gown with a slit opening the fabric from her left hip all the way down to reveal her entire left leg. The fabric on her torso crosses over just above her stomach, and the fabric wraps around her chest enough to cover her breasts before ascending upwards and around the back of her neck. It reveals plenty and when she turns to see Glimmer’s reaction, she only catches the woman looking away and sporting a very red face. The feline chuckles at her flustered state, but she decides to move onto another option.

The next one off the rack is this deep maroon dress that nearly matches the color of her leggings. It, surprisingly, fits her frame as the fabric mostly covers her torso, but not past her cleavage, and descends only to her upper thigh. On both sides, running down the length of the dress, is an opening that’s only held closed by a single crosshatch of lace. Catra makes sure to pull it down a little more without exposing herself up top. She turns her eyes in the mirror towards a very bored looking Glimmer sitting on a stool in the middle of the room. “What d’you think?” She sways her tail for good measure, but there’s obviously no hole for it poke through, so it awkwardly lumps up the back of the dress.

A tomato. That’s the closest color depiction Catra can think of when Glimmer finally looks at her in the dress. “For crying out loud! This is a ball, not cocktail hour down at the pier.” The princess whirls her head back around and stares at a wall across the room.

Catra’s light squeaky chuckle fills both of their ears. “Damn Sparkles. Getting a little flustered, are we?”

Glimmer’s responds with “can you blame me? I’m only just coming off my heat.”

The feline continues to laugh as she rummages for another option. She’s never had a heat before but has heard a few things. The lecture they got after Adora had left was full of medical stuff, but didn’t really dive into the person’s experience. “What does that matter?”

Glimmer turns to look at her, then turns away quickly as Catra has just decided to undress right in front of her instead of returning to the closet. The princess groans in frustration with her rebellious body and hears a squeaky laugh from behind her. She rolls her eyes but decides to answer her question anyways. “When somebody is on their heat cycle their hormones kick into overdrive. It’s the body’s way of telling an omega that it’s time to mate and have kids. But it’s all instinctual. Sometimes it feels like you have no control over yourself and you just want. You desire to be…” she pauses to find a good word. “You desire to be mated.”

“So, you just feel like you want sex?” Catra asks as she rifles through finding another dress.

“Yeah, but it’s more than that too. Let’s take you for example. Obviously, you have qualities that are… nice,” she grits out through her teeth. “And so, I notice that you look nice, and it makes me more flustered than usual. But there’s also times where, when it’s someone you really want, it’s like your body craves them. It feels like their touch electrifies your skin and your heart races in your chest at the prospect of being close to them. And even the idea of them wanting you like you want them makes all rational thoughts go out the window, and you just start pining for this person like they give you air to breath.”

Catra thinks deeply about what Glimmer is saying, because it wasn’t described like that in the Horde. “Damn.”

Glimmer just nods her head. “It can be so overwhelming sometimes that the instincts just take over, too. I’ve heard of princesses back in the day that would be deprived of touch, or relief, during their heats. Then, government councils would choose the princess’s mate, and the omega would be so deprived of touch and desperate to feel mated, that they would basically cave into their instincts when the chosen mate would be given to them. When they finally mated, they were considered one unit and there was no choice in the matter. It’s how a lot of forced marriages and kingdom unities were established before. The omega would usually have their first child after they mated. That way the kingdom would have an heir.

“That was before my parents put a stop to it, though. With the last princess alliance they established rules throughout the kingdoms that couldn’t be broken, and that was one of them.”

“That’s disturbing.”

“Uh, yeah. Thankfully, my mom had been given off in the same way, but she absolutely adored my dad.” Glimmer says with a far off look in her eyes. “But they had also seen the worst aspects of it as well, and they didn’t want that for me, or anyone else.”

“So, they got rid of it for you? Cute.” Catra’s words have no heat in them. She’s smart. She can learn a lot from a situation without having to ask questions and one question she didn’t have to ask is where Glimmer’s dad is now. Not only does she not care to dredge up shitty feelings, but she also doesn’t like to open wounds that other’s would rather keep hidden. Catra wouldn’t want it done to her, so…

“Yeah, it’s really sweet.” Her face falls only for a second. “I wouldn’t ever have a chance with Bow if the rules existed still.”

“Why not?”

“He’s also an omega. So, since we couldn’t have kids, and he also doesn’t come from a very affluential family, it would never be allowed.”

Catra simply nods in understanding and the topic sort of just dies naturally.

The feline’s eyes scan the rack for a few more moments before she pulls off another black dress. It’s not as lengthy as the first, but definitely not as short as the second. This one hugs her frame and is attached all the way around. There’s a window in the front that’s opened enough to expose her cleavage and another opening on each side of her ribs – you can see her stripes, and it makes her feel powerful. It also comes with long fingerless gloves that go up past her elbows.

After a moment of adjusting, she directs her attention back to the nervous princess. “Alright, Sparkles. How’s this one?”

The woman turns to face Catra expecting the most revealing option yet, but instead she’s pleasantly surprised. “Well, it’s not as bad as the second one. I love how you can see your stripes on your sides.”

“Same!” Catra says enthusiastically as she gently slides her hands down each side. “It’s definitely not as short, but it’s still eye catching.”

“Mhm” is all the princess can muster before turning a bit pink. “Great! So, is this the one?”

“Well,” Catra drawls out. “I don’t know. Still thinking about the suit.”

Glimmer puts her hand to her forehead in attempts to control her emotions. “It’s whatever you want. The dress looks amazing and I’m sure you’ll look great in a suit, too.”

“Oh, I definitely do.” Catra turns back to face the mirror and adjust the sleeves on the gloves. “I’ll think about it. Have your tailor make an appointment with me, yano, so I can see all my options.” The feline smirks back at Glimmer with her fang just catching her lip.

The animalistic groan that comes from Glimmer, clearly from frustration with this whole situation, almost hurts Catra’s ears. She does have to admit, getting to the sparkly princess puts a beaming smile on her face.

Glimmer throws a pillow at Catra before she teleports out of the room.

---

Scorpia begins trying on dresses. Ever since Adora filled her with so much confidence, she’s actually been pretty excited about the ball. It’ll be fun, and the food will probably be good. She’s going to make sure she enjoys herself before the real excitement begins.

Oh yeah, they’ve concocted a devious plan and it’s a sure-fire, grad-A plan. It’ll definitely work.

The dress she tries on first is a long black gown and her pincers have bracelet corsages with black roses. She turns around to get Adora’s opinion, but the woman is dead set focused on the invitation scroll. “Look, I know there are a ton of rules,” Scorpia says, “but as long as you stay respectful, it’ll go pretty smoothly.”

The blonde shakes her head at that response. Without lifting her eyes from the page, she says, “that’s what losers say. I am going to crush this ball. I’ve already developed a network of a few relationships on this chart from some of the intel on the guests who’ll be attending.” She points at said chart with a pointer stick. “Princess Glimmer will be attending with the archer. They’ve been seen together almost exclusively on every mission.” She moves the pointer and smacks the paper. “This is Princess Mermista. Considering that we just took over her land, she probably won’t be thrilled to see us. Thankfully, because of the clauses in place that prohibit any conflict from the outside, we shouldn’t run into any problems. This,” the pointer slaps again, “is Princess Frosta. She’ll be hosting the event in the kingdom of Snows.”

Scorpia just stares. “Wow, okay buddy. Uhm. Do you know what you’re going to wear?”

“Wear?”

“Yeah, like a dress,” Scorpia gestures to her body. “Or a suit. It really doesn’t matter, but you need to dress nice. It’s a fancy occasion and –“

“Ah! Here,” Adora says as she reads from a random portion of the invitation. “It says that attire must be formal. Well, it doesn’t specify that I have to wear a dress and I’m sure I could maneuver much easier in a suit.”

“Uh, yeah! Sure, if that’s what you’re going for. What do you think about mine?” Scorpia waits expectantly.

Adora glances up at the woman for a brief moment and then back down at the invitation. “Looks fine.”

Scorpia drops her claws to her sides in disappointment and shakes her head as she walks back to her closet for another option. She yells from the closet space, “you really should relax. When was the last time you actually enjoyed yourself?”

The blonde’s brow creases, “I enjoy myself all the time. I like to organize intel and devise plans. It’s so fun! Plus, it’ll put us one step closer to finding Catra.”

“That’s not what I mean. Have you ever done anything that puts you at ease? Like taking a nap, or a long hot shower?” The larger woman comes out of the closet and checks herself in the small mirror before turning back to Adora.

“Looks good,” she says quickly. “But I do relax.”

Scopria’s face turns downcast at the hardly-a-response to her dress. It’s a shorter hemmed gown in burgundy. She sighs and returns to find a different dress. “Yeah, making plans and focusing on missions isn’t relaxing, it’s a distraction.”

Adora scoffs as she stumbles over what to say next, “psh, like, that’s so not true! Distract me from what? I don’t need distractions. I just need to finish what I’m preparing and planning for so that I can move onto the next mission.” It all makes perfect sense in her head.

“You mean, you’re not distracting yourself from your very real feelings and emotions about a certain someone you’ve been a tad bit obsessed over?”

As if Adora couldn’t scoff any louder – never doubt her, she is a winner. “I am not obsessed! She’s my best friend. In enemy territory! If you were that close to someone, you’d be worried too.” Her rant loses some steam by the end. The emotions rising in her stomach don’t feel good at all. “Why would I focus on my feelings when they can’t do anything to help what’s actually happening? They’re the distraction,” she says the last part under her breath.

Scorpia exits the closet and sits next to her friend. A large claw is rested over the blonde’s shoulder. “I know buddy. But emotions help us understand what we’re going through. If we listen to them, we might be able to learn from them.”

Adora sniffs at her nose and quickly wipes at her eyes. “But I miss her, and I’m scared for her. Those don’t help anything but remind me that I’ve failed.”

“Whoa, what? Noooo. That’s not it at all.” Adora looks up at Scorpia confused and the larger woman just hugs her. “You need better listening ears, my friend. They aren’t telling you, you failed. They’re telling you that you care deeply about Catra, and that you’d do anything to protect her. That she’s a very important person to you. Sometimes those reminders teach us what’s truly important and helps us prioritize our decisions. Don’t let them shame you.”

“But,” Adora’s voice cracks and she rolls her eyes, frustrated with her vulnerability. “But emotions just get in the way. They’re a distraction. Shadow Weaver said –“

“Shadow Weaver is not a great example of emotional intelligence. You’re talking about what an old bitter woman said to you?” Adora just stares at her in disbelief. “Adora, Shadow Weaver is a brilliant strategist, if not a tad narcissistic, but she knows nothing about feelings, or friendship.”

The Scorpioni’s words are pretty undeniable. She’s known for a long time that Shadow Weaver raises her wards to be capable and strong, but she hasn’t ever taught Adora how to deal with her anger or distress. She especially doesn’t appreciate Shadow Weaver’s flagrant disregard for Catra, or their previous mission.

It’s like the puzzle pieces are beginning to come together and almost make the final picture. She’s just missing a few pieces to see it for exactly how it should look, and that frustrates her to no end.

“Yeah, I guess I’ve never really looked at it like that. I always want to do my best and make her proud, especially because Catra messes up so much. I just wanted to take some of the heat off her. Shadow Weaver always catches her misbehaving, and she punishes her the worst.”

“Yikes, yeah it makes sense why you throw yourself into your work so much. Just,” Scorpia moves to sit in front of Adora. “Make sure you’re doing it because you want to. Catra isn’t here to get in trouble anymore. What does that mean for you, now?”

“Well, but when I rescue her and she comes back home, then I’ll have to keep doing it.”

“But you haven’t even been in the same unit for a few months now. What will it really look like when you find her and bring her back?”

That makes Adora stop in her tracks. She has been pushing herself like a mad woman for so long now to find Catra and bring her home, but what will that even look like? She wants to bring her home obviously so she can be safe from the princesses’ torture, but she’d be right back in this place with Shadow Weaver. Back in their old unit that Adora can’t even protect her from.

“Really makes ya think,” Scorpia just randomly drops. “Welp! We should find that outfit you’re going to wear. Can’t go to the ball in Horde issued clothes, now can we?” She chuckles awkwardly and slaps Adora’s back with a giant claw. The larger woman goes into the closet to try on something else.

The blond nearly falls to the ground after her body is propelled forward from the impact of Scorpia’s claw. It also nearly knocks the wind out of her, but weirdly it helps her regain her focus. She does need an outfit because she’s going to go save Catra. No matter what, at least she’ll be safe with Adora again. Then, Adora can figure it all out from there.

---

Catra and Glimmer arrive at the ball and they walk in easily dropping their coats off at the door. They gave Catra a weird look and she wasn’t sure how she should interpret it. Were they being racist, or they’ve just never seen a Magicat before? Catra rubs her arm in discomfort as they walk in – it’s much colder than Catra had expected.

“Should’ve went with the suit, huh?” Glimmer’s tone is mocking and Catra will have nothing to do with it.

The feline just walks in and doesn’t bother giving the princess a response other than a glare. She did go with the mid length gown that showed off her cleavage. She’s sure she’d garner some looks, but Catra is starting to wonder if it’s going to be more due to her race than her clothes.

“Hey,” Glimmer says lightly. “You look hot. Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. They can all suck it.” She laughs as they ascend the steps to greet the host.

“Shut it, Sparkles.” Catra says it under her breath, with a small smirk, just before they reach Princess Frosta. The pair bows for the correct amount of time and Catra’s able to get a good look at the so called ‘Revered Hostess.’ She’s short and young as hell, but Catra had known that already. She made sure to get the down low from Bow on everyone she’d need to know about.

As they walk off, they’re greeted by Entrapta obnoxiously waving a recorder in their faces. “Hour one of the social experiment,” she mutters to herself, supposedly, “it seems that everyone is enjoying the cozy atmosphere despite the actual temperature ranging from negative 5 to zero degrees Celsius.”

Catra rolls her eyes as she watches the weirdo walk away to eat small shrimp appetizers. Her gaze lands on the entrance and she watches as Bow and Perfuma enter the ball. They’re paired up nicely as their outfits match and it’s the first time she’s seen the flower princess looking so dressed up. It’s so much prettier than her smock of a dress she wears on the regular, Catra thinks.

“I can’t believe it!” Glimmer says, “They’re even matching! That’s our thing” she whines out the last word.

Catra rolls her eyes again and this time she’s joined by Mermista. “What’s eating the sparkly one?” the princess asks.

The feline simply points in the direction of Bow, and Mermista hums in understanding.

“Feelings seem to be getting hurt,” Entrapta unhelpfully provides.

“I don’t know whatever that is, but I’m going to go find something to drink,” the princess droles out.

“My dearest, Mermista!”

The aforementioned princess turns as bright red as her dark skin will allow when Sea Hawk calls out her name. Catra snickers as her embarrassment. “Aw Merms, you didn’t tell us you were bringing a date.”

“He’s just my ride. Just. My. Ride.”

“Oh, I’m definitely her plus one,” he interjects.

Nope, she was wrong. Mermista’s complexion could go a shade or two darker in red. The princess just groans and leaves the vicinity.

After Catra chuckles at the awkwardness, she turns her attention back to Glimmer who is staring at the entrance with her mouth wide open. Catra looks to where her gaze lingers and notices Adora on the arm of some great big woman. Her heart immediately drops into her core at the sight, and her breathing increases. The blood rushes into her ears, and she can hardly think. Adora is here. But with someone else. Catra has never… no wait. She has seen her before. When they seized the Seagate.

The feline turns and runs to find some lost corner that she can hide in when her thoughts begin to attack. She never wanted you, Shadow Weaver would say. You’re a distraction. And it proves correct when Adora, her closest friend, just shows up to some party when, for all she knows, Catra could be anywhere dying in a ditch somewhere. But she’s here at this party, with some woman! A snarl escapes her throat as Glimmer walks closer.

The princess has her hands up in mock surrender. “Hey there, so… that happened. Why do you think they’re here. We should say something, right?”

Catra just turns into the corner she’s propped herself up against and ignores what she says. This whole plan was bullshit from the very beginning.

Entrapta moves closer with her recording device. “Catra, tell us how you feel about your mate bringing another woman?”

The growl and hiss that leaves Catra’s mouth is enough to shut up the princess and have her be pushed back out into the crowd by Glimmer. “Ugh, okay. Just stay here. I’m going to go find Bow and address this to Princess Frosta.”

---

As Adora walks into the castle she looks up and down at the architecture. She makes sure to take in every ounce of detail for any future debriefings from this mission. But as soon as a familiar scent hits her nose, she can hardly focus. Her eyes shift all over the open room – looking from one face to the next in hopes of seeing her. But she doesn’t spot her.

Scorpia looks over and sees Adora’s distressed face. “Hey, I smell it too buddy. I wonder if it’s Princess Glimmer. I bet she’s here. And if she’s been a key component in Catra’s imprisonment, then she sure will smell like her, huh?”

That makes so much sense. The disappointing feeling in the pit of Adora’s stomach makes her tear up, but she blinks them away before anyone can notice. She’ll just blame it on the cold temperatures drying out her eyes.

Then, in an instant, Glimmer appears just before they can make it up to see the revered hostess. “What are you playing at?” The sparkling princess shoves her pointer finger directly into Adora’s face.

“What I’m playing at?” the question is followed by a deep guttural growl that reverberates through Adora’s bones.

Scorpia pats the arm that Adora had linked through her own. Feeling the tension between the two growing, she tries to defuse it. “Hello!” she beams towards Princess Glimmer and the volume of the greeting makes the princess squint her face in pain. “We’re here for the ball. I was invited and this is my plus one.”

Glimmer turns on a dime and heads straight for the hostess. “Revered Hostess, you can’t let them in! They’re from the Horde!”

Scorpia and Adora both flinch in pain from the princess’s own sheer volume in this echo-chamber of a room.

But Princess Frosta raises her hand halting Gimmer from continuing. “The rules clearly state that Princesses who are invited are welcome along with their plus one. Conflict will be left at the door. That includes princesses who come from the Horde. Now, be gone! Enjoy the festivities.”

Glimmer groans and looks back at the pair with her menacing eyes.

Adora can smell Catra’s scent. When the princess moves to walk past her, Adora grabs Glimmer by the upper arm and takes another deep inhale. “I can smell her all over you. I know you have her locked away in some prison cell.” Her eyes darken and grow angry. “I’m going to get her back from you.”

“First of all, ouch.” Glimmer yanks her arm out of Adora’s grip. “Secondly, you don’t have to travel too far, trust me.” The princess rolls her eyes as she walks past the duo and it makes flames enrage in Adora’s stomach. She isn’t too sure what it was supposed to mean, but the princess will get what’s coming to her soon enough.

Adora turns to Scorpia while her eyes linger on her surroundings. She whispers, “alright, stage one, commence.”

The larger woman nods in affirmation, and they part ways.

---

“Oh, my stars! Your girlfriend is so annoying. I don’t know why you like her.” Glimmer crosses her arms as she plops down onto a nearby chair.

Catra glares at the princess, “she’s not my girlfriend! Just shut up already.”

“Okay, well I can definitely tell you, that I don’t know why she’s here, but she’s still obsessed with you. She nearly ripped my arm off in front of Princess Frosta, and she said she could smell your scent on me.” The princess rolls her eyes again.

“She could?” Catra sticks her head out from behind the giant ice sculpture where she was hiding and sees the familiar blonde poof from across the room. Adora had decided to wear a sleek black suit with a maroon tie. Her sleeves are snug against her muscle that hadn’t been as prominent as before. Adora has gotten bigger, Catra realizes, since she last saw Adora – excluding the falling to her death part. The training in her new unit is treating her nicely. The black fabric of her pants hugs her thighs tightly before it descends to her black dress shoes. Catra has been privy to what Adora is holstering beneath her suit and between those thighs. Her mouth waters at a very intimate part of a dream they shared. Adora’s girth was rubbing against Catra and… Shit. She shakes her head to focus. The shirt underneath Adora’s black vest is white and makes her whole ensemble pop. The woman she’s with is wearing a black and red gown with cascading ruffles. The dress shows off her incredible upper body while remaining quite feminine.

Catra grits her teeth as she stares at the two across the room being all cozy with each other. they split ways. Adora starts walking over to a group of women, while the other one stalks off towards the buffet. “Sparkles, you head after the big one, and I’ll follow Adora. That way we can see what they’re up to.”

A petulant whine comes from the princess and Catra glares at her for the assault on her ears. “I wanted to have a good time! Why did they have to ruin it?” Glimmer teleports away and Catra looks across the room to see a very startled Scorpioni woman grabbing for her chest in alarm as Glimmer appears next to her. It makes the feline preen and laugh to herself.

Catra will have to stick to the corners just outside of Adora’s perception, so she can try to figure out what’s going on. She’s always been able to outsmart the other, and it’ll come in handy today.

---

Adora can’t shake the fact that she can smell Catra clear as day. The scent lingers in the air like her ghost is following Adora around. It’s maddening. The pang of desire to grab the feline and run away until she can be alone with her is clawing at her from inside. Her alpha is adamant and insistent. The smell is just too much right now.

The blonde shakes her head to hopefully clear some of the fog, and then goes to the opposite side of the room where she reaches punch bowl. She gets herself a full cup, hoping to cool her flaming insides.

After a few deliberately long sips, she feels somewhat relieved.

Now, however, she can feel eyes lingering on her. It’s something new she’s dealt with ever since she started harnessing her alpha. It’s like an instinct used to protect herself from danger. Of course, many people in this room probably despise people from the Horde, so she wouldn’t be completely surprised if everyone was just on edge because of her presence.

That revelation eases her nerves some, surprisingly. She hopes they’re on edge, because her mind is like a livewire with how this night is supposed to go. They’ll have to follow her plan to a T in order to be successful.

Adora catches something out of the corner of her eye and turns her head quickly to capture it, but it evades her senses. She crinkles her brow in contemplation, but she brushes it off as another guest or something. She pours herself another glass and downs it quickly before she moves to talk to some other people. She joins a group of mostly women who all seem to be listening to some guy talk about a horse that ate all the apples in Plumeria.

Then, the shadow appears again in her periphery. Adora quickly scans in it’s direction, but it’s gone again. Someone is messing with her. She’s sure of it. It could be Shadow Weaver. The little goons she sends out to do recon are very similar to what she’s experiencing. It’s possible the older woman caught on, or she knew this event was happening and decided to do her own scouting mission.

Either way, Adora won’t stand for it. She won’t let anything interfere with her mission. You can count on it.

Adora notices Princess Glimmer storming towards her and was ready for a reckoning from what happened before, but the princess went straight after the archer boy. Glimmer says, “Bow, you and your date look nice tonight.” It sounds a bit pinched from the way it’s said.

Date? That doesn’t make any sense, Adora thinks. The princess should’ve come with the archer. This is unexpected. What had she missed? Her intel was nearly airtight. She looks around the room and spots Princess Mermista with the sea captain and Princess Entrapta is walking around talking to herself. Her eyes continue scanning the room when she catches sight of someone walking into, and through, the crowded dance floor. A woman in a tight black dress with a… tail?

Adora’s heart sinks, and she instinctively sniffs the air. The scent is strong in her nose as it fills her lungs. She nearly salivates at how sweet this smell is as it lavishes itself over her tongue. She follows it without regard.

---

Catra knew she was getting too close. The blonde’s senses have gotten stronger. Before, when Adora didn’t know she was an alpha, Catra could pounce on her from two feet away, because of how oblivious she is. Now, she apparently can’t even get within thirty feet.

She weaves through the crowd in hopes that Adora will lose her scent, but as she turns back around to see if she’s lost the other woman, she locks eyes with her instead. Adora’s eyes widen comically large, and her mouth gapes open as she takes in Catra. The sight is doing things to Catra’s insides and she can’t help but admire momentarily, before she sets off further away from her friend.

By the time she reaches the furthest side of the crowd, the DJ announces that it’s time for the first dance. She looks left and right as people begin to pair off when a presence stands right behind her. She feels the heat from the body radiating into her back before she feels anything else. As Catra inhales, her senses alight with fire. The smell is intoxicating and stronger than the feline remembers it. Then, she hears the person inhale her own scent, and it ignites Catra’s insides into a roiling flame.

She turns to face Adora and notices the blonde’s eyes are lidded and disbelieving. “You’re here?”

Her breathy question is put on hold when Catra puts up her hand to prepare to dance. Adora moves mindlessly as she grabs Catra by the waste and thrusts their bodies flush together. The closeness causes Adora to groan into Catra’s hair. “You’re here, too? And you’ve brought a date?” Catra hisses out the second question as their bodies move to the music on autopilot.

Adora’s face scrunches in confusion for a long moment until it finally clicks. “Oh, Scorpia?” she points in a direction behind her.

“Yeah, she seems a bit… clingy.” The last word growls out of her mouth.

You wouldn’t believe it possible, but Adora’s eyes cloud even more at hearing Catra’s anger. The jealousy she can feel from her partner only makes her burn hotter. The alpha squeezes Catra into an even more tight grip and Adora literally grinds her pelvis onto Catra’s own. The feline’s claws dig into the alpha’s sleeved arms and worries she’ll rip the fabric. But the vulgar groan that escapes Adora’s lips puts those fears to rest.

All Adora can comprehend in this moment is Catra’s body being so close to her own. It’s as though they’ve been magnetized and moving to separate themselves for any length of time longer than a brief moment causes physical pain. The alpha inhales Catra’s scent again and it smells even better coming straight from the source. “You smell different.”

“I do?” the feline questions. “Well, I haven’t been eating that Horde crap anymore. Turns out they’re putting shit in it.”

Adora gives a quizzical look, but only hums, accepting the easily believable notion. “Smells good… really good.” Her body grinds again against Catra’s and an ache in her core reveals the tell-tale sign of her growth. She lightly traces circles on Catra’s thigh as she reaches down for the hem of her dress. Her fur is so soft here, she could just get lost in it.

“Shit Adora,” it would be more alarming if Catra’s voice wasn’t also laced with so much arousal.

Adora can only groan once again in response. “I hope you know this isn’t why I’m here” she says as she attempts to regain her control. This is what she trained for: ignoring her stupid urges long enough to accomplish the mission. She can’t let everyone down again.

Unfortunately for the pair, it’s the part of the dance where they switch partners. Catra extricates herself reluctantly from Adora’s grasp to move onto the next person when she nearly collides with Glimmer. “Have you seen her?” the princess asks with concern.

“Who?”

“Scorpia! I turned for a split second to go talk to Bow and I completely lost sight of her.” The urgency in her voice tells Catra that something weird is happening.

When the feline is thrust back into the blonde’s frame, she tries her best to remain present instead of succumbing to her hormones. She needs answers. “Where’s Scorpia? Why are you here?”

Adora swallows as if she needs to wet her dry mouth. “She’s probably off continuing our plan to rescue you.”

“Rescue me? How did you know I’d even be here?”

Adora’s mind clears some at the accusatory tone in her question. “I didn’t know. We came here to capture Princess Glimmer. We were going to take her and get information out of her. To come find you.”

Catra purrs softly at the thoughtful plan, but she can’t get caught up in her emotions. “Adora, you don’t have to do that. I’ve been trying to reach you so that you can come with us.”

That jolts Adora completely out of the spell she was under. “What are you talking about? Why would we go with the princesses? They captured you.” The anger in her voice raises with each remembrance, “she launched you off that deck on the Horde ship and you almost died!”

They stop dancing as their discussion becomes more heated. Catra tries to take in all what Adora is saying, but it doesn’t make sense with reality and so it all seems a little bit confusing. Before Adora can explain anything or have a proper discussion, a deafening boom cascades from somewhere within the castle. Screams from terrified guests start to ricochet off the walls. Catra’s eyes blow wide open, and she looks up into blue orbs. “What did you do?”

Another explosion occurs and Adora and Catra leap out of the way of a large chunk of falling ice. The pair land on their sides to the ground with an ‘oof.’

Adora finally speaks, “it’s the plan. We’re gonna get you out of here,” she says it with a wide grin.

But Catra rips her hand away from Adora and she rushes to get to her feet. “Adora, you’re wrong. You shouldn’t be doing this. The Horde is wrong, Adora.”

Glimmer grabs Catra’s arm like she’s protecting her from Adora – which is laughable – and she teleports them away. They can hear Adora’s primal scream come from within the ballroom as they land just outside of it by the coat closet.

Catra grabs Glimmer’s shoulders to stop her from running off again. “Just wait a second. What’s going on?”

“There are explosions happening! I was trying to save you from Adora.”

“You don’t need to save me from Adora. Look,” Catra huffs to calm her racing heart. “She was telling me that they came here to take you and question you on my whereabouts. But now that I’m here, Adora wants to take me back to the Horde.”

The princess’s face falls into an apathetic one. “Are you?”

Catra looks at her confused. “Am I what?”

“Are you leaving? To go back to the Horde – where you belong? Where you’ve been trying to go this whole time!” The tears begin to prick at Glimmer’s eyes and Catra is beyond confused. What could stir this emotion out of Glimmer? She’d never suspect it would come from anything Catra does.

The feline’s face is riddled with confusion, but she responds. “No!” she yells in between ice falling around them. They dodge some and move to follow the crowd. Catra still addresses her as they maneuver, “I’m not going with them. I don’t want to go back there. It’s terrible and suffocating. I’d rather die, Glimmer.” The serious tone she inflects into her voice is enough to retain Glimmer’s attention.

The princess gives a terse nod of acceptance, and they leap apart to avoid being crushed by more ice. “Crying out loud! This is getting ridiculous! What do we do now?” the princess says.

Catra looks around and knows she can’t let Adora get too far. “I need to stop her, Glimmer. She can’t go back there!”

“Ugh! Okay, you go look for Adora and I’ll go find Bow.” Glimmer grabs Catra’s hands, “be safe, okay?”

Catra must look horrified because Glimmer only chuckles lightly before letting her go and teleporting away.

The feline shakes her head and refocuses on her task. “Why did I wear a stupid dress?” she whines and runs back towards the ballroom. She dodges shards that fall around her when she gets to the main hall leading back to the place they started. She starts running down it when Adora slides into the same hallway about one hundred feet away. “Adora!” Catra calls out.

The blonde turns quickly, and the relief is visible on her friend’s face. They start running towards each other.

When Catra is halfway down the hall she becomes too distracted and a large chunk of the ceiling cracks above her. A large piece falls, and the last thing she sees is Adora’s horrified stare.

“No!” The scream is so familiar to how she once sounded before when Catra had been falling to her death.

Before the ice could reach though, it started floating above Catra’s collapsed body. Actually, all of the ice begins to ascend back into its’ rightful place.

Before she can question what’s happening, Adora runs and slides into Catra’s prone body. She shifts the woman around and checks for injuries. “Catra? Catra are you okay?” The urgency is clear in her voice.

The feline opens her eyes and spots Adora’s fearful look turn into relief.

In one motion, Adora leans back and lets out a breath she had been nearly choking on, to then digging her face into Catra’s neck. She’s breathing in so deeply Catra’s afraid the blonde will pass out. Then, she starts to feel the sobs racking through Adora’s body. Catra reaches down for Adora’s face and pulls her up so they can look at each other. The blonde’s eyes are bleary with tears. “I thought I lost you again.” Her lip quivers after she finishes.

Catra just looks at Adora in pain, and she wants to do everything in her power to take it away.

But a sound of more explosions knocks them out of their reverie.

They scramble to their feet, but Adora doesn’t let Catra go more than a foot away from her body. “Adora,” she pauses as she thinks of what to tell this idiot. “We have to stop this plan. It’s already thrown out since I’m here. You don’t need Glimmer.”

Adora’s determination rises on her face, and she nods. “C’mon. I know where Scorpia is. She’s on a skiff just outside.”

The pair run off holding each other’s hands.

After dealing with a few guards trying to stop Adora and leaping and scaling the rising ice pieces, they make it to the roof of the castle. Scorpia is indeed waiting in the skiff and motioning for Adora to join her quickly.

The pair move next to the skiff and Scorpia addresses them. “Great! You found her! That was easier than I expected! Now, c’mon! We need to move before they come after us.”

The larger woman reaches for Adora’s arm, but Catra holds her back by her other hand. “I thought I said we didn’t have to do this,” Catra says in a tone that makes Adora confused.

“Yeah, you said we didn’t have to grab the princess. Now, you can just come home with me!” Her smile is bright and beautiful, but Catra can’t fall back into this old trap.

“I knew it!” Glimmer yells out above the sound of the skiff. “Horde scum! How dare you lie to my face!”

Catra looks back to Glimmer, who is red in the face with anger, and the feline tries to exude as much in her face as when Bow and Glimmer communicate telepathically. Glimmer seems to notice but doesn’t understand at all. So Catra turns back to Adora and rips her hand away from the blonde’s grasp.

Adora looks back at her with fear and confusion.

“Don’t go Adora,” the feline says with an aching knot in her throat. “Stay. Please, just… stay.”

“Adora, we don’t have time for this! The guards will be here any minute! Then, they’ll capture us and torture us! I don’t think I have the stomach for that!” Scorpia’s fear builds and builds until she pulls back to sit in the driver’s seat of the skiff. She looks at Adora expectantly.

The blonde looks between both women as she weighs her options. Then she finally comes to the most logical conclusion. She grabs at Catra’s arm and says, “we’re leaving! I don’t know why you want to stay here! It doesn’t make any sense.”

Catra’s eyes turn to righteous indignation. She looks at Adora like she’s grown another head and she tries to yank her arm away. “Adora, I’m not going back there! Shadow Weaver is a manipulative fuck!” She turns and looks back to Glimmer with pleading eyes.

The princess shoots forward and grabs Catra’s other arm. “Not today, you aren’t!”

Suddenly, all three of them have been teleported into the air and they’re all rapidly descending. Adora looks around and screams, but she hasn’t let go of Catra’s arm.

The feline glares at Glimmer, “you couldn’t have thought of something better!?”

The princess just offers her a sheepish face as they all fall to their deaths. She notices that Adora hasn’t let go of Catra, so she teleports them back to the rooftop.

Adora continues to scream as she’s safely on the flat surface. Her head swivels to understand how she got here so quickly, but she hears Catra gagging a few feet away from her. When Adora looks at her she reaches out her hand, but before she can connect their bodies, Glimmer teleports her away once again.

Adora’s alpha is sore. It’s not standing for any of these games. Not when she’s so close! Her alpha emerges and her body changes form. She moves to the edge of the castle and begins to scale it downwards.

“Adora! We don’t have time!” Scorpia yells.

But she’s on a mission. Catra was just in her grasp, and she won’t let her go again.

---

Catra and Glimmer poof back into the restructured ballroom. Bow runs over to the pair with his arms outstretched. “You guys! I was so scared. I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“We’re alright, big guy.” Catra offers quietly.

Glimmer looks at the feline with remorse. “I’m sorry, Catra.”

“Don’t be. It’s all fucked up…”

Bow looks to Glimmer for some context, but she just looks downwards – disappointment clear on her face.

Then, they hear a yowling growl from outside. The few people that were sheltered in the room look to the ceiling only to find a shadow climbing along the outside. A few gasps are heard, even from Catra.

The being slams their fist into the exterior of the building and the skiff can be seen hovering just beyond them.

Catra knows who it is. She can smell her fear and anguish.

Before anyone can act, Adora bursts through the ice enclosure and launches herself inside.

Everyone begins screaming as her massive stature imposes on everyone in the room. Most, if not all, the alpha’s in the room seem to be responding to her pheromones as well. She is incredibly intimidating. Her breathing is labored, and her eyes are glowing.

Catra swallows hard as she eyes her best friend. She’s seen this part of Adora. In her visions. This is her. The golden woman.

“Holy shit!” Glimmer yells.

Adora spots Catra and all she can do is cower under the woman’s powerful stare and her imposing presence. As Adora gets closer she widens her arms to sweep Catra up into her grasp. The blonde giant inhales near Catra’s neck and seems to calm slightly. “Mate,” she whispers over Catra’s hot flesh.

Catra does her best not to move too much, although after hearing those words come from Adora’s mouth, she can feel her lower half betraying her. She knows how domineering alpha’s can be and it can get nasty. She’s mostly worried about the people around her. If anyone tries to mess with Adora now, they’re in for a world of hurt.

“Fuck, Adora.” Catra lets slip from her mouth in between panting breaths. She’d never imagined anyone having such an affect on her, but this is seriously overpowering. She involuntarily reveals her neck for the alpha like that’s what she’s supposed to do.

Before they can move any further, ice surrounds them and cages Adora. The alpha cries out in pain as she’s been sliced just enough to drop Catra to the ground. She rages from within her prison, but her arm heals instantly. The crowd gapes at her in fear when an alarming battle cry comes from the opening in the building.

“Don’t worry Adora! I’ve got you!” Scorpia yells as she lands and collides her massive claws with the ice prison. She then grabs the fuming alpha and makes her way to the exit.

“Catra!” Adora’s voice cries out. Her eyes are brimming with tears and she reaches for her in a last ditch effort to bring her with them. But she’s too far out of range.

The feline reaches out towards Adora like her lifeline is being stolen from her. She tries to chase after them, but something is holding her back. The claws on her hands extend, but someone has locked her wrists into an icy prison. She watches as Adora is dragged out of the room and onto the skiff. The pair dash out before any of the guards can reach them.

Catra just lets out a painful sob. Her body can’t cope with the loss of her mate being so close, and now, so incredibly out of her reach. She writhes against the restraints and snarls until she runs out of oxygen. The pain is too great.

Then, suddenly, she’s overcome with exhaustion and begins to pass out.

The last thing she catches before she’s out is Glimmer’s voice saying, “this should help, Catra. Don’t worry. We’ve got you. It’ll be okay.”

Then, everything fades to nothing.

 

Notes:

don't worry. Catra wasn't hit in the head... this time. I'm also done giving false hope for updates. I am truly sorry, friends. But fear not, I haven't given up!

Chapter 21: It's so on!

Summary:

Let's gooooo.

Catra startles and sits up in bed. She gasps for air as though she’d been deprived for too long. The room is dark with a faint glow coming from around the bed. She rubs at her eyes to clear some of the fog, but her arm won’t reach her face. There’s a clanking sound that reverberates when she tries to move, and she suddenly realizes that she’s chained down.

Her breaths start coming in rapidly as she tries to connect the pieces. The last thing she remembers is Adora being ripped from her grasp, then everything just goes black.

It just doesn’t make sense.

A door opens across the room and Catra releases a hiss to deter any enemy intruders. A gasp is heard as feet shuffle along the floor until the person is nearly on top of her.

“Shhh. It’s alright,” comes a familiar voice.

Catra whips her head around. Tears are forming in her eyes. Her mind is telling her that she’s been captured by Shadow Weaver and she’s about to endure some heinous torture. She shouldn’t have gone along with the princesses. The feline should’ve returned to the Fright Zone as soon as she could be free. But she didn’t –

A hand reaches tentatively for the woman, but Catra reacts poorly and tries to rip whoever it is to shreds with her drawn claws.

Thankfully, the restraints are holding though, and the person does tentatively place their hand on Catra’s shin. It’s probably the safest spot since the feline can’t reach with her claws, or her teeth.

The sensation of a warm hand on her body is unnerving, but Catra opens her eyes to clear some of the fog until she sees pink eyes shining brightly as they look at her.

“Glimmer?” Catra’s says through her dry throat.

“Yeah, it’s me.” She smiles a bit, relieved at the woman’s ability to focus. “You’re safe. You’re back in Brightmoon.”

“Ugh, my head… and my body.” She swallows to alleviate her dry throat, but it’s just sticky feeling. “What happened?” she rasps out.

A sigh escapes Glimmer as though she’s been holding onto a lot. “Adora wouldn’t leave the ball without you. When she transformed and tried to get you, you changed. Not physically, but every rational part of you went out the window as soon as you caught her scent.” Glimmer pauses to let the feline’s brain catch up to what she’s saying. “When Scorpia had dragged Adora out of the castle you were trying to run after her.”

Catra tries to think very hard, because she doesn’t remember that at all. “I did?”

“Yeah. Bow, Sea Hawk and I had to grab you so you wouldn’t run off. The boys are getting fixed up in the infirmary.” Another pause because of Glimmer’s trepidation, “you’d scratched them pretty badly before Frosta could get some ice wrapped around your wrists to get you to stop.”

Catra’s breathing begins to pick up again. She has no recollection of that. “What?” she says in between panting breaths.

Glimmer reaches out her arm and places it on her shin again. “Yeah, but they’re all okay. It wasn’t too bad. We’re just taking precautions.”

Catra’s eyes scan around the room in hopes of remembering anything from those few moments. Why is she always such a burden? Why do these people even care about her? Then, her brain is consumed with Adora. The blonde’s face had been full of fear and anguish as she cried out for Catra. It nearly broke her.

A pounding reverberates through her head again. She tries to reach up to soothe it, but her hand is stopped again by the shackles.

“What is it?” Glimmer asks.

“My head,” is all she says back.

“Okay, I’ll get the doctor.”

“Can’t you just take these things off me?” there’s a tone of irritation in her voice.

The silence from Glimmer stretches on a bit too long for Catra’s liking. Then, “I can’t, Catra.”

The feline’s eyes go a bit wide because she doesn’t understand. “Why?”

Glimmer tries to take a position as if she’s going to tell Catra something she won’t like and she’s trying to keep her calm.

“What is it, Glimmer?” the irritation turns to into slight panic.

The princess closes her eyes to compose herself before she speaks. “It’s nothing serious. You’re not in trouble and no one is mad at you.” Those words, somehow Glimmer knew to say, are relieving roughly 80% of the fear that was rising in Catra’s stomach. She continues, “but,”

Oh no, Catra thinks.

“…you were showing signs of something that omega’s go through called possession.” The feline just stares confusedly at Glimmer until she continues. “That happens when omegas are in heat and they’re around their mate. It’s almost like nothing can separate them, and even attempting to do so can be incredibly dangerous, depending on the omega. Well, you started to show signs very similar to that. You were only focused on Adora and when Scorpia started to take her away your eyes glazed over and you wouldn’t look away from her.” She paused again to give Catra a moment to process. “You growled and hissed and were moments away from attacking Scorpia. I’m sure you wouldn’t have stopped if we hadn’t grabbed you.”

“But…” Catra doesn’t understand. “You said that happens to omegas. I’m not an omega. I’ve never had a heat.”

“I know, but remember when Entrapta told us that the Horde has been feeding you guys suppressants? Well, it’s been a few weeks since you were last there. You’ve been eating healthier foods and the doctors think your body has finally had a chance to regulate itself.”

The color in Catra’s face just drains as panic begins to settle in her chest. “You’re wrong!” is all she can think to blurt out. “I’m not an omega! I-I-I don’t even know what that means, or why? I just wanted Adora back!” Tears begin to spring up in the corners of Catra’s eyes and her body is starting to feel like it’s on fire.

“Catra, it’s okay.” She cut off shortly after speaking.

“No!” she growls lowly. “You don’t understand.” Catra swallows to give herself a moment. “The Horde has taken everything from me. And now…” she sniffs, “now, you’re telling me that they kept me like that? They kept me from being what I am. Why?!”

Glimmer’s lip begins to wobble at the prospect of Catra having to feel any further pain from her time in the Horde. “Yeah,” she whispers, “I don’t know… They’re terrible. Maybe it was used to keep population under control. At least that’s what Entrapta thinks,” the princess mumbles under her breath.

“Agh!” she yells. Her throat was dry before and now it feels raw with emotion. Her breaths are shallow and rapid as her body tries to wrap around itself. “Why is everything so full of shit!?” Catra begins sobbing as she curls as much as she can with the restraints on.

Glimmer just places her hand back onto her leg to comfort her. She lets Catra ride out her shock until her cries are only small whimpers. “Catra,” the feline looks up into her eyes for a brief moment. “The doctors did some tests and they said that you almost had a collapsed heat.”

The shit just keeps coming apparently, she thinks immediately.

“That happens from taking suppressants for too long where you never have a proper heat cycle. It used to happen decades ago when omegas were used as concubines. They didn’t want them to get pregnant… It can cause damage to your body, and in some extreme cases… death. But that didn’t happen to you. You just,”

Glimmer is cut off as a heavy groan comes from Catra’s mouth. The pain the feline is feeling right now is nearly unbearable. Her body is so hot she feels like she might start panting to cool herself, which she doesn’t want to do. It would make her look vulnerable, and the thought of doing it is killing her. It’s just that her body is so wracked with pain and heat she just wants to take an ice bath. Which has never been something on Catra’s bucket list.

The princess continues to rub along the other woman’s leg to offer some comfort, although very miniscule. “Catra,” the feline looks at Glimmer, “you’re in heat. It’s your first, and it’s not going to feel good. Your hormones are going to be very powerful, like you’re completely out of control of your body. That’s why we took the precaution of restraining you.”

“Fuck! Make it stop, Glimmer.” Catra all but cries out to her friend.

“I know. I’m so sorry, but we can have the healers come in and take a look. They might be able to offer some aid.” Glimmer’s face is pained with empathy. She remembers her first heat. It had been nearly unbearable. She can’t even imagine what Catra might be going through since she’s been suppressed for so long.

Catra continues to squirm on the bed in pain. “Ugh, can you just do the perimeter thingy around the bed instead of these stupid shackles. I need to move!” She groans out in pain again.

“I’ll go get the doctor now.”

---

Scorpia had a difficult time maintaining a hold on Adora without getting her neck snapped by the raging alpha desperate for her mate. Somehow, she was able to abate Adora just long enough to get her out of range from Catra. It was enough to calm the woman’s racing heart, but it was no easy feat. The larger woman had to use everything in her arsenal: her pheromones, her body, growling and baring her teeth to tell Adora that she wasn’t backing down. It was basically a battle of wills, until Adora was able to calm the alpha inside of her enough to hear Scorpia’s pleas.

When she gets Adora to her room the blonde alpha basically has an adrenaline crash. She’s a shaking mess, right now.

Scorpia tries to console her, “hey buddy. I’m going to grab you some ration bars. You really need the calories to get your energy back up.” The Scorpioni looks awkwardly around the room as Adora just sits there silently. “Alright, I’ll be right back.”

Adora just sits there with her thoughts. I failed… again, she thinks bitterly. The urge to punch something is so great she just hits herself. She punches her thigh repeatedly until she can feel the heat of the blood rushing to the area. Tears start to stream down her face as she grinds her teeth. She’s never been more disappointed in herself in her whole life. Catra was there. In her actual fucking arms, and she had left without her.

The pained look in the feline’s eyes is nearly unbearable to reimagine. She can’t stand how incompetent she feels right now.

Scorpia rushes back into the room and lets out a small gasp. She reaches out her giant claw and lifts Adora’s hand away from her own body. The blonde had been gripping her opposite forearm with a white-knuckle grip. As the hand is gently pulled away there are deep crescent shaped indents in her flesh. A drop of blood forms from one of them. “Here, Adora,” she says as she hands the younger woman the rations. Scorpia uses her big claw to clip the top of the wrapper, exposing the bar within.

Adora’s eyes immediately go to the bar, and she begins to eat eagerly. Her stomach audibly growls as she sinks her teeth into it. The blonde hums at the sustenance entering her mouth.

Scorpia isn’t sure what to do with herself. She feels like she’s intruding, but she also can’t leave her alone like this. There’s no telling where her mind is at – on second thought, she knows exactly where her mind is lingering: on how she couldn’t bring Catra back. “We’ll get her, buddy. Don’t give up. I sure haven’t.” At that moment, Adora looks up into her eyes. Scorpia wasn’t even sure she was listening, but this is a good sign.

The blonde’s lower lip begins to wobble, but she swallows and chews on another bite to occupy herself.

“Don’t worry, Adora. I know we were close, but each time we get closer and closer. I just know this next time will be the one that we get her.” Scorpia smiles gently at her friend. “We’ll get her back, Adora. I promise.”

Promise. It echoes in Adora’s head a few times before she looks back into Scorpia’s loving and kind gaze. She offers the other woman a small smile to hopefully ease her anxiety concerning Adora. She’s not the one they should be worried about.

There’s something different about Catra today. She knows that she hasn’t seen her in a long time, but this is drastic. Her scent was irresistible in a way Adora hadn’t smelled before. It’s similar to something she’s smelled before, but she can’t quite place it.

Adora moves from sitting on the edge of her bed to climbing into it entirely. She looks to Scorpia, “I think I’m going to rest now. Hopefully, Shadow Weaver won’t have anything to say about it.”

“Oh, don’t worry about her. I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear that we made it back in one piece.” Scorpia has always had too much optimism in Adora’s opinion, but at least it keeps her mind from spiraling too badly.

The door clicks shut as Adora closes her eyes. She’s exhausted after the events from the night. Not only did she almost lose Catra again from a giant chunk of ice, but she became her alpha without even registering it. It had simply happened without her permission. It was like she was possessed, and nothing could stop her. She supposes that’s how Catra makes her feel, but it’s just so frustrating. Adora’s emotions and her instincts are getting in the way of rescuing Catra. She can’t keep getting in her own way. Wasn’t she in control of those already? She’s performed several missions in the simulator already. There’s no reason she can’t do this.

A sigh escapes the blonde’s mouth as she tries to stop overthinking things. She’ll just have to do better. She has to focus on rescuing Catra so they can be together again. Back in the… well she supposes they wouldn’t be back together in the Horde. The odds of them reuniting is slim, because Adora’s unit is so versatile and useful. She’s seen other teammates go on a number of missions already.

Ugh, her mind is just going in circles. Rest first, devise a better plan tomorrow. Besides, if Catra was at the ball, then that must mean something’s happened with her capture. She was talking about going with them, but what does that mean? Joining the Alliance? Why would they ever do that? They’ve always talked about running the Horde together, right?

“Ugh,” she groans aloud in her room. Everything doesn’t make sense. She had been so distracted by Catra that she hardly got any information from her.

The thoughts are nonstop. If she wasn’t already so drained from the evening’s events, she’s sure that she would stay up all night just wondering and worrying about everything.

But thankfully, her eyes are so heavy she can hardly keep them open. So, she closes them as the exhaustion just blankets over her, and she falls fast asleep.

---

The doctor leaves in her humiliating suit. Apparently, she wasn’t interested in any lacerations from Catra’s claws, so she took the precaution of a thick material that she wrapped around her arms and torso.

Catra did not find any aspect of that exam to be legal, but Glimmer was right by her side as the doctor poked and prodded her. There were a few tests they had to run, and Catra was completely unfamiliar with the aspects of said tests. Let’s just say speculums are cold especially when they end up inside you, but maybe it was also Catra’s near inferno of a body. The room feels like a sauna and the blankets are sticking to her. Unfortunately, she finally got to the point where she had to physically pant to let off the excess heat.

The door closes gently – especially since Catra had berated the doctor for opening the door too loudly on her way in – this time hardly making any sound. The sense of unease lessens some, but it doesn’t go away completely. The feeling of weakness and vulnerability make Catra’s skin crawl, and she tries to hide herself away from prying eyes – mostly just Glimmer.

The princess huffs at her weird behavior. “Why are you trying to hide in there? You’re burning up. It’s only going to make it worse.”

The arrogance rolling of the princess is palpable, even in this state. Catra growls in annoyance, but she does her best to listen as she sticks her tail and a flopping ear out from her enclosure.

“Alright, I don’t have the patience for this. I’ll give you some space. The doctor said everything seems normal, except for your heightened senses. But they should level out after the third day or so.” Glimmer takes a deep breath before she continues, “do you need anything? I can also have Bow come and –“

A hiss from under the bedding cuts Glimmer off from what she was about to say. The princess rolls her eyes fondly, but she does hear a single word coming from the nest “water.”

“Alright, I’ll grab you some water. It’ll be good for you to stay hydrated while you go through this. It can be really uncomfortable with the cramps. I hope what the mages did for the pain helps.”

“Thanks, Sparkles. It’s taking some of the edge off, but…” she opens a hole to let her hot breath escape. “It’s not completely gone” she says more clearly.

“Well,” the princess drags the word out meaning she has something to say about the matter. “You could try… touching yourself?”

Catra shoots her head out of the blanket so quickly that the linen creates static through her hair. “What?” she asks a blushing Glimmer.

“Yano! Touch yourself. Have you ever explored… down there?”

“No!” she screeches defensively.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of Catra. Your anatomy might be a little different than mine, but it’s all the same. When you make yourself ‘feel good,’ it also helps with the cramps. Just,” she pauses from embarrassment, “try it. Worst case, you’ll feel somewhat satisfied afterwards.” Glimmer shrugs nonchalantly as she finishes up the most awkward conversation Catra has ever had the pleasure of enduring.

The feline throws her head back into the blanket and decidedly does not emerge until well after Glimmer’s laughter has faded down the hall.

As the darkness and newfound quiet begins to seep into her bones, she sinks further into the bed trying to get comfortable. Her hand twitches at the idea of inspecting… down there. Her mind suddenly supplies a memory from just before Adora left their unit. She remembers being awakened in the early hours of the morning to her friend’s twitching and grunting in her sleep.

The image of Adora laying next to her with her member bobbing just below the blanket causes a wave of arousal to enthrall her body, until a surprising throb at her lower lips startles her. It’s powerful and deep within as it calls out to the memory of Adora. Her mind also purposefully reminds her that she was able to graze her hand lightly up her friend’s thigh until the tips of her fingers danced over the protruding hard cock beneath her thin underwear.

It's too easy for her mind to wander and completely overtake her senses as the same fingers slide out Adora’s member by slipping down the top portion of her underwear. It springs free as Adora lets out a groan that sends chills down Catra’s entire body. Her mouth becomes a dripping mess of saliva at the idea of Adora feeling the pleasure Catra gives her, and it completely surprises her when another throb of her own echoes within her walls. Another dripping mess begins to form between her legs, and she feels somewhat relieved as she clenches her thighs tightly together. It does nothing to satiate the pulsing inside that calls for something but gives her a chance at lightly scratching that itch.

In Catra’s imagination she slides the blanket down slowly as she looks into crystal blue orbs for permission. It’s granted readily and Catra’s heart hammers in her chest as she slides it down. Now, Catra hadn’t exactly seen what Adora had looked like down there, but her mind fills in the gaps. In the training they received, there were images and diagrams about how the female anatomy of an alpha changes. And what her mind creates is far more than she’s expecting. The tip is swollen and red while the length is so full that she can make out the few veins that traverse just under the surface.

Catra’s eyes dilate and in real time she shoots her hand down between her legs to explore, like Glimmer had said to. The touch is alarming as she’s never felt so sensitive in her whole life. The wetness between her legs would be alarming to her if she wasn’t so entranced by the images in her mind’s eye.

Whatever possesses her to reach out and grab Adora’s member, she’ll have to thank later, because Adora lets out the most erotic groan Catra has ever heard. She’s actually impressed with herself, because she’s never heard Adora make such a lewd noise before. And it does things to her. Her walls clench around nothing, but the lightbulb comes to life as she realizes exactly what she wants.

It takes no time at all to look into half lidded blue orbs before Catra slowly climbs onto Adora’s lap. She hovers just over the throbbing cock beneath her and she can’t do anything but stare into Adora’s eyes.

Catra lowers herself onto Adora’s cock and that’s when she starts touching herself without restraint. She slides her fingers within and brings her other hand down to rub at the tip of her clit. The sensations are helping to stir something within her, but the images in her mind are continuing to drive her insane. Adora’s eyes are looking into hers as the blonde wraps her arms around her waist and the pair collide their hips.

Catra has no idea what it must truly feel like, and she knows deep down that what she’s doing for herself is only a fraction of what she wishes she could have.

The scene continues, unrestrained, as Catra continues to think about her. It’s as though she has no control. Her hand quickens over her clit and the fingers inside feel so good to clench down on.

Tears springs to her eyes as the sensations begin to overwhelm her. She’s still staring into blue eyes as she pumps her hand and curls her fingers.

It doesn’t take much more effort before the build up is too much. Catra’s orgasm is silent as her mouth opens to cry out, but nothing comes. Her breathing has stopped as her walls rhythmically clench on her fingers. The heat and waves pouring out from her center feel like they could consume her in a blazing fire. Her hips rise up off the bed with the power behind it and tears begin to fall steadily, now. This powerful feeling rushes into her heart as she continues to look into blue eyes. A whine rips through her throat as she rides out the rest of her orgasm and her panting breaths finally allow the oxygen to replenish her fuzzy mind.

Catra begins to cry in full as she wraps her arms around herself. Thankfully, they had released her restraints and it’s made everything so much less claustrophobic; but now she feels hollow as she lays there alone.

Soon, she is fast asleep.

---

Adora can’t believe that they sent her out here on some dumb mission. The Whispering Woods aren’t even supposed to be traversed, let alone without back up or any sort of equipment. The blonde wonders if Shadow Weaver is just trying to flat out get rid of her at this point.

The blade she brought slices through some of the brush after each swipe of her arm. It swings and clears a path easily, although she can’t help but feel like she’s lost. It’s also getting so loud. She thought the emphasis on the name was “whispering,” but this is like a cacophony of rustling leaves and animalistic noises. It feels as though she’s being warned. She should ‘tread lightly, or she’ll be sorry’ type of thing.

As she makes her way into a clearing a vague sense of familiarity comes over her. She recognizes this particular area for some reason. There’s a decimated structure about 20 meters away from her with debris blown out around the perimeter. It looks as though something had blown it up. It’s nestled against a natural hill that creates a wall along the outside.

As she gets closer, she catches the faintest scent of something familiar, but she can’t quite place it. Then, she hears sniffling coming from somewhere within the building. As she gets closer, she takes measured steps, never removing her eyes from in front of her.

Something about this moment seems familiar too, it’s like déjà vu.

When she reaches the building, she places her hand on what’s left of the nearest wall as she steps over some debris. The sounds of crying get louder when she finds a heavy wooden table covered in a tattered cloth. As she inches forward, she can tell that it’s where the sound is coming from.

Adora lifts the fabric to find a small body, a large mane of wild hair, and a pair of mismatched eyes. When the little being hisses in Adora’s face, she drops the cloth from being startled along with a gasp.

That can’t be right!

Adora lifts the cloth again and the little version of Catra has disappeared.

Her heart is hammering within her chest. She just saw Catra, but not the right one, although it does seem like it is the right one.

Adora’s head is swirling with confusion and concern. She sniffs at the air to confirm the scent of her long time friend, but it’s faint. Just as faint as before when she was outside of the building.

The house isn’t small by any means, but most of the place is visible from this one spot she’s standing in. She turns her head on a swivel to look around as best as she can. When her eyes come back to the table in front of her, she’s face to face with a teenage Catra sitting on top of the table. Her hair is a mess and her freckles have never been so on display. It catches Adora by surprise again and by the time she reaches out to touch, Catra disappears right in front of her eyes.

The alpha lets out a deep groan in frustration. She’s feels as though she’s being messed with. It must be this stupid forest. It’s been known to play tricks on people before. She just didn’t know things like this could be possible.

When Adora smells the air once more to get an idea of the source of her frustration, she gets the deepest inhale of the most intoxicating scent that’s ever flooded her brain. She tries to get an understanding of where it’s coming from. It feels like she’s surrounded by it, though. Like Catra is right here, but just out of her line of sight.

Before she knows it, as she taking another chance to sniff the air, arms wrap tightly around her torso. Her eyes shoot open in alarm, heart beating out of her chest as she gets ready to evade the intruder, but when she looks down and sees the same dark hair under her chin her heart does a 180.

After an alarming moment without response, Catra looks up into Adora’s shocked expression. “Hey, Adora.”

The look of pure joy crosses Adora’s face as she finally pieces together that Catra is really here! She quickly wraps her arms around Catra and slams their bodies together, like if she were to press them together just right, then they might fuse. “Catra! Wh-what are you doing here?”

“We’re dreaming, dummy.”

Oh.

Well, that explains a lot, Adora thinks.

A wince and hiss come from Catra as she lurches her body away from Adora. The feline grasps at her abdomen and confusion and worry find their way onto Adora’s face. “What is it?” the blonde asks.

Another groan comes from Catra’s throat. “Fuck, there’s no escaping it.”

“What!? Catra, what is it?” Adora repeats more urgently this time.

Catra pulls away fully now, and as much as it pains Adora, she lets the other woman get some space. The feline looks up into baby blue eyes and the sight makes her want to burst into tears. How can she tell her best friend that she’s in heat, of all things, and that she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Adora ramming and filling up her insides.

The incessant throb begins to pound within. It does seem duller than in reality, but it’s not giving her much relief.

Adora just stands there in object horror as her friend just wordlessly holds her abdomen, clearly in pain. “Catra,” she says pleadingly.

The tone of Adora’s voice is what breaks her out of her own shock. She turns and looks back at Adora and can see the turmoil and fear bubbling on her face. That’s when she reaches for her cheek with her left hand, the other still firm on her stomach. “It’s okay, it’s just… I have to talk to you about something.”

Adora’s heart fills with more fear at the words. It’s nothing anyone wants to hear because it’s usually followed by bad news. But she puts on a brave face and nods in affirmation at her friend.

“I uh… the Horde has been feeding us suppressants our whole lives.” Catra chances a glance back at Adora, then looks away to make it easier to continue talking. “Since I’ve been away and eating normal food, my body uh… has gone through some things. And there’s other shit, too. But I don’t know how much time we really have. I just… Adora I’m in heat.” Catra’s voice breaks at the end. For some reason she feels great shame. Like her body is weak and betraying her. All her thoughts feel like they’re being screamed out loud into the ether – especially with how badly she wants Adora.

The blonde’s brow shoots further up her forehead as she registers what Catra is saying. Then, it clicks what Catra is saying. She’s an omega in heat.

“Fuck, Adora…” Catra’s words catch Adora off guard and she escapes the trance she was in to look down at Catra. The feline’s eyeline is lower, much lower, down Adora’s body. And that’s when she notices. It must’ve happened while she was worrying about Catra’s abdominal pain, but plain as day, she’s sporting a large bulging erection between her legs.

“Shit, Catra I’m sorry.” The blonde moves to put her hands over top of herself to hide from the embarrassment. Her best friend just confided in her about something she’s having a difficult time dealing with, and Adora just goes and gets and erection. What the hell?

“Don’t be…” is all Catra quietly says as her eyes refuse to move from the spot. Catra slowly reaches for Adora’s hands.

The blonde is caught off guard. She appreciates Catra’s understanding, and as she holds Adora’s hands, something finally registers. The scent of Catra’s arousal is clear as day.

This new information is incredibly intoxicating, and while Adora is staring into Catra’s hair as this all seems to click simultaneously, Catra’s hand has wandered to her thigh, right next to her member.

Adora looks down quickly as she lets out a sharp gasp from the sudden stimulation, but Catra pulls back as she’s afraid she’s overstepped.

Catra feels so stupid. Why is she letting these urges control her? Adora doesn’t owe her anything, especially to satisfy some sick fantasy that she has. But she’s caught as off guard as Adora had been.

The alpha reaches down and grabs the feline’s hand. Adora can sense how badly her alpha is screaming at her to mate and fuck Catra, but that isn’t her choice. She’s heard stories about alphas losing control and being overtaken by the beast within. That won’t be her, she’s decided. She won’t hurt Catra like that. She can’t. So, her cock throbs beneath the fabric, begging to be set free, but she abstains. Instead, she brings Catra’s hand to her lips and kisses her in the gentlest way she can muster.

Catra’s lip quivers as she watches Adora kiss her hand. The act itself is tame, but the omega inside of her is screaming out for her mate. Everything is making her want to burst into tears. The pain, the intimacy, the vulnerability that she’s allowed Adora to witness. It’s all just so much. She’s not sure if this would be possible if they weren’t out here alone.

As Adora watches the few tears escape Catra’s beautiful eyes, she pulls the woman closer to her body in the tenderest of ways. But Adora’s bulge is kind of in the way, and it doesn’t make the embrace uncomfortable, but it does cause a distraction.

Catra groans deeply at her body being pressed up against Adora’s cock. Her insides are screaming for Adora to take her right here where they stand, but she doesn’t know where Adora’s head is at. Sure, they’ve done some hardcore body rubbing, but they haven’t taken those next few steps, or crossing that unrecoverable line. The whine that comes from Catra’s mouth is pitiful and she hates herself for it, but it gets Adora’s attention.

“Are you okay? Do you want to stop?” the blonde asks as she begins to pull away, but Catra clutches firmly at her back – nails digging pretty sharply into Adora’s skin. “Oh… okay,” the words come out breathless as a pulse from her cock can be felt between the two of them.

Catra moans again, then looks up at Adora questioningly. It’s implied, but she doesn’t want anything to be misconstrued. “Adora… I need you.”

As soon as the words are out of her mouth Adora pulls Catra forward into a searing kiss. The pair gasp at the same time and slowly melt into each other.

Catra’s hands drop first as she hurriedly reaches straight down into Adora’s pants. She finds what she’s looking for immediately and as she grips it gently Adora stops breathing altogether. The member in her hand is firm and throbbing. She explores every inch of Adora’s cock as she rubs her fingers up and down the entire length. She has no knowledge of what she’s doing, but can tell, that by Adora’s scent, she’s doing something right. She slides up her cock with a gentle touch and squeezes at the base where her knot would form. The idea of Adora knotting Catra makes her mouth water and her walls clench. She looks up into Adora’s face and revels in the amount of pleasure she’s eliciting with just the touch of her hand. Catra stands up onto her toes as she lightly kisses Adora’s neck. As she does so, she continues lightly stroking Adora and scent marking her cheek.

A guttural groan leaves Adora’s mouth and it causes a cascade of events to occur in Catra’s body.

Catra looks up at Adora’s face to make sure they’re communicating, “can I?” she asks as she tugs on the waist of the blonde’s pants.

Adora nods eagerly, and just as quickly her pants are pulled down past her ass until she’s sprung free from the confines. Adora groans at the release of pressure on her swollen cock. The air hits it and reveals just how sensitive she is right now.

Catra looks.

She looks wholly and unapologetically as she stares down at Adora’s cock. It’s almost like what she pictured, but so much better and so much sexier. It’s Adora’s and not some picture in a lecture from the Horde. It’s already leaking some fluid as she stares at it, then her walls clench down on nothing, and it reminds her what she wants more than anything in this moment. She wants to slide Adora’s cock so deeply inside of her that she claims Catra entirely, fully.

But she stops her selfish desires as she continues to just stare. A knot already begins forming at the base.

Adora can sense Catra’s hesitation and starts to worry. She starts talking herself into a ramble, “uh, yeah, it’s um. New, and weird looking…”

But Catra’s soft whisper cuts her off, “it’s beautiful.”

The feline can no longer maintain her own composure as she drops to her knees. The omega inside of her is screaming for Adora to penetrate and fuck her into oblivion – especially with her large knot already forming in Catra’s palm – but Catra wants more than that. She wants to please Adora. She wants to bring her pleasure.

Adora is a moment away from asking Catra what she’s doing when the feline kisses the tip of her cock and begins mouthing sweetly all over her. Adora nearly falls over from the alarming, yet blissful, sensation and plants a strong arm up against the nearest wall behind her.

Catra gently licks and kisses Adora’s cock, and as soon as she elicits that same wonderous pleasure onto Adora’s face, she can’t get enough. There’s nothing in the world that she wouldn’t do to see that face. So, she continues. She inserts Adora’s throbbing tip into her mouth as she gently lavishes it with her tongue. It makes Adora’s hips jerk, and it’s pulled out of her mouth, but Catra looks up to see Adora’s lidded eyes and open mouth just begging her to put it back in. So, she does, and her omega is grateful, and she is proud. No one can do this but me, she thinks. I’m making Adora feel like this.

The amount of control Catra has over Adora in this moment is as intoxicating as her delicious taste. It’s like she’s on top of the world when she’s satisfying Adora like this. She’s making her lose control. Adora never loses control. She’s always been so keen of her actions and her words. But this time, it’s Catra’s turn. She’s going to make her lose control in the best of ways.

Adora can hardly breathe. Each time she tries, Catra’s devilish tongue steals it all over again. She almost feels like she could pass out, so she changes tactics and takes deep breaths to make sure that doesn’t happen. The last thing she wants is for this to end because she was reckless.

Catra tries to get more of Adora inside of her mouth while still working her tongue. This makes Adora grip the wall behind her with both arms to keep herself upright. Her body is stretched thin as it leans most of her weight against the wall. The lewd noises coming from the alpha’s mouth are invigorating and they’re motivating Catra to never stop, no matter if she can breathe or not.

The hand Catra’s been using to hold the rest of Adora’s cock stable starts to gently squeeze the length of her throbbing member and Adora just keeps making noises. From deep guttural groans that flood Catra’s lips with her own arousal, to breathy ‘ah’s that she can’t quite keep down while she’s panting for air. It’s all so much and so wonderfully sexy.

Catra slides her hand between her legs to feel the wetness there. The absence of her hand, however, draws the blonde’s attention and she watches as the feline touches herself. The action is captivating and Adora watches with baited breath.

When Catra pulls her hand back out, wet with her own slick, Adora reaches down and grabs her hand roughly as she thrusts two fingers in her own mouth.

Catra’s eyes blow wide open as she watches the alpha above her taste her for the first time.

Adora moans around the pair of fingers as she slips them in and out of her mouth – her tongue laving over every spot. When the blonde is satisfied, she drops Catra’s hand and brings hers back up to the wall to brace herself.

Catra’s mouth had stopped working while she witnessed the most erotic thing she’d ever seen. But when she realizes that Adora isn’t being pleasured, for even a moment, Catra kicks it into high gear. She rubs her wet lips again to find the slick there and brings her hand back up to Adora’s cock. She squeezes and sucks on Adora’s cock, causing the blonde’s legs to shake beneath her.

“Oh, Catra! Stars! Yes!” Adora cries out.

As Catra squeezes over Adora’s enlarging knot some hot liquid begins to shoot small spurts into her mouth. Catra loves the taste because this is what Adora tastes like. It’s completely erotic and pleasurable. She can’t imagine a life without her.

“Shit! Catra, fuck! Oh, shitshitshit!” she cries out.

But then it all comes to a crashing end. Adora groans, her face red from the pressure of her pleasure and hot liquid shoots into Catra’s mouth. It’s alarming, but not unwelcomed.

Then, the blonde just disappears.

The hot liquid has drenched Catra’s face, and this aching feeling of emptiness fills her insides. The tears fill up her eyes as this inexplicable pain slashes through her heart. She’s gone again, Catra thinks bitterly. It’s at one of the worst possible times. She feels so alone as she begins to curl in on herself. Then, the thundering clouds above her begin to drench her in rain.

---

Adora startles awake as she feels the shaking and throbbing of her body losing control. Her cock is pounding with pressure as she releases every bit of cum she can muster – that Catra brought forth from her. Her hips jerk upwards as the fabric of her sheet rubs on the tip of her cock. It provides enough stimulation to ride out her orgasm.

It takes far too long for her body to work its’ way through the sensations. She closes her eyes and imagines seeing Catra’s mouth over her member and it throws a deep shudder through her whole body.

A breath finally makes its’ way into her lungs as the moment passes. Her shorts are a mess and sticky with her cum.

Finally, everything comes shattering down. She wrenches her eyes closed tightly and cries at the loss of her mate.

The darkness of her room inside the Horde is suddenly so suffocating. She reaches up and grabs at her blonde hair, hoping that the pain will bring her back down from the clouds she was just surfing in.

Adora kicks her legs over the side of the bed and rests her feet on the cold floor. It feels so grounding, and yet also not enough.

A groan escapes her mouth as a final few spasms course through her cock and it begins to soften.

After a few deep breaths, Adora can finally reorient herself to reality. The fuzzy memory of Catra going down to do… that passes by in glimpses, but the pain from her loss is beginning to erupt.

Catra is in heat, she remembers.

The thought ignites a grumbling sound deep within her chest. Adora has never really been one to lose her cool, except when it comes to Catra. There’s something about her being in heat and not within arms reach that starts grating on Adora’s nerves. The worry is building, because she knows what alphas do when they can smell an omega in heat. Her eyes begin to shift around the room as the worry begins to consume her.

They will want her, she thinks.

They’ll… claim her, her alpha supplies.

This just will not do. Adora’s alpha is seconds away from forcing her to transition, but she gets to her feet. The hormones and instincts are really challenging to fight, but she must do this. For Catra. She can’t just become a monster and hope to escape the Horde undetected.

That’s what she’ll do. She has to do it. She must leave. It’s the only clear choice.

Adora’s feet are moving before she can reconsider as she makes her way over to the showers. She’ll wash up, get dressed, get Scorpia and a skiff and they’ll be on their way to Brightmoon.

No matter what it takes, she growls from within.

She throws her clothes off as soon as she hits the locker room and then makes her way straight into the water. She doesn’t even wait for it to heat up. The cool temperature feels incredible on her searing skin.

It’s a little shocking as it drips down her torso and on her semi-formed cock, but it quickly retreats as the blood rushes upwards towards her core.

After a quick wash she makes it out and walks over to the clean clothes that she brought with her.

A noise comes from the half-darkened side of the room and Adora quickly darts her gaze to the source as she moves to slip on her underwear.

“What’s up, Adora?” Demetria asks coyly.

The blonde’s face falls at the voice, but she continues to get dressed.

Demetria’s eyes trail up Adora’s body, “damn, if you weren’t an alpha…” the sentence cuts off as she finally meets Adora’s face. She’s met with rolling eyes. “Seriously, though. What are you doing awake?”

“Why do you care?”

“Just curious, you don’t usually shower this early.” The other woman’s demeanor reminds her of something Catra used to do, but it isn’t as natural or smooth. Nonchalant isn’t her brand no matter how hard she tries to make it so.

“Yeah, something came up. I need to leave,” Adora says this and notices the immediate changes in the alpha’s facial expression.

“You’re leaving?” Demetria tries to keep her voice cool and collected, but Adora can hear an eagerness in it. She’s up to something.

“Yes, make sure you don’t tell Shadow Weaver. She’ll probably try to stop me, or something,” Adora is no fool. She’s been able to connect some of the dots.

The blonde sat there thinking back to everything. How she always pushed herself to do her best just to keep the heat off Catra. She thought that maybe if she was good enough, then she could save them both from the repercussions. But Catra was always getting in trouble. “It doesn’t matter what I do, Adora. She’s got it out for me.” Had been the feline’s response to a barrage of questions after one particularly nasty encounter with Weaver. Adora never believed her. She just thought that Catra brought it all on herself.

But Weaver knew.

She knew Adora would work harder so that Catra wouldn’t be punished as badly, or that she wouldn’t be punished at all. Weaver was always trying to separate them and even told Adora to stay away from Catra because she was such a bad influence. What if she was doing that now…? Using Catra to manipulate Adora, she thought.

The lightbulb finally shined brightly as Adora somehow put all the pieces together. It was staring her in the face for years! But she never saw it. She was too close to the situation, and it all just looked so simple from the outside. But Shadow Weaver was doing it from the beginning. She was using them against each other.

The blood drained from her face and her heart dropped into her stomach. How could she have been so stupid!? Every interaction from their childhood raised to the surface as she began to question her entire reality of events. Had she actually been manipulated her whole life? To be stronger, better, faster so she could save Catra, but Weaver was using it to her advantage?

Adora stood from the bed, her breaths were coming in shallow and ragged. She couldn’t believe this! How could she let this happen for so long? How could she not see it, or believed Catra when she told her? It was never her fault. It was always Shadow Weaver. She tried to pit them against each other, but their love was so strong. They cared for each other too much to let it break them apart.

Now they are apart, and it’s all Adora’s fault. She listened to Weaver and this corrupt system for so long. It’s maddening.

Scorpia reached out a hand to steady Adora. “Woah, buddy. Just take a breath. What’s going on?”

“This whole time. She never cared about Catra. It was only just to use me.” She sounded a little breathless as she spoke.

The memory is vivid in her mind’s eye as the adrenaline pumping through her makes every thought crystal clear. She knows what she’s doing.

“Definitely, Adora. I won’t. It’s between you and me.” Demetria gives her a gentle smile that’s uncharacteristic of her – which means it’s definitely working.

“Great, thanks. I have to get going now.”

“Where are you heading?” she asks abruptly.

“I don’t know yet, but I have a feeling it might be somewhere in Thaymor.” Adora feels bad for the town she just threw under the bus, but it’ll help throw off her scent for just long enough to get a head start.

“Goodluck, Adora.”

“Thanks,” there’s a sickening feeling in her stomach at the knowledge that Demetria is just a tool of the system that groomed Adora. It makes acid rise in her throat. She leaves after getting dressed and heads to Scorpia’s room.

Adora lightly knocks on the door. She hopes that the alpha is sleeping deeply so she can make it out on her own accord, but after a few moments the door swings wide open. “Adora?” Scorpia asks as she rubs at her eye.

“Scorpia, I’m going to go get Catra on my own. No interferences. Will you come with me?” Adora asks.

“Oh, gosh. I don’t know. This is so sudden.”

Adora’s face softens at her friend’s response. She knows this is a lot for so early in the morning, but she has to do this. “Listen, I’m going to find her. I have to. She’s in heat, Scorpia.”

The other woman’s eyes widen comically, “oh wow! Okay, um, yeah maybe I should stay back to keep an eye on things. I could always try to contact you if something comes up?” the question in her voice is clear.

“Thank you so much Scorpia,” she swallows the knot rising in her throat. “You’re a good friend.”

The pair both sport shimmering eyes as they give each other a tight hug before parting.

Adora is going to get Catra and she’s going to protect her and never let her go again. Her face is full of determination as she takes a skiff out of the bay after punching in a quick code into the monitor. The machine glides away nearly silent into the pitch black of the night.

Chapter 22: Sweet Release

Adora’s ride on the skiff has been pretty uneventful as she ventures closer and closer to the Whispering Woods. She’s decided that she’ll get as far into the forest as she can, and then hide the skiff for her return…. If I ever do return, she thinks bitterly at the thought of their guardian.

As she passes the threshold of the woods, she realizes that the forest is dense. She knows, from her cartography class, the exact direction in relation to the alignment of Etheria’s moons and time of year; but as she tries to look up, the canopy of trees is blocking her view. She’ll just have to trust that she’s heading in the correct direction, and when she can find an opening in the trees, she’ll double check.

A few minutes go by, but the woods seem to be getting more difficult to navigate on such a large craft. Adora raises her arm to block some of the small branches from hitting her face, but as she does so she obstructs her own eyeline. When Adora realizes that her sight has been obstructed for too long, she braces for the impending lashes and lowers her arm. She can barely see over the edge of her flesh.

Then, suddenly, she sees a giant willowing tree barreling down on her. Adora lets out a scream as she wrenches the steering to the left, but it’s too late. She avoids hitting the tree head on, but the rear passenger side takes a huge hit. It causes Adora’s body to tense up as she’s jettisoned out of the vehicle and flies directly for a tree trunk. Just before she hits, a blinding light reveals her alpha form. Her body collides with the structure, and she begins descending rapidly to land prone on the forest floor.

It takes just a moment for Adora to open her eyes again – this time though, they’re glowing. Her brow furrows as she stands. The screeching sound of metal draws her attention to the fire blazing in the distance. The bundle of scrap metal brings realization upon her, and her eyes widen as she takes in the damaged machine. The distance her body had covered between where she currently stands and the skiff is alarming to say the least. But as she reaches down to inspect for any damage, she can’t find any. That’s when she realizes that not only is she safe and sound, but she’s in her other form. Her skin and hair are glowing with golden light.

She hasn’t gotten used to seeing herself change like this. The realization is alarming enough to scare the blonde out of her alpha form; and with the difference in height, her body drops to the ground with an ‘oof.’

Adora regains her bearings. “Woah,” is all she manages to say as she rubs her head. Her body aches some, but she mostly feels energized with renewed stamina. Something about her alpha is so magnetizing. It’s another side to her that she’s learning to love and get familiar with. The side of her that demands its’ will be done.

“I have healing abilities?” she whispers in disbelief. After a short stint of regaining her composure, Adora gets to her feet and tries to remember what’s at hand. She scans the treetops until she finds an opening, and she marches off to get underneath it. “Or am I invincible?” she wonders. Adora will just have to test that one out when she gets a chance.

After stumbling over a few large tree roots, she reaches the opening, and the moon casts a near blinding light straight to the ground. She looks upward and can tell that she had been going in the correct direction. She’ll just have to move more purposefully as she traverses the new terrain. Adora has heard so many awful stories about the Whispering Woods. There are definitely pigmies out here that eat your flesh. Lonnie said that some 3^rd year cadet told her that they existed because the leaders tied him to a tree as a punishment.

She must remain aware.

The atmosphere in the woods is a bit sticky as the summer heat dissipates slowly into the night air. Sweat starts to bead on her forehead, but that’s mostly due to her climbing and stumbling over more tree roots. She pants out a few labored breaths as she rushes over to another opening in the canopy of trees. The moons seem to still be in the general direction, but she’ll make a shift that should bring her right back on track.

After what feels like hours, Adora finally gets within hearing distance of a nearby town’s first morning-risers. The brightest moon peaks over the treetops and Adora moves just a bit further to climb up a sizable tree. When she clambers up to the top of one, she can see the entire perimeter and primary structure known as Brightmoon castle.

The visual instills a vicious urging in her gut to make her way in quickly and quietly. It’s not likely that anyone within the palace would be awake so early. It’ll be the perfect opportunity.

She decides there’s really only one way to do this. She needs all her strength and power to make this mission successful, and in order to make sure of that, she needs her alpha. The thought sends a tingle to a spot inside her brain, and it begins to flourish into a cascade of changing molecules. As if her alpha agrees with the decision, her body begins to change. She gives in to her instincts as she shifts into her alpha for the first time voluntarily.

It feels so natural. Like, she’s always meant to do it this way. The restructuring of her body is effortless and smooth. It seems so clear in her head, now. The alpha inside her isn’t some beast that she needs to get control over. Her alpha is herself. She is her alpha. They’re one and the same. She isn’t afraid of controlling her alpha’s urges anymore because they’re hers, too. Now, Adora knows that those desires were never bad, but letting them dictate her behavior is what she doesn’t want. Constraining them into some neat and tidy little box is what caused her to lose control in the first place, because her and the alpha inside were almost always against each other. It was either Adora or her alpha. Never the two as one. It’s time, now, to honor her alpha and work together.

The alpha within is powerful. The magic coursing through her veins and under her skin is strong and potent. It creates a flow of energy that radiates outwards. Like she’s the sun, here to provide endlessly. She doesn’t experience bottom growth like she had before, but she assumes that’s only for particular situations.

Adora blushes furiously at the brief thought, but she doesn’t feel ashamed. It’s like now she understands that each aspect of herself has a purpose and none of those things are bad. It’s kind of freeing, actually.

As her feet plant firmly on the ground, she swears she feels a spike of energy nipping at her heels. Something feels familiar. It’s as though the energy radiating off her is like what she feels radiating from the ground beneath her. Almost like they’re feeding off each other. A constant flow of magic.

Even as she stands there, she’s never felt so much magic before. It’s a little overwhelming. Adora doesn’t understand why there’s a connection with her alpha and the magic here, but it’s too amazing of a sensation to really dwell on it for long.

It’s then that she remembers what she’s here for. Her face looks straight ahead as she scopes out the landscape. It seems easy enough. She’ll have to gain access by water it seems. If she swims towards the cliffs and then climbs up, she’ll have an advantage for getting over the wall of the perimeter. She could also go through the front, but it would be very risky. From what she can see, there seems to be guards outside the main gate and not much coverage from what she can see along the waterfront.

Water it is, she supposes.

When she starts running towards her objective it feels a little cumbersome, but she starts to get the hang of it. Adora sprints before diving into the water. Her longer arms and legs allow her to glide much smoother through the lake than she’d done before while training in the Horde.

When she reaches the cliffside, she barely feels phased by the physical exertion. One foot after the other, she climbs her way up the side of the cliff and scales over the palace wall.

Then, she falls gracelessly to the ground.

The blonde stands to her feet quickly and scans the area for anyone that may have overheard. Then, after feeling safe enough to continue moving, she inhales deeply as she sniffs the air. The faintest scent of Catra lingers, but it is definitely pulling her in a particular direction. It seems to get stronger as she walks along the northern wall until she’s under a large tower with multiple open windows. She must be above Adora somewhere. It’s encouragement enough to drive the alpha into action, and she reaches up to scale the wall. It’s a bit more difficult than the rocky cliff, but she’s able to find small foot and handholds.

When she reaches the ledge of a window, she peeks her head up to look inside. The drapes are closed, which gives Adora enough courage to shift her body higher up. Now, she’s able to get into a more comfortable position to rest before moving on.

Catra’s scent isn’t coming from this room, but she can take a breather, so she doesn’t fall 50 feet from muscle fatigue. Adora smells the air once more to check her sense of direction, but a strong scent catches her by surprise. It’s not the one she’s after, but it is familiar. It takes just a moment until she realizes that the lingering reminder tickling her brain is from her interactions with Princess Glimmer. This must be her quarters, she thinks to herself. The emotion it stirs inside her is enough for her to nudge her head closer to the fabric. Glimmer’s scent is stronger this time.

A deep growl starts in her chest as a part of her is tempted to go in there and rip that princess’s throat out. But a flicker of light in her mind reminds her that this isn’t their current mission. She must prevent her urges from taking control for this to work, and for Adora and her alpha to maintain trust. Adora knows her alpha wants revenge, but there’s something much more important at stake. Catra. They come to an agreement between them, and she continues climbing from window to window.

Adora spares a few glances downwards to keep an eye on any wandering guards. She finds it unlikely that any one of them would look upwards, but if she was a bored guard of Brightmoon, she’d probably look up at the clouds or something, too. Who are we kidding? No, she wouldn’t. Her routes would be perfect and timed down to the second just to maintain an advantage. She also wouldn’t repeat her routes in any one pattern so that her enemies couldn’t predict where she’d be. Hell, she should write a manual for proper technique.

Adora shakes her head at her silly banter when Catra’s scent begins to increase. She was beginning to get irritated with all the climbing, which Catra would give her so much shit for. The blonde laughs internally as her heart flutters.

The increase in aroma creates a roaring fire in the alpha’s chest. She begins to climb with new vigor.

The scent seems to undeniably be wafting from the next window Adora finds herself in. Now that she’s closer, her senses are filled with a sweet rapture. It isn’t just Catra’s scent, but it’s tinged with something else. It’s something familiar, but so different from what she’s used to. Her mouth waters as she inhales much deeper than before. Her head begins spinning, and her alpha nearly rushes in to get closer to the source.

Adora climbs all the way inside without regard to her own safety, if only to just get another glimpse of the feline in real life.

Magic doesn’t suddenly burst and befall her; but she does hear the most familiar and gut-wrenching sound as a yowl and a hiss are thrown her way from the darkness of the room. These sounds can only be associated in Adora’s memory with during, or after Weaver’s punishments. Her chest feels like it might implode with emotion as the sound invokes primal things inside Adora. She feels relief, sadness, and concern, but the guilt is what’s eating her alive. How could she let this happen to her mate? There’s a new part inside of her that breaks. It’s this sensation of responsibility and protectiveness that she had failed to provide.

Catra had been subjected to so much pain and torture all because her alpha couldn’t get her back sooner. This hidden and foreign sensation nearly knocks her to her knees as the tears fall from her cheeks right by the ledge of the window.

--

The light had been blocked out for Catra’s comfort. It’s grating heavily on her head as the beginnings of a headache form.

Catra had demanded Sparkles to find something to block it from the windows and the drapes were the best option on such short notice.

She wasn’t expecting, however, to hear a clamor just outside of her visibility; damn death-curtains. The drapes hide a form just behind it. The initial sound erupted a hiss from her throat. Great stars! She thinks as she rolls her eyes. What’s becoming of her? She hasn’t hissed since Weaver nearly suffocated her to death with magic for the first time. The sound felt good to do, though. Like she’s meant to fend off anyone who catches her scent. Glimmer had told her too, that the alphas might get a hint of her scent and try to bother her; but she hadn’t actually believed anyone would be dumb enough to climb up near the princess’s chambers. She yowls and hisses again, but as she does, she swivels her ears towards the window. Muffled sobs can be heard as the person tries to hold back their emotions.

Catra unfurls herself from her blanket cocoon and emerges from the bed very slowly. As soon as her nose hits the wind, fireworks set off in her chest. That could only be the smell of one person. Her heart starts hammering, and her lower half throbs with want. But the silent cries draw her attention once more. Now that her nose is out of the covers, she can sense Adora’s pheromones. They’re of distress and pain.

Given the weight of this whole situation, Catra exits the bed slowly. She climbs down as one limb slips out of the bedding and onto the cool tile floor. It soothes her in a way, but she can hardly focus on anything other than the alpha in severe distress. So, she makes it out of her bed and slowly steps forward. Step by step she ventures closer to the drapes. She’s about 10 feet away now, when she hears a gasp. Catra continues to cautiously sniff the air. She isn’t sure if she’s about to be pounced on or trampled on as Adora realizes she’s been caught.

Catra waits for the blonde to pull back the drapes to reveal herself, but something inside is telling her that her alpha needs her. So, she reaches for the fabric and a gasp is heard as her fingers lace themselves around the edge. The feline pulls back the drape without exposing herself to the bright morning sun. She stands back a little to avoid the light, but she also realizes that Adora can’t see her very well.

“C… Catra?” a voice with the most hopeful tilt to it calls her name and the feline’s heart soars.

Catra takes a moment to contemplate if she can withstand the light before she quickly decides and responds with “the light is too bright, come over here.”

Adora doesn’t think she’s breathing right now. The closer she gets the more lightheaded she feels. She passes the threshold of the fabric and heterochromatic eyes come into view.

“Hey, Adora…” Catra says with concern as she moves partially into the light to grab the blonde’s arm before she faints. She pulls her fully into the room and once again they’re shielded from the bright rays of the sun.

Adora lets go of the breath she was holding to begin sucking in air. Then, she crumbles to her knees as her vision clears and she gets used to the darkness. Catra’s form begins to come into reality. Her arms are a bit thicker, and her belly is protruding in a swollen kind of way. Her thighs are plumper as well. She looks… so healthy! Adora could almost cry with relief. She had envisioned a woman with fresh and healing cuts and burns, and probably as thin as a rail, but here she is. She’s magnificent, Adora thinks.

Adora’s tears flow freely as Catra watches Adora cry in front of her. The feline reaches out her hand and cups the side of the blonde’s cheek. She feels unsure of what to do in this moment, but this had always seemed to help when they were younger. It’s practically their only form of intimacy between them. It had always seemed to relay exactly what Catra was feeling in those precious moments.

It catches Adora’s attention immediately. Her lip trembles as the emotions still force their way through her iron clad walls.

“What’s wrong, Adora?” Catra’s voice is soft but direct. She needs to know what is wrong so she can rectify it.

“I –“ the woman’s voice cuts out as her throat clenches on a knot there. It’s thick and she can hardly talk around it. “I-I thought you were…” she sobs and gestures her hand vaguely in the air at Catra’s body “… tortured and –“ her throat clenches again.

It immediately clicks in Catra’s mind what the blonde is vaguely implying. The stories that the Horde tells cadets about princesses are slanderous to say the least. The ideas Adora must’ve concocted in her mind, though; and to then, have them be manipulated further by the old hag herself. Catra’s eyes roll and her temper flairs. She growls deeply in her throat at the idea of that woman’s hands anywhere near Adora.

The sound catches Adora off guard because she knows that sound. It’s the one Catra makes when someone is trying to take something from her, or is too close to something she cares about. It doesn’t quite make sense at first until she hears the feline mumble something about ‘fucking witch,’ which just so happens to be her pet name for Weaver. The dots connect and a shiver of desire spikes through Adora’s gut. It hits her like a sucker punch. She takes an inhale of the air, and she’s reminded of what propelled her to enter without regard in the first place. It’s the sweetest and most desirable scent she’s ever experienced. It’s like Catra but multiplied by a thousand. The scent makes her mouth water at the idea of Catra owning her. Perhaps, them owning each other.

As soon as Catra is hit with Adora’s arousal, she pivots immediately to face the blonde. She notices how Adora is panting at the air only to take in every ounce of Catra’s scent. The visual is as intoxicating as it seems. But she knows she’s in heat and that it causes involuntary pining from alphas. Is it so terrible, that she hopes Adora wants her for more than just her heat? That her… mate desires her essence.

Catra inches forward and reaches for Adora’s face once more. She must know if Adora is alright. But the blonde takes her caress as an urging to press forward. Adora jumps to her feet and collides with Catra. She pulls their bodies into one another until they’re flush, but their faces do not meet. The embrace presses their breasts tightly together, and their hips meet easily.

Adora releases the deepest groan she’s ever mustered as her member immediately begins to swell at the rough contact. She feels a sudden urge that she can hardly muster any concern about denying. Her hand reaches for Catra’s scruff (which for the record, she hasn’t been allowed to do since they were four and the other kids started making fun of Catra). Then, she hoists the feline up against the wall. Their bodies regain contact and press together just as tightly as before.

She holds all Catra’s weight in her grasp until the feline wraps her legs around Adora’s waist.

The rough manhandling had elicited the neediest wine Catra has ever produced. It causes a rush of arousal down between her legs, but as Adora pushes further into her she starts to feel claustrophobic. Adora looks like the tall warrior she remembers from her visions. She knows intellectually that this is her Adora, but it’s all too much. This is all happening too fast. She wants Adora, but she just can’t. At first, she tries to pull away, but Adora starts nibbling and then biting her neck. Which, unfortunately, makes her legs go weak again.

By harnessing any and all strength she can muster in her current state, she pulls it together and uses her claws. She digs in around Adora’s shoulders which elicits a cry of some sort, but it’s followed by a needy wine from the alpha as her member really starts throbbing against Catra’s hip. Fuck, her pants are ruined at this point. She’s so close to giving in. She wants to so badly that her bones ache. Nobody really explained to her how feral it would feel while she was in heat, but knowing who’s pressed against her gives her a bit more understanding. But she can’t. As she opens her eyes, she realizes why she can’t do this, it’s just not Adora!

Catra stuns the blonde as she releases a dangerous growl and hiss that would scare the piss out of any cadet. The blonde stops everything she’s doing with great effort. Her body is screaming to keep going, but the Adora side of her brain knows that Catra only makes that sound when she’s fuming mad. The alpha gulps as she releases the felines neck and slowly backs up. It’s almost physically painful as their skin parts one another. Adora gently lowers Catra to the ground. She doesn’t know what she’s done to elicit such an emotion from the feline, but she needs to focus.

Catra’s legs wabble as she’s settled back down. And the blonde attempts to move completely away from Catra, and that just won’t do. See, Catra now knows what it’s like to feel Adora’s live physical body grind a beautiful thick masterpiece against her hip and torso; so therefore, the alpha is never allowed to be more than a foot apart and their bodies must be touching at all times. She just also doesn’t… can’t articulate that right now in the moment, and she clutches her claws into Adora’s back again while she emits a low growl. It signifies Catra’s need for her presence and that she isn’t being rejected. She just hopes that it’s coming across the way she wants.

Adora’s head is swimming with confusion, but she isn’t being mauled so that’s something. She shifts back just a few more inches to give her room to meet Catra’s eyes. They’re pleading with Adora to understand, but she doesn’t. “What is it?”

Another low wine and then a growl comes from Catra’s throat, but this time she articulates with her hands. She gestures to Adora from her head down to her waist. When Catra rolls her eyes, that’s when it clicks. She’s only seen Adora like this a few times – even Adora isn’t used to her new form. She can’t imagine how intrusive this must be.

As if her inner self can understand her thought process, she releases a growl herself.

Catra’s eyes shoot down and she lowers her head in response.

When Adora catches the sight, she feels disgusted with herself. It’s enough to make bile rise in her throat. Her alpha’s urges are strong, but not more powerful than how much Adora cares for the feline. There’s no way she’d let herself hurt Catra like this and she makes a decision.

Adora pulls completely away from Catra, and the feline’s eyes fill with concern as she does so. “No, no, no…” Catra’s voice pleads as she reaches for the blonde.

But Adora has made up her mind. She transforms back into her regular form. Just as the blinding light dissipates Catra meets her eyes. They’re blown wide open as if taking in every inch of Adora’s frame. When her eyes halt below Adora’s belt, the alpha looks down as well and notices the remaining prominent bulge in her pants. She shies away from Catra, but the feline immediately reaches for Adora’s nervous hand. They stay like that for a little bit just looking at each other. Stunned to really be in the same room.

Catra can’t express how much the distance between their bodies is breaking her heart. So, she pulls Adora back into her orbit.

The alpha sniffs the air again as Catra’s arousal becomes clear in the air. “Shit, Catra…”

The feline’s eyes shoot up to revel in Adora’s reaction. At first, she thinks it’s bad, but then she can see the calm on her face. The blonde is pleased.

Catra pulls Adora again to bring her even closer, which is when Adora grabs Catra’s other hand.

The moment is sweet yet also charged.

Adora moves her face closer to the feline, and her eyes remain closed. Her nose touches Catra’s cheek first which elicits a small sharp inhale from the feline and a burst of pheromones. The blonde lightly traces her nose on the soft skin there in small circles.

Relief, once again, crashes into Adora’s heart, and the force from it begins to make her lip tremble.

Catra can feel the tension dissipating as it comes off Adora in waves. Like the ocean crashing into the cliff outside of the castle. The feline also closes her eyes and begins to nuzzle into Adora. She slowly drops the blonde’s hands and reaches up behind her neck to pull her in for a hug.

Adora’s arms drift south and wrap around Catra’s waist until they connect behind her back.

Catra continues to nuzzle the side of Adora’s head. It starts out gently, but then she eventually starts scent marking the other woman.

Adora chuckles. They hadn’t been this close is so long. It feels like any second now, Shadow Weaver is going to be looming around the corner, like when they were kids. Catra used to scent mark her all the time, but once Weaver caught on, she put a stop to that.

Adora slides her hands up and down the subtle ridges of Catra’s back, and she even rubs small circles just above her tail.

The ministrations cause the feline to hum with relief and pleasure. The sound sends arousal straight to Adora’s core, but she can’t be bothered with that when the one person in the world she’s been fighting to get back is within her arms. It’s a guilty pleasure to give something like this to Catra. The woman who always looked out for her.

Their bodies settle more comfortably together, then Adora’s member rubs against Catra’s thigh, and the feline shudders, and gasps.

Suddenly, the energy in the room is charged with new life. Catra is still in heat and very much wants to give Adora pleasure. The hormones are making her think things she’s never thought before, but if she doesn’t dwell on it for too long, she likes the idea of caving into her desires. The idea of getting a second chance from their first interaction with Adora’s new appendage excites her. Her hand continues to play with the baby hairs on the back of Adora’s neck until she’s brave enough to slide her hands down over her shoulders. The tension there releases as Catra lightly trails her claws over Adora’s muscles.

Adora’s breath hitches at the movement, but she stands there patiently waiting for Catra to continue.

As the feline does, she takes in her own deep breath smelling Adora’s arousal and musk. It’s much more potent than it had been in the past. Even in their dreams Adora hadn’t smelled like this. It’s heady with just the right amount of sweat. Like it was made for her to smell. Like she was the only one meant to smell it.

This wave of possession hits her like a freight train. Adora is hers. She isn’t sure what that all means, and it slightly terrifies her, but she isn’t going to dwell on it. She knows that Adora is hers and she will ensure that Adora knows how much she belongs to Catra.

Amid her hormonal thoughts, her hand slides down Adora’s front and she takes it upon herself to break this sweet moment. Because if Catra was being completely honest, she didn’t mind Adora’s forcefulness from before. Catra just wants the Adora she remembers. The one she’s shared dreams with, and not some alternate – no matter how incredibly hot said alternate is.

Catra’s hand dips down over Adora’s pants as she grasps her palm over the blonde’s straining cock.

Adora responds with the most visceral twitch since she wasn’t expecting such a bold gesture from Catra. Although maybe she should have, given their history.

Catra groans into Adora’s ear with renewed fire burning in her core. Her hand gently takes in the shape and firmness of her partner’s member as her own muscles twitch at the prospect of experiencing Adora in a new way. They’ve grinded and felt each other on an external level, but nothing like being filled with Adora’s pleasure center.

“Fuck,” is all Adora can manage to say as the hand delicately teases her already hard shaft. Her right hand immediately flings to the wall behind Catra to help hold herself up. Her other arm grips firmly at Catra’s side.

In a moment of weakness, and pure desire, Catra tells Adora “move to the couch.”

The blonde lifts her head to stare into Catra’s eyes. They are firm and unwavering just as her voice had been. After a timid nod, she turns and walks to rest her aching body on a blissful cushion. Her body is a tad stiff as her hands rest on her thighs and her leg is bouncing nervously.

The motion alerts Catra that Adora also knows how real this is. It’s not going to be like their lucid dreams, where it didn’t quite feel real, but it also was so much more than any regular dream. Her gaze leaps from the leg to Adora’s lust filled eyes, which are heavily lidded.

Catra bites her own lip as she moves closer to Adora. Both women never take their eyes off one another, even when Catra moves to sit on her knees in front of Adora. The move causes Adora to clench her jaw once and lick her lips. Her fingers also twitch as she grabs the fabric covering her thighs.

They won’t be bothered. Catra knows this. There are protection spells cast around the entrance to her room – apparently, they hadn’t considered someone crazy enough to climb the tower to her window. The thought alone makes Catra’s thighs clench. Adora is a powerful and agile alpha. She’s determined and incredibly intelligent.

“Adora,” the feline says, her voice laced with lust. “I want to give you pleasure.”

After a pause Adora says, “give me pleasure?” the blonde asks dumbly.

Catra nods, feeling a tad nervous now that she must explain herself. “Like when it happened the first time.” She feels so awkward, but even as her face flushes with embarrassment, she’d give anything to be the cause of Adora’s following reaction.

The blonde’s breath catches in her throat and her heart nearly stops at those words. She hadn’t ever heard Catra be so explicit or direct. It isn’t even that lewd to begin with but given Catra’s smoky voice and the sweet aroma in the air, her hips twitch with anticipation. “Y-you do?” she still asks because this must be a dream.

“Yes,” her eyes drop down to the straining bulge just hidden behind some fabric. Catra would claw away at the threads just to make this quicker, but she wouldn’t dare to do something that makes Adora uncomfortable.

“Fuck,” the blonde releases with a breath. Her mouth drops open at the sight before her. The alpha within is fucking raging with the urge to take Catra, but she won’t do anything the other woman isn’t ready for. Her alpha will just have to be patient. The blonde nods her head in agreement and just waits for Catra to make the first move.

Adora grips at her pants again as if to restrain herself. It makes Catra’s need build even more. She will make Adora feel good. Pleasuring Adora is all she can think about – to give her alpha all of herself.

Catra slides her palms up Adora’s thighs, tracing over the blonde’s clenched hands to relieve them of their current position. With all diversions out of the way, Catra stares down again at one of the primary sources of Adora’s pleasure. She will spend her time thoroughly figuring out all the sources, but right now, the one that’s demanding the most need is right in front of her face.

Instead of continuing to stare, Catra takes the leap and reaches for Adora’s member. The feline makes sure to touch gently as she grazes it with her fingertips – a memory of their first time similarly compromised reminds her of how sensitive it is.

Adora immediately growls out a groan, and her hands fling out to the cushions on either side of her body to grip with all her strength.

Catra looks up into grey eyes to make sure she hadn’t done anything wrong, but all she sees is lust and reverie. It makes the feline feel incredibly powerful. How can she invoke something so primal from Adora just by a simple touch? It’s maddening.

Suddenly, Adora’s attention is ripped away from blue and yellow eyes. She looks angrily at the doorway, where Catra can hear people on the other side. She swears, if it’s fucking Sparkles checking-in or some shit, I’m going to freak out.

When nothing further happens, Catra releases her breath. But Adora’s face is still angry; and now, the alpha is getting up. “Hey, what are you doing?” Catra asks the blonde frustratedly.

“I can smell them, they’re alphas,” she voices lowly. Adora feels extremely aware of their movements and unreasonably protective of Catra.

The feline can smell the change in Adora’s pheromones. She reaches her hand out to grab Adora, but it’s like trying to stop a train. Adora nearly drags Catra along behind her as she moves closer to the entrance. It’s then, that Catra moves around to get in front of the blonde to stop her from leaving. “Are you crazy? You can’t go out there!” she whisper yells. “There’re magical charms, or some shit, protecting me from them. They can’t smell me or you. Nobody knows. Glimmer made sure.”

Adora shifts her gaze back to the Magicat at the mention of Glimmer, and she lets out a scoff from her nose.

“It’s not what you think. Glimmer’s not so bad.” Catra’s demeanor begins to take on a softer position as she adjusts to fold her arms over her chest.

The words fall on deaf ears as Adora glares at the door again. She sniffs the air and can certainly smell alphas nearby. Her focus is pulled from the door, though as Catra physically pulls on her arm in the other direction.

Adora turns towards Catra with a clear understanding of what she must do. The next few moments flutter by in a blur. She reaches for the same arm that was just holding her own captive. The feline turns to face Adora since she doesn’t understand what’s happening. When they lock eyes, the alpha inside of Adora is decisively sure of what she must say next.

The blonde walks Catra backwards until her backside is pressed into the arm rest of the couch – her tail sways anxiously behind her. Adora takes her sweet time shifting closer to Catra. The blonde clenches her jaw as she tries to stay focused, because this moment must sink in. She must make herself very clear.

Adora brings her hands to Catra’s shoulders as she massages circles with her thumbs in her soft fur. She can sense Catra’s unease. There’s uncertainty in her body language as Adora looks down to Catra’s fingers fidgeting in her lap.

The feline trembles from anticipation. She isn’t sure how much more of this shit she can take.

Adora can no longer hold herself at bay. She places her palm gently on the side of Catra’s throat. Adora ascends to caress her jaw, and even further to then pause at the back of her head. Adora grabs Catra’s locks at the base of her skull and gently pulls her in very closely until the alpha’s nose and lips caress Catra’s temple. She can smell something so strongly Catra it almost brings tears to her eyes. And when the love she feels becomes so immense, and the emotions can no longer be held back, she releases a guttural “Mine.”

The feline’s body trembles from the hot breath caressing her ear. Adora’s pheromones are intoxicating as she all but claims Catra with her scent. It wraps around them both. There’s no way she’d be able to walk within ten feet of someone without them knowing. That single word eliminates any, and all, concern Catra has about Adora’s strange behavior. Of course, the dummy is going to say something so damn sexy while Catra’s literal body is betraying her. That single word makes her proverbial walls crumble down to rubble as every ounce of her being wants to slide into Adora’s embrace and never leave.

Since Catra’s in a seated position on the arm rest, she ends up pulling on Adora’s lower back which nestles the blonde’s ever persistent member directly into her own center. The feeling of Adora’s hard cock makes her gasp and reminds her of their situation. Her feelings are just all over the place. Guh, make it stop! she screams internally.

Then, she truly allows herself to feel. Adora isn’t shoving her off and she isn’t backing away. If anything, she’s gripping Catra just a tad harder. The feline focuses on her center as her legs widen and accept Adora’s embrace gladly. Her lips spread, just covered by a sliver of fabric from her leggings, and Adora’s cock presses against her filling every inch with sensation. When her hips involuntarily twitch her walls clench as her open lips slide against Adora. Their clothes are in the way, and she doesn’t get the full sensation of feeling Adora’s bare skin slipping through her folds, but she can feel it. She can feel Adora.

The grunts and moans that tumble from Adora’s mouth are like drops of liquid ecstasy. Her grip on Catra tightens, and they’re two seconds away from losing themselves to their senses. But, fuck, it just feels so good, Catra thinks – or did she say that out loud?

The feline rocks her hips as she continues to slide Adora’s cock against her own clit. The pressure and sensation rubbing through the thin fabric of her leggings is just too fucking good. This divine friction over her sensitive bud ignites a flame within her already burning core. Catra has been in aching pain for the last two whole days, and so far, this is the only thing that has given her an ounce of relief. Her core is begging to be filled and fucked until the pressure inside releases.

Her walls continue to flutter as the friction becomes a godsend. Her head lolls back, and her arms grip at Adora’s arms to hold herself from falling backwards. The new position increases the pressure of Adora’s straining shaft into her center. It’s like a rapture. Her soul is inches from leaving her body as she mutters nonsense from her mouth. “Shit, shit -oh, oh!” her lip trembles as the emotions become too great. Adora’s cock lightly presses over her opening and becomes a salve for her aching center. “Nnnngh, ah –“

Then, Catra cuts herself off from making any further sounds. In a moment of unadulterated terror, Catra can’t believe she’s lost herself so thoroughly in Adora’s arms. She immediately opens her eyes looking for reassurance, and sure enough, Adora’s gaze is locked onto her every move. They burn into Catra’s soul as the blonde takes in every ounce of what Catra is giving her.

Adora is indeed feeling pleasure, sure enough to Catra’s surprise. Her cock feels the heat from Catra’s body nearly burning through her. But the gorgeous unfolding of what’s happening beneath her is unlike anything she’s ever experienced. Her eyes try to take in every twitch and strain of muscle. The feline’s arms are the only thing holding her up as she literally grinds her center against Adora. It’s the most intense image she’s ever dared to dream of seeing. She’s imagined Catra teasing Adora and offering to pleasure the alpha, but she hasn’t ever conceived of how unbearably erotic it is to watch her enjoying her own pleasure. The motions against her shaft are unbelievably pleasant, but it isn’t at all overpowering. She hardly even considers her own pleasure as she watches her mate take her pleasure from Adora. Catra is using her to satisfy herself, and Adora considers no greater honor than providing this for her.

When Catra opens her eyes and panic strikes her features, Adora looks down at the feline’s mouth. It takes all but a few seconds before Adora pulls Catra back up against her body and presses her lips tightly against Catra’s.

The small sound of shock is what comes first, before a low moan of pleasure comes from Catra’s throat. It vibrates against Adora’s mouth, and she can feel it reverberate through her chest.  

The feline’s body had stilled while they kissed for the first time in real life. Not a dream, because this is definitely no dream. There couldn’t be one accurate enough to depict the true sensation of Adora’s lips against hers. This is like magnetism, every time she goes to move for oxygen Adora chases after her, and visa versa.

But now that Catra’s mind has caught back up to the present moment and time no longer stands still, she begins to grind her center against Adora’s cock once more. This time she moans into Adora’s mouth, and the alpha nearly collapses as her knees buckle from the sensation. This reinstates Catra’s vigor as she takes. She demands her pleasure, and it must be satisfied. Her alpha will make sure of that.

Adora loves every sound and new sensation that Catra is willing to give her. She never thought a moment like this was possible. A moment like this was only meant for her dreams and never her reality. How can anything this incredible, be this real?

When Catra resumes grinding against her, she nearly buckles to the ground. It helps that Catra is still mostly resting against the couches arm. All the sensations combined are now causing an even greater swelling of Adora’s cock, particularly at the base of her shaft. “Shiiiiit,” Adora moans out as Catra’s hips rock against her.

Catra can feel the new growth taking place beneath her and it causes her to make feral noises. At first, she hadn’t thought much of the difference in sensation, but given the placement that she can feel against her throbbing clit clues her in; because she knows damn well what’s happening. They told her about knotting and how an alpha’s genitalia swells at the base to lock the pair in place while the alpha comes inside of their partner. It also is giving Catra an excellent surface to rub her swollen clit on. She’s close. She’s beginning to peak! To what? She doesn’t know, but it’s unavoidable. “Oh! Shit, Adora!”

The blonde gasps as her eyes shoot open and she yanks her face away from Catra. For a split second, she thinks she’s hurting her, but then she knows it’s not pain. Catra doesn’t stop. Her hips never stop rocking as she begins wailing.

“Ahhh!” her raspy voice screams. Catra’s walls clench and spasm as her clit pounds with a powerful force. She’s never felt anything like this before. Her claws dig into Adora’s back. It’s an intense rushing wave of unadulterated pleasure. It’s so overwhelming that tears begin to prick at the corners of her eyes. Her mouth mutters a mess of syllables that sound something akin to Adora’s name, but she’s swimming in pure bliss and can’t be bothered to worry about such things.

Adora sees stars as Catra comes undone in front of her. The blonde has made herself come to images of the feline tormenting her, so she knows what it feels like for the pleasure to pound through her member. But watching someone else come is a brand-new experience on a whole new plane of existence. She can’t take her eyes off Catra climaxing in her arms. Then, she notices the tears and brings the woman closer into her body. Catra finishes rocking her wet center against Adora, and her body is nearly limp after the exertion.

The feline’s head falls to rest on Adora’s left shoulder as she tries to replenish the oxygen in her lungs.

“Are you okay?” Adora mutters very lightly into Catra’s ear, and all she can do is nod.

The blonde’s arms move to grab under Catra’s thighs as she lifts her up – legs wrapped firmly around her waist. She walks Catra over to what she assumes is the bed. As she settles them both down into a laying position, she realizes how soft and cushiony the bed is. It’s a bit much if you ask her…

Catra rubs her face into Adora’s neck with new life. She surrounds herself in Adora’s scent. It’s enough to distract her entirely from the weird smell of unused bedding. They’ll have to make it smell like them. This will be their place. The place she keeps Adora in her arms and enveloped in her musk.

When Adora shifts into a more comfortable position on her side, Catra can feel Adora’s need.

As if she hadn’t just spent her entire body’s energy supply, she’s revived by her alpha. The need to please her and release her knot is of the utmost importance. She shifts her body down the bed to place her face directly in front of Adora’s cock.

“You don’t have to,” Adora says as she looks down into heterochromatic eyes.

And that’s what Adora just doesn’t understand. Of course, she doesn’t have to, but every fiber of her being is telling her she must – for her alpha. Catra shoves her head against Adora’s chest. The soft feeling of her ample breasts presses against Catra’s face. Hiding herself emboldens the feline to do what she must – what she desires most. Her hands travel to Adora’s stomach and rub down, intentionally avoiding her shaft, and then down her thighs.

The gasp from Adora is of surprise and anticipation. The blonde grabs Catra’s head and hugs her tightly to her chest.

Catra turns her face and begins to nip and mouth at the flesh in front of her. It’s clothed for now, but the fabric between them feels unbearable. It’s stuffy and inconvenient.

In a move that Catra will end up regretting later, she tears the fabric away from Adora’s chest and creates her own damn window. Adora’s chest easily falls out of the fabric and a nipple is sucked between Catra’s teeth and lips. She sucks hard, not because she knows Adora likes it or not, but because she can hardly do anything less. Her arousal is so strong, and Adora’s pheromones are inundating the recesses of her mind. Catra must take Adora. She needs her inside. Between her legs until her knot swells and entraps them both.

The feline growls with hunger at the thought and she’s reminded where her attention must go. She shimmies further down the bed until she’s just at eye level with Adora’s cock. She turns the alpha on her back, and before she undoes Adora’s pants, she investigates lust filled eyes. After a quick affirming nod from Adora, Catra unties her pants and grips the hem.

Before Catra can move an inch, the reality of what’s going to happen kicks in, and a slight terror overcomes her. What if she isn’t good at this? What if she can’t give Adora the pleasure she’d so hoped to return? As she stares at Adora’s bulge the pressure begins to build in her chest. It’s almost like panic.

“Hey,” comes from above and Catra looks up to meet the blonde’s eyes. “You don’t have to.” Adora leans up on her right elbow so that she can reach out her left hand to card through Catra’s hair.

Adora is a second away from reaching down for Catra’s hand and pulling her up, when Catra notices her heaving chest. Her tits her out on display and her nipples are hard. Her shirt is lifted revealing her toned abdomen. Adora is a sight to behold.

That’s when she knows. She’s already given Adora so much pleasure. The alpha’s cock is so hard she can see it throb occasionally under her pants and it makes Catra’s mouth water. She had done that. Catra had made Adora feel so good that she’s straining against her pants.

Heterochromatic eyes pin Adora in place as a feral look overtakes the feline’s face. “Shit,” is all Adora can say as she all but pants out her breaths. She’s in disarray. Her cock is throbbing and needy. She’s probably only a few touches from coming undone.

Catra confronts her fears as she lowers the hem of Adora’s pants. They’re a bit snug, so she puts most of her effort in getting it down past Adora’s ass (which she will definitely be praising later). Anticipation pins Catra in place as she just stares at the still clothed bulge in front of her face. Before she moves the pants any further down, she comes closer to gently nuzzle her open mouth against the alpha’s cock. It immediately responds to her touch as either it throbs or Adora’s hips buck. The feline begins to lazily plant kisses over Adora’s bulge, enjoying the small reactions she receives in return as well as just enjoying her time worshipping her alpha.

A low purr starts to emanate from Catra’s throat. The sensation is light, and just enough that the sensitive flesh does not ignite into tortuous flames. The feline glances up and Adora’s head is thrown back as she rests on her elbows. She had been just moments away from pulling Catra up the bed, and she wonders now if she’s glad she was not successful.

“Oh, fuck,” is all the alpha can mutter as she does her best to enjoy the experience without rushing it. Because she knows if she wants to, she could finish from this. It’s just enough torture that she could make the rushing blood pump through her shaft, but she doesn’t want to. She wants Catra’s mouth. The teasing temptress just loves to make her struggle. A growl escapes her throat as she can sense her alpha is urging her to take Catra, but she won’t have any of it. This will not be some crazed rut that she vaguely remembers afterwards. It won’t be something she will swallow wholly without enjoying the taste of every last micron.

Catra, finally feeling emboldened by her alpha’s response, pulls back her face so she can reveal her prize. What had she earned herself? It was nearly getting hit in the face by Adora’s cock as it sprung free from it’s confines. The groan Adora produces from the cool air hitting her shaft and the release of pressure is vulgar. It now rests on the alpha’s stomach completely red and swollen. Her knot throbs and makes the entire shaft move.

“Fuck, Adora,” is all that comes out of Catra’s breathy throat. A pathetic whine is heard from above and everything changes. Adora’s face reveals discomfort and it launches Catra into action. “It’s okay, I’ll take care of it,” she says as her voice is rough and drenched with desire. Another whine comes from above.

It’s not clear who’s going to kill who from the amount of desire building in the room, but Adora is very close to either death, or leaping out of the very high up window. When she looks back down, she sees Catra catching onto her weak sounds of need. And when she voices her intent, Adora nearly chokes.

Catra finally takes her position seriously as she lightly grasps Adora’s cock with her right hand. She begins to slide her palm up and down Adora’s shaft. The instant reaction of the alpha’s bucking hips takes Catra’s breath away. Her mouth waters as she watches Adora hump into her hand. It is a sight to behold as Adora’s muscular thighs writhe just below as she thrusts her own dick into Catra’s hand.

The feral lust that spreads through her insides, just watching Adora do this, encourages her think of something more that she can do for her alpha. She isn’t sure where the idea comes from, but Catra opens her mouth to devour Adora’s swollen head.

The alpha stops her hips entirely as her eyes shoot open. The warm heat at the tip of her cock is enthralling. The sensation is entirely intoxicating and also overwhelmingly powerful.

Because Adora has stopped moving, Catra takes it upon herself to languidly lathe her tongue over the tip of Adora’s cock. It had already started leaking small spurts of come to which Catra took great pleasure in swallowing. Her insides were telling her to take everything her alpha had to give her.

It’s then that she gets the bright idea to use her other hand and wrap it around Adora’s knot. Catra looks up to see Adora’s reaction, and she is wrecked. Her mouth is open, and her beautiful breasts are heaving with the need for air. The blonde’s eyes squeeze shut and her entire body clenches. She growls a low sound until it all escapes at once into a crying wail.

Catra feels every moment of Adora’s cock erupting in her hands. The force of her cum takes Catra by surprise, but she takes what had slipped out and uses it on her hands to make the sliding much easier. Her hands pump up and down Adora’s shaft as her mouth continues to praise the tip for it’s release.

Adora thinks she might actually die! She has never come like this before. It’s so powerful she stops breathing entirely as her body pumps every last ounce of blood to her cock and to her face. The force is so sudden and takes her by surprise that all she can do is clench her body as it struggles to embrace the pleasure she’s undoubtably feeling. It just also feels like she’s dying. After the first shocks of sensation travel through her body, the pulsing from her knot to her tip begins to carry her through the rest of her orgasm. “Catra! Fuck, Cat-Cat-Cat!” The words just keep tumbling as that tongue continues to destroy her.

Finally, Adora remembers that she can move her body and uses her arms to halt any further ministrations. “Not the tip,” is all she can manage to get out.

A devilish smile comes over Catra’s face as she looks back at Adora. She removes her mouth, but her hands continue to pump up and down Adora’s shaft.

When Adora stops blubbering nonsense, she regains her breath. The pleasant sensation of Catra’s hands never stops, though. After the first initial build up has waned away, Adora is ready to tell Catra she can stop what she’s doing, but she also doesn’t want to. It just feels so good. The alpha smells the air and can all but swim in Catra’s arousal. The idea of sliding her cock through wet tight folds is nearly enough to get her started for another round. But she wants more. This is all so much, but also not enough!

Adora reaches down and grabs a disappointed feline, removing her from her intoxicating services.

But when Catra realizes that Adora is pulling her up to also pull her into her body, she languidly accepts. They kiss sweetly and slowly as their bodies hum between them. The livewire they’ve created still buzzes and it’s not going out anytime soon.

The blonde instinctively moves her hands to rub underneath Catra’s shirt along her back. It’s always so soft just above her tail. It hasn’t been a place she’s been allowed to touch since they were young – a.k.a. before Weaver made them feel shameful for touching each other in those ways. She wasn’t ever sure what “those ways” meant until now. But she feels nothing like shame, and only adoration. Her hands continue to travel up Catra’s bare back as she kisses her deeply.

Adora shifts the other woman so she rests between the alpha’s legs. Their legs entwine and Catra can still feel Adora’s hard cock beneath her. They’ve trapped it between their bodies. She imagines it must be uncomfortable, but also feeling it so hard on her stomach is enough to make her walls clench. “Fuck,” is all she can voice between kisses. Catra rubs her torso against Adora and her swollen shaft.

Adora groans into Catra’s mouth. She very much would like to continue, but she has other important things to attend to. Like getting Catra’s shirt off. She pulls the hem that had risen to nearly her shoulder blades over her head. The fabric is tossed away without regard, and Adora just stares. The tip of her cock peaks out under Catra’s belly as she stares between the feline’s perky tits. They’re so soft looking and when her hands cup them, she finds that they are indeed very soft.

The moment Adora realizes just how amazing they feel, she’s hoisting Catra up higher to suck one into her mouth. The nipple buds firmly on her tongue as she rolls over it.

“Nnngh,” is all that comes from the feline’s throat. With how far Adora slid Catra up, this new position Catra places her lower lips over Adora’s hard cock. It’s so startling to feel each sensation, that it enraptures her until it’s all she can focus on. She can’t stop rocking her hips as she grinds Adora’s member into her own stomach.

“Fuck,” Adora whispers in awe at the sight before her. But this isn’t enough. Adora shoots her hands to Catra’s leggings and grips them to roughly tug them down the feline’s legs. As soon as the offensive fabric is discarded Adora places Catra exactly where she belonged a moment ago.

And, oh.

This is a bliss Adora has never known before. Catra’s heated core slides against the alpha’s cock and she stops to flick her clit on Adora’s tip. The blonde’s eyes are nearly bulging out of her head. She’s fully enraptured as wet purple folds glide over her throbbing member.

Not only do her lips feel decadent, but the sight is almost enough to send her over the edge, again. Already! Her mouth drops open as she blatantly stares at the feline once more begins taking things into her own hands as she pleasures herself on Adora’s cock. But Adora has had enough time watching and would much rather do something. The alpha lowers her hand and instead of the head of her cock hitting the woman’s clit, she uses the pads of her three fingers to incessantly rub at the swollen nub.

Catra immediately reacts as the pressure applied is slightly too much, but also incredibly addictive. Her opening grinds on Adora’s cock as those devilish digits send her into another world. But her center is begging for more; unfortunately, the more than pleasant rubbing on her clit is overpowering her thought processes. Her hips start rocking more fervently as Adora continues to build her up.

Sweat drips from Adora’s brow as she puts all her effort into massaging a tit in her one hand, kissing the moans tumbling out of Catra’s mouth and rubbing her fingers over Catra’s clit. She can tell the other woman is close. She becomes much more vocal, and this instance is no different.

“Ahhhh-doraaaah!” Catra cries out as her hips rock more harshly onto the alpha’s cock. It’s so firm and applies the right amount of pressure on her opening.

Catra’s hips start rocking so roughly that she slides up too high, and the tip of Adora’s cock makes contact with her entrance. The sensation births stars behind Catra’s eyes and she quickly reaches down to get a better angle to insert Adora’s head into her opening. The sensation of being filled had never been something Catra had desired before, but there’s no way in hell she’ll ever live life the same again.

Adora’s cock throbs harshly as she feels Catra swallow her bit by bit. At first, they’re both shocked, but when neither shares any qualms about the new position, they embrace it with all of their focus.

The groan that comes from Adora’s throat can only be described as primal. She grabs onto Catra’s hips immediately and does her best not to slam their flesh together.

“Oh, fuck, Adora” Catra moans aloud as she clenches her own muscles. The deep stretch she feels within her walls is nearly enough to make her cry. It’s not from pain, but it’s as though she’s been waiting her whole life for Adora to enter her. Like all she needed for this damn heat was to be filled to the brim by Adora’s shaft.

Their bodies begin to writhe in a rhythm all on it’s own. Every thrust Adora gives, Catra grinds back down into her. The pair are nearly inseparable besides the massive knot that Catra isn’t so sure she can take quite yet. When she looks down at Adora for a check-in the blonde’s eyes are clenched tightly, and her mouth is open to let the air in and out more easily. Her lips let some grunts escape as Catra’s walls clench on her shaft. The feeling of being enveloped was never something Adora considered her pleasure would feel like in life, but being an alpha allows her the possibility.

Catra starts realizing how close she’s getting to cascading down once more. She wasn’t that far from climax before she had been penetrated by her mate’s hard cock, and now she’s feeling far greater bliss than before. What truly sends her into oblivion is Adora’s fucking fingers have found her sensitive clit once again.

The alpha can barely contain her arousal, but in her mind, it’s Catra’s turn. She’ll make sure she comes undone first. Don’t consider her a saint, though because Catra coming on her cock is going to be one of the greatest sights she deems she’ll see her whole life.

When the feline looks down and sees Adora biting her own lip with deep adoration and arousal, she finally feels free enough to let go. Her clit pounds with pleasure as Adora continues her ministrations and a flood of liquid spills out of her and over Adora’s cock and hips. She’s covered and Catra can’t seem to mind in the slightest.

Adora’s cock throbs heavily at the sight she bears witness to.

“Ahhh- ahh- ahhh! Fuck! Shit! Ador-aaaah!” Catra’s mouth releases everything she has until all she can do is yell and cry. Her walls writhe and clench on Adora’s cock that fills her inside.

Shortly after witnessing the peak of Catra’s release, Adora comes too. The tip of her cock throbs, but not nearly as harsh as before. Catra bounces her body up and down in short little movements causing her to slide up and down Adora’s shaft with wet heat. Catra reaches out and grabs at Adora’s shoulders to stabilize herself as she grinds down on Adora’s cock with a new fervor. This causes Adora to feel a more intense wave of her orgasm as her knot begins to feel the weight of Catra’s grinding.

“Fuck, Adora!” she all but cries out. It’s as though Catra can’t stop, her walls clench and they allow more and more of Adora’s knot inside of her. They grind and glide against each other in a dance of bliss. The pleasure never seems to cease as they fuck each other into oblivion.

Adora realizes it first when Catra finally takes in all her knot. It lasts for a torturous few moments, but when she finally feels fully enveloped by Catra’s slick heat, she knows. Her entire body burns with hot flames. As if she’s been possessed, Adora quickly and immediately switches their positions with a roll of their bodies. It causes a slight bit of pain, but nothing they deem bothering enough to stop, and now, Adora is on top of Catra as their bodies slot together.

Nothing can stop her hips from moving when Adora realizes she has Catra beneath her. She slots herself between Catra’s legs and the feline quickly wraps them around the blonde’s waist.

It’s all the permission the alpha needs. She grabs Catra’s thighs to gain some leverage and begins thrusting herself deeply into Catra.

The first sentence the feline musters together is “oh, fuck!” Adora is grinding them together so tightly her clit is trapped between Adora’s knot and her own body. The sensation is maddening. She thought she was cumming before, but now she’s thoroughly wrecked. Her breathing is ragged and she’s barely able to clench her own walls because she’s so full. Then it all crashes down. “Stars! Ador-aaaaaaaaaah!” The wail comes out loud and full of emotion. Catra’s tears are flowing freely as she begins to see stars behind her eyelids. She’s coming and she feels herself leaking all over as warmth trickles down her body and onto the bedding.

Adora’s eyes are open the entire time as she watches Catra come undone. The immensely beautiful scene taking place beneath her is enough to send her over, too. “Catr-aaaahhh! Nnngh!” she groans aloud as her cock and her knot release heavy spurts of cum. She can’t believe she still here in this plane of existence. It’s as though she’s been sucked into a wormhole and into another dimension. If that’s even possible. Without thinking Adora embraces Catra and slots her face into the crook of the feline’s neck. After what feels like endless pleasure, she feels a deep desire to bite. She can’t and won’t resist it. It's so strong of a pull, it would be nearly impossible. So, she sinks her teeth into Catra’s neck which earns her another yowl of pleasure from the woman.

Before long, Catra is doing the same to Adora. Her teeth had been burning for Adora’s flesh. Like she’s meant to sink her teeth into her soft shoulder.

The final waves of pleasure rock through them both as Adora empties herself into Catra. Their bodies are panting messes when they finally decide to release their bites. Both are utterly spent and can’t stand to spend a second longer with their eyes open. It’s then that they both dive into sleep headfirst. Their bodies are still entwined with Adora resting her whole body onto Catra as their breaths even out.

Notes:

I had so much trouble writing this. But here we are lol Hope you enjoyed! My longest chapter yet. Thank you for always sticking around. I know it's constantly a waiting game, but you guys are amazing!

Chapter 23: Come again?

Notes:

Okay folks. If you got a notification of a new chapter or something, it's unfortunately not new. I realized a plot hole after rereading the last three chapters and changed some dialogue around so that it makes more sense. If you're rereading this chapter (08/18/23), not much has changed except that I added a couple hundred words towards the middle of this chapter to make it more congruent. I guess this is why I shouldn't be taking really long breaks! lol I lose track of what I already said lol OOPS! thanks for understanding, friends. I'm already working on the next one!

Catra stirs after what feels like hours of rest. The heavy weight on her body feels suffocating, if only due to the heat and stickiness against her fur. But as she looks down to see a head full of blonde hair, she remembers. The lust. The connection. The fucking mind-blowing sex.

For the first time in days, she feels at ease, and the cramps from within are barely noticeable. She clenches her inner walls to see if she can still feel Adora inside of her and indeed she can. It isn’t as prominent as before their rest, but she can still feel her inside.

It conjures the most powerful sensation in Catra’s chest – more than anything she’s ever felt. It’s mixed with assurance, safety, possession, relief, and something more closely related with fondness. It’s difficult for her to put into words, but she feels deeply satisfied.

Her legs ache since they’ve been splayed out to the side while Adora lays between them. It’s not terribly painful, mostly just uncomfortable, but she can manage. The scent in the air is thick and reminds her of being in the Horde. It’s much less filled with soot and metal that wafted from the Horde’s refinery, but it’s undeniably Adora.

They haven’t shared the same bed in months, and the thought brings tears to the corners of her eyes.

Catra looks down at the dummy still asleep on her chest. She decides to scrape her claws over Adora’s scalp. The motion has always been soothing to Adora – some nights she’d find Adora fast asleep after such ministrations.

Her attention snaps to the door when she hears some shuffling just outside. Thankfully, she had told Glimmer not to bother her, and that if Catra needed to, she’d request food from the guards. The feline made it very clear that she didn’t want to be interrupted. The last thing she wants is for Glimmer to walk in on her servicing herself. Luckily, it’s also benefiting her now.

Food does sound amazing, though, and maybe she should consider what she wants to eat; but how will she be able to accomplish that with Adora here?

She looks down at the alpha and more of the same fondness grows within her chest and it brings a grin to her lips. It’s nearly overpowering, but Catra just looks across the room as she continues to rub Adora’s torso. Her hands had started at her scalp, then migrated south over her shoulders and back muscles.

Catra remembers how much she had wanted to touch Adora before all of this had happened. The plane of the blonde’s back is a territory she’s never traversed, but now finds herself wanting to kiss every ridge.

Adora is a heavy sleeper and it’s benefitting Catra right now as she indulges her still hormonal body with languid touches. The blonde’s ass is out on display. If only Catra could reach! But from this angle it’s nearly impossible.

Catra didn’t have much of a chance to explore Adora’s body. Between their heightened senses and the buildup of tension from shared dreams, she’s surprised they didn’t just fuck as soon as Adora arrived. Now, she’s so grateful that Adora had some semblance of self-control.

Of course, the idea of being railed by Adora’s alpha form is appealing, but Catra also feels so vulnerable – gross – probably due to her heat.

Shit! Did we even talk about that? she thinks. They were just so caught up in everything that she never had the chance to explicitly voice it. Right? She mentioned the spell protecting her, but that was about it. Fuck, they need to talk, and Catra hates talking. She’s done enough of it with Sparkles and Bow for a lifetime. She isn’t sure there’s enough energy in her tank to have more conversations with Adora.

How will she even take it? Adora doesn’t know a fraction of the new shit she’s learned over the last few weeks. What if Catra is too much of a burden, now? What if Adora doesn’t like omegas – let alone a weird magical one? Her heart starts to hammer in her chest. It really could be too much for Adora. She didn’t know she was laying in bed with an omega, right?

Wait…

Did Adora only want Catra because she’s an omega in heat?

That’s the question the makes her hands pause and her anxiety spike.

…

She hates talking, especially when she knows the answers could ruin her.

The small haven they’ve created would be nothing if Adora walks away.

…

But when the blonde stirs from no longer receiving the light ministrations, Catra knows it’s what they need to do. The shame and guilt bubbling in her throat makes it difficult to even stay in this bed a moment longer, but she knows. Her life had been so empty without Adora in it. She can’t just run away every time that shame gnaws at her bones.

Catra brings her hand to Adora’s cheek, and she lightly rubs it with her thumb as her bottom lip quivers without her permission.

She’ll have to get through this because she has to know for sure. Was this just a fever dream? Like what they’ve shared. Or is the potential for something more really possible?

The alpha’s face is just so peaceful. And if it’s the last time Catra’s ever going to get to see this, then she’s going to savor it.

Adora’s eyelashes begin to flutter before she violently startles and pushes her torso up and off Catra’s stomach. The alpha’s face is covered in panic, but when she looks around to find Catra beneath her, she begins to breathe again.

Catra’s brow is furrowed. “What is it? What’s wrong?” The anxious edge in the feline’s voice is clear as day. Damn emotions! I should get up. I should get dressed. I knew this wasn’t what she wanted..

Catra’s internal panic attack halts as she watches Adora shake her head and settle her body back down onto Catra’s. The feline attempts to move regardless of the reassurance because that gnawing pain from within keeps increasing; but she’s pinned to the bed again by all of Adora’s body weight.

“It’s nothing,” Adora says gently. “I just… do you want to get up?”

Catra stops fidgeting under Adora and she huffs out an exasperated breath. “You just, what?” She didn’t mean to speak with such volition, but the emotions wreaking havoc on the inside won’t stop.

Adora closes her mouth and begins to eye Catra warily. “I just, didn’t know where I was for a second.” The blonde’s voice is quiet as she gauges the feline. She had been so focused on her surroundings that she hadn’t really noticed Catra first. Now, the fear that creeps under Adora’s skin isn’t from an unfamiliar room, but from the face Catra is making at her. Her mind begins to spiral with worry. Adora lifts herself like a reflex. She knows Catra is upset and she’s completely unsure if it’s because of her.

Those words make Catra chuckle with fear and relief and sweet ironic pain. The feline flings out her arms to maintain contact and to pull Adora back in and against her body. They lie like that for a moment as Catra tries to engrave every second just to delay the inevitable. She doesn’t want it to end.

But all good things do come to an end, and she releases Adora’s torso.

The alpha feels incredibly confused as Catra’s pheromones are signaling some distress, and now, she’s laughing… now she’s crying? What happened? What did she do? “Uh,” Adora fumbles for words, “did I hurt you?”

Catra sniffs as a few stray tears fall down without Adora’s notice. “I don’t know, Adora. Are you going to hurt me?”

Adora furrows her brow in confusion. That was a very weird question, she reasons. It seems as though she should tread lightly. “I-I don’t think so…?”

“Well, you probably will!” Catra can no longer hold back her quivering lip and looks to the ceiling for a reprieve. Adora will leave her and never come back. She can live with that, right?

Adora attempts to move slowly to maybe give Catra some space. She seems a bit disoriented. As the alpha shifts her weight, she realizes that her shaft is still formed and inside of Catra. It feels incredible. She lifts her torso again so that she’s resting on her hands and looking down between their bodies to see that they’re indeed still joined. The knot has all but disappeared, but their flesh still dances together as they each make small movements.

The visual is enough to stir something again inside of Adora. But she must remain focused. Catra is in distress, and it’s written all over her face. The feline often shows anger for many situations when she’s upset, but it’s a rarity to see her crying unless she’s been through something very difficult. Adora determines it’s best to pull out for now, otherwise she risks getting distracted.

Fear shoots through the feline’s chest as her eyes widen with concern at what’s happening. Adora’s leaving… The knot in Catra’s throat – not the one she’d prefer – keeps her from saying much of anything. Her eyes begin to water and that catches Adora’s attention as she rests against Catra once more.

Adora hopes against all hope that Catra isn’t regretting what they did. Am I making her uncomfortable? “Is it me? I can get off –“

“No!” Catra throws caution to the wind in an instant and reaches desperately for the blonde. She pulls Adora back down onto her elbows. The softness with which Adora says those words makes her heart pang with frustration. “It’s not you, I just…” she swallows over the thickness in her throat.

As Adora lays there waiting for Catra to speak, she takes in the feline’s features. They’re stressed and upset, almost unsure.

With Adora just above her, Catra moves to tuck her head into the crook of the alpha’s neck and shoulder. A lame attempt at hiding from the conversation, but after a few sniffs from her nose Catra notices the mark she left on Adora’s neck. It’s angry and red with Catra’s teeth marks. “Shit, Adora,” she says just before involuntarily licking the afflicted spot.

The blonde winces, but after a moment, Catra’s tongue feels soothing. “It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt.”

“You just winced, dumbass. How can you say it doesn’t hurt?” Worry rises in Catra’s throat. What if Adora hates that she did that?

“It’s fine. I liked it. It made my orgasm stronger when you did it.” Adora’s tone is quiet, like she just told Catra a secret.

Man, did it make Catra’s heart soar. She bites her lip as she allows those words to roam freely in her mind. “You did?” she asks just a bit too softly for her liking.

Adora pulls back so Catra’s face is visible. “Of course, I did.” The alpha’s earnest blue eyes stare into mixed ones and her smile beams down at the woman below. “Did, did you? Like it, I mean? I know we’ve never done… that, before. Are you… are you okay?” Adora’s face shifts between her awkward pauses and her brow furrows with concern.

The emotions and insecurity in Adora’s voice show Catra that she’s not the only one here feeling ancious. The feline quickly blinks away her shock and swallows before saying, “yes. I” she pauses to find the words, “it was amazing, Adora.”

The alpha releases a breath that she’d been holding, and a few tears leave her eyes. They fall onto Catra’s chest. “Okay, good,” Adora says reflexively. She’d been worried she’d done something wrong. The smile she gives now is just blinding.

And just like that, all Catra’s worry dissipates. Adora isn’t running from her. She isn’t shying away and regretting what they did. She isn’t leaving Catra. The pull this realization has on her insides is incredibly strong. Her head is swimming in what she can only describe as bliss. Adora is smiling down at her like this, because of the experience they shared. Catra put that smile on Adora’s face. It’s nearly overwhelming to realize that the exact opposite of what she had been dreading could even be possible. That Adora had in fact thoroughly enjoyed herself.

When the raging anxiety ebbs away from her insides she realizes that she can still feel Adora’s shaft against the outside of her leg. Catra instinctively reaches down to touch Adora’s member. It makes Catra moan by just feeling Adora’s flesh. The motion causes Adora to shiver. She’s getting hard again, Catra realizes as she grabs Adora’s cock somewhat possessively.

“Fuck,” Adora all but moans breathily into Catra’s ear.

It’s simply divine.

“Mmmm,” Catra slides her fingers gently over the length of the alpha’s cock. She notices the veins and heat emanating from it. Her hand dances languidly up and down Adora’s shaft as she also rocks her center against Adora’s hip. “Fuck, you’re getting hard already.”

“Yeah, fuck –“ she pauses for a breath. “You have that effect on me.” The words are cocky and teasing in a way they’re both familiar with.

However, the words douse Catra’s arousal like kerosine on a campfire. I make Adora hard, she reasons. Catra makes Adora feel intense pleasure, just as Adora does for her.

The feline looks down to her left to watch as her hand pumps up and down Adora’s cock. She absolutely knows that they haven’t spoken a word about what they need to, but she can hardly resist this. It’s as though her inner omega is demanding that she satisfy her alpha. The words can wait. She can have this last moment. Then, they can talk. She can find out if being an omega is terrible later. Now, she just wants Adora. The selfish part of her needs to do this for Adora. One last time.

The flesh beneath Catra’s fingertips continues to swell slowly.

The alpha leans into Catra’s shoulder that she’d bitten the night before. Upon remembering she had also bitten the feline’s flesh, Adora looks into Catra’s eyes as if to question her about it.

“It’s alright. It doesn’t hurt.” The playfulness in Catra’s tone, mocking the already used lie, makes Adora roll her eyes. Hearing her own response thrown back at her isn’t comforting, or helpful.

But Catra doesn’t let the alpha dwell on it for long. She adjusts her body so that they’re both lying on their sides facing each other. The feline reaches down to her own center and collects some of her arousal to use as a lubricant for her hand. She pulls away and reaches for the alpha’s cock and begins to stroke it more smoothly than before. The ministrations cause a deep groan to escape Adora’s lips. The sound makes Catra’s center quiver. “Mmmmm, yes, make noises for me Adora. I want to hear you.”

Fuck, Catra is stroking Adora’s cock with her wet hand and it feels incredible. She’s even sliding up far enough to trace softly over Adora’s swollen tip. The sensation makes her twitch almost every time. “Ohhh,” Adora doesn’t like the position she’s in and instead rolls to lay on her back. She groans to the heavens as her pleasure builds.

Catra adjusts to the new position easily. With her wrist in this position, she can pump Adora with more finesse. She wants Adora inside herself so badly, but she can wait. Adora deserves this. She’s been fighting to get Catra back and here they lay, together again. Adora deserves all the pleasure Catra can offer.

When the sensation becomes too much to resist, Adora can’t keep her hips still. She thrusts into Catra’s hand with each pump. The rhythm they’ve created is glorious, but Adora still doesn’t like this. It just feels off. The alpha within grows frustrated. She lifts herself up off the bed to instead straddle Catra.

The quick movements surprise the feline. “Adora, I want to keep doing this.” Her hand regains contact with the alpha’s cock and it makes Adora groan, only able to nod in response. Adora lifts her hips and rests all her weight on her hands and knees.  

Catra growls lowly at the most perfect view that has ever come into existence. Adora’s tits are falling out of the hole Catra made in her shirt, as her muscles flex to hold her own weight up. Before Catra can move, Adora begins to thrust her cock into Catra’s hand. The alpha’s abs twitch as she drives her hips forward. It’s beyond anything Catra could’ve imagined on her own. It’s enthralling. Her eyes bounce from the pounding cock in her hand to the muscled arms holding Adora up and back down to her flexing core. It’s the most erotic vision Catra has ever witnessed. She thanks any and every magical being out there for orchestrating this moment for her. She could probably die happily. Before she goes though, Adora makes lewd noises from above Catra’s head as she rocks her hips faster.

“Mmm, uhhh fuck.” Adora can only feel pleasure. Any coherent thought goes out the window.

Catra isn’t sure she can just watch anymore. She feels compelled to participate in Adora’s pleasure but doesn’t want to take away from her experience. Her walls clench with jealousy, but she wants to enjoy this moment. Her body moves on its’ own accord as she releases Adora’s cock and shimmies her body lower.

Adora is thrown off when Catra removes her glorious hand from her shaft, but when Catra moves further down the bed, her heart nearly stops.

Catra plants herself so her shoulders are between Adora’s straddling thighs and her mouth is in near perfect alignment with the alpha’s throbbing cock. It twitches just at the sight before her.

“Fuuuuck, yes. Please, Catra,” Adora’s voice is wrecked as she pleads with the woman beneath her.

“Fuck. Anything you want, princess.” Catra slips her hands through her wet folds and brings them up to wrap around Adora’s cock. She starts rubbing Adora’s soft flesh with both wet palms.

What truly sends the alpha to new heights is when Catra brings the tip of Adora’s cock directly to her mouth. At first she blows her hot breath on it while her hands pump up and down Adora’s cock. It’s a glorious sensation on it’s own, but with the prospect of Catra’s mouth hovering an inch away – the anticipation will probably kill her before she ever gets to experience it.

Catra can already see the precum slipping out of Adora’s swollen head. It’s so full, she thinks just before she puts her lips over it and begins to suck on the tip.

Adora nearly buckles as the lavishing on the tip of her cock begins. She feels like she’s about to die from how intense everything feels when Catra does it. There’s no comparison. Her own hand was merely a replacement for the real thing and she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to go back to anything she’d done before Catra.

Catra just keeps pumping and sucking on Adora. When the alpha starts losing control of her body, that’s when Catra knows she’s getting close.

The alpha’s hips begin to move on their own. Adora begins to take her own pleasure as she fucks into Catra’s hands and mouth. She’s never felt such a powerful build up. Yesterday had been her first explosive experience as she came for Catra, and she already feels like the feline has outdone herself. How is that possible? she wonders.

“Shit, fuck. Oh, oh!” Adora’s groans are becoming even more lewd and it’s getting Catra dangerously close to her own edge. But she keeps pumping her hands and accepting the large tip into her open mouth. Her tongue offers a firm surface to rub the underside of Adora’s tip against.

Adora’s face is beet red as she bears down on the glorious sensations. It makes the pounding in her cock much more powerful, and the tip is bursting with pulsing heat. It grows and grows until Adora can no longer take it. She releases the breath she’s holding as she pumps furiously into Catra’s hands.

“Mmmm, yes!” Catra exclaims. Her alpha will be taken care of, she’ll make sure of it.

“Ooogghh,” the groan that leaves Adora’s lips is loud and triggers the beginnings of her release. She pumps roughly into Catra’s mouth as the hand closest to her knot just barely makes contact.

Each thrust sends more explosions through her nerves. Adora thought she was coming, and she was, until Catra’s hand grips tightly down and begins tantalizing her knot. The heat and the pressure rebuilds quickly as each thrust forces her knot to grow.

Catra’s hands can barely contain the knot, but she will do all that she can to satisfy Adora. The feline’s walls clench with jealousy, wishing that instead the knot was stretching her own walls. But the image above her is everything. Tit’s bouncing with each thrust. Abs clenching as a cock enters her mouth. Adora’s cock. Everything is still so new and intoxicating.

Adora knows it’s happening because the build has ceased and now she’s falling and crashing hard. Adora can’t even breath by the time her pleasure releases. Her cock throbs with each pump of come that enters Catra’s mouth. The alpha’s hips still with the intensity, but it doesn’t end there as Catra picks up right where Adora had left off.

The feline begins to pump her hands up and down the length of Adora’s cock and bobs her head forward and back to suck gently on Adora’s tip. The taste is a delicacy she revels in. When she realizes Adora’s almost done, Catra quickly opens her eyes to drink in Adora’s sexy face. Her mouth is wide open as strong grunts come out of her throat with each pump of Catra’s hands. Adora’s chest becomes deep red with the exertion and her tits bounce with every twitching muscle.

The alpha falls to the side and basically rips herself out of Catra’s grasp.

It shocks Catra so much that she sits up on her right elbow to look at Adora to make sure she’s okay. All she notices, however, is that Adora is gasping for air as her muscles still spasm along with the remnants of her orgasm. “Hey, you weren’t finished,” she says trying to sound admonishing, when it truly comes out petulantly.

Adora giggles between panting breaths, until she can finally speak. “Too sensitive. Couldn’t take it anymore.” The alpha’s chest rises and falls heavily as she begins to calm her heart.

A low growl comes from Catra’s throat, but there’s no heat behind it.

After what must’ve only been a few moments, Adora rounds on Catra and pins her to the bed with a stare. It’s filled with desire and heat that reignites Catra’s flaming insides. Her cunt is still drenched from simply watching Adora. “What?” Catra tries to sound challenging, when it comes out sounding more breathless.

The alpha can smell the arousal from Catra’s center. It makes Adora’s mouth water, it’s so tantalizing. How could she have lived for so long without knowing what Catra’s center smells like? It’s calling to her, begging her to be fucked. Adora’s cock twitches at that, but she doesn’t want to take anymore, she wants to give.

Catra’s body trembles on the bed as Adora moves around to get more comfortable between Catra’s thighs. When the alpha all but places her face into Catra’s folds, the feline starts panting with arousal. She could definitely die happily after this, if she doesn’t from the teasing Adora is putting her through. She’s sure of it.

Adora places her lips on Catra’s thigh before she moves up to her delicate center. The praise Catra deserves for fucking Adora so wholly and so perfectly, will be paid directly to the feline’s swollen bud. Adora’s mouth waters as she inhales directly from the source of her desire. She nudges closer with her lips as she hovers them and dances them delicately and deliberately over the wet flesh.

Catra all but mewls as her need continues to build. It probably won’t take long for Adora to accomplish the task, but apparently she wants to give Catra an aneurism.

The alpha plants kisses over hot flesh and it causes Catra’s hips to flinch. When Adora laves her tongue delicately over Catra’s clit, the feline makes a needy whine. It’s nothing Adora has ever heard before, but she wants more of. It calls to Adora’s body. She must give Catra pleasure if it’s the last thing she does. In a not so gentle move, she sucks Catra’s clit into her mouth and begins to suck fervently.

“Aaah!” the cry is loud and high pitched as Catra slowly loses her mind to Adora’s talented tongue.

The alpha is not at all sure what she’s doing, but it’s similar to what Catra was doing to her, so she thinks it might work – just on a smaller scale. When Catra begins to moan out Adora’s name and grab at her blonde hair for more pressure, Adora becomes much more confident in her abilities.

Catra grips Adora’s hair tightly as she essentially rides the alpha’s face. Her hips rock and twitch as she rubs her opening on Adora’s chin. The pressure combined with the languid tongue, is pure bliss. Plus the feeling of control Catra loves having – but also secretly loves giving to Adora – makes the experience much more powerful.

“Nnnngh, fuck!” Catra’s hips don’t stop which makes it difficult for Adora to suck on Catra’s clit, so she pokes her tongue out of her mouth so Catra can fuck her face.

The feline could die any second now! It’s going to happen. She’ll die from this, because how do people survive this!? Her hips continue rocking onto Adora’s face now that Catra found the right spot to rub herself against. Adora is magical with that damn tongue.

Catra’s moans come out short yet loud, “ah! Ah! Ah! Fuck, Adora!”

When it all finally becomes too much, Catra’s center catches ablaze. Her clit pounds while her walls try to clench down on Adora’s chin. The waves of pulsing pleasure reverberate throughout her body. Her claws dig into Adora’s right shoulder, while her other hand grips tightly to Adora’s hair to hold her in place.

The alpha accepts her fate as she holds her breath until completion. When the quakes stop erupting through Catra’s body, Adora can finally emerge from the depths of her deep blue sea. When she resurfaces, she can finally breathe again and she’s surrounded by Catra’s pleasure. Then, Catra’s body twitches oddly. Adora rises to her hands and knees to look at the feline.

Catra has her arm wrapped over her eyes as her body shakes with what seems like wracking sobs. She can’t let a single one slip, but the tears are already staining the bedding – along with other fluids.

Adora lays down over top of Catra, but also leaning more onto one side to let her breaths come in sharply. The alpha reaches hand over the feline’s heaving chest. Her tits shake with each tremble, but Adora can hardly be bothered. “Catra,” her tone is soft and prodding.

It’s meant to sound safe, but all Catra can hear is the pity. Her mind falls down into the rabbit hole of everything that’s gone horribly wrong.

Adora is starting to worry. She tries to remove Catra’s arm, and after a few moments of resistance, it finally relents and is placed by her side.

Catra sobs quietly between each breath. She feels completely exposed and wrong under Adora’s scrutiny, but after a moment the alpha moves closer to Catra’s face and begins to plant delicate kisses. Each one is a reminder of their connection.

After each kiss, Adora affirms Catra with little sayings, like “we’re safe,” “it’s all right,” “I’m here, now,” and “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

Catra’s sobs turn into softer cries. Her tears fall occasionally, but she does her best to wipe away the evidence.

Adora allows Catra the room to move about as she feels she needs to, but the alpha doesn’t ever stray far.

There has only ever been one other time that Catra’s cried this hard, and it was an especially painful day.

Adora gives the other woman her silence so she can get her thoughts in order before she speaks.

When Catra finally gets her breathing to calm and her lip to stop quivering, she attempts at speaking. “I- uh,” she swallows. “I found out about my mom.”

Adora’s eyes widen as she remains quiet, but she does place her hand into one of Catra’s.

Feeling bolder by pointedly not looking at Adora, Catra continues to speak. “She was supposed to give birth to me, but the Horde found her before she could.” The feline stares out into space as she thinks of what to say next. “She gave birth to me in the Horde, and I asked Weaver about it when we tried to leave on the boat together. She told me my mom didn’t want me.”

Adora gasps and tightens her grip on Catra’s hand.

“Don’t worry, dummy. I don’t believe her.” Catra swallows, she’s worked up some thirst. She notices Adora’s shoulders relax after she says it. “Still sucks, though.”

The silence grows thick again. But Adora can sense Catra is building up to something, so she remains patient.

“I um…” Catra turns her head to briefly look at Adora before her tears start building up again. “She’s been lying about a lot of things, Adora.”

The alpha is starting to get worried. What could that possibly mean?

The wait is torture, but Catra finally begins to explain. “I’m a Chimera, Adora. Apparently, that means I’m magic, and I have powers that I never knew about, because bitch-Weaver lied to me.” Catra’s lip trembles, “and apparently Chimera’s have two souls. Part of me is a beta,” she pauses to allow that to sink it, as it naturally should since they both thought she was. “And the other part of me is an omega.”

Adora turns to look Catra in the face. Her eyes sharpen in anger; and her anger continues to build in the silence. “You’re an omega?” she finally voices roughly.

Catra nods as fresh tears stream down her face. The panic and worry build inside her chest due to Adora’s unreadable demeanor.

“Why didn’t we know?” the alpha gestures her hand vaguely, “like before? When we found out I was an alpha. Nothing ever came up for you being an omega.”

Catra bites her lip as she tries to hold back the shame of something she shouldn’t feel bad about. It wasn’t her fault they drugged them and lied to their faces. But she still feels badly, like she should’ve known. “They were, uh –“ she swallows.

Adora turns and can see the pain on her face. She quickly reaches out a hand that Catra grabs like a lifeline.

“- they were feeding us suppressants. That’s why I didn’t know until I left the Horde… until they took me, but still.” Catra breathes heavily after the admission, and looks fearfully into Adora’s eyes.

Adora’s face softens. She can read the insecurity all throughout Catra’s body language from her flat ears and lashing tail. The alpha lays down next to Catra and nuzzles into her cheek. “I’m… so sorry, Catra. I… I wish I would’ve known.” Tears fall down the alpha’s cheek. Why does she always feel like she fails Catra?

“Why are you apologizing,” the feline scoffs. “It was them. They’re terrible. But” she pauses for a beat to collect her thoughts. “I’m an omega, Adora.” Catra investigates Adora’s blue eyes. “And I’m in heat, right now.” Catra squeezes her eyes shut and the tears fall heavily onto the bed. Her shame continues to burn her from the inside out.

Adora swallows and looks around the room. It all makes so much sense. Catra smelled different. In a stronger way than normal. “Oh,” is all Adora can say as all the pieces click into place.

“Yeah, I-I’m sorry I didn’t say so sooner, I just… got carried away. Everything was so intense and felt so good.” Catra hides her head under Adora’s chin. She nuzzles deeply into her chest and Adora’s tits provide such a great comfortable spot.

“What are you talking about? You already told me.”

“I – what?” Catra asks utterly confused.

“Remember in our dream, you were in pain and you told me you were in heat. That’s the whole reason I left. I –“ shame starts to build in Adora’s stomach as she realizes that she’s basically confessing to be an overbearing alpha. She left the Horde and lied for crying out loud. Adora’s eyes shift nervously as she contemplates how to continue.

“Adora, it’s the reason you left?” Catra squints her eyes as she tries to digest that without making any snap judgements.

“Yeah, I –“ Adora runs her hand through her disheveled hair. “I didn’t want anyone to get near you. I couldn’t let anyone –“ she shakes her head from the intruding thoughts. Other alpha’s fucking and claiming Catra. Would she have wanted them? The question carries a heavy weight.

“Let anyone what, Adora?” Catra’s getting irritated. She was bearing her own soul. It’s only fair Adora does the same, dammit.

“Fuck you! Claim you. Get anywhere near you.” Adora’s lip twitches with anger as her nose crinkles in a near snarl. “If anyone had touched you, while you’re –“ Adora can’t hold back her pheromones that are subconsciously being released. They’re protective and a warning for anyone that might even think they can be near Catra.

The feline reaches a hand up brush at Adora’s cheek. The woman had worked herself up into an almost frenzy. “So you left… for me?” The tenderness in Catra’s voice is clear.

“Yeah, but I know you can… fuck anyone you want. I don’t have any right to say who you can do anything with. I just couldn’t stand thinking about it, and the Horde – Shadow Weaver! – didn’t give two shits about rescuing you. It just… drove me to it. I couldn’t take it so I lied. I said I was going to look for you in Thaymore.” Adora’s a bit panicked after divulging everything. She feels slightly ashamed.

But Catra’s face shows nothing but adoration. When Adora looks into her eyes she expected disappointment, but all she sees is a gleaming pride.

“You did what?” Catra says as she nearly laughs in the alpha’s face. Not because she’s making fun of her, but because she’d never have guessed Adora would’ve done something so reckless.

“Don’t laugh!” Adora whines.

Catra steels her face as she hears the woman’s response. Oh that reaction was far from humorous. Catra had been feeling so much, the laugh was merely a release of… something! But it wasn’t to make fun. “I’m not laughing.” Catra says as a purr starts rumbling through her chest. “You lied, Adora. For me?”

The blonde would shove Catra and tell her to stop messing with her, but the look on her face and the purr rumbling between them tells her a different story. Catra isn’t being playful. She’s impressed. She’s proud. “I did.”

The purr turns to a growl in the back of Catra’s throat. “Fuck me, Princess.” The feline begins to pull Adora’s face towards her own.

“W-wait. I- I should be apologizing to you. I basically just took advantage of you! You’re an omega in heat and I shouldn’t have let things get so out of hand.” Adora begins to freak out, internally and then blurting it all out externally.

“You didn’t take advantage of me!” Catra defends as she pushes Adora’s face away. “Adora, I wanted to fuck you. You couldn’t have stopped me if you tried.”

That stops the alpha’s train of thought completely in its’ tracks. “I wanted to fuck you, too.” Her eyes close with a languid haze to them.

“See?” Catra kisses the tip of Adora’s nose. “You didn’t take advantage. I just… I feel bad that we didn’t talk about all of this first. I mean…” tears escape her eye and panic begins to build again. “What if we just… ‘conceived’” Catra winces at her own word choice “or whatever! The Horde said it could happen after just one time.”

Adora gulps, trying to give her brain time to catch up. Because if what Catra is saying is that they could’ve just made a baby, then she might just cry.

Catra begins panicking as Adora just sits there processing what she just said. Then, the alpha starts crying! Oh, fuck! What did I do, she fears.

“You mean, we could’ve just…” her mind can’t wrap around it, fully. “We could’ve just made a baby?” The dumbass reaches out her hand to hover just in front of Catra’s belly.

The feline shoves her arm away, mostly due to her wacko hormones and sever panic, right now. “Yes! Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I wouldn’t want anything else than to have babies with you, Catra.” Adora lays it bare as her heart sores from all this newfound information. See, Adora knows she cares for Catra and would happily have babies with her. They would make the best parents.

But Catra’s face is not the same as Adora’s. “What!?” she all but shrieks out. “You do? Why the hell would you want that!?”

The idea of Catra’s belly swelling with their child, makes the alpha from within beam with pride. It shows clearly on Adora’s face as her smile turns into great fondness.

Catra can sense the emotions coming from Adora and it’s doing things for her. The alpha she essentially has been in love with her whole life wants that? Wants to have kids with her? The bite on her neck burns as she feels their connection. It’s always been there, but the mark cements it. Her walls clench on nothing as she looks into Adora’s eyes.

The blonde looks back at Catra and the feline looks at her with half lidded eyes. The lust lingering there makes Adora’s gut clench and sends a throb down her shaft. “I meant what I said last night.”

Catra looks at her questioningly.

The alpha ascends Catra’s body until they’re eye to eye. Adora purrs out “you’re mine.” Her alpha has been more influential on her behavior, and this is a bold move even in her eyes. But Catra has to know. She can’t hide it anymore. They’ve already come this far, she has to want this, too. Right?

Catra’s thighs clench as Adora all but claims her aloud for all to hear. Even though it’s just the two of them, the effect on Catra is the same. Lust clouds her brain, and she preens at the idea of submitting to Adora. The look in her eyes tells Catra that she wants to devour her.

Catra had reciprocated the words back, but the feline has never been one for words, more so action. When Adora sees the feline twitch at her words and her eyes glaze over with lust, she grinds her hips involuntarily.

The twitch from the alpha drives Catra insane. The pull of Adora’s cock filling her to the brim again is so strong, she’s swimming in the pheromones. It calls to her like a siren at sea. The desire is unrelenting as she bathes in its’ aroma. Then, her body moves on its’ own accord. She shifts to sit in front of Adora with her legs spread open. Catra leans back onto the bedding as she reaches for Adora.

The alpha gets to her knees as she hovers over Catra’s hot body. Her chest is heaving as she stares at Adora’s cock. The image is insanely attractive and it makes Adora’s cock twitch with a throb.

“Mmmmm,” the moan Catra makes sounds more like a needy whine.

The melody plays on repeat in Adora’s mind as she bends down to grip at her own cock. She slides her hand up and down her own shaft as her eyes devour her partner below.

Catra’s mouth waters at Adora pleasuring herself above the feline’s body. It’s intoxicating. The alpha is a tease and Catra’s a brat that wants to be told what to do. But she’ll still try to grab Adora.

When the alpha senses what Catra’s trying to do, she dodges her grasp easily. It was a half assed attempt anyways. She doesn’t want to grab Adora’s cock, she wants the alpha to make her take it. Adora continues to rub herself. She even dips her hand down into Catra’s own wetness for lubrication. It makes Adora groan and twitch.

The scene unfolding above her is torture. Catra reaches out her hand once again, only to be swatted at. Then, Adora pulls away completely to sit back on her heels. It creates so much space for Catra to watch more of Adora pumping her cock.

The vision before her makes her walls twitch. A deep ache begins to form in her center and all that will satisfy her is Adora fucking her. Catra sits up to reach for Adora’s cock.

That’s when Adora enacts her punishment. Catra’s always been a brat. If she wants to act like one, then she’ll get treated like one. Adora pulls back even further and drops her cock. The alpha climbs up to grab Catra and flip her over onto her stomach.

The needy whine Catra releases is completely out of her control. As soon as Adora grabbed her, she knew she was in trouble.

The grip Adora has on Catra’s arm loosens, but she reaches for the back of Catra’s neck instead. The position leaves the feline’s ass up as she nestles onto her knees and Adora all but smashes her face into the mattress. Adora then has the headspace to squeeze the nape of Catra’s neck three times. It’s to ask if she’s okay, like they’d always sign to each other when they were younger. It had been more difficult to talk about things back then, but the small gesture really helped relieve a lot of unspoken pain.

The pattern of three squeezes interrupts Catra’s foggy mind, but she’s aware enough to nod her head and reply with a verbal “yes.”

Adora’s heart pounds with anticipation. The view of Catra’s backside just beyond her tits and her cock pressing gently against her center. It’s incredibly alluring. Her hips start to rock as she glides her shaft on Catra’s wet cheeks. Her cum has made everything so slippery and it feels incredible. There’s just enough friction to feel some pleasure, also.

Catra groans as Adora presses more of her weight on Catra’s neck. It makes her feel slightly lightheaded, but not enough to be concerned about. She trusts Adora and if not, she’s sure she can muscle her off. “Fuck, Adora. You gonna just play around, or are you going to fuck me?”

The words are so abrupt and vulgar they catch the alpha off guard. She groans deep in her throat. It’s difficult to tell if she’s growling out of frustration with Catra or with how turned on she is. Adora’s hips start moving on their own. Her brain starts to envelope into a haze. The pleasure feels so good and Catra is such a good little omega. She’s ready for Adora’s cock. There’s no doubt. Especially, because of how wet she is. Just to err on the side of caution, Adora grabs her shaft and prods at Catra’s entrance. It’s like liquid heat wrapping around her tip.

Catra mewls at the intrusion. It’s more than welcomed, and about fucking time, but it’s not enough. She wants all of Adora inside her. Filling her up and emptying herself inside Catra. The thought alone makes her walls clench. Her mind is hazy with lust as well. “Adora!” she moans out of frustration.

“What?” she all but growls out at Catra.

“You know what! Fuck me,” the feline demands.

Oh, but that just won’t do. Adora will have her begging for it. The alpha pulls out her cock and begins stroking herself with the unused hand and releasing groans that Catra wants to swallow.

The feline whines at the loss of Adora within her and realizes that she’s pleasuring herself outside of Catra. Another whine escapes her mouth. “No, nonono. Adora, fuck me!” She backs her hips up and she can feel Adora pumping her own cock. The alpha’s forearm hits her backside and the tip of her cock rubs on the back of her thigh after each desperate pump. Catra’s walls clench again on nothing, but her insides are flooding all over Adora’s thighs. “Fuck!” the feline exclaims.

“What do you want, Catra?” Adora barely speaks between her stroking and impending orgasm.

“Ughhh, your cock. Please, Adora! Fuck me. Please,” her breath gives out as Adora enters her center.

The alpha slides into Catra’s walls easily. Her body accepts Adora fully. The blazing heat and Catra’s pulsing walls begin to claim her and envelope her cock. It feels so glorious to be this close to Catra. But as the haze of lust continues to fog Adora’s mind she begins rocking her hips and grinding into Catra’s ass. As she thrusts deeper into Catra’s cunt, Adora starts to lose herself to Catra’s heat and her own desire.

Adora’s hips slap into Catra with abandon. “Aaaah! ‘Dor!” Catra screams out between thrusts. It’s exhilarating. Adora is claiming her. Fucking her. And soon she’ll fill Catra.

Adora’s cock is pounding and the vision of Catra below her makes her alpha take over. She removes her hand from the feline’s neck and instead grabs her tail. The guttural groan that comes from Catra is vulgar and needy. But it clearly means she’s being satisfied.

Suddenly…

“Okay! I know you said not to interrupt yo… AHH!” Glimmer’s scream rings out over the room as she thrusts her hands over her eyes. “I’m blind!”

“Fuck, Sparkles!” Catra cries out from beneath Adora, who hardly feels an ounce of shame. The alpha doesn’t mind who knows that she’s claimed Catra as her own. But Catra is panicking and it triggers something primal in her brain. Her alpha stops all ministrations as she pulls herself out of Catra and turns on the princess.

“You! Stay! Away from her!” Adora growls as her body stands erect with her chest puffed and her arms out to her sides. Her tits are heaving from said chest and her cock is covered in Catra’s slick as it bobs out in the open.

Glimmer eyes the alpha for a solid ten seconds before Catra gets her bearings and rounds facing the two of them. She can see Glimmer eyeing her alpha and she does not appreciate it! A deep and angry growl starts in her throat, “Aagh! Glimmer! Leave! Now!”

Without having to be told twice, Glimmer leaves the room in a puff of sparkles.

Adora remains standing and breathing heavily as she inspects the room for anymore intruders. But when she hears Catra all but whine a pathetically desperate sound, she turns back to face the omega in the bed. Her legs are spread open wide and her face is begging Adora to fuck her. The feline’s tail flops on the bed with anticipation.

The alpha saunters back over to the bed, and it’s incredibly seductive, because Catra knows Adora isn’t smooth enough to do it like some asshole, but she’s just doing it. Naturally. “Fuck me, please, Adora.” Catra’s words are desperate, as she lays on her back she all but submits to Adora through and through.

“Fuuuck,” Adora says with desire. She gets closer and lowers herself completely on top of Catra. The needy whine from below triggers Adora’s hands into action as she grabs her own cock – still as hard as it was a moment ago – and aligns them.

Catra grabs at Adora’s back to have her start thrusting and fucking Catra, but Adora, ever the tormentor, languidly slides herself in. At the furthest point she grinds her hips into Catra to rub and squeeze her clit between them. Then, Adora slides out just as painfully slow. Each time out Catra clenches her walls as if to hold Adora hostage. But each time, she comes back to press her cock into the deepest parts of her.

Adora’s member is throbbing, and she so badly wants to lose herself to pleasure, but she wants them to get there together. She can do this! Adora does her best to breathe through each thrust. She does so to regain some of her self-control, especially over her orgasm. It was on a direct path to erupting, but she’s not ready, yet. Each languid slide of her member causes so much pleasure. She wants to satisfy Catra’s heat fully – not lose herself to her own desire.

The feline is all but writhing underneath Adora. She’s grasping at Adora’s ass. Palming each cheek like she’s never been gifted with any greater honor. She worships her ass and drags her claws against Adora’s backside.

Adora hisses in pain, but she groans out a vulgar sound. She will claim Catra. Nobody else in this damn kingdom is ever going to have her! They’ll have to kill Adora first! As Catra’s noises become louder, Adora starts pumping in and out of her with more vigor.  Each thrust is more purposeful as she fucks her harder. She’s finally losing herself to her pleasure and Catra’s walls quiver around her shaft. It’s bliss.

Catra feels the pulsating start in her abdomen as Adora’s cock hits deep within her. She can’t hold it back as it rips through her whole body. Catra gasps before the first wave washes over her. Catra’s walls tense and squeeze down on Adora’s cock, increasing the friction and the strength of the pulsations.

Adora watches as Catra’s orgasm overtakes her. The alpha watches her omega come undone, and it causes Adora to thrust uncontrollably. Her hips slap hard into Catra’s center.

“Shiiiiiit!” Catra’s mouth is open wide as if to scream to the mountains, but nothing comes out as Adora pounds her cock into Catra’s quaking insides. “Aaaaahh!”

In one swift move, and with all the lubrication, Adora’s knot enters Catra easily. As the feline comes around Adora’s knot, Adora’s own orgasm erupts down the length of her shaft. It pulsates at the tip and reverberates downwards to her knot. She begins to empty her cock into Catra.

The hot insides filling her up is overpowering. The satisfaction and pride that Catra has for herself able to keep all her alpha within is just adding to her orgasm.

Adora’s cock still pounds as she thrusts what she can into Catra.

The next wave of Catra’s second orgasm stems from Adora’s knot rubbing direction onto the feline’s clit. Her walls clench and throb around Adora’s dick and it feels so incredible. The intoxicating bliss emanating from her lust clouded mind is like pure ecstasy.

Adora finally gives what few thrusts she has left for the final quakes of her orgasm. It’s all so overwhelming. She keeps finding herself back in Catra’s arms. Fucking her. Taking and claiming her.

Catra gently pets at Adora’s head as her heart rate slows. She’s not sure how much more of this she can take. “Did fucking Glimmer seriously come in here?” she asks out loud. The growl emanating from the alpha on her stomach helps answer that question. “Shit, I’m sorry Adora.”

The alpha lifts her head to stare confusedly at Catra. Adora looks down, not wanting to look into the omega’s eyes. “Don’t be. You didn’t think she’d come in.”

“And you just stood there! While she ogled you.” The frustration rising in her gut at Glimmer getting firsthand knowledge of just how impressive her alpha is feels like it could burn this whole kingdom to the ground.

“She had to know you were mine.”

A pitiful whine escapes Catra’s throat as her inner walls clench down on Adora’s still firm cock. “Damn right, I’m yours.” The feline continues to admit her submission to her alpha in between sweet kisses.

Their lips dance languidly and their bodies press further together as all of Adora’s body weight lies on Catra. They continue to savor each other as every sense of their bodies embrace the other.

“So, are we going to just ignore that you basically said you want me to have your babies?” Catra’s tone is very bratty as she grabs handfuls of Adora’s flesh everywhere her hands roam.

“Don’t ruin it,” the blonde says through a huge grin.

Notes:

Okay! I've been gone, but it could've been worse lol We'll get through this eventually lol I hope you enjoyed it. I felt like these two have been apart for so long and endured so much without each other that they deserved a bit of an encore. Thank you so much for reading! Also shame on Glimmer for not knocking.

Chapter 24: Last resorts

Glimmer paces the length of her bedroom while Bow sits on one the of ottomans nearby. He knows that she’s freaking out, because she hasn’t stopped mumbling nonsense under her breath for almost fifteen minutes. He decides it’s about time to step in. If she keeps it up much longer, she’s going to rip her hair out from all the tugging. “Okayyyy,” Bow says as he approaches slowly. “Why don’t we sit down and you can tell me what hap –“

“Sit down!? I can’t sit! There’s no time for sitting! There’s a literal Horde solider in my castle and she wasn’t spotted the entire time!” Glimmer’s face is bright red as she unloads on Bow.

“Right… Catra’s been here for some time, now. I’m not sure –“

“Catra?! Ohhhh no. It’s not Catra.” Glimmer spews out with bile while Bow’s demeanor shifts from confusion, to realization, to sudden horror. “Yeah! That blonde goddess of an alpha is in her room, Bow! I don’t even know how she got here! When she got here! And I walked in on them for crying out loud!” Glimmer continues to pace, because moving feels like she’s accomplishing something even though it’s literally a step higher than nothing. “She’s like so hot, too! Who gets off being so hot!? Like great stars! I mean, her dick was –“ Glimmer’s in the middle of gesturing with her hands the approximate size of said member when Bow stops her in her tracks.

“Oooooo-kay!” Bow’s confusion continues to escalate until he hears Glimmer talk about how hot the alpha is. Then, a giant stone drops in the pit of his stomach. “So Catra’s in heat and Adora found her…” he reiterates uselessly, “and you happened to have walked in on them?” Bow’s face is almost pained as he takes in the information and the immediate roll of jealousy and inadequacy hits him like a tidal wave.

“Yes! That’s what I’ve been saying, Bow. Oh, but Catra is in for it. How could this have happened? She’s been under lock and key this whole time!” Glimmer continues to rant unphased by how her best friend is reacting.

To be fair, he understands how bad this looks on her and the kingdom. It’s not like Horde soldiers just pop in to say ‘hello’ on a normal basis. This is a serious issue. A security breach that could threaten the legitimacy of Brightmoon’s forces.

Bow tightens his jaw, just as he does his resolve, and grabs Glimmer by the face. A hand on each cheek as he gains her attention. “Okay,” he says firmly. “Freaking out isn’t going to solve anything. We know Catra’s in heat, and it could’ve, somehow, been how Adora found her. They’re obviously preoccupied, so why don’t we come up with a plan.”

Glimmer places her hands on his wrists to indicate there’s no longer any need to hold her face, and she tugs them down gently to slide her palms into his. “I… Bow I feel so stupid.” The princess’s lip begins to quiver.

“Why? You didn’t do anything wrong.” He gives her what he hopes is his best and most gentle smile. “We’ve both heard about what it’s like when an alpha is around an omega in heat. Plus, they’re probably like soul mates or something with how much Catra talks about her. It must’ve made the connection even stronger.” He chuckles in attempts to lift some of the heaviness from the air.

It works, and Glimmer looks down at their joined hands as she giggles lightly. “Thanks, Bow. I appreciate that.” She looks up into his eyes that are so full of love and kindness. They’re the pretties brown she’s ever seen.

He still wants to make Glimmer feel better, because her smile is so much more necessary than her anger right now. The first thing that comes to mind is: “So…” he starts timidly. “She was pretty hot, huh?”

Glimmer shoves his shoulder. “Oh my stars! You wouldn’t believe!”

Bow laughs. He’s not embarrassed or ashamed about his own body and can certainly admire an alpha’s physical appearance. “That good, huh?”

Glimmer’s eyes light up as she recants Adora’s impressive stature and form while she was protecting Catra from an intruder.

After a moment’s thought, what really worries Bow – like it usually does – is that Glimmer wants to be with an alpha. He knows she deserves to be loved by the best and most loving and protective alpha there is. Deep down, he worries that he doesn’t compete with an alpha when it comes to satisfying an omega like Glimmer. But he likes to imagine that, because he loves Glimmer so much, it doesn’t matter that he’s not an alpha.

Bow blushes at the amount of description Glimmer gives upon remembering her encounter. “Wow, okay, now I’ve got to see this woman myself.” He laughs as Glimmer swats him playfully.

“Yeah, it was definitely impressive. But we should really figure out what to do next. I –“

A knock comes through the bedroom door, and the pair look at each other with anxiety.

Glimmer quickly teleports across the room to answer the door to see who’s on the other side.

“Princess Glimmer,” says the guard at her door. “The prisoner has requested to speak with you. She mentioned that she was hungry.”

The audacity of the request is enough for Glimmer to fill her lungs and puff out her cheeks to unload on this innocent person but Bow steps in first.

“Thank you so much!” He says through an awkward smile and squeaky high pitch. “We’ll be there in just a moment, thank you!” Then, he closes the door before Glimmer can blow up. The archer turns to her and lifts his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, hear me out. This is good! She’s trying to get you to come back to the room and handle the situation.”

“Handle the situation?!” Glimmer squeaks out in a stage whisper.

“Yes! Clearly, she knows this is a sensitive moment, just like you do. She won’t want Adora to be shipped off to some remote island where she’s assuming we’ll torture her or something, and you don’t want the word to get out that we can’t even keep one Horde soldier from infiltrating your kingdom. So… it’s best for everyone if you just go there like nothing happened and try to mitigate this before it gets bad.”

Glimmer’s face is still beet red, but she’s at least breathing evenly again. She continues to stare into his eyes, until she groans so loudly the birds fly off the ledge of her window. “Fine! You make a valid point. You have to come with me!” The princess decides as she reaches for his arm.

Bow gets out one syllable before they’re teleported out of the bedroom.

---

“Okay, hurry up and get your pants back on. Glimmer could be here any second.” Catra says anxiously.

“What do you, mean?” Adora asks as she stands to stretch out her back before she reaches for her clothes.

There’s a sudden crack within the room and a flurry of pink sparkles reveals two bodies.

“You are damn lucky! –” Glimmer starts to say as everyone in the room panics at the intrusion. Then, the following events unfold in successive rapid order.

Catra shrieks and falls out of bed, but lands on all fours. Each appendage has claws extended, and her limbs are tight and ready to leap at the intruders.

Adora screams and falls to the ground pantsless. Once she hits the stone floor, Catra leaps over her body to protect her and hisses and growls in the fiercest way she’s ever produced.

Bow hides behind Glimmer as his eyes take in the scene in front of him, while he observes Catra’s fur stands on end. The pheromones the feline emits are stank and threatening while she continues to yowl at them.

Glimmer, feeling slightly ashamed but trying not to show it, keeps her finger waving in the air. “Sorry! But how the hell did this happen!?” as she points between the two of them.

Adora reaches up to lightly caresses Catra’s lower back. The feline had launched herself over Adora’s prone body and her hips hover over the alpha’s lower half. Her tail is fully erect. Adora hasn’t seen this kind of reaction out of the woman before, and if she’s being incredibly honest, it’s the sexiest thing she’s ever seen. “Catra,” she says lowly as she simultaneously emits soothing pheromones.

The feline begins to breathe again as she comes back to her senses. “I told you she just pops in like that,” Catra says through gritted teeth. It takes everything in her to let her hair lie back down and smooth out her tail. She doesn’t dare move from Adora’s lap though. She still doesn’t have pants on. “Do you mind turning around?!” Catra can’t help the tone she speaks in, but these fuckers just appeared while her mate was on full display, again.

The pair turn around as Adora gets herself together. The blonde can tell she’s the only alpha in the room, which eases her need to claim Catra as her own. The situation still makes her feel uneasy, which is why she doesn’t leave the feline’s side. Her hand rests on Catra’s thigh as the pair turn back around to sit on the bedside.

“Alright, first of all,” Glimmer starts, “what the fuck? You can’t just bring another Horde soldier in here! Imagine the uprising that it could cause if people found out you just snuck in here!” the princess’s bright red face returns with a vengeance.

“How ‘bout,” Catra chimes in, “we start with fucking boundaries. Do you always just pop into peoples’ rooms unannounced? Like you could’ve knocked or something. And now you got full on frontal of Adora. Which, fuck you for interrupting earlier!”

Adora grabs the feline’s hand as she begins to work herself up. Catra’s still in heat and Adora is trying to remember that these omegas aren’t going to do anything to her. She also can’t stop the annoying blush that’s coloring her face up to her ears at hearing people talk about interrupting their sex. Of course, when she was in the moment, she could stand tall and protect her mate, but afterwards feels pretty exposing.

Bow tries to help similarly as he places a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder. The princess continues, “yeah, well you’re our prisoner! So technically, you don’t have any privacy!”

“Glimmer,” Bow chastises her as Adora attempts to stand, but Catra prevents her from moving and keeps the alpha right by her side. “Don’t say that Glimmer, she’s our friend,” Bow says chidingly.

That makes Adora stop and unclench her jaw. She’s about to give the princess over there a mouthful, but the guy’s demeanor is much more laid back. It almost calms Adora more than Catra does. “Friend?” Adora decides on, and then looks to Catra for clarification.

The feline relaxes her features and gestures vaguely with her hand. “Yeah, sort of, I guess.”

Adora looks back to the princess who folds her arms petulantly.

“Yeah, fine. We’re friends, I guess. Sorry,” Glimmer says as she looks to the wall.

“S’fine” Catra says, finally, as she looks at the opposite wall.

“Great,” Bow starts with. “Well, I’m Bow.” He reaches out his hand to Adora who just looks at it for a few moments.

“Adora,” is all she responds with. She wouldn’t mind the pleasantries if she wasn’t convinced these people had been holding her mate hostage for the last few months. Her eyes flit back and forth between Catra and the other two in the room. “I’m sorry, what the hell is happening?” the blonde almost shrieks out, killing the calm demeanor she’d been portraying.

Catra turns and looks into the blonde’s eyes. She’s looking for something. Maybe, hoping for understanding. “They captured me back in Thaymore. This giant lady named Huntara defected from an alpha Horde unit, and she dragged me off with these two. She left me in the middle of the night, and they ‘captured me’ and brought me back.”

“But we didn’t know that she had helped protect Glimmer while they were left in the woods,” Bow panickily provides. “I had to leave them to get help from Brightmoon because there was a beast trying to eat us and later I found out there was this pack of alphas in the Whispering Woods –“

“Alphas!?” Adora launches to her feet as her inner alpha spikes with anger. “You took her through the Whispering Woods!” Adora exclaims as she turns quickly to face Catra. “But there’s so many terrible things in there. You shouldn’t have gone in.”

Catra bites her lip at Adora’s possessive tone. “I didn’t do it willingly.” Her ears lay flat as she explains. The stance and the domineering tone from the alpha were definitely doing things to her.

A growl starts to form in Adora’s throat at the appalling idea of these morons capturing and dragging her through the Whispering Woods, which are forbidden for a reason! And there were alphas that almost got their hands on her. This makes her blood boil.

Catra sees the storm quickly forming within Adora, and she moves hurriedly to capture the blonde’s face between her hands to pull her in close. “It was a long time ago, now. We’ve been through a lot.”

The earnestness in what Catra says makes Adora’s heart stop hammering in her chest, and the growling ceases.

Bow takes back the reigns as he tries to complete his story. “When we got back to them, the guards assumed she was hostile, and they brought her back to the castle. Then, she was placed in a cell.”

Before Adora could react once more Catra says, “you can’t even call it that. There weren’t even any bars or rats. It was just a spare room.”

“Fair,” he says before awkwardly chuckling. “When she came back, we found out more about,” he pauses to look at Catra for confirmation. When she doesn’t stop him, he continues “more about Catra’s biology. Glimmer’s aunt is a part of Mysticor. She’s really knowledgeable and noticed Catra has heterochromia.”

Adora sits back down next to Catra and looks into her eyes with concern. “My eyes are two different colors, dummy.” The alpha sighs with relief. She smiles, turns back, and waits for Bow to continue.

 He recants the rest of the story up until now, and everyone seems a bit tense.

Adora stays silent as she lets everything sink in. It’s a lot of information to take all at once. But it’s beginning to make sense, especially in relation to what Catra had explained earlier. They even recanted about how Catra went through immense pain that day when they invaded Seleneas. Adora had felt it too.

“Okay,” Glimmer says, “well, now that you’re all caught up, you understand that you have to leave.”

The air is nearly sucked out of the room at that pronouncement.  

“I am not leaving,” “she’s not leaving,” the two women speak over one another.

Glimmer scoffs, “It’s funny you think you have an option, right now. Because you broke into my kingdom! That’s not something that we can just pretend didn’t happen. You can’t be here! Things are already so tense with the Horde.”

Catra speaks up first before Adora chokes Glimmer with her bare hands. “Hold up. I’m not letting her leave my sight. There’s no way that’s happening. Plus!, we had just been talking about a day or so ago that we needed She-Ra’s help. And if this big dummy is her, then we can use her.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Adora says as her eyes flit between everyone else in the room.

Bow and Catra look at Glimmer. They both know that she understands what’s just been proposed, and the weight of it makes this situation momentous.

Glimmer looks down to the ground with a finger pressed to her lips in contemplation. “You’re right.”

Catra and Bow’s eyes widen at the admission.

“Oh, shut up,” Glimmer chides. “I can’t appreciate a good idea? But how are we going to make this work without breaking like every single safety rule my mom has in place?”

Adora’s beginning to grow tired of being ignored. She can’t stand all the weird unspoken language taking place between the others. She used to only do that with Catra and now, she’s doing it with other people. Her friends, apparently. The blonde growls as she grows frustrated, and the others look at her. “Stop ignoring me and tell me what the hell is going on,” she demands.

Catra takes her hand and decides to tell her. “We’ve been sharing dreams, right?” Adora nods. “There’s other stuff that’s happened, too. Like I’ve been having visions. Mostly about you. They’ve all been pointing to you. Like we need to get you to this sword that used to be in the possession of some warrior from the past. She was called She-Ra.”

Bow starts next, “she’s supposedly Etheria’s savior. She protects the world, saves people, and heals the lands. We’ve been waiting for her to return! And Catra said she thinks… well, she thinks it might be… you.” His excitement tapers off.

Adora scoffs, “Me?” She questions like it’s a joke. “You can’t be serious, right now.” She looks Catra straight in the face and the other woman just looks back, unphased. “I’m not a princess! I don’t wear dresses and tiaras. I’m a fighter.”

“You’re a warrior,” Glimmer chimes in as she looks down to her hand that sparks as she unclenches it. “And from what we’ve seen, at Plumeria and the All-Princess Ball, you’re a pretty damn good one.”

Adora’s heart studders for a moment at the sincerity in Glimmer’s voice. She had once said to Adora on the deck of that ship that she needed Adora’s help. And they had said that they’d also been trying to find her just like Adora was trying to get to Catra. It’s like all the moments aligned for this one meeting. Aside from the embarrassing intrusion on her and Catra earlier.

The blonde rolls her eyes and turns to Catra. “How do you even know we can trust them?”

The feline shakes her head and recalls all the moments with the goober twins over there and she can’t remember a single time – other than what she spent with Adora – that she felt connected and accepted in the Horde. Shadow Weaver no longer lingers in the dark, waiting to pounce on Catra for any and every mistake she makes. The thought of returning to that hell-scape, and leaving this newfound future behind, sounds batshit crazy. “Look,” she starts with, “I know it’s a lot to trust someone that we grew up hating and training to destroy. But, when I look back at the Horde, all I see is manipulation and pain and gaslighting. Here, all there is, is possibility.” The feline closes her hands over Adora’s. “There’s possibility for a future here, ‘Dor.”

“I know now that the Horde is a lost cause,” Adora acknowledges. “But we could leave this all behind. With you and me together, we could live anywhere we want! We don’t need them, or any of this floofy crap.” She punctuates her point by lifting a fuzzy pink pillow.

Deep down, Catra sees what Adora means. It would be easy to just leave and never look back. The old her would’ve jumped on the opportunity. But it’s a huge risk considering the wars going on, which doesn’t guarantee a better future. She trusts her gut and says what she thinks is best, “I’ve never known you to be a quitter, Adora.”

The blonde looks like she’d been slapped by those words, but Catra continues. “I don’t think you could leave it all behind. You’re too strong and bold and brave to give up and hide in some cave. And it’ll probably get blown up or something when Weaver finds us. There’s no way she’ll just let us go, Adora. She’s obsessed with you.” The feline’s heart is racing, but she must get this out. “I know I’m the last person to be saying this, but we can’t just run away from our problems.”

Adora clenches her jaw. That wasn’t easy to hear, but maybe Catra’s the only person on this planet that could’ve gotten away with saying it. Her eyes glare into Catra’s as she formulates her next words carefully.

“I can make it happen,” Glimmer interrupts. She looks at the questioning faces and continues, “I can talk to my mother. We can make this work, but we have to trust each other. It’s taken a really long time, and a difficult road to learn to trust Catra. But she’s shown us who she is, and that’s why I can call her my friend. But,” the princess punctuates it for emphasis. “I don’t know you Adora. I’ve only seen your attempts to get Catra back and overrun Seleneas, and attempting to do the same at Plumeria. Those aren’t really upstanding moments to consider.”

Adora stands quickly at the attack on her character. “You don’t know me. I did what I had to do because that’s what I was taught. I’m a fighter because I was raised to be one. What do you even know about the things we’ve been through? You act like I chose this! Like all I’ve ever wanted was to destroy and hurt people.” Tears begin to form in Adora’s eyes. “The Horde doesn’t stand for what I thought it did. I thought you were the enemy. And until recently, I was proud to give my all to the Horde.”

“What’s changed?” asks Glimmer matter-of-factly.

The fire is burning inside Adora, but at that question, the squelching heat dies to a simmer. “They don’t care about us.” She gestures to Catra beside her. “I tried to get them to come rescue you,” she says to Catra’s face. “But they used me. Weaver used me to get my alpha form to attack people. She started measuring the magic I had and did testing on me.”

“I’ll rip her throat out!” Catra leaps to her feet and wraps both clawed hands around Adora’s arm.

The gesture makes the blonde smile. She lifts her hand to brush some of Catra’s hair back and to soothe her. “It wasn’t that bad. But both Hordak and Weaver promised to get you, but their efforts were never centralized on you. It was always for the betterment of the Horde and to get as much power out of me as they could. I just…” she swallows to give herself a moment to think. “I wish I had realized it sooner. All they want is power. And they’d throw anyone into the fire to get it.” Adora tilts Catra’s chin for a soft kiss that eases the echoes of pain.

“I’m convinced!” Bow announces as he throws his hands up into the air.

The couple laugh gently at his enthusiasm.

“Bow,” Glimmer says as she facepalms. “We can’t just go off of that one admission.”

“Why not?” Catra says, “I trust her.” She smiles as she looks into the softest blue eyes.

“Congratulations, you trust your girlfriend.” Glimmer says it sarcastically, but the pair look at her quizzically. “Yano, lovey dovey best friends, to lovers to girlfriends. Ring a bell?”

The women look at each other extremely confused. They were definitely best friends, but the rest doesn’t make sense.

“Great stars,” Gimmer sighs heavily. “Well, alright. Say we do this. We get the sword to Adora, like in your visions, Catra, and we see if it does anything. Then, what? Are you going to swear your loyalty to the Rebellion?”

Adora looks down at Catra who nods nonchalantly back at her. She then turns back to Glimmer with a beaming smile and an assuring nod.

“Ugghhhh! My mom is gonna kill me.” Glimmer swears this pair is going to bring her demise and not some random Horde soldier.

“Aww, c’mon, princess. You know you love us.” Catra says teasingly.

If it were any other person, like another alpha, Adora would not take too kindly to the inadvertent teasing she just witnessed, but she’s not worried. Not with Catra’s tail sliding up and down her thigh the way that it is.

Glimmer glares daggers at Catra through her the fingers covering her face. “Okay, I think I have a plan. I’ll just teleport into my mom’s safe room and grab the sword. I’ll bring it back here and we’ll just give it a shot!” The exasperation in her voice is reaching peak levels.

“Orrrr,” Bow says. “We could talk to your mom, on Catra’s behalf, and bring Adora to a safe location where everyone can feel comfortable about what’s going on.”

“Hell, no!” Catra chimes in. “I like Glimmer’s sneaky plan way better. In and out. Nobody gets hurt.”

“Hopefully,” Bow mumbles as Glimmer does a fist pump.

Before anyone can protest further, Gimmer teleports out of the room.

An awkward silence fills the room as they wait. Bow tries his best but all he can think to say is, “so, you guys are an item, now, huh?”

Catra hisses as Adora blushes but nods gently.

When Glimmer returns, she’s out of breath. “Okay, I had to sneak past a few guards, but I was able to get it.” The sword rests in both her arms as she bends over slightly to inhale a few gasping breaths.

“Great.” Catra says. “Let’s get this over with.” She reaches for the sword, but Glimmer pulls it away.

“Nope! This moment needs finesse. What if she gets all crazy powerful and no one can control her?” Glimmer rationalizes.

Bow winces at her weird reasoning and comes up with an idea. “How ‘bout I’ll aim an arrow at her in preparation –“

“What!?” Catra screeches. “No! No arrows pointing at Adora.” The chimera’s heat is still in full swing and anyone pointing anything sharp at her alpha is a big nope.

Bow raises his hands in surrender. “It’s just a net-arrow. As soon as it’s close to its’ target, it releases a net. It might just be enough to stop her before she does anything she regrets.”

The feline looks around the room at the more rational people and decides that these hormones are really fucking with her. “Fine but point it low.” She growls for good measure.

Bow smiles gently at lowers his hands to get ready.

Adora moves towards the center of the room with Glimmer who’s still holding tightly onto the sword.

The women lock eyes.

“I’m trusting you, Adora. Please don’t make me regret it.” A shimmer of fear flicks across Glimmer’s face, and Adora understands the weight of the situation.

All the alpha does is nod with certainty. She reaches out her hand, and she can feel tingling across her palm like the sword is emitting an electric field. “Magic,” Adora whispers.

“What?” Glimmer asks, but Adora just looks up at her and shakes her head.

Adora lowers her hand and reaches for the hilt.

When her flesh connects with the metal a flash of white light blinds her. “Balance must be restored,” an ethereal voice says from somewhere in the room – in her mind? “Etheria must seek a hero.” A vision of Adora’s alpha comes into view, but with longer flowing hair and bright blue eyes. “Adora, Adora!”

“Hey, Adora. Adora!” Catra’s voice says as the fog clears. “Oh, thank stars.” The feline reaches her arms out to wrap around the alpha and cradle her in her arms. “What the hell happened, Adora? We almost went to get the doctors.”

“Wha-what happened?” The blonde says.

“You passed out. For like almost ten minutes.” Glimmer explains from nearby.

“I had a… vision, maybe? There was this weird woman, she told me I was Etheria’s only hope. Something about the honor for Grayskull. Then everything went black.” Adora sits up in front of Catra and the others and rubs her head.

“Well, that wasn’t a resounding yes, but it has to mean something, right?” Bow says to no one in particular.

“It definitely means something,” Glimmer says as she stands. Her eyes are laser focused on Adora and the sword. The princess sighs heavily. “We need to talk to her.”

“Who?” Catra asks.

“My mom.”

“You’re right, Glimmer,” Bow says. “She knows more about the First Ones than anyone else.”

“First Ones?” Adora asks.

“Yeah, they’re the original people to have settled on Etheria about a thousand years ago. Don’t they teach you guys anything in the Horde?” Bow asks.

“I’m beginning to think they didn’t,” Adora responds.

“Didn’t even teach us about our bodies or tell us they’re drugging us.” Catra mumbles with resentment.

“It’s definitely not nothing, so,” Glimmer holds her breath before continuing. “I’m going to let my mom know that we need to show her something. I’ll request a meeting with her and maybe she can help us figure out the rest. I’ll be right back.”

“Wait!” Catra yells. “You’re going right now? What if she comes and takes Adora away?” The feline lets slip the terror in her voice and everyone eyes her with pity – gross.

“I’m not going to explicitly tell her everything. I’ll get her to join us and then, maybe we can just show her what we found.” Glimmer’s idea is filled with so many holes, the group doesn’t look on with confidence.

“It’ll be alright,” Adora voices. “If anything goes wrong, I’ll shift into my alpha form and get Catra and myself out of here as quickly as possible. They won’t be taking us both captive. I’d rather fight from the shadows than rot in a… spare room.”

Catra eyes the alpha warily, but she sees the set determination in her eyes.

Glimmer nods firmly and disappears.

---

When Glimmer returns, she tells them that her mother had a moment in her schedule shortly. But they wouldn’t get her for very long, since she has a meeting with nobles from Erlandia for lunch.

“We have to make this count. Should we hide Adora?” Glimmer proposes.

“Maybe?” Bow supplies with an entirely unsure squeak in his voice.

“No,” Adora voices confidently. “I’ll be alright. She doesn’t know what she’s getting into, so we might have time to slip away if things go to shit.” The blonde looks to Catra who nods dejectedly.

The two women walk over to a corner of the room while Glimmer nervously awaits her mother’s arrival. The alpha can’t stand the sense of unease coming from Catra. Knowing that she’s still in heat must add several unknown elements to their situation. “How are you feeling?” Adora starts by asking.

“Fine,” Catra says before looking up into worried blue eyes. The feline sighs, “my stomach hurts, but it’s bearable. I’m just… anxious. I have this overwhelming urge to claw anyone’s eyes out that gets too close to you. I don’t want to look like an ass to the queen.”

Adora laughs with a puff of air from her nose. “That’s so embarrassing for you.”

Catra looks up at the blonde, appalled. “Shut the hell up.”

“You like me, don’t you?” Adora says with an infuriatingly gorgeous smile.

“I don’t like you!” Catra says back.

Bow and Glimmer eye them from across the room. Glimmer whispers to Bow and the pair laugh, but it’s not quiet enough to get past Catra. The feline flips them off.

Suddenly, a knock comes through the door. “Glimmer! I don’t have a lot of time. What is it that you wanted to show me?” the queen announces.

“Uhhh, just one second, mom! Just getting prepared!” Glimmer’s eyes are blown wide with fear, but she carries herself with an air of royalty. She opens the door and beckons her mother to enter. “Okay, so I have something amazing that I need your help with, but you can’t freak out!”

“Why are you yelling, Glimmer?” Angella says as she enters and turns to face her daughter.

“I uh, it’s just a big deal and I really, really don’t want you to freak out!” Glimmer laughs afterwards as if to ease her own awkward tension.

“Alright, fine. I’m here. I’m listening. What is it you want to show me?” Angella folds her hands together down at her waist, looking as gracious as ever.

Glimmer glances behind her towards Catra and Adora who move closer to the center of the room.

When Angella notices her daughter’s face, she turns and faces them. Her eyes shoot open wide and she screams, “Horde soldier!”

The next few moments fly by in a blur.

The soldiers just outside the door had heard the queen’s cry and they rush in to aid her. They draw their swords and bear their staffs towards Adora and Catra.

Glimmer yells out, “Mom!” like a petulant child.

When the group of guards begins to move in on the two, Catra bears her claws and Adora raises the sword. She doesn’t find a moment to shift into her alpha form but takes the following blows from the swords with ease. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done.

Catra hisses as Adora’s being attacked and leaps onto one of the guards. She’s present in her mind enough to know that gutting any of these people won’t help their situation, so she aims to strictly disarm only.

Angella is nearly whisked out of the room by the squad’s head guard when a blinding light fills the room.

Adora had been attacked with blow after blow until one in particular hits the center of her sword. A blinding light flashes and she begins to have another vision. Vague images play in her mind in a disconnected way. They don’t make any coherent sense as a portal pops up in a field and a what seems to be a meteor crash lands onto the planet. Then, the voice from before is audible again. “Adora, Adora! Will you fight for the honor of Greyskull?”

Her brow begins to sweat as the guard continues to put pressure down onto her sword, one slip and it will surely stab right into her chest.

Then, it finally clicks.

“For the honor of Greyskull!”

The light continues to illuminate the entire room, and it halts everyone else’s movements as they shield themselves from the brightness. Adora’s body shifts like it does when she’s an alpha – she hadn’t expected to have time to manage a shift. When her body is done transforming, she lifts her sword easily and the metal of both swords slide against each other. She nearly tosses the guard across the room before she brings her sword back to her side, readying herself for another attack. But… no further attacks come.

Everyone in the room has halted, and they’re simply staring at her.

Her brow squints in confusion as she looks over to Catra. When she realizes she can’t find her amongst the crowd her alpha begins to panic.

The queen is still within the grasp of a guard when she lays eyes on the large imposing figure in the center of the room. The woman is beginning to become distressed as she looks around.

Glimmer chimes in as she realizes what that crazed look Adora has on her face. “Catra! Where the hell are you? Your alpha is about to go crazy!”

Catra lifts her body from on top of the guard she was fighting, and she can’t stop staring. Her alpha. It’s like there’s no one else in the room. Her eyes are plastered and when the blonde spots her, Catra’s heart drops into her stomach. She doesn’t think she’s felt so nervous in her whole life, but the woman in front of her is her mate, and there’s no doubt in her mind. The word is seared into her brain. It’s become synonymous. The feline’s feet begin to walk her towards the alpha as if she was in a trance.

Adora’s whole demeanor relaxes when she sees Catra.

“Adora,” Catra’s mouth is open in awe as she approaches.

“You’re alright,” the dummy says as she smiles a beaming grin at the feline, relieved to see Catra hasn’t been slaughtered. Adora looks around at the rest of the people in the room who are stock-still. “Is my alpha form that intimidating?” she asks under her breath.

“Adora, this isn’t just your alpha form,” the feline responds.

“What do you mean?”

“Your eyes. They’re um, they’re glowing and like your whole body is vibrating with-with magic, I think.”

When Catra places her hand onto Adora’s chest, the alpha finally looks down at herself and she’s in an entirely different outfit and her hair is moving for some weird reason.

Suddenly, from shock, Adora drops the sword to the ground and her form disappears, landing her on the tile floor on her back.

No one moves.

A few gaurds shift glances over towards the queen and back to their head guard to see what they should do. But everyone is dumbfounded.

“I can’t believe it,” Angella whispers and it’s the only audible sound. “She-Ra.”

---

Demetria rolls down the main street of Thaymore once more in her tank as she keeps an eye out for Adora. Without the Rebellion members here to cause chaos, they were able to take the area easily.

“Do you see her?!” the angry voice calls through her headset.

“No, Shadow Weaver. Adora’s not here.” Demetria stops her tank in its’ tracks and pops open the hatch. She glances around the outside to get a better look, but all she sees are scared civilians and rubble. “Nothing but Thaymorans and debris.”

The furious growl and scream that booms from the coms nearly bursts her eardrums. She pulls the headset away just enough for some relief, but not too far that she’ll miss anything Shadow Weaver says. “Get back to base. I have my ways of finding her myself!”

---

Shadow Weaver glides across the room and hovers over her looking glass. When she uses her dark magic, she can see wherever her shadows can reach.

Having figured that Adora might be onto her, she had also sent out her own little spies. But, in the event that they fail her, the blood chit she had put in Adora’s calf when she was young will always tell her an accurate location.

As she swirls the flat surface of her glass the images begin to come into focus. Her shadows are roaming the Whispering Woods as they follow a trace of something powerful, until they find the remains of a severely damaged skiff.

The wreckage is burnt to a crisp, but she sees no blood or body nearby, so she assumes Adora managed to have walked away from this.

She decides it’s time she uses the connection to the blood chit. A small capsule lies in her pocket that she removes and crushes within her palm. The dust falls into the looking glass as it begins to depict something. The image is fuzzy and incoherent.

This can only mean one thing…

She’s managed to find her way to Brightmoon, the sorcerous believes. The woman snarls an ugly sound and nearly knocks over the glass table to wind up as shards on the floor.

Somehow, she manages to control her anger, and her lips form a wretched grin behind her ever-present mask. She knows exactly what to do.

The shadows come back on screen as she whispers vile incantations. Then, they begin to writhe and move along the ground at an incredibly fast pace.

“I’ll have you back soon enough Adora. I just hope you understand that this is what I must do. You’re too valuable to me to leave, now.” Her voice echoes within her barren chambers. The light from the Black Garnet reveals her shaking shoulders before her ominous laugh reverberates down the corridors.

Notes:

Cool beans! We're finally moving the plot forward. This was a smaller chapter than I would've liked but it did the job. Also not as much embarrassment and red facedness as I had promised, but we got some Glimmer/Bow gossiping which was fun lol