Escaping Corruption (Seasons 1-3)

S2 - The bitter taste of blood

Four years ago

Catra's screams of agony echo around the room.

She's fourteen. Bloody and bruised.

She makes eye contact with Shadow Weaver. Who stares down at her coldly.

'Heh....Real good at helping....eh?' Catra murmurs through swelling lips.

'Do not be flippant with me, Cadet!' The sorceress snarls, sending a final blast of energy that causes her to hit the wall with immense force.

Catra coughs up a puddle of blood.

Her ribs sting. Her tail flits and darts through the air. Tears gather in her eyes. She wants nothing more then the final blow. The one that would end her short, miserable, life. But it never came.

'Return to the barracks at once. If Adora hears word of this, I will not hesitate to despose of you how I see fit' Shadow Weaver commands, her attention already away from the girl.

Catra slowly limps back to the barracks.

Only to bang into Kyle, hiss, and fall to the floor.

'Catra? That's a lot of injuries...are you alright?' The short blonde frowned in friendly concern.

'I.....I dropped a spoon on the ground earlier. It was just a simple punishment, its nowhere near as bad as.....'

'As what?'

'As the times....as the times she tied me to a pole in the elder cadets barracks and allowed them to have their way with me...'

Kyle gapes.

'Catra...you, Lonnie, Rogelio and Adora, you guys are the closer thing to a family I have, and I may not have the strength to protect it...but I can be the encouragement, Catra, you are amazing! You're cool, and lovable, and fun, Shadow Weaver on the other hand, is so weak that she has to rely solely on magic, and is so depraved that the only thing she could do here was abuse kids. Trust me, sometime in the future, it will get better for you.' He helped her up.

'Thanks, Kyle. You are way better at pep talks then Lonnie or Shadow Weaver.' The fourteen year old magicat snorts.

Kyle gives a blustering smile, then gently leads her back to her own bunk.

'Because Adora sleep fights, it's probably not safe for your injuries to sleep in her bed. Remember that time she kicked you so hard she gave you a concussion and Lonnie had to carry you to the infirmary?'

'Yeah, and remember that time you fell out of bed and Rogelio lept out of his own bed like a deformed dog to catch you!'

'And the time we all caught Lonnie checking you out in the showers?'

'I always remember that. Every time I shower. The time Adora screamed something about sparkly underwear in her sleep and denied it?'

'Oh yeah! What about the time Shadow Weaver tripped and fell right on her face when she came to scold Rogelio and I for kissing one time? Lucky for Force Captain Vora and Force Captain Lainey we didn't say we had learnt it from then!'

'Oh my lord, they're together?!'

For almost two hours, Catra and Kyle stood there reminiscing, but eventually Kyle fell asleep and Catra carried him him his bed despite her severe injuries.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't sleep.

So she clambered out of bed, despite her injuries protesting.

She wandered through the hallways. And it isn't long before she finds the exit.

Just for a while, she tells herself as she steps out into the rain.

She walks past the soldiers on patrol, they let her past, not really caring.

The weather gets heavier.

She's drenched, injured and tired when she arrives in a wide clearing.

The ground is tarmac, and glistening with rain drops.

She falls to her knees tiredly.

Suddenly, someone did the same right before her.

'Hello child....Are you alright?'

She looks up, to see a woman with heterochromic eyes and a kind smile looking at her.

Catra can't bring herself to answer, as she falls on the ground.

'Oh dear....How did you get so hurt..?'

'Sha-Shadow Weaver...' She murmurs.

The woman's face contorted for a second.

'My name is Circe, Darling, How does this "Shadow Weaver" treat you?'

'Well....She hurts me a lot...let's other cadets hurt me...not just physically... she also insults me a lot....'

'Dios mios.....How old are you? Not that it matters, things like thsi should never happen to anyone'

'F-fourteen...'

'Oh my Moros! Where do you live?'

'The Horde'

'Alright...I may not be able to help you in this time and place...But I will give you the power to get through it, and to never lose your spirit and ambition. Catra, isn't it? You are worth more then you can present to other people, you deserve to be loved. And you will be loved. By fate, by me, by your friends, and your family whom you will one day return to. I have to go now, My dear, You are stronger then you believe. You will overcome the obstacles courses set in your path. Farewell for now, we will most definitely meet again'

When the woman disappeared in a shower of gold, and Catra returned to the Horde, she knew that she would get through it.

One day, She would get back at Shadow Weaver for treating her so awfully.

-----------Back in the present---------

Catra gasped and keeled over.

She had been knee deep in the water, but now she was flailing and gasping like a fish, panicking and on her back

But she couldn't forget what she had seen, had that really happened?

Yes, she realised, she remembered, she was supposed to get rid of Shaodw Weaver.

Her eyes flicker to the water fountain by the river.

She sees her reflection.

Hair slicked down over her head and shoulders, her eyes glittering like the sky and sun, skin shining like bronze and gold.

Her head piece still rests upon her head, hiding her horrid hairline. It's shimmering like it's made of rubies. She smiles faintly.

Hordak had given her it when she had snuck into his sanctum when she was seven years old. She had been the one who brought it to him when he found her in a box in the rain that fateful day she had met Adora.

She smiles.

She was Catra, and she would win no matter what.