'I should've brought some snacks or something, because this may end up being the best entertainment all week.' Catra observed the training session she was supposed to be attending. The Half-Magicat's vigorously gorgeous heterochromatic azure and beige eyes examined everything from an overhead support beam that she clutched onto with her claws. She smirked with amusement as her reddish cat ears — which purposely gave her unkempt gray-brown hair the striking appearance of a fur mane — carefully listened while allowing her feline tail to swerve from left to right.

This training simulation involved the Whispering Woods; which was admittedly something vastly different from the usual drills Hordak or Shadow Weaver would have set up for the senior cadets. According to the local gossip, the Whispering Woods is a dreadfully vast, mysterious forest, and the largest known one on Etheria. It is notorious for its shifting landscape — that's likely a mystical enchantment that was placed on it by the First Ones — making accurate navigation through the dark woods nearly impossible.

Strategy-wise, it efficiently serves as the perfect natural barrier for protecting Bright Moon, the Princess Rebellion's base of operations, from the Horde's Fright Zone. Today's mission is to reach the heart of the rebel insurgency, defeat the wicked Queen Angella, and liberate the oppressed kingdom in the Horde's honorable name. 'Sounds simple enough.' "Remember, these woods are full of Princesses!" An authoritative sounding voice stated to the other cadets. One Catra recognized from a blue-eyed, golden-haired Human girl; her best friend, Adora. "Vicious, violent instigators who will take us out with extreme force if willingly given the opportunity! Understood?!"

"Yes, Adora!" The fellow soldiers unanimously affirmed with respect; placing their VR goggles on, and priming their close, and long-ranged weapons. 'Still bravely leading the charge as always, Adora.' Catra placed her VR goggles on to see the upcoming action for herself; witnessing an active simulation of innocent people running in fear from several shadow-like monsters, the Evil Princesses, looming over them and Adora's teammates.

The training session hadn't even been active for a minute, and already one of the soldiers was hit by one of the Princesses blasts, naturally causing the "red X of death" to appear promptly on his training armor. 'Oh no… Kyle "died…" again… I did not see that coming.' Catra tried containing her laughter at the "epic" fail, so as not to reveal herself too early. If Adora caught her relaxing and enjoying the show while she did all the heavy lifting, the Half-Magicat would have to deal with one of her long-winded speeches about effective teamwork and trust. 'No thanks.'

"Find cover!" Adora ordered as the remaining cadets scattered in a deliberate search of adequate protection, while the illusionary creatures fired indiscriminately upon the squad with unreasonable prejudice. Amidst the virtual — 'and amusingly violent' — chaos, Adora hurled an incendiary grenade at one of the Princesses, blasting her to smithereens and allowing the remaining soldiers to scramble around and find cover behind some creepily conspicuous trees. The Princesses began blasting at the trees with all their might, inevitably forcing the cadets to activate their energy shields instead. "Group up!" The remaining cadets followed Adora's orders and implemented their combined shielding to resist the attacks; charging forward.

'Adora always did think that an excellent defense made for the best offense.' Catra continued watching her best friend lead the fierce charge like a natural, and eventually defeat the remaining Princesses. But before any of them could celebrate their supposed victory, the ground began spreading apart as the final challenge appeared before the now terrified soldiers, the wicked Queen Angella. The hologram of the rebel Queen unleashed a devastating blast at the squad before they had any time to react, as the "red X of death" appeared on all except Adora.

'Okay, I think it's time to help out now.' Catra quickly stood and stretched her arms and legs before leaping onto the hard ground next to the still "dead" Kyle. "Catra? Where'd you come from?" The downed Cadet confusingly asked as the feline-girl casually snatched his weapons up. "Wait, can you help me up before you go?" The Half-Magicat ignored his pleas for help; grinning as she proceeded to leave him.

Meanwhile, Adora continued to endure her solo battle against the wicked Queen Angella but was hopelessly outmatched in every possible way, shape, and form. As the holographic Queen focused on Adora, this gave Catra time to tactically locate some well-hidden cover and fire from a safe distance. After a few purposefully annoying shots, the Half-Magicat successfully captured the Queen's attention; promptly giving Adora enough valuable time to line up the proper shots on her energy rifle and accurately shoot the hologram dead. "Training excise complete, results: Successful." A robotic voice promptly announced over the intercoms with apparent satisfaction.

All the cadets enthusiastically cheered over their victory against the Princess Rebellion, except for Adora, who removed her goggles and breathed out a disappointed sigh. "I know it was you, Catra."

The Half-Magicat confidently revealed herself and casually removed her goggles as well. "Hey, Adora." Catra flirtatiously said, promptly giving her dear friend a cocky smile all the while.

"Y'know, I can't believe you sometimes." Adora ranted in an annoyed tone as she agitatedly shoved her gear into her locker and slammed it shut. "You always do stuff like this, ducking out of required classes and training sessions, then showing up after all the hard work has been handled."

"Oh, come on, you were doing fine without me… well, until you weren't, that is." Catra confidently responded, before busting out with boisterous laughter. "But you should've seen your face when you went up against Queen Angella, it was priceless and all like, "Ah! No! We're all gonna die!"

"Can you take this serious for once? We're senior cadets of the Horde now, Catra. Honestly, I can't believe you're still doing such childish, immature- OH MY GOSH, IS THAT A MOUSE?!"

"WHAT?! WHERE?!" Catra gawked around the locker room, on full alert for any sign of a delicious-looking rodent that she could pounce on and sink her sharp teeth into. It was now Adora's turn to start laughing out loud at the lighthearted prank; while Catra sarcastically responded with a fake laugh, placing her hands on her hips.

However, the laughter ceased as soon as the once warm-feeling locker room suddenly became colder. The cadets nervously turned to the source of the chill; Catra gulped in fear as she and Adora stood as straight as boards and saluted, upon spotting Lord Hordak's second-in-command, the ominous Shadow Weaver. "Be at ease," the masked woman told Adora in a steady, yet sinister tone while affectionately placing a rotted-looking hand on the teenaged girl's rosy cheek. "I'm here to earnestly commend you on the remarkable success of your training exercise; your instructor told me you've continued to hold the highest record out of all of our cadets. No words can accurately express how proud I am of you."

"Thank you, ma'am, but I don't deserve all the credit." Adora honestly and respectfully stated to the raven-haired witch. "Catra was the one who distracted the final boss, so that I may efficiently deliver the finishing blow."

"On the contrary, she does not deserve the recognition." The maroon-robed woman subtly shifted her spiteful attention to the trembling Half-Magicat and floated over to her. "Catra is merely nothing more than a flippant, reckless cretin with no proper discipline, a grave embarrassment to the Horde and everything it stands for. Hordak and I generously gave you a new life when we found you, and you constantly choose to disrespect our generous gift time and time again, it is unacceptable!"

"I'm certain this is the last time Catra will do something like this." Adora respectfully stated; begging the woman who had raised them since they were babies to stop.

But she disregarded the blonde's earnestness without a thought; tightly cupping the feline-girls chin and forced her dual-colored eyes to meet her own. "What do you have to say for your constant disrespect?"

"Shadow Weaver, please, stop."

"What. Do you. Say" Shadow Weaver's magic began to ominously extend out and darken the entirety of the once bright room.

Catra fearfully struggled to hold back her overwhelming fear, and tears; stuttering as she finally squeaked out the words, "I- I- I- I'm s- s- s- so- sorry."

"For your sake, I sincerely hope you are." Shadow Weaver replied in an unconvinced, yet pleased sounding manner; letting the Half-Magicat go and promptly returning her attention to Adora like nothing ever happened. "Walk with me."

"Yes, ma'am." Adora quickly responded, wishing to keep Shadow Weaver in the pleasant mood she's currently in as they exited the locker room. As soon as the door closed, the feline-girl's stoic demeanor inevitably gave way as she let out heavy breaths of genuine terror with a few sobs; backing up against her locker and allowing her back to slide down the cold surface onto the floor. 'Why does she do this to me? What kind of sick satisfaction does she get out of it?'

Catra sat near the railing of the Horde base's exterior balconies for the past few, dull hours, curled up into a dejected ball. 'I'm just as good as Adora. We've trained with each other for our entire lives and have always been neck at neck with each other. So, why does Shadow Weaver constantly praise her, and scorn me?' The Half-Magicat's head then popped up after her ears began to twitch frantically; something was catching her attention as she hopped onto and crouched down on the railing.

Catra swerved her head from left to right, and up and down as she methodically searched for the source of her disturbance; eventually spotting Adora walking out of the base and casually placing her slightly muscled arms on the platform's railing, looking out in the distance. A mischievous grin naturally formed on the Half-Magicat's face as she climbed down from her overhanging balcony to the one below it; perfectly landing on the elevated rail as she eyed her target.

The humanoid feline skulked around, and gradually snuck her way closer to Adora; who appeared to have just recently attached something to the left of her uniforms bosom and was oblivious to her best friend's presence. Squatting down, Catra built up all the necessary strength in her legs and leaped from the railing towards her target; successfully pinning the golden-haired girl down on the hard, metal ground with little to no effort. "Gotcha'!" Catra playfully shouted while Adora yelped in surprise.

"Yes, you got me," Adora said in a good-humoredly and dignified manner, wistfully gazing into the eyes of the cat-girl on top of her, while she tenderly looked back into the blondes; both feeling… flustered. Adora and Catra have known one another far longer than any of the other cadets precisely. They've always had an affectionate, and enduring bond since they were toddlers; one that went beyond mere friendship at this point.

Catra's dual-colored eyes then moved to Adora's chest and instantly noticed something shiny. "What's that?" Catra quickly plucked the unique piece of polished metal off her friend's cadet uniform and nimbly hopped to her feet to more accurately examine it; slightly vexing Adora for where she allowed her hand to wander. "No way, you've been promoted to Force Captain! Congrats!" The Half-Magicat then proceeded to give Adora the tightest, most love-filled hug she could. "Thanks… Catra, you're hurting me."

"Oh, sorry. I'm just thrilled because of how awesome this is."

"Well, I don't think it's that big of a deal."

"Not a big deal? Being a Force Captain is a huge deal! This means we can leave the Fright Zone for once! We'll get to go out and see the world! And conquer it!" The Half-Magicat stretched out her arms for greater emphasis, while her glittering eyes grew big with joy.

"Catra." Adora's smile faded away into a disappointed, regretful frown. "You're not coming with me."

"What?" The Half-Magicat's heart sank as she looked the blonde with utter disbelief. "Why not? We promised each other the day we left the Fright Zone, we'd do it together…" A sudden realization popped into her mind on what all of this is about now and turns away from Adora with a dejected look once more. "Wait, let me guess, these orders are coming from Shadow Weaver?" Adora remained silent; which was enough to answer the question. "Well, I guess there are perks to being teacher's pet, right?"

"That has nothing to do with me becoming Force Captain." Adora always disliked being accused of being Shadow Weaver's favorite.

"That has everything to do with it!" Catra angrily threw Adora's badge onto the hard ground. "You're just a people pleaser who knows what to say and what to do to get everyone's favor, while I'm… I'm merely an undisciplined cretin!" With those hurt words said, Catra leaped above Adora's head and rigorously scaled the large building with little effort; getting away from her friend as fast as she could.

Catra once again found herself back in the same spot as last time; refusing to look up at the door in front of her as it slid open and Adora stepped through. "Catra, are you okay?" The blonde asked with a solemnly concerned look.

"No," The feline-girl evasively answered; keeping her head down, feeling disappointed in herself about how she lost her temper over something that should've been worthy of celebration.

Adora sat next to the Half-Magicat. "Is there something you want to talk about? Is this about the promotion?"

"No…" Catra let out a frustrated sigh. 'There's no point in lying.' "Okay yes, but not because you got promoted to Force Captain, but because I'm not going with you on your first mission as Force Captain. I'm sorry I lost my cool with you, but do you have any idea how much freedom that rank gives you? You'll be outside the Fright Zone, finally seeing what's out there, while I'll be cooped up here… all alone."

An awkward moment of uncomfortable silence passed when a roguish grin suddenly appeared on her face as she took out an odd-looking pair of metal keys; dangling them in front of Catra. "You want to find out what's out there right, then why don't we?"

Catra's heterochromatic eyes widened in genuine surprise at her best friend. "This is out of character for you, Adora." She ten proudly smiled. "I like it."

"WAAHOOOO‼" Both Catra and Adora screamed with genuine delight as they take there "borrowed" Skiff for a joyride outside the Fright Zone; passionately feeling the exhilarating wind on their faces and hair blowing, lustrously, back.

"This is amazing!" Catra exclaimed as she steered the two-person vehicle with adrenaline-filled, criminal recklessness, without any worry of what may, or may not happen.

"Make sure not to use up too much fuel; we don't want to end up stranded too far from the base!" Adora loudly and responsibly informed the Half-Magicat, as she held on tightly with a similar rush.

"Stop worrying and enjoy the ride." 'A fast vehicle, my best friend by my side, no thoughts about you-know-who. This is just the best.'

Both girls scream in excitement as Catra continued to pilot, but Adora's look of joy quickly turned to shock as she belatedly realized where they were driving right into. "Catra, we're heading into the Whispering Woods, we should turn back!"

"Come on, I want to take one peek inside; then it's back to home base." The feline-girl drove faster and more recklessly into the enchanted forest. Inside the Whispering Woods, Catra and Adora witnessed the beautiful light blue skies and emerald green trees within, as well as the other exotic, plant-life that ranged in mesmerizing colors of glowing reds, brilliant oranges, rosy pinks, and fantastic yellows, so mesmerizing, in fact, that Catra wasn't paying attention to what was in front of her anymore.

"Tree! Tree! Tree! Tree! Tree!" Adora shrilly screamed, snapping the cat-girl out of her trance.

"Oh, sh…" Catra tried slowing down; barely dodged the overgrown tree in front of her, as well as the ones behind that.

She carefully navigated the constantly changing scene, but as soon as the Half-Magicat gets the Skiff to a safe speed; she accidentally slams headfirst against a low-hanging branch that sent her flying from the vehicle into freefall.

"CATRA!" Adora screamed out as all she could do is watch from above as her best friend continued to plummet straight to her untimely death.