Quicksand

A month has passed. Three weeks ago, the alliance switched to the offensive, taking back towns and pushing their borders further into Horde territory. Along the way, they’d recruited many soldiers, each willing to help the rebellion protect their homes. On their way back from another successful run, Adora spots a Horde group along a path through the forest. “Ha ha! They’re in retreat!” Shouts Glimmer. The three of them ride on Swift Wind’s back as he sails through the sky, and are headed back home.

“Wait! Swifty, bring us in.”

“What are you doing?” Glimmer squeaks.

“Um, Adora? We won, and we don’t have enough guest rooms for that many prisoners.” Bow adds.

“Yes buuuut this could be a good intel grab!” With no new information on the Horde’s plans, and no sign of Catra in months, Adora is determined to check it out. They swoop down on the path ahead and wait to ambush the unsuspecting troop. 

On Adora’s count they spring into action, Bow taking the rear with Glimmer and Adora on the flanks. It quickly devolved into chaos, soldiers running in every direction, trying to get into the transport that held their weapons. Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle jump out, ready to defend their position. 

“Adora! What the hell??”

“Oh hey guys!” She-Ra replies, throwing three soldiers over her shoulder. “Just dropping by, wanted to ask how you’re doing, see what you’ve been up to-” She quickly ropes up the fallen soldiers and shoves them toward Swift Wind to put them with the others next to the transport.

“We’re not telling you anything!” Lonnie shouts defiantly. Kyle lightly taps her shoulder. “What?!” she snaps at him before realizing that the three of them are surrounded. Kyle swallows loudly and Rogelio lets out a low growl. 

She-Ra levels her sword at them. “What is Catra planning?” Lonnie starts laughing, making Adora knit her eyebrows in confusion. “What?”

Lonnie wipes a tear from her eye. “You’ll never find her.”

“Where. Is. She.” Bow and Glimmer shoot each other a worried look.

“No one knows, not since Hordak sent her into the Crimson Waste.” The Horde comrades all look down for a moment, but She-Ra is too busy to notice. 

“See? Was that so hard?” She throws a rope around them, then grabs Glimmer and Bow onto Swift Wind. “Thanks guys! See you soon!” and they take off.

“Adora? They didn’t even tell us what the Horde’s planning!” Glimmer points out while tightly gripping Bow to maintain balance during their quick ascension.

Bow nods. “Glimmer’s right, I think we may have ditched too early.”

“Pshh!” Adora waves her hand nonchalantly. ”We got everything we need. A cat in the desert? She can’t be that hard to find.” 

“But there’s no way that Catra would tell us what’s going on!” Glimmer huffs. She never did like Catra.

“We don’t need her to! She’s second in command now according to Shadow Weaver, so she’s going to be in the middle of whatever we need to know about.” Adora’s determination is practically palpable.

“I hope you’re right.” Bow says, sharing another worried look with Glimmer. She-Ra doesn’t turn around, confidence and adrenaline speeding her thoughts.

As it turns out, the rest of the princess alliance agreed with her friends. Adora tries to convince them that a mission to the Waste is critical, but to no avail. No one else seems to think that it’s as important as Adora does, or they don’t believe that Lonnie was telling the truth.

Why can’t they see? Catra’s always got something up her sleeve, and if she’s been working on it for this long then it HAS to be important!

“Fine.” Adora says, standing. The room goes quiet. “At least let me go. Swifty and I can just run a quick scouting mission to see if there’s Horde activity in the area. If not, then no biggie. If there is, we’ll come back and let you all know.” She looked around the room, most members were uncertain, but either nodding or shrugging their approval of her suggestion.

“Then it’s settled. You and Swift Wind will leave in the morning and return to us to report what you’ve found.” Angella stood. “In the meantime, we should all get some rest. Congratulations again to all of you on today’s success.”

Adora can hardly sleep all night, anxious thoughts of what Catra and the Horde might be up to keep interrupting her attempts at sleep. The next morning, Bow and Glimmer hug Adora tight. “Be careful, and don’t start any fights without us!”

Adora smiles. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it!” And with that, she takes off.

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The morning is beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. Adora notices the impressive view, but can’t bring herself to enjoy it as much as she would’ve liked. Her body is filled with buzzing anticipation about what the day may bring. As they approach the heat of the desert, Swift Wind begins descending. “Hey! We’re almost there, why are we landing here?”

“If this is a stealth mission, you’re gonna need some new clothes. Also, I’m hungry and I can smell the hay from here.” Swifty calls over his shoulder.

Adora sighs. “Fine, just a quick pit stop. Then, to the Waste!”

They land by a small path on the outskirts of a small town. The farmers give them weary glances as they pass, making Adora knit her brow in confusion and concern. A group of Horde soldiers round the corner on the path ahead, and Adora grabs Swift Wind. They duck behind a haystack until the patrol is out of sight. 

“That was close.” Swifty observes. 

Adora nods in agreement. “Looks like we’ll have to keep a low profile here.” 

The pair stops at a supply shop toward the edge of town, Swift Wind nibbling at the grass outside while Adora enters. Inside, the shop is dimly lit, most of its shelves bare or broken. “Whoa, it looks pretty cleared out in here…” The shopkeep glances up from where he’s sweeping up broken glass. He looks at her for a moment, deciding whether she poses a threat, before responding.

“It’s those damn bandits. Every few weeks they ransack our town, taking everything that isn’t nailed down and breaking whatever is. Between them and the Horde demanding half our harvest, it’s been tough living.” The glass clinks as it’s swept into a dust pan.

“I’m really sorry about that.” Adora places a bland cloak and a small bag on the counter along with some coins for payment. “Just a completely unbiased traveler’s wondering but: have you contacted the Rebellion? They can help fight the Horde and the bandits! They’ve freed over thirty towns in the past month!” Thirty is an exaggeration but it had to be close to that by now.

“And drag ourselves into the front lines of a war we didn’t start and don’t want any part of?” He takes the coins and slides her new belongings back. “No thanks.”  

Adora opens her mouth to argue more, but Swift Wind pokes his head in the door. “Are you ready yet?”

“Coming!” She stuffs her red jacket into the bag and throws the cloak over her shoulders before running after Swift Wind, leaving a stunned shop owner to ponder if he had really just witnessed a horse talk.

Within minutes they were flying over nothing but sand dunes and canyons, the warm color palette matching the heat. This is so much faster than walking. Adora muses, thinking back to the last time she was here.

“On a mission to the Crimson Waste! Here to look for a Horde scheme! It’s so hot I wish it were a dream~!”

“Swifty!”

“What?”

“Stealth.”

“Oh, right.” He continues humming quietly. Another hour passes with no sign of any Horde activity. Adora considers going to a town to ask the locals, but then thinks better of it when she remembers her experience at the tavern. 

“What’s that?” Swifty asks, nodding his head toward the horizon. A small, moving dot could be seen, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. As they get closer, Adora recognizes the sound.

“It’s a skiff!” 

“Is that what we came here for?”

“No, but it’ll lead us to base! Follow it!” And so they did.