Always Forever (Catradora)

Chapter Two

Catra

The whispering woods shivered as the skimmer hummed throughout it. Leaves danced within the broken trail the skimmer left behind, their hushed voices raising as they rubbed against themselves. Catra felt her hand tighten around the handle of the skimmer. Everything here looked more or less the same to her... Perhaps it was foolish to travel through such a place... a place that constantly moved, trapping anyone who dared to step foot within its territory. Catra gave a hasty grin to herself, I haven't technically stepped foot here, though, she thought in a bit of amusement. She felt her tail flick anxiously as trees flashed past her vision, reminding her that she was, in fact, rather lost. Lost in this damned forest that was... quiet. Catra's eyes narrowed a bit as she glanced around in hesitation. She'd never been here before, but something told her that it wasn't supposed to be this quiet.

The silence seemed to consume all of Catra's senses, leaving her alone with what seemed to be her own thoughts. I'm coming, Adora, she gritted her teeth as her eyes flickered between the vines and trees of the forest. From what she'd heard, this place was a death trap... many soldiers losing their lives after wandering within these woods.

"Too bad it's the fastest way to Thaymore," Catra growled in a bit of annoyance to herself, closing her eyes momentarily. That was her first mistake.

At that very moment, the skimmer lurched forwards, having snagged one of the trees. Letting out a shriek of surprise, Catra immediately went for the handle, trying to steady the skimmer with little avail. It took her almost no time to realize she wasn't saving that piece of junk. Catra felt her claws digging into the skimmer as she prepared herself, before launching herself into the air to sink her claws into the nearest object: a tree. The moment she did so, Catra heard the skimmer crash into the ground behind her.

Grimacing, Catra risked a glance over her shoulder. Sure enough, the machine was up in flames, quickly increasing in size due to the amount of vegetation that surrounded it. Catra's eyes widened as she felt her fur go on end, raising in response to the immediate heat that was emanating from the now destroyed skimmer. She was frozen in place. Even after wanting to move, she wasn't able to force her body to move where she wanted it to. For a moment, she wasn't sure she was going to get out of there.

"Bow! Over there, look!" A voice called out, tearing Catra out of her frozen state. Smoke was beginning to rise in her vision, causing it to blur slightly as the scent caused her to wish she couldn't breathe in. Though, vaguely, through the smoke, she could make out two figures racing towards the burning skimmer.

Allowing her claws to retract from the bark, Catra slid down from the tree as the two figures skidded to a stop only a few paces away from the skimmer. Who on earth were those two? More importantly, what the hell were they thinking? Getting so close to that fire... it was not only deadly, it was idiotic as well. Flames were already beginning to crawl their way up the trees nearby, chewing away at their bark unforgivingly.

Catra was about to turn tail and leave before she noticed one of the figures reach backwards as if to grab an object. The next thing she knew, Catra could hear the distant sizzle of the fire being put out rather easily. Following that, the smoke that had been stinging Catra's eyes was beginning to dissipate as well and she could finally make out the two figures.

"Good thing I have a water arrow just for this occasion, huh?" one of them laughed. Catra squinted a bit. This one was the taller of the two... his skin was brown, along with his poofy chocolate brown hair. Honestly, it reminded Catra of some kind of puffy chocolate cloud. He wore some kind of crop-top along with strange hearts covering his outfit. A quiver was strapped along his back, which was what Catra assumed he had grabbed from earlier.