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"I got us closer to conquering Bright Moon than anyone ever has."The words echoed loudly, resonating throughout the halls. Catra could feel Scopria inching further away in fear of retaliation. Hordak's fingers stopped making impatient drumming noises against the metal throne, closing his hands into knuckle white fists for a moment, before returning them to linger upon the armrests. Seeing she had caught her leader's full attention, Catra took this cue to continue."The Whispering Woods is still in ruins. They have nowhere to hide. Etheria is ours for the taking."Without Shadow Weaver, the glory was all Catra's to take. Without Shadow Weaver, the brunt of failure was all Catra's to withstand too. Covering her failure by taking all the credit was the only thing Shadow Weaver was ever good for.If Catra had to risk it all to take what was hers, now was the time.Keeping eye contact without falter, Catra stayed still, head held high and proud, as Hordak finally rose steadfast from the throne, walking with long decisive steps, striding towards her. The forgotten princess held a whimpering Scorpia from making her distress obvious, slightly annoying Catra as she flicked an ear towards her soon to be promoted trooper.
Every hero needs a sidekick.
Catra's lips thinned at the unwanted reminder from that encounter, as Hordak towered over the Force Captain, unaware of the thoughts swirling in her mind. He stared, deep in thought, almost staring towards the entrance of the Fright Zone. Whatever went through their leader's head was none of Catra's concern. All she ever wanted...
We were always together.
All she ever wanted was recognition."Very well, Force Captain Catra," Hordak's voice never rose higher than needed, even in anger. His tone was sharp, cutting through the throne room with unquivering eyes, scanning his loyal followers for any weakness shown from them. Finding none towards the one standing before him, Hordak made his decision. "You will find other chances to prove your worth as my second in command. Do not disappoint me." Hordak returned to the shadow of his throne, wordlessly dismissing them, activating a hologram of the failed invasion with a wave of his hand.Catra could only smile. This is all she ever wanted.All her life."As you command my liege.""Second in command! Second in command!"Tucking her tail firmly around her waist to hide the nerves climbing up till the tip, Catra let out a hefty sigh as she marched towards her new chambers. Another squee matched with another squee rising eagerly in delight, Catra had to lower her ears shut to the skull until they merged with her hair in hopes of silencing the whistling yells of glee coming from behind her. Dear almighty, they just won't shut up.Grabbing the emblem attached on her chest, Catra tossed it towards Scorpia's direction, uncaring it if reached a claw or not."Just shut up! Here! Take this! I don't need it anymore!"Entrapta caught the shiny badge first, curiosity taking over. "Oooh, shiny! Can I keep it? Can I, can I?""No." Scopria snatched it away, making Entrapta's keratin nerved hands lower to her hips in quivering disappointment. She kept holding onto the acquired badge, unsure of what to do next. "But... Catra. This is still yours. We can't take it from you."
This is what I've been working for my entire life.
Gnashing at her teeth, Catra ignored her own confusion, wanting nothing more than to be alone and recover all the energy spent through the battle of Bright Moon. "As I clearly said: I. don't. need. it. anymore. Do whatever you want with that stupid badge. Its yours. But know this. With or without it, you're under my command now. Both of you. So you'd better follow my orders." Sliding a keycard given to her by Imp, Catra opened the restricted area only the top ranks could enter unsupervised. Not even Force Captains were allowed to enter.Until now."So does this mean I can keep it?" Blue lights glowed within the door locks, parallel contraptions slid open in mechanical continuation, separating the faint circuity systems as the entrance opened before them. "Yes Entrapta. You can keep it."Catra braced herself for the inevitable squee ringing in her ears. Walking inside, Catra gestured towards her fellow subordinates."What are you waiting for? You can come. You're with me, you're not breaking any protocol."
It doesn't matter what they do to us. You look out for me, I look out for you.
The echoing voice of the past called once more, haunting like a ghost trapped in her head. Catra hissed out in frustration. Scorpia and Entrapta thought Catra was pissed at them. They hurried the pace, entering the foreboding hallway before the magnetic doors shut down airtight."Force Captain, did you bring that thing-a-ma-gig with you?" Catra scratched her head lightly. "Like the one I asked for before?"Entrapta stared happily vaguely in front of her, making Catra wonder if she even heard her. Scorpia leaned slowly behind Entrapta's ear, standing on one side to not scare her. "She's talking to you."Something inside the princess snapped. Catra wasn't sure she wanted to know what."Of course I did!" Entrapta used her hands to quickly bring out another gadget from her purple nest full of ... infinitely growing ideas, as an improved version of the beacon locator was revealed in sight. She started typing vigorously on the hardware, greedily using some loose wires from the hanging metal pipes to improve the gadget more by connecting it with them, using her planted hair to pillar her body in mid-air, comfortably sitting down crossed legged, completely forgetting about her superior's command to follow her lead.Both Horde members stated dumbfounded as Entrapta took more of the rare tech around her without any regard for her own safety."I had to build this one from scratch because the one you had before got lost but it's okay it was old anyway. I have upgraded my precious thing-a-ma-gig—if you want to call it that—thought I prefer if you'd call it by its name FOT Radar—it's much shorter too! I've chipped it to locate any source of runestone energy as you requested especially Black Garnet energy. It's more user friendly too, there's even a tutorial when you switch it on! Since you found the old model so hard 'cause of all the buttons-"“Force Captain,” Catra growled through her fangs. “Just switch the damned thing on?”Entrapta blinked, taking in a deep breath. "Sorry. Its the rush of getting promoted talking~" Tapping a light slap on her forehead, Entrapta switched the contraption on, pushing the mini buttons on the control panel to make everything set to default. "There, all set! All nearby Black Garnet sources can be located within a 100 mile radius! Za-za-zing!"Scorpia looked she was torn between hiding the badge and giving the excited scientist a congratulatory slap on the back."Scorpia."Scorpia looked towards Catra, who gestured to hand over the badge with her eyes. She could see Imp gliding with haste towards their location."Okay, chest out."Entrapta puffed her chest out, pointing gleefully towards herself with an ear reaching grin.Scorpia placed the green metal badge onto her clothes. "I did say chest out, but you don't exaggerate." Imp flew in front of them, scrunching his face towards Entrapta. It seemed he was looking forward to chewing her out of the restricted zone.Chew on that you stupid bat. Catra couldn't help but snigger a little."Catra." Imp darted a glance towards the other two. "Force Captains. Follow me. Commander Octavia is waiting for us upstairs."Commander one-eyed dumbface finally got out of prison duty? Oh this is going to be great.Imp lead the trio towards a vast elevator, inputting a code too quickly for Catra to memorise. She'd have to use her nose to write down the numbers later. As they entered it, Scorpia and Entrapta were mesmerised by how small the Fright Zone looked from their viewpoint. Closing the gates, the levels kept increasing as they reached the highest tower.Imp turned towards Catra, lowering his voice. "Hordak informed me Shadow Weaver has been handcuffed in the toughest prison cell of the upper fortress. You can interrogate her for any information necessary whenever you wish, as long as you report your findings to me."Scratching the glass surface lightly, Catra tapped on it absentmindedly, asking the question she had in mind for awhile."I'm not sleeping in... her quarters right?"Imp backflipped and made circles in the air, obviously amused by the question."No, of course not. You'll find your new chambers and threads very soon.""Look! You can see the dungeons from here!""Cool~!""Hordak also told me," Catra twitched an ear as she blinked back towards the conversation. "That you need to enter the recreation centre the minute you enter your chamber. If you don't make your battle report within the hour, you'll be demoted back to Force Captain. This is a direct order from the top. You understand?" So much for recharging. "Yes, Imp. Loud and clear."At that, Imp flew towards Scorpia and Entrapta, landing on the purple haired scientists' head, making himself comfortable there.Getting the message swiftly as an arrowhead to the gut, Catra growled under her breath, realising if she got demoted, Entrapta would be the first to suffer.The elevator had arrived to destination, stopping directly to the east wing. Walking outside first, Catra looked swiftly towards the forked end."Your chamber is this way," Imp flew towards the closer hinged entrance of the fortress, the right one. "Follow me. Please mind the gap. I won't catch you if you fall."So Shadow Weaver must be chained somewhere rotting to the left.Catra shook off her plans, placing them on hold for the time being. Something... something small, but still something, from the battle for Bright Moon was irritating her, and the only person whom possibly knew the answer is being locked away in a prison cell, rendered completely powerless and was at Catra's mercy, being just a few feet away from her. The strong whistling winds surrounding the skyscraping tower seemed to mock Catra for her undecisiveness.Adora would not have trembled if she were here. The wind would've stayed on her back.She walked to the right, following Imp. Scorpia and Entrapta followed suit, pushing forward against harsh gusts of wind.It would be unwise to defy Hordak after such a generous promotion.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Any room for sentimentality was left behind the group of Horde soldiers, as electronic charged panelled doors prevented the biting wind from further reaching out cold hands. Soft beeps could be heard, echoing in the hall. The ground, ceiling, pillars, everything their sight could land on had pulsating energy flowing through well protected wires, covered by transparent sheets of pure crystals. Catra, Scorpia and Entrapta were visibly enchanted by what lay before their eyes, opening and closing forever in an uninterrupted sequence of lights.A rich, deep blue carpet symbolising Hordak's rule covered the centre of the glowing rocks, forming the path ahead, continuously lengthening its neck like a ravenous snake. Glowing braziers burned beneath daunting stone pillars caving for a marble coated stairway, as Horde Prime blemished banners hung undisturbed around them. Catra managed to silence Entrapta's expression of joy before it rose to vocal confirmation. She raised her hand to cover her face in relief.
Just in time.
Imp glided in front of them again, making sure to stare down from his height, blue wings flapped with rapid clicking noises, snipping away like little scissors. "If you ever get lost Catra, follow the carpet. It will always lead you back to the main hall, wherever you happened to be. Your chamber is to the left of the stairway. I will be waiting for you near the recreation centre. And this time... do read the report. I won't tell you where the centre is. As for you two—don't. touch. anything. You understand, right, Catra?"With that said, Imp shifted into his miniature bat form, his wings no longer making those annoying clicking sound bites. A lone door could be heard shuttering in the background, scratching sounds of stone slaps dragged against the ground until they stopped, as he flew straight ahead.Catra didn't make her stone-set body move until she wrapped her arms in annoyance. "Prick.""You think so?" Entrapta seemed disappointed that Imp had gone so fast. "He seemed adorable.""Sure he is," Catra just had to sigh. "And how does he know I didn't read the report last time I got promoted?"Scorpia brought her two claws together, little pats frictioned with every slight tinkle on the red tips. "Well... you do have a reputation of skipping those, Catra."Anger should have boiled inside Catra's veins. Instead, only a sense of tiredness took over the feline. "Let's get this over with." Impatience can lead to misunderstandings.When the doors opened after sliding down the card again, Catra was greeted with her new room.Which was blocked by another door."Oh come on!" Catra slammed the contrite metal barrier between her and a little rest. "What else do I have to do to get my own place?!""Ahem." Entrapta took no notice of the vicious glare she received. Instead, she pointed towards a pad next to the doorway, a white hand outline visible against the blue motherboard. She even used her own hands and added generous sound effects to explain what Catra should do next."Oh." Scorpia's eyes drooped a little towards the floor. "There's no way I can enter that room then.""You can always smash the door open, Force Captain Scorpia.""Of course!" Sunshine and daisies shone on Scorpia's face. "You always have a solution for everything!"Not everything. Catra let down her clawed hand on the unregistered pad, feeling the scan imprinting her skin map to the database, collecting all unique ridges it can find.
--ACCESS GRANTED: WELCOME FIRST LIEUTENANT CATRA--
The automated door whooshed open, letting in three tired soldiers absorb their new surroundings."This looks nice! Real cosy!""First Lieutenant Catra eh? You could get used to that, right best-"Before Catra could reply, the fur trailing down to her tail rose without control, the door having shut down automatically.And oh dear, it was painful. All of Catra's fur, spiky hair included, became pointy triangles with the heights of shrieking yells of pain, the burning white shock making her see pollution free stars and galaxies for uncountable seconds. Her mouth parted before water droplets yielded from trembling eyelids, barely being able to move due to the shock travelling from the tail to the whole nervous system.Catra crouched down, stomping her tail out of the door's clutches. It took Scorpia and Entrapta's combined efforts to pull it out completely.
A few minutes later...
Catra scurried her tail back into her hands, unconsciously purring as she nursed the injury.Scorpia finished to bandage the poor abused appendage. "There you go, all fixed." Scorpia was proud of her work, though her smile didn't last long. "We got careless. We should've entered the room before staring at it like goldfish!"Entrapta stopped bouncing on the bed, declaring it to be too soft for her tastes. "That report was surprisingly duuuull. Buuuut," she shoved the FOT device into Catra's hands, tapping it to switch the monitor on from sleep mode. "I wrote all the important stuff from that snoozefest for you here. And if you press here, ta-da! You can reach the recreation centre whenever you wish. As our Lieutenant, it's the least we can do!"Catra wrapped her tail gently around her own waist, albeit gingerly to not hurt herself. The font Entrapta used for the abridged report was a lot bigger too. Her eyelids started to drop, feeling incredibly heavy as she woke herself up to keep her hand steady.She really wanted to...To say...Something sparkled at the other side of the room. Sleep forgotten, toes, paws and curiosity lunged towards the hanging chest piece, arm pieces and other pieces of fancy armour just standing there, calling her name."Oooh! How did I not see that before?" Entraptra exclaimed happily. "That looks like really good armour! Real protecting naughty bits stuff!" Catra ignored Entrapta as she held on one piece, the shoulder part, using her knuckles to test the metal. It was not hollow..."I know that sound! It's Clawstorm material! It's light, it's sturdy and very expensive! Rumour has it that unicorn bones are crushed and seeped into a lion's jaw to make this feather light baby be born!"Scorpia held her face on both sides, completely aghast by the news. "U-unicorn bones?!"Entraptra shrugged. "Eh it's a rumour. Unicorns don't exists rig- oooh."Picking up all the armour pieces, Catra quickly took a packaged item wrapped into tight plastic from the bed, taking them to the restroom. Yes! Catra's eyes glowed like shiny disco balls. I've got a bathroom all to mysel-...elf...Catra couldn't believe she had to shove Scorpia and Entrapta out of the room. "I'm changing my clothes do you mind-?!" Eyes becoming round as saucers until heterochromed pupils became cut slits, Catra yowled fiercely as her tail rose into a defensive rod, slamming the door shut.Both Horde members seemed kinda unfazed by the notion, despite the hurricane that just passed by."Whoa." Entrapta turned towards Scorpia, unashamed of what was about to be said. "Catty."When Catra emerged from the room, she had to lower her ears once more due to fangirling many approving squees. She stood by the doorway, exasperated. "Yeah yeah, I look good, I know that. Could you not do that?"Entrapta saluted, as Scorpia sniggered at the sight of Catra's face becoming a shade of beetroot red which rivalled her claws and tail's pigmentation. "Whatever you say, Captain Kitty! Your words are our command!"Entrapta unintentionally brought up Catra's... bountiful appearance, which she was always fond of. Catra placed a hand through her thick brown mane, the movement of being petted reminding her of better times, feeling a little purr inaudibly rumble out her throat.I like your hair as it is. She didn't mean it that way.Ignore what the others say. Your hair is eh, nice. Very nice. Doesn’t make you look scruffy. Wait, who called you that? She never meant it that way.
No one can call you scruffy, Catra. No one. Be-because, that's why!
Catra stopped preparing biscuit dough with her hair, removing the strands from her hand in a huff, feeling a stunning zap going through burning fingertips."Scorpia. I have a favour to ask."Scorpia smiled, happy to hear her title be dropped from their conversation. "Yes, Catra?""Cut my hair. That’s an order, Force Captain. From your Lieutenant."Scorpia's jaw hit the floor before Entrapta could even react. "But you'll look less fluffy like that--!!"...Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Could have prepared Scorpia for the icy glare darted harshly by her superior, the silence pretty much intensifying the promise of pain and everlasting torment if she did not comply the order. Scorpia almost felt the red colouring melt from her claws, filling her whole face in embarrassment in return.“I’ll go fetch some water!” Entrapta chirped in, before leaning back in the frame. “You like water right Catra? But aren’t you a cat?”Sitting down on the (rather comfortable, actually) chair, Catra let out a deep sigh.“If it’s a small amount, it doesn’t annoy me. Now, Scorpia… will you do it?”With one last sweet stare towards the Scorpion princess (usually this technique works – it only didn’t work with Shadow Weaver and the other cadets) Catra hoped to have gotten her point across, twitching her face forcefully to prevent it from turning into a scowl.Scorpia kept staring towards her superior until Entrapta showed up with a bowl full of water, dropping a little from the edges. “Ta-daaa!”That snapped whatever time warping dimension bubble Scorpia’s mind was trapped within.“Alright!” Scorpia started snapping her claws in eager fashion. “Let me get these cleaned first! I’ll give you the best haircut in all of the Horde!”Despite being surrounded by loyal personnel, the persistent water droplets carelessly left falling from the sink’s faucet and the snip-snapping sounds Scorpia’s sharp claws gleefully made behind her ears did nothing to prevent Catra from wrapping her precious tail to her front in order to see and hold on to it tight, gulping slightly.
Some time passes...
Catra silently observed the Force Captain’s movements, seeing brown locks fall down on the floor, her mind set on obtaining the one missing item for her new outfit. “Say… Scorpia?”Scorpia started her job, carefully aiming right to not hurt constantly twitching ears. “Yes, Lieutenant Catra?”“I need a cape.”