She-Ra fics (2018)

Idiot, traitor or just plain stupid? P3/12

Doing patrol one night, the last person Glimmer expected to see was a certain magicat hiding amongst the castle's shadows.

~~~

Adora is moved to her room; where Catra is staying temporarily. She sees the damage.

~~~

Catra was in the middle of a nice dream, in which she was conquering Etheria with Adora by her side (of course, when the quilt she was under was roughly ripped away. She snarled, hair wild, claws out, ready to attack. At the edge of the hard mattress stood Sparkles, holding the warm quilt in her palm. Catra growled lowly as she smoothed her hair back. "A simple wake-up call would've served the same purpose, Sparkles,"

Glimmer gestured to her left. "This is the healer. Olive," Catra snorted. "Olive? Like the food?" Glimmer glared while the healer ignored her; spreading out her kit onto the ground. "This is Juliet," The Princess pointed to a guard by the door. "She's gonna make sure you stay in line," Catra peered over the edge of the bed, wrinkling her nose at the medical stuff. "And why aren't you in here? Gotta put some glitter in your hair?" Catra glanced up briefly to shoot a blinding shark-like grin before watching the healer once more.

Glimmer growled. Catra smirked. The Moonstone Princess sighed heavily. "Adora's coming out of the infirmary today. We need to debrief her and get her set up in bed,"

As she stared at the guard, for the tiniest of seconds, Catra was sure, she saw Juliet's face wrinkle slightly, as if she wanted to say something. Glimmer seemed to notice too. "She's fine, of course. But I doubt she'll be walking all that good,"

Based on the withering glare, a glare Catra was quite proud of, that Glimmer sent her way, Catra had an inkling it might have been a fault of hers. She shrugged. "The sooner I get healed, the sooner I leave," She picked at her nails. "Then you, Adora, and arrow boy can braid each other's hair over rainbows or some shit," She scratched off a bit of dirt, flicking it to the ground. Glimmer scoffed. "I'd love to tell you what fun we have, or lack thereof, but my friend needs me," Her body began to glow purple. "And unlike some people, I put them first,"

A while later, maybe an hour or so after the healer left, Catra found herself pacing. Juliet had yet to leave, apparently assigned to the room until Glimmer said otherwise.

Or so she claimed.

Secretly, Catra knew it was because Juliet didn't trust her. Fair enough. If Catra was on the opposing side dealing with somebody like herself, she probably wouldn't trust them either. "So..." She decided to try and test the waters. Juliet didn't make eye contact, or any form of acknowledgement that she'd heard, or cared. "What's up with the Princess?" Catra stalked closer. Juliet shifted, tightening her grip on the staff. "Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you," Catra tutted. She gestured to her ribs. "I can barely walk with these, nevermind attack a fully armed guard,"

Still, Juliet held firm.

Catra continued to prod. "What's up with Adora, huh? Why's she in the infirmary?" Catra took a step closer. Juliet finally met her piercing gaze. "She-Ra was severely injured during the battle of Brightmoon," She said. "To my understanding, she was too busy to receive attention for her wounds quick enough," She snapped her mouth shut, realising she may have said too much. Catra narrowed her eyes. "How was she injured?"

An image suddenly burst into Catra's vision. Leaping onto Adora's back, digging her claws in, yanking them down, ripping flesh and tissue as her claws dug deep. Adora's pain-filled scream as she collapsed to the ground, shivering in agony.

When Juliet refused to answer, Catra walked away.

The feel of flesh tearing beneath her fingers stayed.

~

Catra was dozing softly by the window ledge when the door opened. She stretched, waiting to see who was coming in now. Glimmer had left over seven hours ago, judging by the movement in the sun. Catra guessed it was sometime around 3 p.m. compared to the 8 a.m. she woke up to. "Nice and slow, that's it,"

Interest piqued, Catra sat up straighter. "Glimmer, I'm fine," Catra's heart fell. "I'm not dying, I can walk," Catra's ears twitched. The door opened wider, revealing none other than Sparkles, Arrow Boy and Adora.

Godamn Adora.
Slow, quiet Adora.

Catra frowned.

Pale, sickly Adora.
Wincing Adora.

Catra narrowed her eyes in thought.

Glimmer walked backwards, holding Adora's forearms, guiding the blonde in as she shuffled slowly. "Thanks, Juliet. You can go now," Glimmer dismissed the guard, shutting and locking the door behind. Catra moved to hide behind a long piece of fabric that hung from the ceiling. Glimmer didn't notice.

"The doctor said it's gonna hurt for a while, but to take the blue ones every few hours, the red ones before every meal, and the yellow ones when you wake up and when you go to sleep," Glimmer teleported about the room frantically. "Oh! The support!" And she was gone. Catra watched as the arrow boy continued holding Adora's side. "I forgot how energic she was," The blonde snorted. Bow chuckled. "She means well. She's been worried is all," He began to walk to the bed. "Remember to lay on your stomach," He said. Adora hummed quietly. "We were all worried," Bow continued.

Adora cleared her throat softly. "I'm sorry," She whispered. "I-I didn't realise how bad it was. She-Ra kept them at bay... at least until she disappeared,"

Catra peered around from the curtain. Bow sighed softly. "I'm not gonna lecture you on that... whole... mess," He hesitated in finding the right words. "At least not now. Maybe when you don't look like shredded paper," He joked. Adora huffed. "The most apt description I've heard so far,"

Catra felt her gaze drawn to the blonde's bulky back. She swallowed the bile back.

She snapped back to attention when Adora groaned lowly. Bow's hands fluttered by her shoulders. "My god, I'm tired," Catra knew that was bullshit, and she wasn't even properly watching her. "How about I tell Glimmer to leave you for the day, huh? We can bring some food in before we go to bed? You can shower or have a bath and just relax,"

Catra nearly snorted.
Even on the odd days off in the Horde, usually, after a punishment that rendered them unable to perform properly, Adora wouldn't relax. She'd be studying, stitching up her uniform, running drills on the spot, whatever she could.

A side effect of being a hero, Catra mused bitterly.

She watched as Adora bade Bow goodbye, her walls crumbling afterwards. She began to sob into her hands, body shaking, shoulders quaking. Resisting the urge to get out and help, Catra chose to slink back to the window, leaving herself open for eyesight.

Adora seemed to not notice as she stood.

She cried out softly, her hand flying to her lower back as she walked. Her steps were uneven as if she were hiding a limp. She stopped by the mirror, grasping the wooden table firmly. Catra could never be sure, looking back on it, but she was positive the wood creaked.

Catra walked silently to the bed, perching at the end, waiting.

Adora took a shaky breath in.

She began to pull her shirt off, gasping quickly as her arms lifted higher and higher, stretching her back. Catra felt sick as blood-stained bandages were revealed, splotchy across the entire covering, vaguely in ten lines... made by her.

Adora began to unravel the bandages, breathing heavily. Even Catra could see the sheen of sweat on her head in the reflection. She chose to ignore the slightly green pallor of skin or thick black eye bags.

The bandages fell, and Catra inhaled sharply in shock.

Adora jolted, spinning quickly.

Ooops... cover blown.