"Right By My Side."

Chapter 2

Catra woke up with a start, hyperventilating as she jumped up from her spot, only to immediately regret it soon after as pain quickly surged through her. Hissing in pain as she tightly balled up her fist and shut her eyes. 

She had a terrible migraine, her entire body was sore, her left ear was ringing, and it felt as though she had broken quite a few bones.

She slowly opened her eyes to look at herself and noticed that the upper half of her body was covered in bandages and was no longer wearing her usual attire, her toned stomach was exposed and covered in dark black and blue bruises, her right leg was covered in a thick cast, and her cheek was also sporting a large band aid. 

It was only then did she notice that she wasn't in the Whispering Woods anymore as memories came flooding back to her. She soon realized she was inside a building, or room to be more specific. It was bright, spacious, and had quite a few papers scattered around the floor.

"Am I dead? Did the gods finally end my suffering?" Catra said out loud to no one in particular.

"Catra... you awake?" 

The feline froze, she knew that voice all too well and silently prayed that this was some cruel, sick nightmare. But her curiosity betrayed her as her mismatched colored eyes slowly moved and landed on a familiar figure beside her.

Adora tiredly looked at Catra with a lazy, but sweet smile. 

Catra stared at the blonde, looked at her surroundings once more, and then back to Adora before she busted into a fit of pained giggles.

"I'm dead, this is hell, must be I- haha- H-Hordak sent me here to finally end my days. . . hahaha! He- He's good, haha, he really knows just how to torture me..." Catra said between laughs, tears quickly rushing down her face as she spoke. 

Adora's eyes widened as she stood up from the small chair she was asleep in, quickly moving her hand to wipe away the brunette's tears with a gentle hand. Only to have it slapped away as Catra glared at her, tears still streaming down her face.

"Catra, I saved you, you were on the verge of death, I was out training when I saw your skiff and saw you in a small pool of blood. I thought you were dead, I was horrified." Adora said, sitting on her plush, cloud like bed. A genuine, worried expression on the blonde's face. 

The feline averted her gaze and decided to take interest in the open window just a few steps away from her as she furiously rubbed away the still flowing tears. She couldn't believe any of this, not only was she in the castle of Brightmoon and a runaway soldier, but she was once again with her enemy.  

"Look at you being the hero once again, you should have left me there to die. I didn't ask nor want your help, especially from a princess." Catra said with spite. Her gaze  still fixated on the open window.

Adora frowned as she stared at the side of Catra's head, her eyes narrowing in slight anger. 

"What happened Catra? You looked awful when I found you, were you out and got ambushed?" Adora inquired, pushing the topic a bit further. 

The feline hissed and wiped her eyes of her still flowing tears, "Why should I tell you? Your probably enjoying this sight right now," Catra said, gesturing to herself, "seeing me weak and wounded like this, I refuse to add on to that enjoyment by telling you what happened." 

"You think I like seeing you hurt? Even when we were fighting I couldn't stand to see you hurt." Adora said truthfully. 

Catra only scoffed in response before asking, "Where are my clothes?" 

"Your clothes had blood on it and was ripped in a few places, seriously Catra, what happened?" Adora said with pleading eyes, ones that Catra weren't even looking at.

"When can I have them back?" She said, dodging the topic.

"Catra, stop avoiding my question and answer me please." Adora said, rather annoyed.

"Leave me alone. You had no trouble doing that when you left me back at the Fright Zone to suffer for your consequences. I took the fall for you while you were out having a blast with your new best friends." Catra snarled.

Adora sighed softly and took a deep breath, "Back to that topic again huh? I've told you this a bunch of times Catra, the Horde was-" 

"Was what Adora? Hurting innocent people? Well if that's that case then why wasn't it enough to make you leave when I was getting hurt!?" Catra snapped, whipping her head around to face the blonde haired girl, her pupils were slits and her mismatched colored eyes narrowed into a cold glare.   

"I was just a child when Shadow Weaver started her mental and physical abuse on me, I got it than worst the anybody else. While you, the golden child, got it easy and was left off with a simple warning!" Catra continued. Her cold gaze never leaving the pale blue eyes of Adora.

"Catra.. I never wanted to hurt you, seriously. I just.." Adora was at a loss of words, guilt being the only emotion she could feel at the moment she tried to form words.

Catra, however, didn't let her say another word as she dismissed her with a wave of her hand, "Go away Adora, and don't come back unless these are the specific words coming out of your annoying mouth." The feline paused, then opened her mouth again.

"You're free to go back to the Fright Zone, Catra." 

The brunette scoffed and turned her back to the blonde, her tail lifting itself and wrapped around her legs as she tried to calm down. 

Adora was feeling many mixed emotions, one second she's feeling pure guilt, then she's angry, and then she's feeling blue. But besides all of that, one thing was clear to her, and that was how she wasn't going to let the feline go back to that awful place. She just didn't belong there and this wasn't the Catra she knew. And after what she saw when she found Catra, she knew she was hurt by someone in the horde, if it was an ambush she would most likely be dead.

Adora, however, decided that she would come back later and give the teen some space to process all of this. 

The blonde hesitated, but she slowly gathered up some courage to scoot closer to Catra and softly pressed her forehead into the brunettes limp hair.

"I'll be back in the morning with some food for you, you need it." Adora said softly, surprised the feline didn't try to push her away this time.

She hoped off the bed and walk towards the large doors to exit her bedroom, she gave a second glance back at Catra before leaving and closing the door behind her.