Gracefully Broken

Chapter 3: Catra Meets Madame Razz

Catra ran and kept running for as long as her legs would carry her. She ran in no particular direction with no destination in mind. All she knew was she had to get away. Adora's cries rang in her head and refused to leave.

Catra finally collapsed in a clearing as the sun started to rise. She realized she must have been running for over an hour. As she struggled to catch her breath, her thoughts once again turned to Adora and she began crying again. It was in that moment that it finally hit her - she had lost everything. The Horde was gone. Any power she once held was no longer hers. She had nowhere to go and no one cared what happened to her. Adora, the one person who might have cared, and the only reason she had fought for so long, was now a shadow of her former self – an emotional wreck who had conveniently forgotten all the pain of the last three years.

Catra envied Adora and hated that all this happened because of her stupid machine. Of course Adora would go to Beast Island to save Entrapta despite everything she had done for the Horde. Of course she would actually listen to Scorpia and agree to help her! Adora was a good friend – she was a good person. She had always been too good for the Horde – too good for Catra. And now she was a mess, just like Catra.

Catra angrily swept the hair away from her eyes, remembering her mask was no longer there as she did so. She growled angrily at its loss and wiped away her tears. She then tried to get up but quickly fell back down again. Everything hurt. Her legs ached from all the running and her chest felt like it might explode. She then remembered her fight with Hordak and all the injuries she had sustained. How had she managed to ignore the pain of running with broken ribs and an injured leg? How had she even been able to run? Upon realizing all this, Catra officially gave up, lay back down on the cool green grass and closed her eyes. She had nowhere to go and no one was chasing her.

Several hours passed and Catra woke up with a sharp pain in her chest and a complete loss of feeling in her bad leg. The sun was directly overhead and shining straight in her eyes. She cried out in pain as she tried to sit up. Deciding it was not worth the effort, Catra fell back down again. Everything that had happened came flooding back into her head – Double Trouble, the defeat of the Horde, Adora's near-death and memory loss...Catra groaned and covered her face with her hands. At least her arms were still working.

After a long moment wishing she was still asleep, Catra lowered her arms and stared at her surroundings with total disinterest. She was still in the clearing. She had no idea where Brightmoon was, or where the Fright Zone was, and she really did not care. If anyone came to find her, she would just surrender. She was in no condition to fight and had nothing left to fight for. She was completely broken.

As if on cue, Catra's ears suddenly perked up at the sound of footsteps nearby. She closed her eyes and sniffed the air. She did not smell the metal armour of the Horde soldiers, nor the sickening magic of the princesses...blueberries. She smelled blueberries. She then heard a bush rustle as someone walked into the clearing. An old lady's voice then croaked:

"Catra, dearie? Is that you?"

***

When Adora woke up from her sedation, she found she was still in her bed, and her arms and legs were tied down at the sides. She screamed and began pulling at her restraints. This was bringing back some bad memories from her training under Shadow Weaver, and she was not about to let the princesses use their magic on her as well. As she fought to escape, the princess from earlier, Glimmer, teleported into the room and rushed over to her. She leaned over Adora and put her hand on her cheek, saying:

"Hey! It's okay! You're safe! No one's going to hurt you!" Adora stopped moving and growled:

"Release me. Now." Glimmer gave her a sad look and said: