Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I told you to stop doing that because you’re going to get caught!”

Adora knew her friend well enough from their sparring matches together to prepare for a counter attack and she couldn’t help smiling when she was proven right. It took just a quick shuffle of her feet to move out of Catra’s way. Was that surprise on her face? Maybe now she’d stop nagging Adora for doing so many extra sparring sessions on their own time.

For just a second, Adora worried that maybe she had taken it too far. Maybe she should have stayed put and let Catra have her moment of fun, that wouldn’t have been so hard. But then, as she looked over to see Catra down on all fours and still staring up at her with wide eyes, she couldn’t help but laugh. It was even better when Adora noticed her tail lay down flat and her ears twitched slightly at the noise. Crisis averted.

The future force captain took a second to really look at her friend as she stood up next to her. Her hair looked wild, poking out in all directions behind the small mask that kept it from getting in her eyes. At one time, Adora had tried to convince her to put it up in a ponytail like hers, but when Catra tried stretching the hair band out with her claws to fit around her hair it snapped and that was that. She wasn’t sure how long the mask had been around, but now she couldn’t imagine Catra fighting alongside her without it.

Now looking in those familiar blue and yellow eyes, Adora felt a small pang in her chest when she couldn’t help the feeling that something was off. Catra had been upset about her trying to protect her best friend in the simulation and now she’s openly trying to discuss things that she wasn’t even supposed to know. The blonde’s protective nature desperately wanted to kick in and demand that Catra be safer about what she said, but she knew that Catra didn’t need a reminder of what could happen if she was caught.

“Catra?” Adora knew she finally had the girl’s attention when she looked down to see her hand, with claws put away, was reaching out to squeeze her own. “Th-this is important, Catra.”

Adora paused as she tried to find the right words to say. This never happened to her best friend, the brunette always had the sharpest remark or wittiest reply right on the tip of her tongue and Adora could only ever watch with a sense of dread or wonder. Not her though, Adora’s words always seemed to be jumbled up in her head and never came out right. It’s why she used her guardian’s final words on the matter to explain it all to her friend now.

“She said I’m going to be the only cadet in the hall with all of the force captains. It’s an honor and I only have one chance.” Did that make sense? Catra didn’t look very pleased with it. Except now, Adora was too busy imagining their big plans together. They were going to go out, finally see the world, and make it safe for the two of them. She had to keep her end of their promise after all. “Think about it! Going to the meeting and us getting that new score together, they’re bound to make us force captains in no time!”

“You mean bound to make you a force captain.”

Not this again. Adora let out a sigh, but it was cut short by a hand pulling away from hers and then she watched as the other girl moved to sit on the bench right across from their lockers. Now she was avoiding her. It was easy to tell from the way that Catra was averting her eyes and refusing to look up from where she stared down at her feet, even when the blonde slowly moved to sit next to her. Maybe if Adora wasn’t so bad at explaining this then she wouldn’t have ruined the fun moment they were just having a few seconds ago. She just didn’t know how to make Catra see that this was all so they could stay together, to get them one step closer to their dream. If Adora could do it for both them, then surely it was worth it right?

“Catra, you know I’ll demand that you’re on my team. I’m not going into any battle with any dumb princesses without you by my side. Force captain or not…...we look after each other.”

“Just go,” Catra muttered, “have fun at your dumb meeting. They’ll probably just hand over your force captain badge as soon as you get in the room.”

She’d only made it worse. Adora knew that now and that all too familiar guilty feeling was back, sinking low into her chest like some kind of infection. The future force captain knew she had to get going if she was going to be outside her guardian’s chambers in time, but she had to make one more attempt. Slowly she reached out for Catra’s hand and she was sure the feline knew what she meant. The little squeeze of each other’s hand could happen anytime they needed it, just to show the other that they were there. This little signal was supposed to solve everything. Feeling her friend’s hand grip hers for just a second was enough to lighten that guilty burden sitting in her heart and Adora was able to get up and walk away with a smile. All she had to do was impress Shadow Weaver once more and Adora would have their ticket to a new life in her grasp.
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“Do you understand?”

The question cut through Adora’s daydream like a dagger and she could feel her whole body jerk into attention as she turned to face her guardian. Even with the mask, it was clear that Shadow Weaver was aware of what her shining student had really been doing.

“Adora-”

“I’m sorry, Shadow Weaver.” The only time Adora dared cut the woman off was for an apology. “There’s just so much to think about and consider...I know I’m ready. I won’t fail you.”

“I have no fear of that happening,” a hand came up to rest just under the girl’s chin and gently tipped it up. “You know better than to let any mistakes crop up, especially when there’s so much at risk.”

It was a compliment, but Adora recognized the message laying underneath Shadow Weaver’s words of praise. Don’t mess this up. Whatever punishment had been used in the past would be nothing compared to what would happen if this went wrong. The blonde promised herself that she’d keep that silent message tucked away to remember. She didn’t want to chance forgetting and run the risk of anything happening.

“I’m ready,” Adora repeated. She hadn’t realized that she was holding her breath until Shadow Weaver’s hand disappeared from under her chin as she walked away to look at something on her podium.

“It’s time you understand just what all goes into being a force captain. I’ve trained you and done everything I possibly can so that you would even be considered for this position and now it’s time that you prove to Lord Hordak that there’s no risk in choosing you.”

The doubt behind those words didn’t go unnoticed. Did Shadow Weaver really think there would be anything that would cause Lord Hordak to question Adora’s ability? Almost immediately, slow motion replays of all the most recent scrimmages, sparring challenges, and simulation attacks replayed through her mind as she searched for any errors. She couldn’t think of any issue that stood out, but knew that if given the time to really comb through all of her actions then there’d be a glaring mistake that could easily be pointed out. Hopefully, Shadow Weaver wouldn’t end up being the one to find it.

A few minutes later, Adora found herself following behind the second-in-command as they made their way down the hall towards Hordak’s meeting room. A few times she made eye contact with older force captains and their faces would hold a look of confusion for a second. Then, they’d glance over at the woman she stood next to and soon the confusion would turn into a mixture of disgust and a smirk. It was like they knew something the senior cadet didn’t and they were all just waiting for the pieces to be put together.

“That’s enough.”

Hissed into her ear, Adora felt herself tense up when Shadow Weaver’s mask slipped into her peripheral, but it got her to focus. She had nearly walked into her guardian as the older woman stopped near the edge of the stairs that led up to Hordak’s throne. It wasn’t easy to keep her arms plastered to her sides, but the fear of being called out for her nervous habit of pinching and picking at her fingers helped her ignore the itching sensation running up and down her arms. There were also people to look around at when Adora finally noticed how large the group around her was. She recognized all of the force captains, but also noticed quite a few soldiers that had been given assignments over the last year. Looking around at all the facial expressions, it was clear that no one was exactly thrilled to be there. Nearly every force captain now seemed to awkwardly shuffle around and murmur to one another while the few soldiers that were standing near the room entrance looked tired. Adora watched their movements to see if she could determine who would fall from exhaustion first and who would be able to fight it off until the end of the meeting. What was going on here?

It was the sound of a door being closed that silenced the room. The large metal door slid over to trap everyone in the large space and now the only sound that could be heard was the soft buzzing of machinery in the background. Then after a few minutes, Adora’s ears began to pick up the sound of heavy breathing coming from the direction of the door.

“They’re ready, Lord Hordak.” Shadow Weaver’s voice was like a string that pulled Adora back into position and she could feel her muscles tighten up into the perfect posture. Good timing too, as Lord Hordak was beginning to walk down the stairs from his throne to stand in front of his prized Horde soldiers.

“Bring them forward,” he said.

Slowly, three figures began to walk up from the back of the hushed chamber. Well, two of them were walking, but it seemed that the final person was being dragged along with them. When they finally got close enough to be seen in the dim lighting, it took everything in Adora not to gasp out at the sight in front of her. She had been right in assuming that the third stranger wasn’t walking forward. Two force captains, one the cadet recognized as Octavia, had a hold of a soldier’s upper arms and were forcibly dragging this person up towards Lord Hordak. The soldier, dressed only in their general day clothes, looked like they would fall if there weren’t people holding them up. Their clothes were dirty and torn in some places. Several small wounds littered their arms and Adora could tell that they hadn’t been cleaned yet. It was almost as if they had been scraped right off the battlefield and dragged in, but the glowing green emitting from the cuffs on their hands told everyone that this person had just been brought in from one of the prison cells.

When the small group finally made it over to stand in front of Hordak, Octavia gave a nod and both force captains immediately let go of the soldier, watching them fall to the ground. They both stayed though and walked around slowly to stand on either side of their commanding officer.

“What you see before you,” Lord Hordak said, “is a traitor. Someone who thought they were better than our cause, could do better than our cause, and decided to destroy years worth of work all because -”

“Stop.”

Adora could have heard a pin drop after the traitor decided to interrupt. The silence seemed to suck the air out of the room and everyone standing at attention didn’t dare move. Shadow Weaver’s reaction to the soldier attempting to interrupt their own trial was swift though. A familiar red glow seeped through the room quickly and the blonde watched as the guilty party was now encased in their own silent cage.

“I’m sure you all have heard the rumors about our team near Salineas.” Lord Hordak nodded towards the back of the room and the other soldiers that Adora had noticed earlier quickly stepped forward to acknowledge their leader before stepping back into line.

“Those soldiers trusted that their fellow team member would have their back and would help keep them safe. Unfortunately, we all trusted in the wrong person, but that’s a mistake that will not be repeated. The best we can do now is make sure that this never happens again. What do you have to say for yourself?”

As Hordak finished speaking, he gave a nod to his second in command who then quickly brought her magic away from the face of the prisoner.

“I-I couldn’t do it anymore,” the voice gave Adora chills. It sounded like someone who had already given up. “Watching it day after day, it was wrong! People were dying and it was our fault! We all knew that.”

“Lives lost can be terrible,” Shadow Weaver cut in, looking up to meet Adora’s shocked face. “But we also know those people chose their side and they decided to stand by while princesses have abused their powers for years.”

“We didn’t have to kill them,” the soldier muttered and looked down at the floor. “They weren’t doing anything but just trying to live their own lives. We had to be stopped.”

They were killing people. The Horde was killing them, innocent people. Adora’s mind couldn’t make sense of the words spoken just a moment before. All her life she had known that sacrifices had to be made. Sometimes a training coach went away to help with a mission and just never came back. That’s how life worked during a war, but what this stranger was saying sounded completely different.

“Those who don’t support the cause are against us,” Adora didn’t need to look up to know that her guardian’s eyes were still fixed on her. She could feel those eyes bearing down on her like a ton of weights.

“Let’s not waste time,” Lord Hordak’s voice cut in and was met with the full attention of the room. “Captains, Octavia will begin and then you all will follow behind. Every soldier is your equal responsibility and they all look to you for an example. Be that example now and take this warning back to your teams. We do not tolerate any form of treason in the Horde.”

As their leader turned to talk to Shadow Weaver and then left, the crowd in the room immediately sprang into action. Soldiers near the doors now lined across the clearing that had been made previously to look forward at the prisoner still on their knees in front of the throne, while all of the force captains walked over to one side to stand in a group behind Octavia. There was so much going on around her that Adora almost missed Shadow Weaver making her way over to nudge the cadet towards the group of force captains.

“It’s time,” she said. “Hordak will approve your movement in rank, as well as your team, after this ceremony. You should make sure you pay attention because your group will need to know what’s at stake for you and for all of them, especially Catra.”

“I don’t understand. What’s supposed to hap-”

“That’s enough.” The hand gripping the back of her neck told Adora that questions were no longer an option. “This is one small matter to take care of and then you get everything you’ve been working for. All of these questions are just a waste of our efforts.”

Even if she wanted to consider one, Adora knew that there were no options left. She gave a small nod to keep from tearing her skin on Weaver’s nails and felt that iron grip release her. As she walked over to stand a few feet behind the other force captains, two of them walked forward and forced the soldier up to their feet again and kept a hold of each arm. It was obvious that this was being done to keep them standing and to keep them from running away. Both captains stood facing out to where the other soldiers shifted uncomfortably, but left the traitor facing Hordak’s throne.
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“The more you fight it, the worse it has to be.” Octavia’s words came out with a hint of a laugh as she walked back a few paces. “Try not to move too much. I’d hate to miss.”

There wasn’t much time for Adora to try and put the pieces together before Octavia shifted her right foot forward so that her body turned just slightly to the left. The top tentacle on her right side stretched so that it was laying straight out for a second. A smirk formed as the force captain shook it out one last time before raising it back and quickly bringing it back around.

CRACK

Adora was absolutely sure that she’d continue to hear that sound in her nightmares for years to come. She could only stand there in shock, with her fists shoved into her pants pockets, as a flash of green reached up and around before making contact with the back of the prisoner. The reaction was instantaneous when Octavia’s appendage met its mark and the force captains were forced to do their job and hold up the defector as their legs gave out. A red streak running from the soldier’s right shoulder down to their left hip appeared mere seconds later and the pieces of torn shirt around it began to turn red as well.

CRACK

It never occurred to the blonde to watch for another wind up, but Octavia already unleashed another damaging whip at the soldier who looks like they’re clinging onto their jailors for dear life. Their shirt is now barely clinging onto shoulder muscles and stuck in places where it had begun to soak up the blood seeping out of the fresh wounds.

“I don’t want to take up all the time we have,” Octavia said and she nodded to the two force captains holding up the traitor as she walked over towards where Adora and a few other captains still stood. “Besides,” she smirked, “we have a new captain who needs a turn. I’d hate for her to miss out.”

Adora refused to acknowledge the comments as she stared forward at the scene in front of her, but Octavia clearly wasn’t done. The larger woman stayed standing next to the blonde and only got closer as everyone watched the prisoner being forced down onto their knees by one captain. The other, who had been previously holding them up, now stood in front of them and used one hand to tip their face up into the dim light.

“I hear congratulations are in order.”

Octavia’s voice in Adora’s ear does nothing to muffle the sound of a fist making contact with the fugitive’s face. It doesn’t block out the cry of pain or obstruct the
view of blood now dripping onto the chamber floors.

“It’s an honor.”

The words are so rehearsed that Adora doesn’t even have to think about saying them, it just comes out. It’s a good thing too because she’s much too busy trying to comprehend and digest what’s happening in front of her. Though, there must be some sort of struggle in her voice because Octavia snorts at her reply. She doesn’t look over at the force captain. She can’t. Instead, she focuses on the wall on the other side of the chamber. Another captain has switched out to take their turn, but the prisoner has no one to hold them up any more.

“Sure,” Octavia says and nudges Adora forward with push to her back. “Unless someone screws it up for you. I’d hate to imagine how much more difficult this would be if...well nevermind.”

“If what?”

Adora knew that Octavia was only trying to egg her on. If the Horde had taught them anything it was to find weaknesses and exploit them, but Adora also learned how to hide her fear well. It never made sense to waste time on showing it.

“It’s your turn.”

Adora feels Octavia grip onto her arm and force her forward closer to where the soldier is now laying in a fetal position on the floor. Their breathing is raspy and it’s clear that the movement of their chest is almost too painful for them to bear. Octavia doesn’t pay any attention to those signs though as she pushes Adora out in front of them before kneeling down and jerking the prisoner up into a seated position. The blonde can see where blood from their face has now smeared onto Octavia’s hand and her stomach clenches up at the sight.

“Come on,” Octavia’s hands forced the fugitive to sit up straighter and the sudden movement caused Adora to take a jerky step backwards. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone now would we?”

Adora hated that she was so easily swayed by those words. Her hands, still balled up into fists, slip slowly out of the pockets on the sides of her pants.

“It’ll be over quick,” Octavia said, “and just think, after today Shadow Weaver won’t have to be the one to punish your little friend anymore. That’s what you want right?”

Adora can feel her body slowly go numb starting with her hands. It all plays out in her mind as she stands there staring down at her future. Catra with her hands cuffed kneeling in front of her and the other force captains as Lord Hordak reads off some small mistake as a huge tragedy. Adora will be standing there, next to Shadow Weaver, trying to figure out how she could have let this happen. The rest of her teammates will be standing off to the side, trying to get Kyle to stop sniffling because he knows what’s coming. They all do. Then Adora will have to stand out here once more, stare down the only person that makes her feel safe, and try to figure out how to hurt Catra enough so that no one else will be allowed to touch her, but not hurt her at all. Catra will probably laugh too and tell Adora to stop thinking and just follow orders because that’s what she’s good at. Nobody will try to stop her and that’s the part that makes her sick.

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“No.”

It’s quiet when she says it. Octavia immediately began to laugh, but Adora didn’t take any time to focus on reactions. She immediately turned and ran toward the entryway that had opened once the beating began. There’s laughter behind her and someone shouts out something, but all of it is muffled in Adora’s head as her legs push her further away from the situation.

Was she going to do it? Was she actually going to beat that person? Is that what she had been training for her whole life for? These questions raced through her head as images of the violence kept playing out in her mind. The sound of Octavia’s appendage, turned whip, cracking as it flashed across a white shirt that soon turned red. Jeers from the other captains as one pulled his leg back to kick it into the prisoner’s side. Blood dripped from their nose as they looked up at Adora through swollen eyelids. There hadn’t even been any fear in those eyes as they looked up at the cadet, they were just trying to wait it out by that point. She couldn’t deal with this right now. In fact, Adora didn’t know if she’d ever be able to process it.

When she finally took a second to look around her, the blonde realized that she had run straight back to her barracks. While she was too busy trying to determine what had just happened, her reflexes had kicked in and must have tried to get her somewhere safe. But looking down at her hands now, hands that nearly did gods know what to a stranger, Adora realized she wasn’t really safe. She’d just run out of the most important meeting of her life, or at least that’s what Shadow Weaver had kept saying beforehand.

Shadow Weaver knew.

It dawned on Adora just then and she was finally able to put the pieces together. Shadow Weaver knew what was coming. Her caretaker had known and had planned it all out, which meant that she had wanted Adora to follow through on the task. However, that meant that she had probably been watching the cadet the whole time and had probably seen her panic at the last second and run away. The blonde’s hands shook uncontrollably as she looked down at them. She was going to be in so much trouble.

Again, her body kicked into autopilot and she spun around to run over to the doors. It wasn’t much, but maybe it would buy her some time. Time for what exactly, she didn’t know. After the doors were pulled shut the only thing she could think to do with her time was to hide. Her bed was the only option available and it was the closest. She didn’t feel safe until every part of her was tucked under the blanket and then finally she cried. Nothing outside of that blanket existed as she finally let it all out, but then in the middle of it she was mentally yelling at herself to stop. After all, she wasn’t the one who had gotten hurt was she? She didn’t know what to do.

“Adora my dear there’s nothing to be afraid of, please come out.”

The voice makes her want to retch, but Adora doesn’t because she can’t tell from the sound if the woman is angry or not. A slender hand reached under the blanket, fingers bent upward as if to ask, as if she had a choice whether or not to follow those orders. Quietly, she grabbed the hand and slowly pushed the blanket back to reveal herself to her caretaker. A few tears still manage to fall before she can wipe them away and she can feel the coarse fabric of her blanket twisting between her hands. Just from the way that her guardian is looming over the bed tells the blonde that she’s not happy with her. She’s made mistakes before, but not like this.

“I’m sorry Shadow Weaver,” she says, still refusing to look up. “I was a coward. It was stupid of me and….and I won’t do it again.”

“Oh my dear sweet child,” a whimper slips out as a hand reaches down to brush blonde hair out of her face. Adora would have done anything to move away from that touch. “I’m glad that you understand and I know you’ll do better next time. After all, one day they’ll need someone else up there to take charge.”

“NO,” this time she looks up to see Shadow Weaver standing over her bed. The blood, the sounds, the wounds. It’s all replaying in her mind. “I can’t do th-that. Please there must be some mistake. I...I’m going to be a force captain not….not that.”

“Oh Adora that’s what only the best force captains do. They take charge of their soldiers, lead them to victory, and help them take responsibility for their actions.”

“Not like that,” she grabs Shadow Weaver’s hand between hers. “Please I can’t….I’m not ready. I won’t do it!.”

Her guardian’s hand brushes up the side of her face and reflexes cause her to lean into it. As she does this, Adora hates to admit it but something about the movement makes her feel better. A calm just washes over her and she’s too tired to fight it. Suddenly everything starts to feel warm, it’s nice, and she can feel her muscles relaxing. It’s getting warmer…..it’s too warm. Adora’s hand flails out for a second as she tries to pull Shadow Weaver off of her. Something’s wrong. She feels a prickling sensation by her ears. Suddenly the prickling feels like a stab to the head, her vision goes red, and that comforting warmth has turned into a heat that seems to choke out any air in the room.

“Hey idiot, it’s time to wake up.”

Adora could hear the sounds of things being moved near her, but the world around her cot didn’t really come into focus until she heard Catra’s voice. Now she could begin to register just how heavy her body felt and how her head seemed to have this never ending pulse of pain that spread through her brain in waves.

“Just give me a second….headache. I’ll be fine.”

“No.” Something heavy landed on the bed near where Adora’s legs were curled up under the blanket. “You need to wake up now and we need to go.”

The order got Adora’s attention, as did the tone of Catra’s voice. The blonde sat up quickly, but stopped for a second as she fought off a dizzy feeling before she started ruffling through the items that Catra’s thrown into her bag. Why is Catra packing their stuff like they have an off-base mission to leave for? Was there something in the timing round instructions that she missed?

“Go,” Adora was confused, “we’re not going anywhere today are we? I could have sworn all we had today was that third timing round. I’m not forgetting anything am I?”

When Catra’s bag dropped to the ground, Adora couldn’t help but flinch just slightly at the sudden noise. The sound wasn’t going to help the headache, but there was no point in trying to find some kind of pain relief. No matter, it wouldn’t be the first time Adora had dealt with a headache during a timed strategy round. Good thing she had already spent the last couple of weeks preparing for it. Sure her teammates thought it was a little over the top, but the cadet knew they wouldn’t be able to understand the nauseous feeling that gnawed at her insides until she came up with any and all possible plans.

“Adora….we already did the training round.” Catra’s voice cut through her thoughts. “We did that and then you left for a force captain meeting.”

As soon as she said it, Adora felt sick. No one was supposed to know she was going to that. Shadow Weaver had made her promise not to say a word about it to anyone. Consequences had been a promise if it slipped out.

“How did you hear about that?”

Catra looked scared. It might have been awhile since she had seen it, but Adora would have recognized that look on her face any time. She wanted to stand up and wrap Catra in a hug, but something about the way that the feline was looking at her told the blonde that maybe she was the problem. Something about Adora seemed to terrify her best friend.

“Adora,” Catra sat down and took Adora’s hand in hers, “you already went to the force captain meeting. You were gone for hours and then…” Adora watched, her eyebrows scrunched together as mismatched eyes seemed to check her face for something that obviously wasn’t there. “You ran back in here and Shadow Weaver came in after you. She did something, I don’t know what it was, but you fell right to sleep. Please Adora...how about we just go walk around for a bit?”

“Catra no,” Adora set her bag on the floor. It was too much information all at once. How did Catra know about the force captains meeting? What was this about Shadow Weaver doing something to her? Her gut instinct was to ask what they had done wrong, but she couldn’t even remember what they would have done. “I don’t get it. I don’t remember any of this. Th-the round with the bots, the meeting, and you said I ran away from Shadow Weaver? No this doesn’t make sense.” Catra squeezed her friend’s hand gently, trying to bring her back to the present. Adora looked down at it for a second before her eyes darted to the two bags still packed on the floor.

“I don’t know Adora. But please let’s just go and get some air and we’ll figure it out. I promise.”

“No no no.” Adora wasn’t listening anymore, she couldn’t. None of this was adding up and the way that Catra was talking only made the blonde feel crazier. Why could she know about all this and remember stuff that Adora could swear hadn’t even happened yet? Her nails digging into her skin and stinging her palms were the only things keeping her from tumbling over the edge. “There has to be a better explanation. I was probably just nervous or something and she wanted to make sure I didn’t ruin my chances...she knows I can get-”

“ADORA.”
Adora jumped and immediately stood up a little straighter as Catra’s irritation with her seemed to grow.

“She. Did. This. To. You. I don’t know what it was, but it was bad. Would you please just this once listen to me? Just let me help.”

The silence that followed seemed to suffocate them both for a moment. It was the way that Catra asked Adora to let her help that convinced the future force captain that maybe she was onto something. Catra never usually asked first, she just did whatever and Adora would try to figure it all out along the way, but not this time. For some reason, it also bothered Adora that her friend felt like she had to convince the blonde to do something. Hadn’t they made a promise to help each other no matter what? Catra was clearly ready to run to the ends of Etheria for her, why couldn’t she just believe her?

“....okay,” Adora said quietly. “Just...just for a few minutes and then we’ll figure out what to do from there okay?”

But they wouldn’t get that chance.

“Adora I tried to tell you this would happen one day.” Shadow Weaver made her presence known rather quickly. Catra tried to reach out and pull Adora back onto the bed, but their guardian’s shadow minions were too quick for the both of them. The blonde could only watch in fear as familiar terrors grabbed at Catra and pulled her down to the floor. It looked like they were trying to smother her as the woman reached over and jerked Adora over to her side. The nails digging into the skin of her upper arm were a silent warning. Stay quiet and maybe this will be over quickly.

“I had really hoped that letting you play around in those vents would be enough to keep you entertained and out of the way.” Shadow Weaver reached over with her other hand to gently nudge Adora’s chin to turn to face her mask. “It’s such a shame Adora had to pick a companion that would be willing to undo all of her hard work. All the time and energy I put into helping her.” Shadow Weaver’s grip on Adora’s face was unyielding and when the girl would try to jerk her head away, her guardian only held on tighter. There would surely be a bruise around the edge of her jawline later.

“So you did do something,” Catra gasped. Adora could hear her friend struggling to fight, but she couldn’t do anything. Whether it was magic or fear that had locked up all the muscles in her body, the blonde was stuck and all she could do was listen. “I’ll fix it. She’ll be fine. We’ll be okay.”

“Oh Catra. We both know you can’t really do anything here.”

When Shadow Weaver released her grip on Adora, the cadet struggled to keep herself from falling down. She would have tripped too if it wasn’t for the large red enclosure that stopped her from going anywhere. Adora froze as she waited for the pain to start, but it never came. It wasn’t until she opened her eyes once more and saw Catra’s lips moving that she realized she couldn’t hear anything. Their guardian was going to force her to watch in silence.

“I warned you, Adora. Over and over again I tried to help you and this is how you repay me? Letting this….filth convince you to leave after everything I’ve given you?” She can hear Weaver speaking, but all of her attention seems to be focused on the brunette. The sound of that witch’s voice seemed to echo from the inside of Adora’s mind as the older woman yanked Catra’s head back towards her by the scruff of her neck. “Didn’t I warn you what would happen to her if you couldn’t keep her under control?”

“Please, she was just worried! It was something wrong with me, she had nothing to do with it.”

Adora knew that she was saying something. Hell, she could feel herself forcing the air out as she yelled at the top of her lungs. Yet, no sounds came out. All she could hear was Shadow Weaver and her own breathing.

Catra’s head dropped slightly when the older woman let go of her neck. It looked like the two of them were talking, but Adora couldn’t tell what was going on. She could only watch in horror as Catra made an attempt to fight off the onslaught of shadows that were trying to pin her to the floor.

“Please, stop. I’ll do better I swear.”

“This is for your own good, Adora. If you can’t manage the problem on your own, then it’s time I take care of it.”

The shadows continued to wrap themselves around Catra’s limbs, hang off her shoulders, and wrap themselves around her neck as Adora’s vision got blurry from holding back tears. If she had just said no to her, then would Catra still be fighting for her life? Finally the feline’s body crashed to the floor when it seemed that Catra had become too tired to fight. A pair of mismatched eyes looked up at the blonde from their place on the floor. They weren’t glaring up at her with anger, but instead it looked like Catra was preparing to watch her die instead of the other way around.

“Come on now I’m sure if this all really meant something to you...if she mattered at all you would have tried harder right?”

Shadow Weaver reached through her magical barrier and caressed the side of Adora’s face as the young girl tried not to shake while she stood there. Those bright blue eyes refused to look anywhere but straight ahead of her, like Adora’s own little protest against what was happening to her.

“Catra,” finally she could hear herself and she didn’t know how much longer she had. “I’m so sorry. I should have just listened to you from the beginning. I swear I’m going to fi-”

She never got to finish her plea before the gentle hand against her cheek gripped at her face. Her body locked up and right before she lost consciousness Adora had the strangest feeling that she was falling.