Chapter Text
Etheria, Year 1- After Despondos
The planet was dying.
The Heart had been broken and was lost within a dream. The Soul had been crushed and was desperate now to be seen.
The waves of resulting chaos shook Etheria from its core, creating difficult footing as laser bolts descended like an acidic rain upon the ground. Blasting volatile craters in the dirt and just barely missing their intended target; a large dark colored feline creature that had caused such near unhinged mayhem over a group of still un-pure Etherians the animal was deemed as a whole, Unworthy of Prime’s Light .
But there had been the barest hint of worry along the hive mind upon recognizing the beast. And an even greater fear at what protected the creature's face. If nothing else, Prime had commanded, That had to be obliterated.
The feline cut a series of sharp maneuvers. Left, right, left, right, crouch, leap, crouch, leap; leaving small burst trails of emerald flames that turned the dry red clay into slick patches of ice like glass- polished and cold enough to eat at the pursuers alloy coverings in her wake. But even those bright flames couldn’t stop the deadly metal flying things with blade sharp wings that spat fire with a searing bite.
There; a tree line just ahead. The Woods. Protection.
Pain. A sickly green bolt sliced through the cat’s back leg, making her roar out and slide across the dry, lifeless dirt before the woods.
Deep chocolate furred sides heaved a rough tempo as the handful of large mechanical forms flanking beside other cold, pale creatures approached. Their charging cannons highlighted the darker rosettes in their acid glow that matched the verdant lines etching along the ground; pulsating faster. The cat’s large golden eyes pinned the closest of the beings and snarled. It was a wet, raspy sound and nothing like her normal bone melting thunder.
The massive feline hissed and heaved upright on shaky paws. If this was where she was to die, she wouldn’t go down before taking every one of these invaders to the darkest abyss with her. These Enslavers with no remorse.
She had to protect the kit'tas-
Children. Some barely lucid voice in her mind reminded gently.
Ah yes. The young ones who had helped her escape the cage that Witch had kept her in when the Dark Tower had met a fiery end and nursed her back to health. They would be safer now, she had led the enemy away.
They weren’t like her. But the young woman with skillfully twisted braids fought like one of her own and had argued toe-to-toe with anyone who questioned why there was a wild animal in their bunks. The Lizardfolx was quiet but highly empathic to her body language and knew when she needed space over a sleeping pile, though he would never let her groom him he did rumble at a frequency that soothed and helped to heal her aches from being cramped and barely mobile for so long. Then there was the blond young man, shy and nervous but had the heart of a warrior. She kept extra care of him and always made sure he ate first or was tucked close while they slept during the chaos created by the vacuum of power within the Fright Zone.
The three of them made a loving Pride- family- as small as it was. The great cat’s heart yearned for her own Pride again. But she had to fix it first .
But what was it ?
That’s why you were in the Fright Zone remember, to find her. The whisper was weaker this time.
Yes, it was right, her . She had to find her -the missing piece she had left her Pride to find. Left behind family … and her… her home? Was that right?
Finding her would fix it. If only she could remember…
Short flickers of memory buzzed to the surface as the Invaders collectively lifted their weapons. Flashes of icy blue eyes, filled with questioning anguish and fangs fully on display as hands moved furiously before storming from the space; she could still feel steel grey eyes peering from the shadows filled with tears.
I just couldn’t risk their lives… this mistake was mine to rectify…
Another shift. Those same blue eyes filled with awe and joy, laughing breathlessly with her while wrestling down a squealing bundle of wild mane and mischievous cyan and yellow eyes to bathe.
She never did like those baths… we all ended up soaked that night…
But who were they? She had been away from home and her Runestone for so long… her… Relic… the voice supplied growing ever fainter.
The cannons charged fully, ready to fire.
The monotonous chorus of “Be cleansed in Prime’s light” however, was cut short by a thin blur knocking into the cannons and setting off a chain reaction of beams shooting into their neighbors as the misty forest took life. Roots and limbs reached out to knock the Invaders away, living or not, and drew the large cat protectively closer to its borders.
“Broom!” An aged voice called out from the foliage as the dust settled, “Did you find Loo-ky? Where have you gone, you crazy thing, what have you found?”
The cat growled at the thing, the broom, as it swept closer and a wrinkly face popped over a root. An old woman with frizzy pale hair filled with bits of nature and small fluttering things hovering around blinked owlishly behind thick glasses at her.
“Oh ho! A pair of visitors to old Madame Razz!” The elder, Razz, chortled and peered closer, “Oh my, where is your aunt C’atia little kitten, does she know you’re using her Relic again? And so far from home… Did C’yra get turned around and lose your way, pretty one? She knows Adora isn’t going to be here for a while… She's busy saving our home, guiding little Adora and her friends.”
The large cat rumbled. She meant to growl for the woman to leave her, but it came out a weak purr instead when the woman rubbed behind her ear, making her very sleepy but her mind felt less hazy. She felt like she knew she should.
Madam Razz… but Aunt C’atia has long passed? Maybe this Adora can help me find who I seek… my… My Kitten…
A faint brush of comfort settled in her mind. She let it be with a sleepy rumble of contentment feeling the chill of northern wind brush over her fur and her last clear thoughts before the pain became too much and she blacked out were of her youth. Of snow drifts and whispery laughs teasing from shadows while dancing in games of chase.
“Not to worry though, Mara will have things right as rain soon!” Razz exclaimed as the ground gave a shudder and the green lines flashed brightly. The iridescent eyes of the red mask over the sleeping cat's face gave a quick shine and Razz smiled wistfully and tapped the mask, “She figured it out and left a trail you see, C’yra. One for little Adora to follow to find her Heart’s desire and then you and Adora will help the Soul heal. But first we shall take you back to Madame Razz’s home and get you fixed up for when she visits with Mara and Hope for pie, She will have her Catra-cat with her too.”
Something in the distance started- a multihued glow that grew closer.
“Yes.” Madame Razz chortled as the trees helped carry the large cat deeper into their holdings, “All will be just fine this time.”
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