Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Entrapta yelps in surprise as a knapsack collides with her head. 

“Whatever fit in that is what you can take with you,” Catra says while prowling and marching up to Scorpia.

The taller woman lights up when she sees that her kitten’s come back safe. “Catra! Thank goodness, you’re here. I was so worried about you!!!”

For once, the feline delinquent doesn’t fight the other Force Captain’s bone-crushing hug. It’s not the most uncomfortable embrace she’s had today. “We’re leaving in three days” she says with no room for argument.

“Oh...Okay. But to where?”

“The Rebellion,” Catra sighs in defeat as she gives an almost-sneer.

A knowing look glints in Scorpia’s eyes as a smirk graces her lips. She renews her squeeze. “I’m so proud of you!” The coo in her voice is so sincere it's enough to make anyone Wretch.

The Magicat’s hackles raise not only at the extra embrace but- “You knew!?”

“You smelled like pain and despair when we retreated,” the white-haired Alpha’s smile turns sad. “You weren’t angry; you were heartbroken. And when I caught a whiff of a pregnant Omega....Well you weren’t really focusing on fighting anyone else out there.” 

That’s when Catra catches the barely suppressed scent of “heartbreak” as the bigger woman put it. 

All this time Catra’s tried her best to ignore the other Alpha’s crush. For what feels like the dozenth time today, she’s disappointed in herself. She knows how painful rejection is. The feelings practically imprinted on her DNA. “Scorpia…” What can she say at this point that wouldn’t make it worse? “Thanks…”

Scorpia releases her. “‘Course, Wildcat.”

Naturally, Entrapta undercuts the moment. 

“I’m afraid I’m lost,” she butts in. “Why are we leaving all this behind?” Her hands gesture wildly to the Technological haven they’ve come to know as their sanctuary.

Catra pinches the bridge of her nose and looks to Scorpia, “Can you? Because I can't deal with her right now.” She begins to move toward the exit.

“Sure but where are ya going?”

Heterochromatic eyes look over their masters’ shoulders, “I have another headache to deal with as long we’re still here.” They flash red before she continues to tomp out of the room.

Scorpia nods before turning to Entrapta with a smile, “You like tiny food, right Entrapta? Well, how would you like to get the chance to observe a tiny Catra!?” Her claws gesture outwards with wonderment and grandeur. 

“Go on,” Entrapta purrs with hearts in her eyes. 

The Force Captain chuckles. Even if people aren’t her thing, the Geek Princess is still an Omega at heart.

***

“Soups on,” Catra mutters. Then she proceeds to let said soup drop on the floor of her former teacher’s cell.

Shadow Weaver looks up at her, not exactly feeling loss at the chance to eat the food that strongly resembles septic sludge. That doesn't make the bit any less stale. “Why do you insist on delivering my meals to me, personally?”

“I just like seeing you in chains,” Catra shrugged.

Shadow weaver surprisingly lets loose the less menacing laughter her protégé has ever heard, "Be honest there’s another Omega you’d love to see in chains much more than I.”

“...”

The Sorceress leans back against the wall of her cage. 

Silence passes for a few seconds too long and Catra doesn’t know why she lets it slip, “I’m getting out of here.” In response, Shadow weaver does something that makes the younger woman’s fur stand on end.

So removes her mask and looks at her with her own eyes, “So you finally realized it, did you?”

Catra’s eyes explode with Crimson, “Why did everyone else know about my cub before me?!”

“You were distracted,” the witch supplies while smiling ruefully. “I have experience with that too. Calm down; know one else knows.” 

“How could you tell? It had to have just happened before Adora left!” 

“We Omegas know almost immediately when we’ve been inseminated. Adora’s heir had changed. There was a nervousness, one that was fairly obvious to one of her own kind.Why did you think I was trying so hard to get her back?” 

“Why didn’t you say anything?!” 

“It wasn’t my place Omega’s don’t always choose their cubs father,” Shadow Weaver says with a gentle veil overcoming green and distorted eyes, “but we have the right to choose what to do about it and who knows about it.” 

Catra’s hackles lower at the softness in her mentor’s voice. Why didn’t she show that softness to her in all these years. “Why did you treat me the way you did?”

“I see myself in you,” the witch hums thoughtfully. “I wasn’t born to power like Adora was. I had to struggle, to fight for it. I didn’t see why it should be different for you.”

“Don’t compare us!” Catra punches the cell wall. “I am nothing like you! You are bitter, old, and weak!!!” Red eyes stare at the woman through clawed fingers. 

“Would you like to point out that the sky is red, next?” The hag chuckles. She turns her mask over in her hands for a moment. “But you may actually be right. Unlike me, you choose to grip what is truly yours with your own hands. Not for power, but for home.” The witch takes the burden of standing up for what feels like the first time in a long time. “How do you plan on leaving?”

Catra has to shake away the stupor of her "mother"-figure’s words, “I’m going to meet Sparkles in the Whispering Woods 3 nights and 2 days from now. What’s it matter to you?” She spits.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Like hell-”

“I have a way of getting us out of here that doesn’t involve the risk of being shot at.”

The cat Growls in frustration because that honestly sounds like a really tempting offer, “Let’s say I believe you, that I trust you-” Fat Chance. “-what do you get out of this besides the obvious? Nothing is ever straight-forward with you.” 

“Yet another thing we share,” Shadow Weaver teases before her eyes start brimming with determination . “There’s someone I have to see with my own eyes besides Adora. Until I do, I can’t allow myself to die.”

The Magicat’s a bit confused as well as skeptical. “Did you used to screw Angella?” Seems like a power move the witch would have made. 

The ominous woman snorts, bemused. “Fanciful thinking! No, no. But it is someone just as invaluable to the Rebellion. They’re going to want to find him just as badly.”

Catra actually considers it in spite of her scoff. As much as she doubts Shadow Weaver deserves to leave here, she’s not in a position where she can afford to turn down anything that could butter up the rebels at this point. She nods.

“Alright, old-woman. Let’s go catch up with the blonde dork.”

Chapter Text

The time limit Glimmer gave Catra’s just about up. Tonight’s the night. Which is why they're here. Shadow Weaver free of her cell and drawing some shit on the ground, Scorpia standing by to take up the Black Garnet’s power, Entrapta doing whatever she wants, and Catra knowing what she wants for the first time in a while. 

Scorpia pushes her pincers together. She looks at the shorter Alpha,"Are you sure about this? I haven't actually been, you know, a Princess in...ever."

Catra  answers instead,“I'm as sure about this as I can be sure that we can trust Shadow Weaver." She’s leaned rigidly against the wall, it’s about the only indication she’s nervous. Her eyes intensely focused on her former tormentor. Shadow Weaver continues to draw whatever freaky sigil she’s placing around the Black Garnet.  She knows that the mage knows she’s watching.

The Scorpion Princess’ brow creases,"Yeah, I was meaning to ask you: Can we trust Shadow Weaver?"

Catra pretends to be on the fence before answering, “Not really. But that doesn't matter; You, Entrapta, and I have her outnumbered."It really doesn’t matter what Scorpia thinks; she has to do. 

"On my gods, you believe in me!  It's too precious! I can't take it!" She doesn’t waste a second before initiating another iron-vice hug.

Catra’s bones. Her bones !!! "You drag regret out of me... so quickly...!!!" She sputters.

"Can't hear ya! Too happy!"

Finally standing up and brushing herself off, Shadow Weaver chimes in, "I hate to break up this precious Shiekah-Slate Moment, but Hordak and company aren't so incompetent that they won't notice I'm missing from my cell eventually."  She faces them with unnervingly calm eyes. 

Catra can’t guess what she’s thinking even without her mask. 

Those green eyes of hers look around suspiciously. “Where’s the purple one-

“-Present!”

Entrapta’s sudden appearance out of the ether nearly sends the Dark Mage to the floor in surprise. “I packed the bare essentials as requested!” She says dutifully from her place atop Emily, fourshing a backpack twice her size. Emily beeps in what seems to be Excitement.

Shadow Weaver shakes her head to combat the adrenaline shock. With a new desperation to get this over with, she points her claw at Scopia. “You; you’re up.”

“Oh..Oh-right!” Scorpia stutters. “What do I-You know-do?”

“Touch the Black Garnet, feel its power course through you and accept it,” the Weaver says slowly. As though she were talking to a child. The teacher in her can’t quite help it. Granted Scorpia has impressed her in the past, but she really can’t leave this up to chance. “I will take care of actually guiding the energy.” 

The platinum blonde almost jumps when she feels a hand on her shoulder. 

Catra’s next to her, trying and failing to hide her embarrassment,  “You can do this.”

“When Scorpia connects to the Black Garnet, everyone needs to grab a hold of each other,” Shadow Weaver instructs. 

Stepping up, the Scorpion soldier takes a deep breath before placing a pincer on the crystal. It’s cold. But there’s something underneath that feeling. Like a dull heartbeat underneath layers of earth. She keys in on it as if following the signal from a long lost friend. Within, she reaches deeper and deeper, until it feels like she’s grasped something. 

Her eyes snap open, charged with crimson power and crackling static dancing over her skin. “Wow…” is all she can say. 

Shadow Weaver grasps her shoulder confidently. She can’t help but wear the smirk of someone reunited with a lost lover. The surge pulsing within her flesh feels as warm as ever. For the first time in a long time, she feels hope. For atonement, for the future, for home.

 Her free hand opens towards Catra. 

The Magicat stifles a growl in her throat before she remembers she has no real choice. She takes it with disgust. Her spine only relaxes when Entrapta’s hair wraps itself around her free hand. For a brief moment she reflects that the warm and caring energy of the Black Garnet matches the bigger Force Captain perfectly.

Then everything is gone.

*****

Damn! Damn!! Damn!!!

She knew better! She knew better , but she still let it happen! For the briefest moment, she allowed her focus to change. That’s why-

Ugh! Where are the other two? Surely they didn’t get sent there as well!?

Shadow Weaver angrily stalks through the Whispering Willows, looking for any sign of her fellow misfits. She only stops when she hears bizarre murmuring coming from a bush. Her hands move the foliage away to reveal, Entrapta and Scorpia fast asleep and cuddling each other. 

One of Entrapta’s snores gets caught in her throat and she coughs. Without even waking up, Scorpia kisses the top of her head to make calm again. The scientist nuzzles into her comrades chest sweetly. Such a picture of happy bliss.

And completely disgusting.

An unceremonious kick to the ribs disturbs whatever peaceful dreams might have been. 

“Get up, you fools! Catra is missing!” The former Horde lieutenant howls scornfully.

True to her instincts, Scorpia shoots wide awake. “Huh? Wildcat? Where is she?!” Her pincer pulls Shadow Weaver face to face with her, her eyes are free of sleep and bright red with her Alpha nature.

“Some place we can’t reach her without help from the Rebellion,” the Mage sighed. 

“Which is?” Entrapta pipes up, without a trace of lethargy. 

The Weaver regards her with but a glance. The girl’s not one to focus on her feelings, but they’re there.

“She’s-”

“Oi!” A new voice breaks in. “What’s with all the noise and whatnot!?” A purple-magenta...something comes out of the bushes towards them. It’s got a basket and an expression that says they may or may not know where they are.

The three silently regard this spectacled,  goblin-like hermit before Shadow-Weaver speaks up. 

“Who the Hell are you?”

*****

Fuck her! Fuck her!! Fuck her!!!

Wherever this place is, Catra hasn’t been here for five minutes. But that was more than enough time to realize three important things.

One, this isn’t the Whispering Willows.

Two, Shadow Weaver backstabbed her again!

And Three, everything here wants to kill her! 

Hence her running from the pack of cute but evil things chasing her. True, traversing the wild terrain comes natural to her. Which isn’t saying much because the same is true for the whatevers tailing her. If she ever sees Shadow Weaver again she’s going to turn her inside by her ass! 

First, she needs to survive. Easier said than done.

I'm getting tired...

As if responding to her thoughts, a bolt of pink energy wizzes past her and nails one of the quadruped freaks, making it crumple and the rest pause. 

Catra tilts her head at the unlikely rescue. That energy. It can’t be. She looks in the direction it came from. “Sparkles?”

Instead of Brightmoon’s Princess stepping forward, it’s a raggedy looking hooded figure. He throws a pot-shot bolt at the crowd on miscreant creatures and they stall. Eventually, their growling yields a decision. They retreat into the many shadows the canopy provides. 

He turns his attention to Catra who tenses, more than ready for a one on one. A masculine hand removes the hood, revealing a hard-edged man who looks...kinda old. His face isn’t giving away anything.

Catra’s muscles are still ready to go on her command but she doesn’t attack. Instead, she sees something in this man, something familiar. This man-his aura reminds her of Shadow Weaver despite him looking nothing like her. The raw power of it, at least. Another moment passes before they simultaneously break the silence. 

“Who the Hell are you?”

Chapter Text

“Could you cool it with the pacing? I’m sure she’ll turn up.”

"She had better!" Glimmer gnashes her teeth.

Beside her, Bow’s just hoping that his face looks more confident than he feels. They're so close to giving Adora something resembling faith. It would hurt to find it’s not there. He’s tired of seeing the Omega mope around with her belly pump, looking like she’ll shatter if someone pokes her too hard. He hates it! 

And Bow loves almost everything!  

Still, it’s not a lost cause just yet. He turns to the rest of their party," You guys didn't have to come." 

"Uh, yeah we did,” Mermista rolls her eyes. “We needed to make sure Glimmer didn’t do something stupid, and leave Adora a widow.” Her tongue clicks. “And Sea Hawk-” she points to the man in question, “has his own reasons.”

“I cannot sit by and let another broken home be made before my eyes,” he says with a breaking voice and glossy eyes. With defiance, he shouts to the sky, “You hear me, Ma!? Look at me now!”

While Sea Hawk has his episode, Perfuma chimes in, “Adora’s our friend too! When one of us suffers, we all do.” That was something the She-Ra taught her that she wishes she’d known sooner. 

Frosta nearly bowls her over as she brandishes her ice gauntlets, "And if we get ambushed, I get to smash things!" Her smile would look creepy and wrong on most other children. 

“Speaking of which,” Mermista cuts back in, “Why are we still standing here? We should be going to them. It’s been, like, two hours already. Let’s just go get her and drag her back here.”

“What makes you so sure that she’s out there?” The marksman can’t help but inquire. 

“I heard bits and pieces of their fight at the Sea Gate,” Mermista smirks sardonically. “Cat-girl has it bad~ .”

Frost has her own viewpoint on it, “Their fight at the dance was like watching a boy torment the girl they like because they don’t know what else to do.”

Bow takes Glimmer’s hissing as a sign to get the conversation back on track. “The Whispering Woods are hard to get through when they’re not trying to mess with you,” he reasons.  They could have gotten lost on the way here.”

Glimmer stops and stares into the Whispering Woods, hands placed firmly on her hips,“I’m tired of waiting.” 

Frosta grins manically, “Yes! Horde Hunting!” 

“Just a reminder, Frosta:we want to bring Catra back alive ,” Perfuma chides with her tree-hugging lilt. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure!”

Glimmer narrows her eyes sharply, “Frosta…”

“I’ll behave. I promise,” Frosta puts her hands up in defeat with drooping shoulders. The older Alpha’s been way more rigid as of late. 

Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) who goes running off first, “Emotionally-validating Advent-ure~!”

Followed by Mermista, “Get back here, you dumb Himbo!”

Then Frosta, “Face-pounding!” 

Then Perfuma, “Save some for me!”

Scowling Glimmer jogs behind Bow, Moaning, “Why are all our friends like this?”

“Because they look up to you!” The pretty-boy Omega beams.

“Remind me to smack you later,” Glimmer begrudgingly smiles. 

At least they’re all making regrets together.

*****

Thank you so much , my beloved daughter, for leaving me alone with your pregnant mate.

It’s such a pathetic situation that Angella can’t even really be mad. Adora, with her progressively swollen belly, is wrapped up in cover after cover on Glimmer’s bed. It’s hard to see much more than her blue eyes looking out into the Whispering Woods longingly. The Queen is perched on the edge of the bed, hands folded in her lap. The epitome of being helplessly strong. 

She-Ra's quiet voice barely reaches her ears, “Is Glimmer punishing me?” 

The Queen’s insides lurch at the helplessness in her soldier’s voice. This Adora, so painfully and obviously an Omega, breaks the Queen’s heart as an Alpha and a mother. “No, dear,” Angella shakes her head. “She loves you so much that she’d do anything for you. She wouldn’t be gone if that weren’t the case.”

“So it’s my fault if she doesn’t come back!?” 

No, no, no! Not tears!

Not tears!

“That’s not what I meant!” Angella flusters. Now she see’s why Glimmer didn’t tell Adora anything specific. It would be so much worse.  “She’s coming back! She promised.” A thought makes her frown deeply. Letting go isn’t proving that much easier for Angella but she understands that and Alpha’s nature usurps any other construct. They definitely would have come to blows if she tried to make Glimmer stay. Her daughter wouldn’t let her live it down if she made her submit in front the court. 

She gently coaxes Adora’s head onto her lap, hoping her gentle pats will calm her. The blonde at least starts slacking up a little. Though her whimpers aren’t that reassuring. “She’ll be back in due time,” Angella promises. 

If Glimmer makes her out to be a liar, she’s grounded. Even if she’s just a corpse. 

*****

“ Adora ~!!” Of all the complications the Dark Mage was ready to run into, this creature wasn’t one of them. 

“Yes- Mara -! Why do you keep yelling at me!?”

Good news! The purple lady knows Adora. Bad news! It’s unclear if she knows much else. 

Shadow Weaver and her have been arguing for what feels like hours. She and Entrapta share a glance before looking up at the sky. Observing the position of the Moons, it’s definitely past Midnight. Glimmer could have easily given up on them by now. 

As if reading their minds, Shadow Weaver tries to get them back on track, “Listen...You!”

“It’s Madame Razz!” The hermit says while adjusting her spectacles. “I’ve said that already! At least to one version of you…” She scratches her chin sheepishly.

I can feel the veins in my forehead thickening , Shadow Weaver notes, “Can you lead us to ‘Mara’, or can’t you?”

“Of course!” Razz bachs. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

The former Horde soldier literally gags on her own angry bile, “Then let’s go …!”

Razz turns and inadvertently smacks Shadow Weaver with her broom handle. 

“Okie-dokie!” Scorpia wraps her arm around the seething Sorceress, “Temp Super Pal Quartet, away!”

Scorpia drags her old boss behind her with Entrapta and Emily in tow. 

She’s determined to pretend this is fun even if it's the last situation she wanted to be in. With the last person she wanted to be in it with. 

Please be okay, Wildcat. 

If she isn’t, the Scorpion Princess will kill Shadow Weaver herself..

*****

“Ow!!! What’s your Problem,dude!?” Catra growls, panting. 

The stranger’s staff is holding her against the tree. He took the advantage just barely. The claw marks all over him are proof. 

“My problem,” the stranger breathes out raspily. “Is that you're a Horde Soldier!” His eyes fixated on her Force Captain badge with a mad gaze.

Catra curses herself for not throwing it away. It didn’t even work here! Something she found out almost immediately.  She knows why she still has it: it’s what she has instead of Shadow Weaver’s approval. It’s about as shitty as she is. “ Former Horde Soldier!”

“Same difference!”

“Think about it, moron!” The Magicat roars. “If I’m so valued, why am I here with you!?” Thinking about it, this man has been trapped here for quite a while if his beard and everything else are any indication. This is a Horde Prison of sorts. And there’s only one holding facility that’s outside the Fright Zone. Catra would shutter if she wasn’t so concerned over showing weakness.

Her argument at least gives the old-man wizard pause. “Neither of us want to be here,” she pushes, “you clearly haven’t had much luck getting off Beast Island alone. So why not try it with someone?” 

His eyes glaze over, something that happened more than a couple times in their fight, Catra notes. Everytime he came back around, he came at her twice as hard. He comes back to the present and backs off her with a grunt. 

Catra sputters as she’s no longer burdened by his force, “Now that we’ve beat eachother up,” she snarls. “How about real introductions?”

The stranger laughs harshly, “So I’m that much of a footnote to the Horde am I?” Smiling ruefully, he offers an explanation. “I’m the only successful P.O.W. from Brightmoon: King Micah.”

He offers his hand to her hunched over form.

 “Nice to meet you, Horde-Scum!”