Quicksand

“Boss Catra!” Her brow furrows in annoyance. 

“What?!” She snaps at the unlucky soul who desturbed her, ear twitching.

“Th-the last skiff has returned. You said to notify you as soon as it came back.” The goat girl, who somehow appointed herself Catra’s assistant and/or one of the upper commanders despite a lack of fighting skill, stands in the doorway.

“Right.” Her headache grows stronger. “Tell them I want a full report asap.” The girl scrambles out of the room to go fetch the scouting team. 

Why won’t this headache go away?!

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Adora rushes into the tent, but there’s no Horde emblem in sight - and not much in there either. Just a table, a radio, some weapons and armor. There is a large rug, and luckily, a sandy trail across it that stops near the corner. She pulls it up to reveal a trap door. 

So this is where they’re hiding it! This must be a really covert operation if there isn’t any insignia. 

She glances back to make sure the guard is still unconscious, then descends the ladder. The metal tunnel stretches out before her, torches lighting the way.

That’s very… unusual. Wouldn’t the Horde use lights? Like in the Fright Zone?

They throw moving shadows all about the passage, it makes Adora shiver. She sees a more steady light coming from off-shoots in the tunnel. Maybe the electric is down just at this entrance? Rowdy laughter echoes from down the hall, many voices talking and shouting over one another. She pulls her hood up to hide her face, then slips past the large room, unnoticed. 

Following the twists and turns of the underground maze, Adora can hear more voices up ahead.

“-the western towns are still basically defenseless, just a bunch of farmers. More Horde troops showed up along the eastern border. No activity from any hideouts except the northernmost post, said they’d run into some weird locals.”

“Run into? As in, they weren’t at their post?!” Adora’s eyes widen. She knows that voice, she’d know it anywhere.

“N-no Boss, the locals passed by while Jamath was scouting the perimeter.”

“Did he compromise the hideout position?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Tell your team to switch out the guards at the posts and bring him to me. You stay at base. I’ll get the truth if I have to strangle it out of him. GO!”

Adora quickly ducks behind some crates in the hall as someone scrambles out of the door ahead and runs at full tilt past her down the hall. Adora creeps closer to the doorway, and risks a quick peek inside. It’s a large, dimly lit room like most of the bunker is, a few boxes around the edges, a door on one wall, and a big table in the center. And there she is, Catra. 

Found you! Adora ducks back into her hiding spot feeling her heart rate bump faster in her chest, as though they were eight again playing a game of hide and seek. I knew she’d be here planning! Adora turns to sneak another look.

Catra’s standing at the helm of the table, weight on one leg with her head tilted back and one hand rubbing the bridge of her nose. She has dark circles under her eyes, but even so she’s beautiful. Her hair is now formed into big, long dreads, but still gives off the untamed mane look. Adora’s breath catches in her throat. She watches Catra’s tail swish as it does when she’s annoyed, but then it stops cold. Adora quickly ducks behind the door frame again, checking behind her to make sure she’s still alone. She turns back to the room, but Catra’s no longer there. Adora stands from her crouched position, and cautiously takes a step inside. 

Suddenly, Catra’s face is upside-down and an inch from hers. “Boo.” Adora yelps in surprise as Catra grabs her by her shirt, pulling her inside and shutting the door behind them. She gracefully drops from the ceiling into a crouched fighting position.

Adora throws off the cloak, grabbing her sword. “ForthehonorofGrayskull!” She says as quickly as she can - knowing that Catra was always faster than her (or anyone else for that matter) but as She-Ra, her improved strength helps in the fight. The transformation’s light brightens the room.

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The stupid scout scrambles out of the room as fast as she can, footsteps echoing down the hall. Catra takes a moment to breathe deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Idiots. All of them. No wonder my head hurts this bad.

She eases the pressure from her hand, inhaling again - that smell. She freezes. It’s coated lightly by the smell of horse and something musty, but Catra knows that scent. The one that comforted her as she drifted to sleep for so many years, the one that intoxicated her and urged her on during sparring, the one that told her when to expect a ‘surprise’ tickle attack. The one she used to hunt night after night, full of betrayal, pain, hope, and rage. Sometimes she dreamed about that smell. She hated how much feeling still came with it. But this time she wasn’t imagining, as it had wafted through the door in the wake of the scurrying scout. 

Great. Now we’re compromised anyways, and the princess squad is probably right behind her.

Catra opens her eyes to see a hood ducking behind the door frame. Oh no you don’t. 

She silently crosses the room, jumping to grab the support beam above the door. The scent grows stronger. She doesn’t have to wait long before Adora peeks around the corner, and then cautiously steps into the room. Swinging down with her knees holding her on the beam, she takes a split second to revel in the surprise on Adora’s face. “Boo.” Snatching the front of Adora’s shirt, she throws her into the room, dropping from the ceiling and kicking the door shut on her way down.

 The last thing I need is one of my members seeing She-Ra in my room, or a princess barging in to gang up on me.

“Hey Ador-” The transformation light is always so bright, with that dumb outfit showing off huge muscles and that stupid hair. “-a.” Dammit. That last syllable comes out as a whisper.

She-Ra now stands before the catgirl, pointing the sword of protection directly at her. Catra snaps back into fight mode, using the palm of her hands to push the flat of the sword away as she spins toward the giant woman. She finishes the spin with an ankle to the back of She-Ra’s knee, sending her down and away from Catra, in the same direction she had forced the sword. 

Catra jumps at the falling princess, but then sees She-Ra’s left hand coming in backwards to hit her, as she had used the sword to keep herself from falling. Catra braces for the impact, throwing her arms in an x to block her body from the hit. It connects and she crashes into the wall, thrusting her feet under her to land in a crouch.

“Long time no see, Catra.” Stupid dumb fucking annoy- Catra snarls and picks up pipe from the box behind her then jumps at the princess.

She-Ra catches the pipe with her sword, a loud clang exploding from the collision. “The Crimson Waste was a smart move - didn’t think we’d find you out here, did you?”

Catra laughs hollowly. “Ha. You say that like I had a choice.” She jumps backward, rotating to deliver sweeping a kick toward her opponent’s ankles. She-Ra jumps it, then reaches out to grab the foot as she lands, pulling Catra to the ground.

“Right, good little Catra just follows orders and totally isn’t the Horde’s second in command.”

Catra uses her other foot to kick at She-Ra’s face, slipping out of her grip and jumping back to her feet. She swings the pipe again, yet again connecting with the sword. 

“Oh Adora, always so clueless.” She sneers. “Those losers? They couldn’t keep up.” She bites back a laugh, settling for just a smirk as she watches the confusion play out on Adora’s face. She could practically see the wheels turning behind that dumb tiara.

“Wait…. You left the Horde?”