On your own (Catradora)

Wild cat

As the days turned to weeks, Catra felt herself becoming more and more in tune with her feral animal like instincts. Each day She would leave the safety of the crashed ship and head down to the river with her canteen and fill it with the cool refreshing water. She would try to catch a few fish for her breakfast but some days the fish seemed to outsmart her. She would get so frustrated when she would lunge in after the scaly creatures and they'd slip right out of her grasp leaving her wet and humiliated. When that would happen the feline would hear that strange statistic voice laugh at her "oh look. Another one got away. Looks like even the fish are trying to get away from you. Hahaha!" It would laugh and taunt her. She would scoff at it growling but mostly she would try to ignore it. She found that any attention it received would only make the darkness grow and spread down her arm. The darkness felt like pins and needles when it would spread, she would loose feeling in her arm but it would still be able to move against her will as she found one night when she was trying to fix the ship. A shock sent her into a raging fit and the darkness grew to consume her entire arm and her lower neck. If she had continued her raging fit than she would've lost all control of herself. But luckily she was able to calm down as someone began to sing to her. A soft angelic voice sang and drowned out the static voice. She had never heard that song before but it soothes her. That strange voice.. she still had no idea who or what it was.

Today she would explore more of her new "home" and see what she would could find. The days following the crash Catra Climbed the walls of the valley trench. It took her two hours to climb up the steep, unstable walls and what she saw was nothing but a vast sandy landscape with nothing for miles except mountains of sand. The next day she braved the other side of the trench and saw the same sandy horizon. Catra reasoned that this valley trench was some sort of oasis and if she followed it she would eventually find ocean or maybe even a town or village that had settled near the water source. But from the looks of it, a walk that far would take many days. For now she decided to stay and work on the ship. Besides she's better off on her own.. no one would want her..right?

Picking up a long stick, Catra began walking using the stick as a staff as she walked. Both ends had been previously sharpened to a point so that as she walked it would leave a trail of small holes so she could find her way back if she lost the river. As she walked the wind blew warmly against her. Her hair slightly messy flowing in the wind. Her shirt which she had torn into a tangtop flowed slightly in the wind as well. Her gaze cast to the trail ahead seeing the small holes where she had walked the previous days. Each day as her wounds would heal she'd walk further in search of anything that would show signs of human life but mostly she found small lizards, snakes, rabbits and mice. They weren't much help to her besides an alternative food source since her ration bars were now gone which honestly she didn't mind. Fresh meat was much more satisfying and she found that gave her more energy. Looking around Catra found the forest that had grown on both sides of the river. In previous days she would stop just short of the trees as to save her energy. The walk back was about 3 hours in her weakened state but now she felt more lively and decided to venture into the tree line where she found that the large trees provided a cooling shade from the sun where it's heat would be almost 90°. This shade was much appreciated by the feline as she went further. "This place is strange. An entire forest growing in a desert valley... and these trees..." she said to herself as she stopped in front of a tall tree with twisted branches that spiraled and bent in circles. Curiosity got the better of the feline as she touched the trunk of the tree only to jump back as it began to glow where her hand had been. It's colors were green yellow and purples which faded into each other beautifully. But it didn't stay long before it faded back to its original tree colors of dark purple and brown. "Very strange.. but so cool" she smiled looking up at one of the lower branches before beginning to climb up, resting on the lower branch and looking down at the glowing trail that slowly faded. "Hahaha. Wonder if they all glow?." She smirked glancing to a near by tree before swinging down from her perch and thrusting herself forward to the next tree finding that this tree also glowed at her touch. A laugh escaped her lips as she began jumping from tree to tree. Watching as the trees illuminated under her hands and feet. The wind felt amazing against her skin as she flew through the air. Every few trees she would stop and smile examining her trail of glowing branches. She quite enjoyed Watching them glow their green and yellow colors, watching them fade back to browns and purpled. She soon came to a stop at one tree that didn't glow green and yellow like the others. This one glowed orange and red with hints of brown. The branch she was on began to curl its self up as the rest of the tree began to vibrate and tremble. "This can't be good.." she says her eyes looking up as the other branches began to curl up. Then suddenly she felt something wrap around her ankle tightly. Her eyes snapped down but before she could react she was suddenly yanked up and was now hanging upside down by one foot. "H-hey! let go!!" She growled watching as more branches curled towards her. Her heart began to pound as they got closer "G-get away! Let me go!!" She hissed swatting at the branches. Before any more branches could curl around her she managed to reach up with her claws and sliced the branch that had her ankle. Quickly she managed to turn her body and grabbed onto another branch swinging down towards the forest floor landing safely with one knee on the ground with her hands steadying her as she glanced back to the tree. Now she saw that the tree she had been caught in wasn't like the others. It was a dark orange and brown color. Upon further examination she saw that the tree had other branches that were curled up holding in its grasp the bodies of dead squirrels and birds. At the base of the tree there were bones. "A killer tree..." she whispered shaking slightly at the near death experience. "I thought only Venus flytraps ate meat. But this thing.. is on a whole different level" she could hardly believe her eyes as she stared at the tree. Seeing in its trunk that it had in a way absorbed it's prey into its bark. "Note to self. Stay away from the orange trees.." with that said Catra glanced around. "I almost wish entrapta were here. She'd love these weird plants. But they're not robots so maybe not." She shrugged standing up and began walking back in the direction she had come from deciding to stay on the ground for now to see what she could find there then work her way up to the carnivorous trees.
As she walked she saw more glowing foliage and shrubbery that glowed all sorts of different purples pinks and blues. This forest was definitely unlike the forests she knew of, Sure they had some glowing bits and parts to them but this forest was like a light show that activated to her touch. Some plants when touched would shrink as if hiding, some would glow brighter than their usual colors and some even seep a jello like substance that would numb her fingertips. "I could use this as a trap" she smirks making mental notes to come back tomorrow with containers to collect various things to make traps and maybe even decorate her new home. As she explored Catra suddenly stopped, her ears perked up as she heard what sounded like wings flapping and twigs breaking as a weighted object landed near by. Hiding behind the nearest tree Catra peeked out at whatever it was carefully going nearer until she finally saw it by the river. It was a creature she had never seen before. It looked like a deer with blue wings and white spots, about the size of a young fawn. It was beautiful, Catra watched as the creature leaned down to the water to quench its thirst. Just then Catras stomach growled snapping her out of her slight daze of amazement. Only now she realized she was hungry. She had been so distracted with the light show that she forgot about finding food. But now crouching down low Catra found herself lazar focused on the creature infront of her. Her steps were silent as she crept closer and closer hoping that her stomach would be quiet long enough for her to get in pouncing distance. Luckily it had and she was only feet away from her target. Her blue and yellow eyes blending in with the glowing foliage she found herself hiding behind. All was silent around the creature as it drank peacefully not knowing that it was being stalked by a hungry feline predator. Crouching lower catras eyes got large as her shoulders rolled readying herself to pounce. Then just as the creature was about to lift its head and walk away, Catra leapt from the bushes and tackled the creature but to her surprise it began to fly away. Catra chases after the creature on all fours. Her heart pounding as she felt a power within her ignite. She ran faster and soon leapt into the trees again as she chased the creature down. Just before it could get away Catra jumped down and finally caught it. It's body struggling before finally succumbing to its injuries and falling still. Catra now say there on the creature. Panting heavily as she stared down at it. Watching purple seep from its wounds. This wasn't like catching a fish or rabbit. This was a larger animal that she had taken down singlehandedly. "I.. I did it.. I caught you" she says in almost disbelief. Her hands trembled as she slowly stood up. Her chest heaving as she tried to calm herself. "Good job Catra. You're A killer" the staticky voice spoke. "No. I.. I was just hungry" she says as she stared down at the dead creature. It's blood on her hands. "You took its life. It was so beautiful though. Haha. You kill all that is beautiful in your life." It spoke again. Tears formed in the felines eyes as she fell to her knees. "STOP IT!" She cried out. "I'm s-Sorry.. I couldn't help myself" she cried as she reached out and gently stroked the furr of the creature in front  of her. "Catra. You did what you had to do to survive." It was the soft voice again. "W-who are you?" She asked looking around as if the person was near here. "Never mind that right now. Wash up and head back. This forest is dangerous at night" the voice spoke, again this voice was nice and gave her some useful advice. Collecting herself, Catra carefully picked up her kill and brought it down to the river and began washing it and herself clean of blood. Once done she wrapped it in large leaves and dragged it back towards the ship. Again her walk was about two hours. The last rays of sunlight were peeking over the walls of the valley trench. Casting just enough light for Catra to skin and prepare her score to be cooked over the fire. After dinner Catra found that she had some meat left over and decided to save it in the ships walk in freezer which was void of any other food. This was new for her. Having leftovers. Most of her scores were small and just barely enough to satisfy her hunger. But now she felt full to a point that she could save food for another day. She even kept afew feathers and feet from her first real score as a sort of souvenir to remind her of what she was capable of, what she had to do to survive.

Now as the sun finally fell behind the walls of the valley, Catra found herself on top of the ship as she did every night to watch the sky change colors and welcome the stars. Some nights she would come up there when she couldn't sleep and tried counting the stars but found that there were far too many to keep count of but it was a pleasant pass time. Every so often she would see a star shoot across the dark background. It was there only for a moment then gone in a flash. She couldn't help but name each of those shooting stars after her once dear close friends. "Lonnie... Kyle... Entrapta... double trouble... Scorpia... Adora..." Catra sat there with her knees to her chest hugging them to her body as she gazed up at the night sky. "I wish I could take it all back..." she whispered, A tear falling from her eyes. As the night went on Catra found that the air was growing cold and decided to make her way inside, Closing the ships door behind her. She made herself at home in the ship. There was a master bedroom onboard that was only slightly damaged during the crash. It was much like the captains private quarters in the horde. Perhaps this was where Hordak got the idea from. But despite its spaciousness the bed its self was still firm and uncomfortable. It was like sleeping on a hard wood table the thinnest mattress over it but for catra it was more than enough. She only took up about a quarter of the bed as she usually slept curled up at the end of it. A habit she would possibly never break. She always slept at the foot of the bed when growing up with Adora and even with Scorpia she found herself curled up by her feet. Settling in for the night Catra gave her new necklace a look over. Gently petting the soft blue feathers with her thumb before curling up. Closing her eyes slowly as she allowed sleep to wash over her.