"Right By My Side."

Chapter 11

"So... what exactly are we doing, or even looking for?" Catra asked as her mismatched colored hues did a once over on her surroundings. Seeing nothing but colorful plants and trees as she walked beside Glimmer. 

Just like Adora predicted, Catra wanted to tag along and help with the patrol. Which wasn't a total lie, she just mainly wanted to get out of the castle as soon as possible and get into some action. Midway through the patrol, Glimmer decided to have the small group split up into pairs to cover more ground and meet back at the entrance of the castle once they were done. Catra wanted to go with Adora to finally have some alone time with her and maybe take a moment to relax while they were out here, but the glitter throwing princess ended up dragging her away and claimed the patrol would go a lot faster if the two were separated so they could focus on the current task at hand. A task that Catra was still trying to figure out for the past half hour. 

"All we're doing, Catra, is making sure no Horde scums are trying to damage the woods and sneak into Brightmoon, as well as we make sure that none of the dangerous creatures that lurk in these woods are too close to Brightmoon territory." Glimmer finally answered the feline.

Catra nodded her head and sighed as she continued to look around, the silence wasn't uncomfortable, but the brunette preferred that there was some sort of conversation going on between them. So she took it upon herself to make some small talk. 

"Do I have to meet the queen at some point? You know... to like, pledge my loyalty or whatever the process is." Catra asked, she was proud she got the shorter girl to reply to her. 

"Maybe after you come back from your solo mission today, okay?" Glimmer answered, not even glancing at the feline as she spoke. 

"Okay..." Catra muttered and went back to looking around their surroundings in boredom. Her ears perked up shortly after a few more moments of silence as the sound of a river caught her attention, and a idea popped into her head. 

"Hey Sparkles, I heard something by the river, come with me." Catra said hurriedly as she bolted ahead on all fours. Glimmer hesitated for a moment, before finally allowing her short legs to run after the fast feline. She stopped when she came up a river that blocked her from going any farther, the water flowed at a steady pace as she looked around for the solider.   

"Catra?"

No answer. Only silence engulfed the short princess, excluding the the small noises of the dangerous creatures that surrounded her. 

"Catra! This is not funny, if your trying to-!"

The future queen of Brightmoon was cut off abruptly by a low, guttural growl that sounded far too close for comfort. The horrifying noise echoing throughout the woods as the sparkle throwing princess froze up in complete and utter fear. Twigs started to snap and the rustling of a bush as something ran by filled her ears as the short girls eyes desperately looked around for the source. 

Unknowingly, Glimmer started to slowly back up towards the river. Almost as if it was going to save her from whatever it was that was lurking nearby. 

"RAWR!!" 

"AHH!!!"

Thrown completely off guard,  Glimmer jumped right into the lake and started flailing her arms around as she started shooting magic in random directs, praying that she hit whatever this creature was. Her blood, however, started to boil to a dangerously high temperature as a familiar laugh could be heard. Collecting herself, she wiped the water out of her eyes and glared daggers at none other than Catra herself. 

The brunette was hanging upside down by a vine that was strong enough to hold her weight and was laughing so much, she ended up falling on her back as tears started to stream from her  mismatched colored eyes. 

"Oh my- you- pfffft! You- I- HAHAhAhaaa!!"

The brunette couldn't even form a proper sentence as she doubled over in laughter. Her laughing ringed in Glimmer's ears as the princess started to stand up and walk over to the ledge where she was previously standing. Silently thanking the gods that the water was shallow. 

Her wet hands tightly gripped onto the grass as she growled in embarrassment and anger. "That. Wasn't. Funny." The short princess seethed through clenched teeth. 

"Oh no Sparkles, you're right, it wasn't funny. It was probably the most hilarious thing I've seen since I woke up in the castle." Catra retorted with a bright smirk. 

Her mismatched eyes suddenly widened as she ran off a short distance and picked something up from the ground nearby. Glimmer watched curiously as Catra came back with a thick branch in her hand, and became even more confused when she placed the branch on top of her head. 

"You know, you look better with mop hair." Catra said in a teasing tone as she tossed the branch and giggled softly, "Come on princess, before you catch a cold." Catra said with a smile as she held out her hand for Glimmer to take. 

"Shut up, I honestly have zero words for what happened." Glimmer muttered as she took the felines hand willingly. 

"No words needed, just know it was all fun and games." Catra said as she hauled the short teen out of the river. 

"Whatever Catra, just know that I'll get you back good for that." Glimmer said with a smirk. 

"I look forward to it... mop."

"You little- COME HERE! I'M TIRED OF YOUR BULLSHIT!"

The two ended up completely forgetting  about the whole scouting task at hand and ended up chasing each other all the way back to Brightmoon. 

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"Okay Catra, remember, your only going there to spy on Hordak and see what he's planning alright?" Glimmer said as she stood a considerable distance away from the levitating skiff. 

"Don't worry Sparkles, I know what to do, I promise I'm not going to try anything and go behind your back." Catra replied as she jumped down from the skiff and stood in front of the pastel pink haired princess, casually leaning on one leg as she spoke. 

Adora and Bow were on either side of Glimmer, also seeing the feline off for her first ever task from the small princess. 

The blonde teen, however, felt a familiar feeling from when she followed Catra into the Fright Zone the first time, as she watched the feline stick out her tongue out in a teasing manner, while Glimmer just rolled her eyes and waved her off with a tiny smile.   

The sword wielding teen stepped up to Catra before her jealousy got the best of her, her voice laced with concern as she spoke, "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? Just in case..." 

Catra sighed and seemed to hesitate for a long moment, before she wrapped her toned arms around Adora's torso and rested her forehead on the slightly taller girls shoulder. "We discussed this already Adora, and you also know what my answer is going to be." 

Pulling away from the hug, much to Adora's dismay, she smirked and hopped onto the skiff, waving to the trio as she started to drive away, "Besides, if Hordak does somehow catch me, I'll kill the coward on the spot." 

The sentence lingered above the blonde girls head for a moment as she watched Catra drive away. An unsettling feeling conjuring up in her stomach as she frowned deeply. 

"Now all we can really do is wait..." Bow's voice filled the blonde girls ears. 

"I guess so.." Adora muttered sadly. 

After a few more moments of standing outside the entrance to the castle. The three best friends glanced at each other and finally made there way back inside as the sun began to set in the horizon. 

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So sorry for not updating in such a long time T-T 

These damn test have been kicking my ass. 

This chapter was far more shorter than the other ones, so its more of a filler really, but I promise the next chapter will be twice as long. And the conflict really starts to build up in the next chapter as well so be on the look out for that!  

Ty so much for reading! Love y'all!