Escaping Corruption (Seasons 1-3)

S2 - Dead birds and death kings

Catra was immediately pulled to her feet by Rhys' guards, and they pulled her the entire way to a throne room.

Above a towering seat of human bones, sat a gaunt man, clean shaven and dressed in a black and white suit.

'Holy brother of fate...' He pinched the bridge of his nose as she muttered to himself in a voice akin to the time space between thunder and lightning.

'Lord Rhys....I come in peace?'

Rhys was silent for a second, before a small laugh escaped. He looked away to avoid eye contact as he snickered into his hand.

The guards looked utterly bamboozled.

Catra had a sudden suspicion that the Lord of the dead did not laugh much, especially toward lowly mortals who had a little spaceship accident and ended up shooting like a dead bird unannounced into his realm whilst alive.

'Apologies for my....unusual visit; I only bother you with my need of your support.'

'Support in what?' He drawled, regaining his composure.

'Support in the war against Puca and Horde Prime. They threaten my Empire with bloodshed.' She explains, suddenly noting that her entrance may not be....the most proper for someone of her status.

'What Empire is yours?'

'Purrsia. My mother, C'yra was taken by Puca. Therefore I have been crowned Empress in her absence.'

Rhys froze.

'C'yra....has been taken?'

'Yes. Puca put her in an awful situation, where she had to choose between herself or Aeris, my younger sister.'

'Dear lord...Alright then, I will have your back during the final battle. But beware, little bird, shadows cannot be tainted by light.'

She nodded, yet did not understand what he meant.

A whisk of light later, she was standing back at the well, wondering what death had meant.

Her eyes flicked from the well, to the path over the fence.

Atleast she knew where to go from here, much to her relief.

She took a deep breath, and a giant leap over the fence.

Her eyes followed the trail of cobblestone, leading away into the distance of space where she would find her way back home.

Evey inch of her ached in exhaustion. She could not stop.

She stepped forward, moving toward the light.

It was the golden light that surrounded She-ra, the golden light that had brought together the planets that fateful day many millenia ago, the same golden light that shone in C'yras eyes as she protected her home.

It was the same golden light she had been crafted by.

And now it would be the light she wielded against the darkness, against the Emerald and the ivory,

She ran.

Sprinting, racing, darting through the forest. Toward the light.

She ran faster then she ever had.

And a wide grin covered her face as the oversized Holly tree came into view.

Her way home.

She finally landed over the protective barrier surrounding it, and she watched the ripples it made in amazement.

She stumbled and fell to her knees right before the tree.

Right within the roots of the tree, there was a pulsing rope of magical energy that offered the barrier strength and held up the magic of the Holly tree.

Slowly, she picked a singular mistletoe berry.

She knew they were poisonous everywhere except here, unless you had bad intentions.

She spun the berry through her fingers for a second, and then threw it into her mouth. Eyes clenched shut in fear.

She thought hard on her longing to go home.

After a moment, she heard the distant hum of a piano, the winds blew a little bit harder, wind chimes sang in the fog.

Then, it all stopped.

Her eyes slowly opened.

And she was still surprised to find herself laying in a pile of rubble and metal poles, completely untouched and stuck in the unlit side of a roofed canyon.

'Catra!!!'

Kyle?

She recalled the last moment she remembered before waking up in the void.

Ahh yes, she had recruited her old friends.

'Over here!' She called back, climbing over the rubble toward his voice.

He appeared a moment later, and guided her back to an open cave where the Verena Xalia sat.

'How long was I out for?' She asked as they boarded the ship.

'Around three or four days, We're only sure because we knew the date before we crashed and we know the date now. And we too were out for atleast a day or two.' Kyle sighed.

Catra stopped in her tracks.

Three or four days?!

The Blood Moon was four days away.

Four days until their possible victory or demise.

Fear enveloped her.

She knew their chances were slim. Puca would not attack without a tapestry of plans. He would find out a way to win, and would not let anyone or anything get in his way.

It almost scared her.

Almost.

She has been the exact same way before she had come to Beast Island. So ensnared in her own rage and grief that she had put her heart and soul into perfecting the Horde.

She had thrown herself away in order of vengeance.

The only difference was that Catra had not gone far enough to be incapable of redemption.

He on the other hand, had done unforgivable acts.

He had massacred millions, stolen crucial information, destroyed cities, and a thousand more crimes. Now that, was completely irredeemable.

Catra sighed, and leaned against the side of the ship momentarily as the others returned and the ship bustled with life.

A small smile cross her features as realisation it.

She was a cat. And what were cats best at? Sneaking around. And just like that, she had figured out how to double cross Puca.