Chapter Text
Adora runs through the battlefield, staff in hand as she chases down He-man.
The reckless idiot is leaving her behind, again. Charging off to face Skeletor on his own, either too impatient to wait, or because he doesn't want to risk the others getting hurt in whatever trap the villain has planned.
She isn't sure which pisses her off more.
Actually, that's a lie. She knows which one. The idea that he thinks that she is too fragile to stand on the same battlefield as him, that just because he is some "destined" protector that he can go off and fight off every threat on his own...
She is going to brush Cringer, gather all his hair, and stick it in Adam's bed after this!
She continues to run after him, and she is pretty sure she can hear the others call after her. They can't have the Princess running off on her own, throwing herself into danger. She is a ruler, she should be staying with the group, where people can watch her back.
But He-man can do whatever he wants. He has no responsibilities to worry about.
People aren't worried about him getting hurt, because he is a legendary warrior, he can brush it off.
Then the battle ends, and its Adam who goes home and shivers from the phantom pain of battle as he lays in bed.
She knows that he wants everyone to see him as lazy and unmotivated, attempting to separate himself from He-man as much as possible, to protect everyone they care about from being targets to be used as hostages against him. He-man is a wandering warrior, someone who has no ties to anyone, no one Skeletor can threaten to put He-man to heel.
But she hates every time she hears people call him a lay about, how their father laments that Adam can't seem to grow up.
She hopes one day soon that he'll be able to show everyone who he really is, that they can bring the dumb face skeleton down and he'll be safe to show people just what a brave warrior he is.
But for now, she is going to kick his ass, and probably tell Teela a new embarrassing secret about him as pay back for leaving her behind. Despite growing up together, there are some things that only Adora and Adam know about each other, because they have been there for every part of each other's life. It is something that has been a source of great strength for both of them, being able to depend on each other and support each other in their lowest or most embarrassing moments.
But unfortunately for Adam, this also gives his sister a lot of ammunition to tease him with in front of his crush.
She jumps over the unconscious grunts that tried to stand in her brother's way, and passes Battle Cat going claw-to-claw with Beast Man, the large second hand of the evil warlord. The brutal warrior is looking a bit worse for wear, fresh claw marks over his arms from trying to block the huge green feline from landing more devastating strikes.
Ahead, Adora sees He-man slam his sword into the ground, sending a spray of rocks towards Skeletor and Evil-Lyn, who raises a barrier and blocks the debris. The skull-faced demon fiddles with a machine of some kind, likely some new contraption made for the sole purpose of immobilizing or destroying He-man.
To the side, Trap-jaw charges at the legendary warrior, large mechanical claw reaching for He-man's sword. Adora pushes her legs harder, moving as fast as she can. She then leaps, flipping over the mechanical creep and using her staff to slam him in the head and daze him, giving He-man enough time to rear up and sock the villain in his metal jaw, sending him flying back.
Adora lands and is immediately set upon by three more soldiers, who she handily dispatches with some quick maneuvers, dancing around them as she lands a blow to the chin of one, slams her staff into the head of another, following it up with a swing to the groin of the last one, who falls over whimpering.
"Yeesh, Princess, feeling a bit ruthless today?"
Adora glares over at He-man, who just grins cockily at her. "Yeah, I am. So you better watch it or I may not remember I have an ally fighting nearby."
He chuckles and holds up a hand in surrender, but then switches instantly to a more serious face as he rushes in front of Adora to block a magical blast from Evil-Lyn that was aimed at her head.
"Thanks," Adora says, readying her staff beside him. "So, what's the situation? You just bored and wanted to show off a new toy, Bone breath?" She mocks.
If his skeletal visage had flesh, she's sure a vein would be twitching in his forehead right now. "I'll show you a toy! With this new combination of metal and magic, I will summon a great beast from another world, and turn the mighty He-man into a pile of broken flesh and bone! Then I will take the Sword of Power for myself, use the beast to destroy the rest of the pitiful fools who rise against me, and become the ruler of Eternia! Nyehehehehehe!"
The siblings look to each other and roll their eyes, and smirk as they look back at him.
"Well, if that's the case, then I suppose we better take care of this quick," He-man goads, and charges forward while Adora runs to the side, looking to flank them.
Unfortunately, Trap Jaw managed to shake himself out of his daze, and rushes over at the Princess. "I'm make you pay for that, you blonde bimbo," he growls as he brings down his metal arm at her, now sporting a nasty looking blade.
She blocks the strike with the end of her staff. "Oh come on, it was He-man who punched you! I didn't really do anything," she complains, before snapping up the metal staff into where his chin would be, clanging the metal mouth together as he cries in pain. "Noooow you can be mad at me."
She laughs at his screech of rage.
He-man meanwhile is fending off Mer-Man (seriously, why does Skeletor keep bringing him places with no water nearby??), while still slamming against Evil-Lyn's barrier in attempt to break it down. And judging from the sweat pouring from the sorceress's face, he was getting close.
SBut suddenly, Skeletor cries out in victory. "Finally! I've got it!" And he hits a switch that causes the machine to hum to life, a light glow beginning to emanate from it.
Adora's eyes widen, and attempts to run over to help He-man get at the machine, but Trap Jaw grabs her by the arm, and throws her to the side. She tumbles and rolls long the ground, hitting a tree not far from the machine and gloating tyrant.
"Adora!" He-man cries, anger rolling in his voice, and his strikes become even heavier against the barrier.
"Yes, YES! It's working!! Nyehehehehe!" Skeletor cackles, confident in his victory, as Evil-Lyn struggles hard to give the machine enough time to do whatever it is meant to do.
Suddenly, the machine starts growing even brighter, the humming noise now turning into a loud squeal.
"Um, is it supposed to do that?" Evil-Lyn asks nervously as sweat pours down her face.
"It's fine!" Her master snaps. He then looks at the machine, and everyone can see the gears turning in his head. "But just in case... drop the barrier!"
Evil-Lyn immediately listens, and the sudden disappearance causes He-man to be thrown off balance as his swing goes wild, giving Skeletor an opportunity to hoof it away from the machine, the sorceress hot on his trail.
Trap Jaw looks at his boss running, then to the device, and also starts racing after them.
Adora however races towards her brother. She's not going to him get blown up by some dumb tech that Skeletor accidentally turned into a bomb!
As she gets to him, grabbing on to him meaning to pull him away, the machine's noises turn into a high pitched whine, the energy around it growing iridescent, to the point it hurt to look at it, Adora forced to shut her eyes.
Suddenly, the energy shifts and the light fades, and when Adora and Adam open their eyes, a seam appears in the air.
Then it begins to spread, opening up wide, like someone was peeling back the fabric of reality itself.
The pair look on, entranced. Through the tear they can see a whole world. A sweeping landscape with a dense forest that seems to spread forever, with beautiful skies and amazing looking creatures flying in the skies above it.
Then it switches, showing a dirty, smog filled city of metal and grey, glowing with green lighting.
Then again, to a new city, clean, pristine, surrounded by mountains with a huge waterfall. A large stone shines like a beacon over it all, bathing it in its pure light.
A castle of ice, a city by the sea, a floating citadel. The strange hole keeps switching between various views. It was the most bizarre thing Adora has ever seen. And her twin turns into a giant muscled warrior!
Then, she feels a tug, and suddenly, she is being pulled towards the window into another world.
She cries out, trying to dig her feet in, her arms hugging around He-man, trying to anchor herself, but her grip can't compete with whatever force is pulling her.
She's not sure why He-man isn't being pulled like she is, but she hopes it's enough to keep her from getting sucked into the crazy thing.
Her hopes are dashed quickly though, as the force appears to get stronger, pulling harder on her, and her grip starts to slip.
She grits her teeth. Shit, there really wasn't anything she could do. Even if she held on, it would only lead to them both being sucked in, and she can't risk her brother like that.
So she begins to loosen her grip, and turns her head to look He-man in the face, ready to say good bye.
But then, large arms wrap around her, as her brother tries to offer a reassuring smile as he holds her close.
He is about to say something, but suddenly the force gets even stronger, and Adora can feel even He-man's hulking form start to slip forward.
She doesn't know what is happening, but she can't let her brother get dragged into whatever this is because of her.
"A- He-man! You have to let me go! Otherwise you'll be pulled in too," and she struggles a bit, trying to get loose.
"What, Princess, you think I'm going to let you go off on some weird adventure on your own?" He grins down at her.
It's one of those moments that help remind Adora that underneath this mask of a legendary warrior, He-man is still her brother. The way the grin wobbles slightly from Adam trying to stay strong even in this situation, just to try and help ease her fears.
She loves her dumb twin so much.
"You idiot, both of us getting sucked into this thing is the worst thing that could happen!" She yells at him, despite her hands starting to tighten their grip around him again.
"Well too bad," his face turns more serious. And he gets quiet, barely able to be heard over the screaming machine. "You and me, sis, we have each other's back no matter what."
Adora's eyes fill with tears. She is so scared, and she hates the idea of Adam getting taken with her, that their parents and friends are going to lose both of them.
But she is so happy she won't be alone, that she'll have her best friend with her.
Wherever this takes them, they can face it together.
She tightens her arms around him, both of the hugging each other, as the force finally wrenches at them with enough strength that He-man is swept off his feet, and they both hurtle into the mysterious rift.
***
Adora wakes up, feeling damp grass under her.
She leans herself up, looking around. She was in a forest, surrounding by trees. Huge ones, all so densely laced together that there was nothing above her but branches and leaves, with not a hint of sunlight getting through. It reminds her of the stories she's heard about forests where few people travel, with untouched trees that have been alive for centuries, growing to impossible heights.
She finds it amazing, lost for a moment in her wonder, until she remembers that this is not where she is supposed to be.
She shakes her head, trying to recollect what just happened. They had been fighting Skeletor and his cronies, and he said something about the device summoning a beast from another place. Then suddenly, this rift of energy just appeared amidst the battle, looking like a window to a incredible vista.
And she and He-man were pulled in...
She sits up instantly, though she wobbles from the sick feeling in her guts, and starts looking around her.
There is no sign of He-man. Of Adam.
"Adam?" She calls out. She waits a moment for a response.
As each second passes, her anxiety grows.
She braces herself, taking in deep breaths before she finally pushes herself to her feet. The feeling of ick still lingers, but she pushes it down. Apparently being pulled through some kind of portal really did a number on your stomach. But it didn't matter, she didn't have time to sit around and wait to not feel sick. She had to make sure Adam was okay, or at least figure out where she is so then she can start searching for him.
Maybe that weird energy flung them apart? They sure as hell weren't in a forest when they were fighting, so she wouldn't be surprised if it also ended up separating them.
Terrified at the idea, but not surprised.
But her brother is He-man. As long as he isn't knocked out or something, she knows he will be fine.
She continues to search, looking around. She's never seen foliage quite like this. It's strange, beautiful. So much more colourful than anywhere else she has been.
She looks up again, but the tree cover really is too thick. She has no idea what time of day it is, if she it's only been a few minutes, or hours.
And looking back down and around her, there is nothing around she can see that would give her any hint about which way would be best to go, that there was anything other than trees nearby.
So she just starts walking. It might be reckless, but since she was obviously teleported via magic into a completely unknown and unpopulated place, it felt just as dangerous to stand around and wait for something to happen.
She wanders through the brush, pushing past branches and various plants. She has no idea how long she has walked for when she hears something.
It's faint, but she's sure it's a voice. She strains herself to focus on her hearing, to pick up everything she can, and starts moving towards it with no hesitation, worried that with how quiet it is. It might be her brother, injured. There was no way he would be that quiet unless something was wrong.
The voice gets louder as she moves, but no less soft, which makes her stomach twist in knots. Then she hears her name, which pushes her to pick up speed.
As she gets closer, she sees there is also a strange glow in that direction, which does nothing to quell the rising panic.
What if Skeletor has Adam trapped? Maybe this was all part of his plan, to separate them in a strange place with no chance of back-up?
It would be oddly competent for one of his plans. So, probably not what was going on.
Whatever happened with his device was either some kind of freak accident, or someone tampered with it.
Adora shakes her head. They'll figure that out later. For now, finding her brother was her priority.
As she approaches the light, she squats down and closes the distance stealthily, pressing herself against a tree, leaning around to look into where the light was coming from.
And then she sees it. A sword. At first she is scared it's Adam's and what that might mean, but she looks closer, and realizes that there is no way it is.
The blade has a light blue hue, making her curious what kind of metal was used to create it. It's also oddly shaped, like a child's drawing of a sword rather than an actually forged blade. She's grown up around some the greatest warriors there are, seen her fair share of swords, and this one is just kind of ridiculous. The hilt is gold and ornate, with a large, bright blue gem in it.
She abandons her stealth, walking over to get a closer look at the mysterious sword. Upon closer examination, she also notices that it must have been here for years, embedded in the ground and wrapped in vines.
"Cool," her eyes sparkle as she eyes the obviously ancient yet oddly resplendent weapon.
She looks around a little, looking for anything that could be a trap, or anything else suspicious. After her obviously very careful investigation, she shrugs, and reaches out to the sword.
As her fingers make contact, the light from the sword flares up, forcing Adora to shield her eyes.
Though it does nothing to stop the images that flash into her head, or the voice.
"Balance must be restored."
She recognizes this voice, the one that was calling to her. It was from the sword, and it was showing her something. The landscapes she saw before, a planet?
"Etheria must seek a hero."
A figure, tall and proud, with long flowing hair. They are holding the sword.
Then another figure, a tall woman, coloured purple, and surrounded by gleaming walls of crystal.
"Adora... Adora..."
"Hey, Adora!"
Again, Adora finds herself waking up on a forest floor, but this time struggling to open her eyes, feeling woozy and confused.
As her vision evens out, she recognizes the shape above her.
Adam looks down at her, relief and concern filling his face.
"Adam!" Adora cheers, and springs up, wrapping her arms around her brother, despite the way it makes her head spin.
"Woah hey! Careful, you look like you've been through the ringer," he cautions her, though he also wraps his arms around her, and she notices how tight he clings, how he trembles.
She doesn't say anything about it, the same way he doesn't mention her own shaking.
After a few moments, they pull apart, and exchange small smiles. Adora then looks around, realizing that the sword was gone.
"Wait, where did it go?" She scans the area, confused.
Adam gives a quizzical look. "Where's what?"
"The sword!"
Her brother looks over his shoulder at the sword secured to his back.
"Ugh, not that one! There was sword right here! It was old and covered in vines, and I touched it and it spoke to me!"
Adam's face goes from confused back to concern. "Are you sure you're okay, sis? Did you hit your head when we tumbled through that rift?"
"I'm fine! I'm telling you, I saw it!"
"Hey, I'm just saying, there is no sword here now if there was!"
She looks around, and despite how real it had felt, she has to admit he is right. There is nothing to indicate that there had been a sword here. Hell, it doesn't look like she is even in the same clearing as where she thought she had seen the sword.
Damn, was she actually going crazy?
Adam comes over and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. You must have just dreamed it. Or maybe there is some weird magic going on here. This place sure feels strange."
Adora's shoulders slump. "Yeah maybe. It just felt so real..." She shakes her head then looks back to him. "Any idea where we are?"
"Nah, I don't recognize this place at all, and it's the densest forest I've ever been in. There is no sign of anything that indicates people have even been here."
She sighs at the confirmation of what she had figured out. "Well, at least that probably means this isn't a trap from Rattles and the goon squad."
Adam nods. "Yeah. We'll probably only have to worry about some massive monsters or something."
Adora rolls her eyes. "Yeah, thanks for that, dork. Real positive thinking."
"Hey, I'd rather deal with some giant slobbering monster than Beast-Man," the young Prince grins.
That gets a chuckle from Adora. He has always been good at that, getting her to laugh even in the most dire of situations.
"Alright, as true as that is, I still would rather not be in the middle of this forest when it gets dark. Think you could turn all barbarian and get up to the top of the trees here?"
"Ugh, stop calling He-man a 'barbarian'!"
"I'll consider that the day you make it so he wears more than a loincloth. Now get hopping!"
Adam lets out an annoyed grunt, and grabs his sword.
"I have the power!"
Light fills the forest as Adam transforms, and once he has assumed the form of He-man, he leaps up, managing to easily reach the high branches of the forest canopy, as Adora just waits below.
She looks around one more time, thoughts buzzing about what just happened, and what that dream was.
Was it really just some dream? She did often find herself envious of her brother being chosen to wield the Sword of Power, maybe it was just her subconscious getting the better of her.
She pushes those thoughts aside. There isn't really anything to be envious of. She knows how rough he has it, the burden that this destiny as Eternia's hero has placed on her brother. That as much as Adam enjoys the power and playing the hero, there are as many times where he wishes he could just put down the mantle.
But there was no point dwelling on it. That sword's not here, and at this point, they're lucky they have He-man's power to help them out.
But as much as often as he expected to play the hero and protect the world, she'll be there to protect him.
*********
Catra growls as she slashes through another massive leaf that is in her way.
She can't believe she got stuck on a stupid 'seek and find' mission. This is not the kind of grunt work she expected to be doing as a Force Captain. Honestly, if she had known it was going to be like this, she wouldn't have bothered aiming for the job.
That's a lie though. It's not like she had any other choice. If she didn't, Shadow Weaver would have had her head, saying that she hadn't wasted all those years of raising her for Catra to disappoint her now.
Of course she would word it far worse, but Catra knows thinking about it too much will put her in a far worse mood, and she needs to focus on trying to find something in these dumb woods.
Ugh, the one good thing about being Force Captain so far is that she could rub it in Lonnie's face, as well as all the others who had bad mouthed her her whole life.
Not that they weren't still doing that, but now they actually try to avoid her hearing them, since she has the authority to make them pay for it now.
And it's not like she cares about making any of those idiots like her. She used to when she was younger, before she realized how useless it was, just how unlovable she is.
The only person who does seem to like her so far is that incredibly annoying Scorpini Force Captain that Catra has to try everything she can to stay away from her, otherwise she tries to hug her on sight.
Why the fuck does she do that everytime?
If she's honest, sometimes it is nice how Scorpia seeks her out. Having someone want to be around her is new. Even her squad mates often felt like they were only around her because they were forced to be. They still look out for each other, since in the Horde the only people you can really rely on are your own squad, they sure didn't hang out together or anything.
Though most days she'd rather be stuck in a room with Octavia than deal with Scorpia. At least the squid-bitch would give her plenty of personal space, or fight her, both of which Catra can deal with and prefer most of the time over the red carapace girl's over the top enthusiastic optimism.
She growls as she steps through yet another bush that catches on her clothes. She still doesn't get why she is even out her, other than Hordak apparently messed up some machine he was working on. The whole Fright Zone felt the quakes from whatever experiment he was doing. Then the next thing she knew, she was summoned to his throne room with other Force Captains, and he was fuming. She hadn't ever seen the Fright Zone ruler that angry before, it was a terrifying experience, and she made note to make damn sure she avoided stepping on his toes.
At least until she was ready to take over the Horde for herself.
He then commanded them all to go out and search for 'First One's' tech, with her going out to the Whispering Woods.
She doesn't really get what this stuff is, but apparently it was important for whatever weapon Hordak was working, enough so that he was sending his Force Captains out to specifically look for it, rather than leaving it up to regular troops.
Pfft, yeah right. Really he just looks at everyone below him as exactly the same. Tools that he can use as he likes, and likely doesn't care who he sends out on these missions. Most of the time he doesn't even really lead, he is off in the back of his sanctum working on whatever he has going on. Catra could probably take down Shadow Weaver, and he wouldn't really care as long as Catra can keep doing the witch's job.
The thought emboldens her as she treks through the forest. She'll keep playing the good Horde soldier for now. She's patient, and she can take whatever gets thrown at her.
Afterall, she's survived the old bitch's "care" her whole life. She can outlast them all and come out on top.
Not like things could get any worse.
"Uuugh," Catra groans as she looks up. This is so annoying. Hordak didn't giver her or any of the others any actually useful information about how to find any of this crap. Just to go out to whatever location he gave out and search. So in all likelihood, he's just clutching at straws, and then going to get pissed at all of them for inevitably showing up empty handed.
Maybe she should just go up and take a nap in a tree, it will be a better use of her time at this point.
But then she hears something. Her ear twitches, picking up the noise ahead of her. She stills, focusing her ears forward.
Voices, a pair of them. She can't quite make out what they are saying, but she can hear them getting closer, so she quickly clambers up a tree to her right, getting up to a large branch that could keep her out of sight.
She waits patiently, keeping her ears open, curious who else would be out wandering one of the most avoided places on Etheria.
"-the heck are we even going? We've been wandering for hours!" She hears a masculine voice complain.
"Okay, first, it's only been one hour, at most. Second, stop whining! It's not like we have any other plan than just walk until we either find our way out or something that at least tells us where we are!." A more feminine voice speaks up, sounding exasperated.
"This is a terrible idea you know. Pretty much the opposite of what you are supposed to do when you are lost somewhere."
"I don't think those lessons are particularly applicable for this situation."
Huh, just a couple of lost people. And sounding completely unprepared for being in the Whispering Woods from the sounds of it. She wonders for a moment if they were Rebellion soldiers, but then dismisses the idea quickly. If they were Rebellion, they should be more prepared and here for a specific purpose. A couple of civilians then? But then why would they be out her?
She peers over the edge, curious to see the two idiots who managed to get themselves stuck in the middle of the woods, and her eyes widen.
They look exactly the same.
Well, not a hundred percent the same, but it is insane just how much everything about them is the similar. The blond hair colour, their face structure with strong chins, the brilliant blue eyes, and even their builds, which are not super broad but clearly strong, are the same.
She's never seen any people like this before. Is this some kind of Rebellion thing, somehow making copies of people? Wouldn't be surprising with all the magic they are said to have. Making copies of people would be easy, and meant they could churn out a lot of bodies to throw against the Horde.
Then again, if that was something they could do, they likely would have already overrun the Horde. So thankfully she scratch that idea.
Looking them over some more, other than them looking like that, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly stand out about them. Except for the sword the guy is carrying. That makes her narrow her eyes. She knows that members of the Rebellion do use swords, so this could maybe a sign that they aren't just simple civilians. From all their lessons on infiltrating enemy territory, there has never been mention of non-military having weapons like that. Bu their clothes don't carry any insignia of any kind. Maybe the guy picked up the sword from a dead soldier, and just carries a sword to try and warn people off?
Hmm in that case she'll have to watch her back, make sure they don't try and make sure she has an 'accident' so they can scavenge off her.
She observes their outfits again. They are so similar that it was possibly they could be uniforms. They both have white compressed shirts and grey heavy pants with red boots with sightly different designs of white over the tops. The male copy is wearing a red jacket with no sleeves and closed at the front with a belt. The female wears hers open, framing her body, and has full sleeves.
They continue bickering, at one point the woman reaching over and bringing the man into a headlock and giving him a noogie before he breaks out. Watching them wrestle, the Horde soldier can tell how strong they are, their outfits not leaving much to the imagination as they use their muscles (if she stares at the woman's arms a bit too long, who's going to know?).
The man scowls for a moment as he tries fixing his flowing, shoulder length hair. The girl though has her hair up in a ponytail in a way that gives her the dumbest looking hair poof over her forehead and Catra has to actually hold back her laughter at it.
Though, even though it is silly as hell, it looks just as soft as the guy's, and Catra can't help wondering what she would look like with it down like the man...
The force captain shakes her head, admonishing herself and focusing up. This is no time to get distracted by a pretty face! It's clear they are most likely not average civilians, but there is nothing to say they are Rebellion either.
She watches for a moment, thinking as they walk under the branch and keep going, veering slightly off from the way Catra had come herself.
Is there some way she could use this? She could just leave them. Even if it turned out they were looking for the same things she was, she's certain that she could take both of and claim whatever worthwhile stuff they find.
She thinks on that for a moment, then grins. Searching this forest by herself has been rather boring, and will take forever. But if a couple hapless travellers were to lend her a hand...
Even better if they are actually looking for the same stuff, then maybe they have some information she doesn't.
She slips down the tree, and stalks after the pair. As she does, she thinks of her cover story, trying to think what might work best to get them to stick with her and help. They said they are lost, so maybe she can offer to help them get out of the forest, then just ditch them after they've found something, or they get too annoying. They seem dumb, so it probably won't take long for them to grind on her nerves. But she has dealt with Lonnie and Kyle for most of her life, she can handle these idiots for as she needs to.
And at this point, she'll take any kind of distraction from the snore-fest of endless trees and plants.
She takes her Force Captain badge off and puts in the large pouch on her belt. Whether these two are Rebellion or not, revealing she is a Horde soldier right out the gate would be a stupid move.
She straightens up from her sneaky prowl, and walks over to the pair. "Hey, you two," she calls out.
She doesn't even bother to contain her laugh as the pair shriek in sync, turning to her as the guy pulls out his sword in defense. The two stare wide eyed for a moment, before seeming to relax.
"Oh, a Qadian," the man almost whispers to other blond. "Maybe we are close to Felis Qadi?"
Catra furrows her brow. A what? She's never heard that term before. As far as she knows, her people are just 'cat hybrids', just another evolutionary mutation like the other hybrids around.
And she was lucky if got called that by most people.
Then again, it wouldn't exactly be surprising if the Horde, Shadow Weaver, had been hiding something like that. Probably hoping to use it later, lord it over her for head like a stray begging for scraps so teh sorceress can manipulate her into something.
Catra has to hold back a growl. Fuck she hates that witch.
This already might have been worth approaching these two just for this. Catra decides to lean into her ignorance, partly because she wants to hear more, but also because the last thing she needs is to get caught in a lie this early if they decide to interrogate her.
"A what, and where?" She plays up her confusion, tilting her head quizzically.
The guy blushes, obviously not realizing that she could hear him from that distance. Apparently, despite knowing of people like her, he's not knowledgeable enough to know how good her hearing is. She just smirks at him, and she looks to the woman, and she falters.
She is staring at Catra with an odd expression. It's not a look that the hybrid has ever seen on another person before. At least, not directed at her. It's like she is shocked, but also... intensely interested in what she is seeing?
It makes Catra's hair rise, the growl from before threatening to break out. She manages to hold it back, instead meeting the other woman's eyes, placing her hands on her hips as she cocks an eyebrow at her. "Something you wanna say there, Ponytail?"
That seems to snap the woman out of whatever thoughts she had been having, and her face completely lights up as red as her jacket, breaking eye contact by looking to the side, like she is hoping that if she does it will make Catra forget she was just staring at her like a weirdo.
Catra smirks triumphantly. She gets enough of being stared at back in the Horde, and has scratched the hell out of more than a few faces for it. And she isn't above doing the same to these blonds, civilians or not.
The man smirks at his companion, then gets a confused look, turning back to Catra. "Hold on, did you just say that you don't know what a Qadian is?"
Catra shrugs, looking nonchalant, but letting her ears perk forward and her tail sway with interest. "I grew up somewhere where people like me are rare. Pretty sure I've only seen one other person like me before, and there isn't much information laying around."
The pair look confused, then look to each other, and Catra can tell they are communicating something to each other. He tail lashes. She can't have have given herself already, it's true! There is practically nothing about her people she has been able to find. She's asked around, bribed a few people. Whatever information might exist about where she could possibly have come from, is rare enough that no one else has been able to find anything.
Not that she cares that much about actually finding wherever she came from. Though if she was ever sent on a mission there, she'd be more than happy to drive a tank through it.
Teach them what a mistake it was for them to give her up to the Horde.
They finally finish whatever was going on, and then look back to her, the woman speaking up. "Well, in that case, can you tell is where we are? We got... a little lost, and we have no idea where to go."
Catra cackles at that. "Wow, you are more than a little lost if you managed to wander out here of all places! You're in the Whispering Woods, you know, one of the most dangerous places on the planet?"
They both just stare at her. She finds it bizarre just how easy they are to read, how unguarded.
They don't know the Whispering Woods. How do they not know the Whispering Woods? "Where the hell are you two even from?"
The man speaks up. "We're from Eternos."
Now it's Catra turn to look confused. Eternos? That's not a place that has been covered in any of the Horde training, and they've been very thorough in making sure they knew all the kingdoms and their municipalities.
And if it wasn't worth any of the instructors drilling the name into their heads, then it must just be some podunk village somewhere.
She shakes her head. Well, she already figured they wouldn't be useful for much other than keeping her amused and grunt work anyways.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter. Right now what you are is lost obviously, and I think we could help each other."
The twins look to each other, then back to her, their expressions shifting to more cautious and analytical expressions.
So they aren't completely naive. Hopefully they are still gullible, though.
"My boss sent me out here looking for ancient technology that might still be here in the woods. So I figure, you help me, I help you. I can get you out of the forest, and you make my life a bit easier by helping me look around, enough that the boss will be satisfied if I don't find anything."
They both seem to think on it, looking to each other and doing that silent communication they seem to have.
"Do you have any leads on where to look?" The woman eventually speaks up.
Catra shrugs. "Not at all. The only instructions I got were to come out here and look around until I found something."
"What the hell!? They sent you out with nothing, into a place you just told us was incredibly dangerous? What a jerk!" Ponytail yells, both of them looking shocked, though the woman looks actually pissed off.
What the heck, why would she be mad? It's not like it's her problem.
"We'll show them! We'll find something out here that wows them so hard that you can lord over them forever!"
Was she... angry at Hordak? On Catra's behalf?
Huh, she's never had anyone actually give a damn about her getting treated like crap before. The closest thing was her squad helping her beat the crap out of other squads when any of them try to mess with one of them, but that was just what you did. Because if you didn't look out for your squad, then there would be no one to look out for you.
She knows they don't actually like her, it's just what you do. But this lady? She doesn't even know Catra, yet she is suddenly motivated to help her out.
A small smile actually crosses Catra's face. What a weirdo.
She chuckles. "Yeah, he's a real asshole. But it's fine. He's distracted with his own crap anyways, so pretty sure if I stay out and look for a while before going back, he won't bother even making a fuss, empty handed or not."
"Well if he does, we can speak up for you about what a dumb idea this was!"
Catra feels her face heat up in the face of the bizarre passion the blond was giving off.
This was so weird, why was this girl getting so angry when it's Catra who is the one who has to deal with all this? It's not like they know each other! Not even Catra's own squad has ever raised a complaint about anything that their superiors have done to her.
Even Scorpia, despite her apparent want to be friends, has never spoken up in her defense. Just offering platitudes that served to only piss Catra off more.
Not that she can totally blame her. She's really loud about how much they are apparently friends, and not many people are gong to risk pissing off a Scorpini, especially one as strong as she is. But when it comes to people higher on the chain, particularly Hordak and Weaver, what the hell can any of them do about it?
"Adora, we don't have time for this, we need to try and find a way home," the other blonde protests, though Catra mostly focuses on the name.
Adora, so that's what she's called. She's never heard a name that pretty...
Catra's eyes widen, and her tail stiffening in surprise.
What the hell was that thought!?
Adora looks to the man unimpressed. "Well, what do you say we do? Just wander around and hope to find the way out ourselves? Even if we spend a few hours helping her, if this place is as bad as it sounds, this would still be way faster than trying to find the way out on our own."
The man pouts, honest to Hordak pouts! Then sighs. "Ugh of course you're acting this way because of some girl..."
Adora's face goes full red again, even more scarlet than before, as she turns and hisses at him. "That is not why I'm doing this. We need help, she needs help, it just makes sense!"
"Uh-huh," he deadpans. He then looks to Catra. "Well, despite her reasons, I have to say that helping you does sound like the better option. Also I'd like to be able to hear about what exactly makes this place dangerous. Oh, and I'm Adam by the way."
Adora looks like she is ready to tackle the man, Adam, but then suddenly looks like she realized something, and practically shoves him out of the way as she moves to stand in front of Catra. "Oh yeah, heh, how silly! We haven't introduced ourselves yet! I'm Adora!"
Catra chuckles at the excitable blond. "Well Adora, very nice to meet you. I'm Catra," she gives her a smile, and Catra is surprised it's actually genuine.
Ugh, this is so dumb! But she can't help it, this woman was surprisingly cute with how over eager she is. She reminds the Horde soldier of Kyle, if he was less annoying, and actually attractive.
And he isn't, not matter how much Rogelio growls at her about it.
Adora smiles, and it looks so soft, Catra's never seen such a face on someone. "Catra."
She can feel her fur raise all over her body hearing her name come from that mouth. It sounded so nice, and it sends a thrill through Catra.
Catra bites the inside of her cheek. What the hell is happening to her??
Adam rolls his eyes at them. "Okay, if you two are done, can we get moving already?"
Adora seems to jump, like she had forgotten he was there, then glares at him. He looks back at her, clearly unimpressed, and she just huffs and looks to Catra with that smile again. "Unfortunately, my annoying brother is right. We should try looking around so we can give you your excuse."
Catra shakes off whatever weird feeling it was that had come over her, and smirks. "Well then, follow me you two. Let's go look for something that probably isn't even here." She starts walking ahead of them, then pauses and looks over her shoulder. She sees Adora was clearly watching her as she walked, while Adam was looking at her and shaking his head.
Catra can feel that weird feeling spread through her again, thinking about Adora watching her so closely.
She doesn't know what this is, but she really needs to get a handle on it.
"Oh, and watch out for the monsters."
The pair, brother and sister apparently? Both look at her, eyes widening.
"Wait, there are actually monsters!?"