Broken Promises

On the Run

My pupils dilated with terror and my body tensed, my muscles clenching. I have to get the tech! I need Entrapta- I need her to trust me, I corrected as I flung herself out of the way. I somersaulted smoothly, coming to my feet in one fluid motion, moving gracefully. I smoothed out my wild spikes that substituted as hair, pocketing the small First One's tech. I glanced a little shaken up at the pedestal, which had been blasted to smithereens by She-ra's sword, feeling a chill run through me. That could've been me. It would've been me if I hadn't gotten out of the way. And she would've done it, too.

"What're you doing here!?" She-Ra cried, her eyes widening as some alarm in the ruin continued to blare.

"Security protocol activated," the emotionless voice said, and She-Ra stumbled back, a look of horror on her face as the room tinted red and glowing eyes began to appear in multiple doorways. Oh no, Catra thought to herself. What have I done?

"Come on!" She-Ra shouted at me, beckoning me close as she ran towards a door. She-Ra gasped as red eyes appeared in that doorway, and then the next.

I stood for a moment, staring in horror at the many eyes in multiple doors. "What're those!?"

"Also not good!" She-Ra shouted in a panic, running towards a different door. "C'mon!" I scrambled through the doorway that She-Ra was holding up. It collapsed just as I threw myself through the doorway, and claws pierced solid rock, showing me how close they had come to dying.

But there was no time to dwell on it. I tore down a long hallway She-Ra not far behind, not knowing where I was going but that any place was better than the place I had narrowly escaped from. "You shouldn't be here, Catra!" She-Ra exclaimed in an irritated voice as if I had eaten the last cookie. "This place sees you as an intruder!"

I look at her exasperatedly, throwing my hands up in the air. "Well, can't you tell them to stop!"

"NO!" She-Ra shouted. "Clearly, nothing here is listening to me!!!"

My eyes widened in horror as we hit a dead end. I whirled around to escape before the spiders caught up to me, but it was too late. Eyes had already begun to appear, and soon the monsters would step into the light, tearing with their mandibles. I glance at She-Ra, wishing I could ask her questions that had haunted me since the day she left. Why'd you do it? I wanted to ask. What made you so hasty to leave? I feel my eyes begin to water. Was it me?

"Hold on!" She-Ra shouts, yanking me out of my thoughts. I yelp and strain against her grip as she takes her sword and slashes it against the ceiling, and I feel a surge of terror as I see cracks spread through.

"What're you DOING!?" I screech, and then her sword transforms into a shield, and I hear heavy thumps as rocks slam into our makeshift shelter.

I cough and cough as She-Ra yanks me out of the way as the tunnel collapses. When the dust clears and I can breathe again, I back away from She-Ra, hissing instinctively. "What was that!? Why do you even have to do this stuff!?"

"Oh, I dunno," Adora said sarcastically, glaring at me. "Maybe it's because you kidnapped and cursed my friends!"

I shove her, glaring at her, rage bubbling up inside. Her friends. Her new ones. The ones she left me for.

My mind flashes over to Shadow Weaver, and what she said, the words I can't get out of my head. "I admit, you remind me of me when I was young. Head-strong, eagar to please, excitable. We were both born lower-class, and we've had to claw our way to power. We never had anything come easy, so I didn't see why I should make it easy for you."

"But why!?" I had cried. "What had I done to deserve this!?"

Shadow Weaver looked down at me. "If you're waiting for an apology, you're not getting one."

Another valuable lesson. "What do you want, an apology?" I snarl. "You're not getting one." I start walking away from her, and she follows me. I whirl around. "What're you doing!? I'll find my own way out." I feel the blood rush to my face as I realize the tunnel collapsed, so we can only move forward. I spin around and start walking again, and She-Ra has the grace not to make a biting comment.

I would've.

*******

We'd been walking for a while, She-Ra slowly falling further behind, until we came to another dead end. I groaned.

"Wait," Adora said suddenly, pulling out her sword. "I know this. Eternia!" She says in a loud voice, and I try not to look surprised as the wall retracts into hidden slats.

"What was that?" I ask.

Adora gives me a look. "Long story."

We continue to walk. "Are things always this weird with you? How can you take all this magic and stuff?"

Adora glares at me, and I can tell I've hit a nerve. "I wouldn't have to if someone didn't curse my friend!"

I shove her. "What do you want, an apology? You're not getting one." I bound down the corridor, but Adora rushes past me, and soon we're both in a pitch-black room.

"Great," I say sarcastically. "You've found the infinite darkness room. Let's go." I turn to head back, and then my blood turns to ice. "Where's the door?"

Adora isn't listening though. She's heading towards a small red light in the middle of the room, and I follow her, unwilling to admit I'm nervous. "Lighthope?" Adora calls, whatever that means. "Is that you?"

She reaches it, and we both stand there, staring at it. "Ugh, this is pointless," I finally grumble.

But then a blinding red light shines into my eyes. I hiss and jump back, my tail fluffing out behind me, my claws instictively unsheathing. And then the room is flooded with light, the ugly green light that's so familiar to me, because it's home. "Are we..." I manage to say, but I stare around the room, for once utterly speechless. "Are we in the Fright Zone?"