Chapter Text
Castaspella wasn't even sure what had drawn her to this part of the Whispering Woods. It was late, and the spell components she'd needed to gather were already safe in her basket. But the night was lovely, clear and cool, and Casta wasn't really all that tired. She walked just to walk, barely noticing that the air was growing darker, the woods denser around her. Soon she tasted smoke in the air, and she paused. Were those the outlines of towers she saw through the trees? She shuddered. Without even realizing it, she'd almost crossed into Horde territory.
Casta quickly turned to leave. As powerful as she knew she was, the idea of being caught out here alone with the Horde was still a terrifying one. How could she have been so careless? Oh, the lecture Micah would give her if he knew--
Casta bit back a startled scream as a strange wailing noise went up from somewhere in the bushes behind her. Logic told her to run -- what if that noise was an alarm of some kind? -- but something deeper told her to stay. The noise almost sounded like...crying. Casta hesitated, looking behind her. The wailing paused for a moment, then came back even louder. Whatever was making the sound clearly needed help. Steeling herself, Casta turned and headed toward the sound.
A splintery-looking wooden crate sat in a small clearing between the edge of the Woods and the Horde's camp. The word "APPLESAUCE" was stamped in large red letters on one side. As Casta drew closer, it became evident that the wailing was coming from this crate. An absurd image briefly popped into Casta's head of a screaming jar of applesauce, and she shook her head to rid herself of the thought. Glancing up quickly to ensure no Horde soldiers were coming, Casta darted forward and stared into the crate.
It was a baby. As far as Casta could tell, it was mostly human, but a thin, soft coating of golden-brown fur coated its skin, and Casta could see tiny, sharps fangs inside its screaming mouth. Large, dark-furred feline ears were pinned flat against the child's head as it cried, and a dark, bristling tail waved behind it.
"Oh, you poor thing," Casta gasped, pulling the child from the crate and swaddling it in her cape. The crying quieted to a soft whimpering, and large, slit-pupiled eyes blinked open and up at Casta -- the left golden-yellow, the right brilliant blue, and both reflecting the dim light of the night in a rather eerie way. Casta pulled her gaze away from the baby to search the clearing for any sign of the mother, but the clearing was empty, save for three Horde soldiers coming toward her.
Three Horde soldiers?
One of them, a large octopus-woman, started to yell out some kind of warning, but Casta fired off three stunning spells and ran before the woman could finish talking. It didn't last long, though. Casta could hear them crashing through the woods behind her, and her pace quickened. She had to lose these soldiers before they found Mystacor!
Casta had the advantage. She knew this route much better than her pursuers, and her cape was out of the way, so she could move faster. Still, the soldiers behind her were more agile than she expected, and Casta's own pace slowed slightly as she tried to figure out a route she could take to keep the soldiers away from Mystacor without getting herself lost. There was still so much terrain she hadn't explored. With horror, she realized they were gaining on her. The baby in her arms was crying louder again. Maybe quieting the baby would throw them off her trail.
Drawing the correct symbol over the baby's head was hard to do while running, but eventually, Casta managed a shaky approximation of what the spell was supposed to look like. The baby's mouth still gaped in a wail, but now the actual sound itself was muted. For good measure, Casta also shot out another, more explosive rune behind her, toppling a small tree and hopefully somewhat blocking the path she was on.
Casta kept running, but the footsteps behind her died away. She heaved a sigh of relief as she finally approached the cliffs of Mystacor. Once she was safe on the mountain flying back up to her kingdom, she stared down at the child in her arms. "You're safe now," she panted.
Back in her room, Casta unwrapped her cape from around the child, who was now, mercifully, asleep. A crumpled piece of paper fluttered to the ground as the cape fell away, something that must've been hidden in the baby's clothes while she was in the crate. Casta knelt down and picked up the paper, surprised to see a short note scribbled onto it in sharp, only half-legible handwriting.
I'm sorry for leaving her. Call her Catra.
~~~~~
It had been roughly six months since Catra came to Mystacor when Castaspella had a dream.
She was standing in a large room, with walls and a floor made of crystal that glowed with an odd, artificial light. Suddenly, a tall, blue-skinned woman blinked into existence before her. She spoke, and upon hearing her odd, monotone voice, Casta realized the woman was a hologram.
"Greetings, Castaspella, sorceress of Mystacor."
"Hello. Ah, sorry, who are you?" Casta asked, taking a step back. How did this woman know her?
"My name is Light Hope. There is something you must do," Casta wanted to ask more questions, but the woman continued speaking before she could even open her mouth. "There is a portal, in a field between here and the land that is now in the custody of the Horde. A child has been brought through that portal. I need you to find her, and bring her here." An image flashed between the two of them, of a swirling circle of crackling purple energy hovering over a wheat field. A baby's echoing cry rose from the image.
Casta's eyes widened. "Why?"
"This world is in grave peril. You are at the beginning of a great war, Castaspella, and this child has the power to decide the outcome." An urgency crept into Light Hope's tone, something that Casta wasn't aware holograms were capable of. "You must find her."
"But...why here? Why me?" Casta's mind drifted to her sister-in-law, Queen Angella. As much as she hated to admit it, surely the leader of the Rebellion and a literal angelic being was better suited to raising Etheria's hero than she was.
"I have been watching the people of this planet for some time. There is another child in your care." The image changed to Catra, sleeping soundly in her crib. "My algorithm has predicted all of the most likely futures for Etheria, and in all of them, this child is...of significance to the world's savior."
Once again, Casta tried to speak, and once again she was cut off. "You must hurry. The Horde cannot be allowed to find this child first. You have only a few hours."
Casta could feel herself waking up, but she still had so much she needed to know. She struggled before successfully managing to speak, and the question that came out wasn't the biggest one she had, but it felt the most important at the time. "This child -- does she have a name?"
Light Hope's face was fading, but her voice rang out clear as she answered.
"Her name is Adora."