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Glimmer was really, really starting to regret taking Catra as a hostage.
She could hear Catra behind her, chuckling with glee as Bow struggled to keep the bound Horde general from falling. If Glimmer had been in his place, she would have just let her hit the ground. With how annoying she was trying to be (and succeeding), she deserved it. Honestly, Glimmer wasn’t sure what was worse: facing Catra as a fearsome opponent in combat, or dealing with Catra as an unbearable nuisance. She was beginning to think she would rather fight her than have to deal with this, though.
It didn’t take long before Glimmer stopped in her tracks and spun on her heels to face Catra and Bow, her mind made up.
“Bow, you go ahead to Brightmoon and tell them that we’ve captured a Horde general,” she said. “I get the feeling they’ll need a heads-up,” she added, glaring at Catra, who was looking just as smug as ever. Bow hesitated for a second, before nodding, and with that, he took off through the woods ahead of Catra and Glimmer.
“Wanted me all to yourself, princess?” Catra teased, lying face up on the dirt. It was then that it really struck Glimmer: she was alone, in the Whispering Woods, with no one around but Catra. Some part of her had known that before she asked Bow to go ahead of them, and that part of her actually did want to get Catra alone. But Glimmer wasn’t ready to deal with that yet, and so replayed the excuse of warning the Rebellion of her newfound hostage in her head, replayed it so many times that it buried those thoughts. That was something to acknowledge another day.
Glimmer, not wanting to give Catra the satisfaction of a response, simply grabbed the end of the ropes binding Catra and continued to drag her through the grass, trudging through the trees.
“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” Catra goaded her. It was getting really hard now to not hit her across the face, or at the very least reply with something cutting. That comment on Adora leaving her and not the Horde earlier seemed to have done the trick, but a sense of guilt stopped Glimmer from going there again. She wasn’t Catra. She was a princess, and she wouldn’t stoop to that level.
“Do you talk this much with every person who holds you hostage?” Glimmer asked, keeping her gaze fixed straight ahead.
“You’re the first,” Catra said. “Then again, you’re also the first person to take me hostage, so there’s not much competition.” For a few seconds, neither of them said anything, and the woods were quiet except for the sounds of Glimmer’s footsteps and Catra’s body being dragged through the dirt.
Glimmer knew what she wanted to say to her, and against her better reasoning, she opened her mouth and asked, “What was it like? Growing up with Adora, I mean.”
Glimmer wasn’t facing Catra, but she didn’t need to be to know that Catra’s expression had changed. She could feel the drop in the air behind her, going from teasing to something...darker.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Catra muttered after a moment or two, her voice considerably more subdued than before. Glimmer, deciding not to press what was clearly a sensitive subject any further, continued to walk through the grass. For some reason, the silence felt awkward now, and it was uncomfortable. Glimmer knew she probably shouldn’t care so much about how her hostage felt. but she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for Catra. She didn’t know an awful lot about life in the Fright Zone, but she had met Shadow Weaver, and if she had been raised by her just like Adora had, it couldn’t have been a great childhood.
“Adora is….she’s a great person, you know,” Glimmer added. “I just don’t understand how you can hate her so much.”
“Of course you don’t. You’re a princess, after all,” Catra spat, the sharp edge of her voice cutting. “With your castle and your Rebellion and your...your…” Catra trailed off, but not for long. “What with the life you princesses live, you could never understand what it’s like to have someone like her leave you, for some fancy, sparkly friends she met an hour ago.” Glimmer stopped, turning around to look at her hostage. Now she wasn’t annoyed; she was angry.
“Would you stop acting like you’re the only person in Etheria who’s lost someone? Because you’re not . In all those battles the Horde fights, thousands of people have lost their loved ones. But Adora’s different. She chose to leave you, she chose to leave the Horde.” Glimmer turned back around, gripping the end of the rope. “Most people don’t get that choice.”
As Glimmer started to pull on the rope and walk forward, she stopped. The rope had gone limp, like there was no weight on the other end.
Spinning around, Glimmer came face to face with Catra, who had somehow freed herself and left the ropes binding her in tatters on the ground. She didn’t look smug, not like she had before. She looked mad, teeth bared and eyes narrowed.
Glimmer had barely lifted her hands to defend herself before she was tackled and pinned to the ground. She struggled to breathe, the air having been knocked out of her lungs from the impact. Catra, who was pressing Glimmer’s shoulders into the ground, leaned down and glared at Glimmer. If looks could kill, Glimmer would have been dead several times over.
“Listen here, princess, ” Catra growled, voice low and dangerous. “Adora is mine. She always has been, and she always will be. So you and your little Rebellion friends can do whatever you want with her, because it will never change the fact that I was her best friend. Not. You.”
When Catra didn’t get off of Glimmer, a wave of dread hit her. She was going to hurt her, or worse. Stars, why did she think it was okay to ask Catra about Adora? She had known they had history, and that it hurt to talk about it: she had already tried to ask Adora something similar. But now she was going to be ripped to shreds, and it was going to be her own fault. Glimmer squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the pain.
But Glimmer didn’t feel claws on her skin next. Instead, she felt lips on hers, and it was in that moment that both Glimmer’s heart and her train of thought stopped in its tracks. It took a second to process that this was really happening right now, and she didn’t know what to do. How could you be prepared for something like this?
Catra pulled away, looking at Glimmer with darkened eyes. And then she leaned in for another. And another. And another. It was aggressive, pressing Glimmer into the dirt with her body as she pinned Glimmer’s hands against the ground. Adrenaline started pumping through Glimmer’s body, and as her heart pounded in her chest, she found herself kissing back, pressing up into Catra as best she could in her position. This seemed to only spur Catra on, as she pressed into Glimmer harder, and in Glimmer’s head, she couldn’t help but see it as an attack. This kiss wasn’t supposed to be two-sided. It was supposed to be a fight, and Catra was determined to win.
After what must have been several minutes, Catra finally pulled away, leaving Glimmer gasping for air. Catra was breathing hard, too, her chest rising and falling in quick breaths. While Glimmer’s mind was still trying to adjust to what had happened, her body was reacting for her.
Catra let go of one of Glimmer’s hands, reaching down and putting one claw underneath Glimmer’s chin as she stared intently into her eyes.
“Mine,” she whispered.
And with that, Catra left. She stood up and took off into the forest, leaving Glimmer on the ground, catching the last bits of her breath as her brain caught up with what was happening. She got to her feet, scanning the treeline, but she was too late, and there was no sign of where Catra had gone.
And as Glimmer made her way back to Brightmoon, she couldn’t help but wonder who Catra was referring to: Adora, or Glimmer.