Magic of Etheria

Chapter 7 | Focus

'For the honour of Grayskull!'

I shouted the words quickly as I realised I was falling into darkness as a result of leaping through the wall after Catra, feeling the light and strength of She-Ra envelop me. I had hoped I could catch her, hold on to her, pull her back through. But I was too late and now I had no idea where she was. I couldn't see her anywhere. I couldn't see anything around me at all. Everything was pitch black and I felt wind rushing against me as I seemed to be falling forever. I brought my arms up to shield my face, expecting to hit solid ground at any moment. But no ground came, nothing except the feeling of falling, the feeling of the wind making my hair flap around violently behind me, the thunderous sound of it filling my ears.

'...dora?'

I heard something. Something faint through the deafening sound of the wind.

'...Adora?'

There it was again, slightly louder. Someone was saying my name, but I couldn't tell where from. The darkness seemed to stretch on forever.

'Adora!'

Catra! It was Catra's voice! I could hear her clearly now. Where was she? I frantically looked around, trying to see where her voice was coming from.

'ADORA! Snap out of it!'

I suddenly felt hands on me, shaking my shoulders and my eyes snapped open. I immediately jumped up, breathing heavily and looking around - Catra! She was here! I wrapped my arms around her and held her close to me as I tried to control my breathing.

'Adora! What's wrong? Calm down! Haaaaaa- can't breathe! Breath! Need air!'

I relaxed my arms and Catra filled her lungs once again. 'Sorry... I... I don't...' I tried to get the words out but couldn't.

'It's okay, we're okay.'

I took a deep breath, resting my forehead against hers, 'What happened?'

I felt her hand reach up and gently rub my cheek, 'I found you here – you looked asleep, but you were writhing around like you were having a nightmare.'

'What do you mean you found me here?'

'Exactly that, Dummy. I've been wandering around this place for a while, but I think it's leading me in circles. I've definitely passed by this area before, but you weren't here then.'

'You've been here a while? It felt like I only just arrived.'

It was only then that I stood to my full height and looked around. It looked exactly like the Whispering Woods; tall, winding trees stretched upwards towards the canopy, all kinds of plants and mushrooms glowing with magic densely populated the soft, damp ground, and the light of golden wisps danced between the trees. I even caught sight of a few other magical creatures darting between the undergrowth. 'Is this a memory? Or another illusion?'

Catra buried her face in my chest and wrapped her arms around me. I looked down at her, in this form she only stood as high as my shoulders and I smiled at the reminder of just how small she was. Small, but fierce, strong, fast, and brave beyond belief. 'Hey,' I asked, running a hand through her hair, 'Are you okay?'

She squeezed me gently, 'I am now. I'm glad you're here. I thought I was on my own. I can't believe you followed me through that wall, you're such an idiot.' She chuckled.

'Yeah, I know.' I wrapped my arms around her, 'And now that I've got you, I'm not letting you out of my sight.'

'I can live with that.'

Not long after that, having stayed in that position in each other's arms for a short while, it occurred to me that we should both still be wearing the earpieces that Bow had given us as we entered the temple. 'Oh! Catra, have you heard anything from Bow? Did he follow me?'