Codependency

Part 9 // I don't want help

Adora smiled.
"It is."

Scorpia put a claw behind Adora's back and urged her forward more briskly.
"Then let's go. Your princesses are waiting for you! We don't have much time."

Adora felt her stomach drop like a stone.
"... Huh?"

"Yeah, the princess of Brightmoon and-"
Adora cut her off as she spun around to face Scorpia.

"NO!" Adora took an unsteady pace back. "No, I'm not a traitor! You won't make me a traitor again."

Scorpia appeared deeply shocked.
"Your friends came to rescue you from Catra. I... I told them everything I know about what she did. They've come to help."

Adora's eyes brimmed with tears as she screamed at the Horde princess.

"I don't want help!"

Scorpia stared at her in concern. It was the same stupid face that Perfuma had worn. Scorpia is just another princess. Catra can't trust her. I have to tell her, I have to get to Catra now, I have t

Adora's panic was snatched away as Scorpia lunged for her, grabbed her, and held her mouth closed behind a large claw.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what's going on, but you need to go home." The Captain grumbled to Adora as she bustled the struggling prisoner through the halls.

"Mrrrgghpph!" Adora protested, hitting Scorpia's arm uselessly.

"I just think you and Catra need to be apart. She's never happy when you're around anymore." Her words were of a jealous person, but Adora could detect some of that sappy princess pity oozing from her voice.

After one turn, then another, Scorpia had dragged Adora to one of the more secluded Frightzone exits. Exiting here would bring them around to the east of the Frightzone, meaning that the princesses had somehow circled across the entire continent to sneak onto the Horde's shores from that side.

"That princess you hurt is here, too." Scorpia's grip tightened on Adora. "Don't do that again. Please." Why did she care about some rebel princess? Traitor.

Adora glared silently at the back of Scorpia's claw as the princess used her other claw to hit the release button beside the metal door shutters. The shutters groaned and screeched as the seldomly used exit opened. Scorpia shoved Adora out into the bleak environment, where Adora met the many stares of some incredibly sparkly girls, and a boy.
Their gazes ranged from hopeful to concerned to a little wary... but they all looked so relieved.
Adora's eyes rested on the girl she'd seen in her flashbacks.

"Glimmer." Adora stated.

Glimmer broke into a sob. "Adora!" She stepped forward, arms outstretched.

Adora scoffed. She raised her fist and swung at the princess, who let out a startled yelp and vanished into thin air with many dramatic sparkles. She reappeared a moment later next to the boy with the bow. Bow, then?
Adora held her fists up and stared defiantly at her "rescuers".
Glimmer seemed to start forward again, but Bow held her back.

"Adora," Bow murmured, "It's us. We won't hurt you."

Adora laughed bitterly. "Where have I heard that before?" Her glare shifted to Perfuma, who was being comforted by an unknown princess with an obvious ocean theme. Perfuma leaned close to her companion, staring at Adora in silence. Adora noticed that her hand wasn't nearly as burned as she'd hoped it had been.

"You're stealing two Horde prisoners." Adora informed the small crowd.

"Uhh, we're actually here to rescue two princess alliance members." The blue-haired fishy girl seemed to speak in the tongue of pure sarcasm.

"I don't want to go with you." Adora ignored her. "I don't know you. You're my enemies." She turned to go back inside, but Scorpia used her body to block Adora out. She looked faintly apologetic.

"Sorry, but we all think this is for the best." Scorpia said firmly.

Adora took a threatening step towards her, but she was yet again grabbed and shuffled away. She fought hard, but that cursed flower princess had already begun to wrap her in harmless but thick vines. Fully restrained, Adora could only glare at Scorpia as she was dragged into the group of rebels.

"We could have been out sooner, had we left the plant-one." Said a familiar voice.

Adora's head snapped up, her eyes locking with Shadow Weaver's stoic mask.

"Don't fight us, Adora." The old woman soothed. She reached for Adora, who did not pull away. Her hand rested on Adora's head.

"We would never have left Perfuma behind." Glimmer growled to Shadow Weaver.

Adora couldn't look away from Shadow Weaver. What was she doing here, helping rebels? The person she arguably trusted as much as Catra.

I need to know what happened while I was gone. She realized.

"Shadow Weaver..." her voice rasped. "What's going on?"

Shadow Weaver slid her hand down to Adora's shoulder. "Hush... I can help you when we reach Brightmoon."

Adora wanted to trust her now, like she always had.

"But, Catra..." Adora saw Shadow Weaver shake her head.

"No more of that, child. Just trust me. Have I ever led you astray?" Shadow Weaver gestured towards Adora's heart, which was pounding in her throat.

"I can't leave again. I can't leave her again!" Adora struggled to fight down her panic. "That's what started all of this, isn't it!?"

"We need to go, like, five minutes ago!" Bow called from Glimmer's side.

Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes through her mask. "Adora, you must trust me now. We have no time."

Adora was still hesitating, when she heard a loud grunt and thump. Every head turned to stare at Scorpia, who kneeled on the ground, holding her side with a pained expression.

"That's gonna bruise, but... no biggie." Scorpia muttered to Catra, who stood with her claws unsheathed, her eyes blazing as she watched the rebels stealing her prisoners.

"I knew it." Catra pointed at Adora with a shaking claw.