'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?'
'Hmm. No, I tried to contact you and Bow when I first fell in here through that wall, but I didn't get any responses. That's when I started walking. In circles, apparently.'
'So you just fell over? There was no endless void?'
'What are you talking about? I just fell through that rude wall. Then when I opened my eyes, I was in the middle of what I thought was the Whispering Woods. I can't find the wall I fell through anywhere.'
'Did you just call a wall rude?'
'If I ever lean against you and you let me fall, I'll call you rude too.'
**
Subterranean magical forests are not my specialty, but this one could definitely take top spot. It was completely undisturbed, untouched, and overflowing with magical energy. Once again, the plants and wisps seemed to be brighter and dancing around us as we picked our path through the woodland. I heard something to my right and stopped to look - a curious four-legged, three tailed green creature stared at me with three eyes through the undergrowth, before skipping away as I noticed it.
'Are you going to stay as She-Ra the whole time we're here?' Catra asked, a little further ahead now.
'Yeah,' I said, glancing back, 'We don't know what...'
As I looked at her I realised something - something that would never have occurred to me if I wasn't stood far enough away from Catra to see it. The patch of forest where I was stood looked dark compared to the luminosity that surrounded Catra, the wisps dancing around her as if she were a bonfire and this was the biggest party they had ever been to. I felt my pulse quicken as I saw her, surrounded by the magical light. She looked beautiful, the glow highlighting different areas of her body as the wisps twirled about her form. Catra looked back, and caught my gaze, her eyes shining like stars. Then she smiled, and it sent shockwaves through my heart.
'What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?' She laughed, 'You look like you've seen a ghost.'
I stumbled over my words as I tried to speak, 'I... Uh... You... You're beautiful... No, I meant to say - well, you are, but, uh - look around you!'
She blushed, looking around her, 'What's wrong? These things have been around me the whole time.' As she held her hand out, a group of wisps settled in her palm, one after another.
'Yeah, but, look at me! I'm She-Ra and they're ignoring me.'
Catra chuckled, 'What, are you jealous? These little light things like me more than you, Adora. What a shame.'
I sighed, 'No, Catra, I'm saying there must be a reason. Right?'
'Oh, so you're saying there has to be a reason why I'm getting more attention than you in a magical forest?'
'Well... Yeah?'
She considered for a second, 'You may have a point. If there is one, I am not looking forward to finding out what it is.'
I smirked, 'Unless everything in here really does just find you as attractive as I do.'
'I am not cute!'
'I didn't say you were cute. You did.'
'No I didn't!'
'Well, you must have been thinking it, because that's not what I said.' The wisps in Catra's hand flew out erratically as she covered her face and I couldn't help but laugh, 'You almost crushed your little light things!'
She groaned, 'I just want this place to stop leading me in circles and show me a way out!'
A light suddenly shone through the trees ahead of Catra, I could feel the amusement on my face and made no effort to hide it. 'Catra, you just asked the forest to show you the way out - and it did!' I moved over to her, finding her annoyed expression priceless.
'Whatever, let's just go look.'
We made our way through more undergrowth and dense glowing foliage, eventually coming across a patch of ground that was apparently untouched by the magical forest that surrounded it. It was purple, with glowing angular blue lines threading through it at sharp angles, unmistakeably part of the First One's temple we were in. It was a stark contrast to our surroundings, so much so that I had almost forgotten we were in a temple and not the Whispering Woods.
The glow from the blue lines was at its brightest in the centre of the clearing, where a circle was very clearly etched into the ground, all the blue lines leading into it. As we stepped off the soft ground of the forest and on to the hard stone of the temple floor, the circle in the centre started to slowly rise out of the ground. The column stopped moving when it rose to around Catra's shoulder height, and we exchanged a cautious glance before moving towards it.
'What is it?' Catra asked, walking around it.
I bobbed down to get a better look, 'I don't know, but there's a word on this side.'
'What does it say?'
'Uh... Focus.'
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'No idea, maybe it's a password, like for the doors?'
'Try saying it clearer.'
I stood up to my full height and cleared my throat, 'Focus!'
Nothing happened.
I looked at Catra, noticing the blue lines glowing slightly brighter under her feet as she moved around, 'You say it.'
'What? Why?'
'Just try it.'
She shook her head, 'Oh, no, I do not want anything else magical happening to me.'
'Why not?'
'Because you're the magical one. You're the one who talks to forests, you're the one who can open doors with words, you're the one who's friends with everybody, who everyone likes being around, and you're the one that was chosen to be Etheria's hero. You're the one that's special, Adora, and that's just not who I am... It never will be.' She hugged herself tightly, gripping her arms and digging in slightly with her claws while looking at the ground.
I rested my hand on her shoulder, shrinking back down to regular Adora size, 'You're special to me.' Catra looked at me then, and I gazed into those eyes I loved so much, 'Have I ever told you how much I love your eyes?' I said, moving my hand from her shoulder to rest on her cheek.
A small smile crept onto her face, 'Whatever, Dummy, I'll say the stupid word.' I stepped back as Catra moved to stand in front of the First One's writing on the pillar. 'But what do we do if this doesn't work?'
'Then we'll look for another way out, but I've got a feeling it'll be fine.'
Catra took a deep breath, before speaking clear and calm. 'Focus.'
Nothing happened.
'See, Adora! You were wrong, it's not... Oh no.'
The writing split in two, and both halves of a small door slowly slid around the back of the pillar.
I grinned, 'What was that? It's not working? Oh, I guess we'll go then.' Catra wasn't listening, instead she was staring inside the pillar. I looked over her shoulder, 'What is it?'
'It looks like... gloves? And a tiara.' She said the word "tiara" like she was allergic to it. 'Well go on, Adora. Try them on.'
'Oh, absolutely not.' I said, shaking my head and wagging my finger, 'You opened the thing, you have to put them on.' She frowned at me. 'Catra, it didn't open for me. If I was supposed to wear them it would have opened when I said the word. But it didn't, it opened for you, so try them on.'
Catra sighed before picking up the gloves and putting them on. They were relatively thin, but padded, black fingerless wrist-length gloves. They had blue First One's patterns all around, which stemmed from a blue crystal disc on the back of each glove. I couldn't help but be reminded of the crystal Mara's sword was made from; it looked identical. Catra then picked up the circlet – it was made from two bands of silver metal that met at an angle at the front and ended with two circles at the back. At the front, covering the join between the two halves, a small blue oval gemstone. 'Do I really have to wear this?'
'Yes!' I beamed. 'If it makes you feel better, I think those are called circlets, not tiaras.'
'For the record, that does not make me feel better.' She put it on before fiddling with her hair, making it sit more comfortably on her head. Now all that was visible was the front of it resting on her forehead, a triangular shape with a gemstone in the centre. After a moment the gemstone shone brilliantly, followed by the crystal discs on the back of the gloves, the glow then spreading throughout the rest of the pattern. 'A-Adora! They're glowing! What do I do!'
'Uh, focus!'
'On what?'
'Uh... Imagine Melog is bright red and you have to turn them blue again!' Catra closed her eyes tight and focused on calming her breathing. I noticed her physically relaxing after a moment before she opened her eyes again and smiled softly. 'Can I take a look?' She nodded. I stepped forwards, leaning in to examine the gemstone on her head prior to having a closer look at the discs on her hands. 'Catra, this looks like Mara's sword, the one I broke.'
'What do you mean?'
'I mean it's made the same way. You've got the hilt with the gemstone, your circlet; and the blade of crystal, your gloves.' I gasped as a realisation dawned, 'I get to be your Light Hope!'
'What?'
'I could help you figure out how to use it – them, if you want me to?'
Catra looked down at her glowing gloves, considering. 'Let's just concentrate on getting out of here, for now. I don't know what these things do, and I don't want to chance anything.'
I shrugged, 'Alright, whatever you say.'
The sound of stone grinding against stone suddenly filled the silence of the forest. As we turned around, we saw a triangular temple door rising slowly just beyond the now descending glove pillar. It was part of a wall, a long wall, that had definitely not been there a few moments beforehand.
'Didn't we come from that direction?' Catra asked, looking around.
'Uh... I vote that we just go through the door and leave the confusing forest that likes you more than me behind.'
'Agreed.'
The door started closing as soon as we passed through. On the other side, we found ourselves in a familiar looking corridor filled with flourishing magical plants and wisps.
'Wait... You were jealous, I knew it!'
(A/N: the illustrations in this chapter are by the wonderful @suga.rcloud on Instagram!)