Seacat (She-Ra AU) (Complete)

Summary: Life was good for Seacat. Sure, losing your memory in a Horde attack a few years ago wasn't exactly easy, but she had rolled with the punch and rebuilt her life. She's got a name, a spot on a ship - as long as she could keep it from burning - and a sort of family. But now, just when she was trying to chill in one of Sea Hawk’s favourite dives, some blonde weirdo was hugging her and babbling about having thought her dead years ago.

Disclaimer: I do not own She-Ra and the Princesses of Power or any of the characters in the series.

Author’s Notes: This story is set in an Alternate Universe. A number of canon events didn’t happen or happened differently in the series.

I'd like to thank elpenor for his help with this chapter.

Cover:


Author Note: I commissioned a picture of Seacat by Carnivalkitten:

Spoiler

*****​

Prologue: Four Years Ago

She was the first who heard it, even over the screams and explosions. A whine that made her sensitive ears hurt and her fur stand up. She turned around, hissing, her hands pressed on her ears, as she tried to find the source of the noise.

It didn’t take her long. The weird bot in the middle of the village was the source - the whine came from it. She hissed again as the whining grew louder. This was unbearable! She turned, growling, and started to run away.

Horde Soldiers with weird helmets tried to grab her, but she ducked, sprinting on all fours, her claws digging into stone and soil as she raced through the village, not knowing, not caring where she was running as long as it was away. Away from the noise. Away. Away. Away.

Gasping, she drew to a stop on the beach. The sea was there. She couldn’t run further. But the noise was still in her ears. And she was boxed in by cliffs.

No choice. She dashed forward, jumped into the sea, tried to dive into the shallow water. Anything to get away from the noise.

Until everything went black.

*****​

She woke up with a gasp, her fur drenched with sweat. Shaking and panting, she wrapped her thin blanket around herself. She had to calm down. It was just a dream. A nightmare. She wasn’t there. Not anymore. She wasn’t surrounded by the corpses of Horde soldiers and villagers, fallen where they had fought.

She wasn’t alone in a dead village.

“Hey, kid!”

She gasped again, scrambling back, away from whoever had startled her, pressing herself against the wall behind her mattress, one hand raised with her claws out.

The man bared his teeth - no, he smiled at her. “Hey! It’s me! Sea Hawk! The one and only! You had another nightmare?”

She shakingly nodded. “Y-yes.”

“Don’t worry, that’ll get better.” He kept smiling but didn’t approach her. She saw the bandage over his nose and winced. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. He had found her in the village. Had taken her on his ship. Taken her away from that horrible place.

“We’ll be in Seaworthy soon. Don’t worry, we’ll find help there.”

Once more, she nodded. More firmly this time.

“So, ah… do you remember your name now?”

Her ears dropped, and she swallowed as she shook her head. “N-no.” She didn’t. Didn’t remember any part of her life before the Horde soldiers attacked her village and killed everyone she knew.

“Ah.” his face fell for a moment. Then he perked up. “Well, until you do, I’ll be calling you… Seacat!”

She blinked. “Seacat?”

“Yes!” He beamed at her. “Because I fished you out of the sea and you’re a cat!”

She stared at him. Then she slowly nodded. And tried to smile.

He patted her shoulder, and she barely flinched. “Don’t you worry, once we’re in Seaworthy everything will be fine! There are no Horde soldiers there - you’ll be safe!”

Safe. She nodded. “Yes.”

But she gripped his hand with hers, and when he tried to pull it away, her claws dug into his skin, forcing him to stay.

Safe.

*****​

Chapter 1: The Weird Girl

“...and then I said: ‘Damn the blockade! Onward!’ and we smashed through their blockade!”

“Wow! Really?”

“Yes, really! Left them drifting with broken oars and ruined rigging as we sailed off into the sunset!”

Seacat rolled her eyes at the silly waitress listening to Sea Hawk’s boasting. Sure, they had broken through the blockade put up by those deserters from Mermista’s kingdom, but it had left the Dragon’s Daughter III with a damaged stern. And that had cost more to fix than breaking the blockade had earned them. Which meant they were broke again and looking for a cargo in Seaworthy. Preferably one by desperate people who needed the best ship on the sea. Or gullible idiots with more money than sense who could be fleeced for all their worth - Seacat wasn’t picky. She couldn’t afford to. Not with a captain like Sea Hawk doing his best - or worst - to sink their ship to ruin whenever he got a chance.

She clenched her teeth, suppressed the urge to growl, and took a deep breath. And a large swallow from her ale. Sea Hawk was a decent man. He had taken her in after her… well, after the attack. Taught her to sail the seas. Gave her a home.

If only he wouldn’t keep trying to set her home on fire. And were a little more responsible.

She took another swallow before her mouth could decide whether it was meant to frown or smile. That hit the spot. But now her tankard was empty. Sighing, she set it down and stared at the waitress. The silly wench was still looking at Sea Hawk as if her eyeballs were glued to the man’s lips.

Seacat cleared her throat. Neither reacted. She did it again. And again.

“Are you well, first mate? You’re not coming down with something, are you?” Sea Hawk asked. “Or are you coughing up a hairball?” He laughed at his own joke.

She groaned - briefly - at his old, stupid joke. Then she flashed a toothy grin at him that had him wince. “Just wondering what Mermista would think about you flirting with another woman.”

He gasped in his exaggerated manner, jumping up and holding a hand to his heart. “What? Me, flirting? Never! My heart belongs to my dear Princess Mermista!”

She snorted in return. “Sure, sure.” And tried not to feel guilty about the way his eyes had looked at her for just an instant. It wasn’t her fault that the prissy princess didn’t return his feelings. Not that Mermista would be a good match for Sea Hawk, anyway. Far too straight-laced. Sea Hawk would be good for her, of course - people like Memista needed some fun in their lives or they’d bore themselves to death ‘doing their duty’.

Sea Hawk snorted as well and sat down again. “Perhaps you’re a little grumpy because you aren’t flirting?”

That made her roll her eyes. “No, I’m just grumpy ‘cause my tankard’s empty and the waitress has run off.” And was now busy with another table.

He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. The hand that wasn’t suddenly gripping his own tankard tightly before she had managed to grab it. Drat. “That’s your own fault.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She stood. If the Maelstrom didn’t come to the ship, the ship had to go to the Maelstrom.

She made her way to the bar - carefully. Her bare feet were perfect for the deck of a ship in heavy seas, and her claw marks just added character to the ship, no matter what Sea Hawk claimed, but there was nothing worse than stepping into spilt ale. Well, except for stepping into vomit. That just felt icky on her feet and fur and was hell to get out of her leggings. Even if the stains didn’t easily show on the black fabric.

Some low-life nobody - looked like a sailor down on his luck - stared at her. Or rather, at her blood red tied-off shirt. She tossed her mane back and put a hand on the hilt of her cutlass, then bared her teeth with a growl. The man paled and looked away, hunching over.

Good. She neither wanted nor needed such attention. Nor did she need another attempt of Sea Hawk to play ‘protective captain’. Or, worse, prospective matchmaker. She wasn’t looking for a relationship. Or love.

The bartender was talking to a trio of landlubbers. Rich landlubbers, she thought - the little girl wore expensive clothes. Probably worth more than she was paying her two bodyguards.

Seacat smirked. Time to show the visitors who was at the top of the pecking order here. She deliberately stepped between the shrimp and the blonde bodyguard, forcing them out of the way. Ignoring their surprised protests, she leaned over the bar top and flashed two coins at the bartender. “Two more ales! And hurry!!”

“Hey! Who do you think you are?”

Oh! The shrimp just handed her the perfect opening. Seacat turned, leaned against the bar and grinned. “Me?” She laughed. “You’ve never heard of me? I am…”

“...Catra? Catra?”

What? Seacat blinked. That wasn’t how this was supposed to go! The blonde guard she had elbowed to the side was staring at her and... Were those tears in her eyes? What in the Ocean’s name was going…

“Catra! I thought you were dead!”

The blonde lunged, quicker than Seacat had expected, and tackled her. Pressed her against the bar with enough force to drive the air out of her lungs, actually.

“I thought you were dead! For years! They said you were lost! Oh, Catra!”

Yes, she was crying - on Seacat’s shoulder. That would get her shirt wet. And her hair.

“You’re alive! You’re alive!”

Not for much longer if the crazy woman kept trying to crush her ribs. Seacat managed to force out: “Need to breathe!”

“Adora! You’re hurting her!”

“Adora!”

“Oh! I’m so sorry! I still don’t know my new strength, I mean… sorry!”

The woman finally released her and Seacat took a deep breath. A few deep breaths. Air had never tasted sweeter than right now. Not since her first swimming lesson with Sea Hawk. She flashed the woman a toothy smile that usually served her well to keep grabby sailors away before she had to claw their faces off and make another bartender mad.

It didn’t, not today. The woman - or girl, she looked much younger with a watery smile - beamed at her. “Catra!”

“The name’s Seacat,” she corrected the girl. Unless… No. Her village had been wiped out. She had been the only survivor. If anyone had known her, they’d have found her. Sea Hawk had asked around in every port for months after he had taken her in.

“Seacat?” A dumb expression made the girl look even more… well, dumb.

“Yes, Seacat,” she repeated herself.

“Like sea and cat?” the guy asked.

She glared at him. It was a perfectly fine name. Sea Hawk’s choice, but still. It might not be the most original name, but it was hers. She had earned it.

The blonde was shaking her head. “No, no… it’s been years, but I wouldn’t mistake… it’s you! Catra! My best friend!”

What?

“Don’t you recognise me? It’s me, Adora!” The girl gripped her shoulders. “We grew up together! You used to sleep on my bed!”

What?

“What?”

“Adora?”

Seacat winced and shook herself free while the shrimp and the other guard stared at the blonde. She suppressed the urge to rub her shoulders - the girl had a grip of iron. Could probably weigh a frigate’s anchor by herself.

But… Seacat wet her lips and took a deep breath. This was just a misunderstanding. It must be. Neither she nor Sea Hawk, not even Mermista had ever found any other survivor from her village. On the other hand… “You’re from... Gullpeak?” Her voice faltered a little saying the name, and Seacat clenched her teeth in frustration. She was stronger than that.

“Uh… Gullpeak?” The blonde blinked at her with her mouth half-open.

“Our... my home village,” Seacat said, doing her best not to show any disappointment. Not that she’d have actually harboured any real hope. It was just a misunderstanding, as she had thought. Or… was this a con? Some scummy lowlife trying to trick the amnesiac girl? It wasn’t as if Seacat’s past was a secret. Not with Sea Hawk having made up a shanty about it.

“Home village?” The blonde was still staring at her.

But the other guard was rubbing his chin. “Gullpeak… I think I’ve heard the name before.”

Seacat sighed. Loudly. If they were con men, they weren’t good at it. At all. “Yes, my home village. The place I was born and raised, you know?”

She pushed off the bar and got into the blonde’s face. You had to get up and personal if someone crowded you - it threw them off balance. And you were close enough to sucker-punch them - or gut them - if you had to. Few people who didn’t know her expected her claws to be able to cut through leather and light armour.

But Blondie didn’t look off her game. She looked confused. “But… we were raised in the Fright Zone. Together.”

What? Seacat leapt back, somersaulting, and landed on the bar top, hissing. “You’re Horde soldiers!” It was a trap! The blonde flinched - Seacat knew it! She drew her cutlass and lit the blade.

The other guests flinched, and the closest bunch moved away. Seacat ignored them, growling at the Horde soldiers with flat ears. They had wiped out her village!

“Nonononono!” The boy stepped in between them, waving his arms as if he were capsizing in a skiff. “She isn’t a Horde soldier! We aren’t Horde soldiers!”

The shrimp joined him. “We’re members of the Rebellion. I’m Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon.”

What?

“Are you in trouble, first mate?” Great. Now Sea Hawk had to butt in. And he struck a pose. “Don’t worry, your captain has your back! The sacred laws of the sea bind captain and crew together!”

Flashing his teeth, the captain stepped closer to her and mumbled. “What’s this all about, anyway? Friends of yours?”

“I’ve never seen them before!” Seacat hissed in reply, crouching on the bar top and keeping her cutlass pointed at the group.

“What? Catra! Did you lose your memory or something?” The blonde pushed through her friends and stepped so close, Seacat would just have to lean forward to pierce her stupid face.

“Of course not!” she growled, unfortunately at the same time Sea Hawk blurted out: “Why, yes, she did, in fact. Didn’t you know that?”

She glared at the captain as the three newcomers gasped. As usual when he was in full form - and slightly drunk - he ignored it.

He took a deep breath, struck another dramatic pose, hand on his cheek, and said: “She lost her memory in the same attack in which she lost her family. A poor orphan, the sole survivor of her village! When I first saw her, I knew I could not abandon her to a life in an orphanage and decided to take her in and raise her as the second-best sailor in all the seas!”

He had planned to find her a foster family until Mermista had commented that she wouldn’t have expected him to be so caring, but that was neither here nor there. “Don’t tell my life history to strangers,” she spat. At least, he wasn’t singing.

“But it’s dramatic!” he retorted. “Besides, it makes me look good. And it makes you more likeable.”

She growled at him - she didn’t need nor wanted pity. “Yeah, yeah. It’s ancient history.”

“It’s been four years,” he said. “Although time flies when you’re on an adventure! And life’s an adventure!”

“That makes… no sense,” the male guard commented. “Wouldn’t it…”

“Four years ago? That’s when you disappeared!” Blondie blurted out.

Seacat snorted. “What a coincidence!” Even a dumbass con man would’ve known to say that.

And yet, the blonde nodded with an earnest expression that almost looked convincing. “Yes! There was a mistake during a field exercise! You were sent to the wrong coordinates and never returned!”

“Mistake?” Seacat snarled. “Field exercise? Are you trying to claim that I was a Horde soldier?” She hopped down from the bar top and landed in front of the girl. If she dared to...

“Yes!” Blondie blurted out. “Well, a cadet - like me!”

Blondie was a Horde soldier? Hadn’t they just denied that? “You’re a Horde soldier?”

“She deserted!” the other guard butted in. “Before her first mission!”

That seemed to finally make the idiot realise that Seacat was about to claw her stupid face off and she took a few steps back, shaking her head. “I’m fighting for the Rebellion.”

“Anyone can say that!” Seacat snapped back.

“Indeed,” Sea Hawk added. “Taking on a fake identity is quite common on adventures. While I prefer to solve my problems with blade and bravery, guile and trickery are not without merit.”

“I’m Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon,” the shrimp repeated herself. “A member of the Princess Alliance.”

“The future Princess Alliance. Or the reborn Princess Alliance,” the guy added.

“You don’t look much like a Princess,” Seacat told her.

“And you’ve seen many Princesses, have you?” the shrimp shot back with a scowl.

“Oh, I’m very familiar, practically family, with Princess Mermista!” Sea Hawk blurted out, as Seacat had known he would. “And as my trusted first mate, she’s also very familiar with Princess Mermista.”

Too familiar, for Seacat’s taste.

The shrimp made a frustrated noise - and disappeared in a cloud of sparkles to reappear in the booth Sea Hawk had vacated. A moment later, she returned to her guards’ side in the same way. “There!”

“Oh...a demonstration of a Princess’s power!” Sea Hawk hit the palm of his hand with his fist and nodded several times. “Impressive!”

Seacat rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, impressive. But it doesn’t prove anything else at all.” It probably didn’t prove that the shrimp was a princess, either, but Seacat didn’t know enough about magic to know if a sorceress could do the same.

And it certainly didn’t prove Blondie’s story! Seacat wasn’t a Horde soldier!

“Catra!” Blondie tried again as if she had read Seacat’s mind. “You’ve lost your memory! At the same time, my best friend disappeared! Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“Yes, it does,” Seacat replied. She waited until the girl’s expression brightened before she added: “It tells me that you didn’t think your story through. Not even the Horde sends children into battle!” Mostly because they had more than enough bots and soldiers already, but that was neither here nor there. The girl looked more hurt than foiled, though. And that made Seacat feel… nothing. Certainly not guilty.

Blondie shook her head, sending her silly ponytail flying. “It was a mistake! You weren’t supposed to be there - you were supposed to go to a safe outpost like me and get some field experience!”

“Gullpeak!” Guard guy slapped his fist like a miniature Sea Hawk. “I remember now! That was a village that was totally wiped out by some secret Horde weapon four years ago! Yes!”

She was about to claw his face off for his stupid smile - that was her family’s death that he was smiling about! - but Sea Hawk’s hand on her shoulder held her back.

The guy had the grace to flinch. “Uh… sorry. I got carried away. History is kind of… not my thing, but one thing of mine.”

“I am not a Horde soldier,” Seacat repeated herself through clenched teeth.

“No one here is a Horde soldier,” the guy said quickly, clapping his hand. “So… how about we continue this very informative talk with a little more privacy?”

Right. Half the tavern was staring at them. Seacat groaned - she should’ve known better than to hash things out at the bar. She would never live this down.

*****​

“So! Introductions!” the shrimp said as they sat down - with the three strangers on one side, and Seacat and the captain on the other side. “I’m Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon. This is my best friend, Bow, and our best friend, Adora.”

And they made fun of her name? Seacat clenched her teeth. A deep breath later, she snorted. That made the shrimp frown at her and Blondie look… she couldn’t place the expression. “The Horde cadet.”

Blondie winced at that before rallying. “I’m not with the Horde. I mean, I was - but not anymore.” She sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“She deserted,” the shrimp said, “and joined the Rebellion.” There had to be more to the story, going by the glance she shot at the other two.

Seacat made a mental note of looking into that. You could never know enough about potential friends and enemies.

“And you were looking for your long-lost best friend after you heard the famous shanty of Seacat!” Sea Hawk clasped his hands to his chest and beamed at the three.

Bow-guy smiled, rather weakly. “Actually, we never heard that shanty.”

“If we had, we would’ve come at once!” Blondie added.

Sea Hawk’s eyes widened, as did his smile. “Ah, it’s really...Ow!”

Seacat glared at him and pulled her claws from his thigh. This wasn’t the time. Actually, it never was the time to sing that particular shanty.

The princess cleared her throat. “We came here because we need a passage to Salineas.”

“To see Princess Mermista,” Bow-Boy added.

“And you naturally chose me! The best and bravest captain sailing the sea! And the one whom Princess Mermista holds so dear in her generous heart!” Sea Hawk flashed his teeth at them in what he thought was a dazzling smile.

Seacat smirked when she saw the slightly embarrassed expressions on the three.

“Uh, actually, we ever heard of you, either.” Bow-Boy looked like he wanted to apologise for that. As if a landlubber would have heard of Sea Hawk. Well, a bounty hunter probably had.

Which was why they couldn’t trust any stranger. Though… these guys weren’t bounty hunters. And Seacat didn’t think that the captain had ever set a princess’s boat on fire. Apart from Mermista’s, of course.

“Oh.” Sea Hawk’s face fell - but only for a moment. “In any case, you came to the right people! I and my first mate are the crew to hire for a trip to Salineas. Or to anywhere, actually. As long as it’s on a coast.” He stood, put one boot on the table and pushed his chest out. “No matter the danger, no matter the odds, the Dragon’s Daughter III will always reach her destination!”

“What happened to the Dragon’s Daughters I and II?” Bow-boy asked.

“They went down in flames,” Seacat replied.

“After reaching their destinations!” Sea Hawk was quick to add.

“While reaching their destinations,” Seacat corrected him. She ignored his confused glance. They needed money, but they didn’t need those weirdos’ money. And if the shrimp was desperate enough to hire them anyway, that meant they could charge more money - enough to make it worth travelling with Blondie. The way the girl was staring at her made Seacat’s skin… crawl. Definitely crawl. Not shiver.

“You’re hired!” Blondie declared.

“Perfect!” Sea Hawk replied at the same time that the shrimp blurted out: “Adora! We haven’t made a decision yet!”

“But they have a ship, they know the princess, and it’s Catra!”

“Seacat,” she corrected Blondie through clenched teeth.

Instead of being taken aback, the girl’s smile grew. “That’s the same hissing I remember!”

“Uh, we can’t agree on hiring them before we know how much this will cost,” Bow-Guy cut in. He seemed to be the least stupid of the three. Not that that would make him smart, of course - Blondie was obviously dumb, and the princess was, well, a princess. And anyone who knew princesses knew that they weren’t smart. Mermista was the best example of that.

But this gave her another opening. Seacat smiled, showing her fangs - which, unfortunately, made Blondie’s smile grow even more sappy - and quickly noted a number down on a scrap of paper. “Here’s our fee, Brain!” she announced as she held it out to the boy.

It was very satisfying to see their mouths drop after they read the note. Guess your allowance doesn’t cover this, huh?

“Those are… many zeroes. Very many zeroes,” Brain managed to say.

Seacat grinned at him. “Operating a ship isn’t cheap.” Especially if your captain had the habit of setting it on fire whenever he had the chance.

“Oh, yes,” Sea Hawk agreed - for once.

“But… this much?” Shrimp held up the paper, and Seacat winced.

She reached out to grab it, but the captain had already seen the number. “What? Oh, that must have been a mistake. That’s two zeroes too many, actually,” he said. “You must forgive my first mate - I was the one who taught her maths.”

Seacat slapped her face and growled while the three weirdos blinked in surprise.

“Uh… OK… so, we can definitely pay the fee then,” the shrimp told the captain.

“Marvellous! To adventure!” Sea Hawk declared, holding out his hand.

Seacat sighed while the two shook on it. Now she was stuck travelling with a weirdo - a Horde cadet - who thought she was their long-lost best friend or something. And a princess, but that particular pain in the buttt paled compared to travelling with Blondie. Besides, the shrimp couldn’t be as bad as Mermista, could she?

*****​

After having their three passengers pay their bar tab - they actually believed Seacat that this was how things were done! - they made their way to the harbour. Seacat led the way, next to the captain, with the three members of the Rebellion trailing behind them. She wasn’t actually trying to lose them, but if they couldn’t keep up…

Not that she was losing them, anyway - she could hear them talk behind her.

“Are you sure that she’s your friend, Adora? She doesn’t seem to like you at all.”

“That’s just how she is. You have to know her better to, uh, know her.”

Seacat rolled her eyes and clenched her teeth again as she felt her ears twitch. She didn’t have to glance over her shoulder to know the stupid expression Blondie had.

“Well, she is firmly set against the Horde. That’s a good thing,” Brain said.

“Except that she is so firmly set against the Horde, she doesn’t like that Adora was part of the Horde.”

“Right. That’s not a good thing.”

“But we both left. Why won’t she accept that?”

Because it wasn’t true! Seacat balled her hands into fists, almost piercing her palms with her claws.

“She will. Once we can talk about this, once I can tell her all about our friendship, she will understand!” Shrimp said.

No, she won’t. “I can hear you,” Seacat sing-songed through clenched teeth without looking back.

“Uh…”

“Right, I forgot all about her hearing! I mean… sorry?”

Seacat huffed and stepped up her pace. Fortunately, the trio remained silent until they reached the Dragon’s Daughter III.

*****​

“Alright,” Seacat said, loudly, as soon as they had boarded the ship, “stay on this deck and don’t touch anything but the railing. Especially don’t meddle with the rigging - we don’t want to capsize because you unfurl the sail in the middle of a gale.”

“Indeed, we don’t. Losing a ship to capsizing is one of the worst ways to lose a ship,” Sea Hawk added. “I should know, for I have experienced them all!”

Seacat closed her eyes, then blinked. If the weirdos reconsidered...

“What?”

“Are we sure about this guy?”

“I trust Catra! She loathes water. She would never board a ship that’s at risk of sinking!”

What? She laughed. “Your Catra hated water?”

Blondie looked confused. “You hate getting wet.”

“What?” Seacat glared at the girl. “I don’t! I like to swim! I love to swim!”

“You can swim?”

“What sailor can’t swim?” Seacat retorted. Swimming was an important skill for a sailor - especially for a member of Sea Hawk’s crew.

She felt the captain’s hand on her shoulder - he had snuck up on her again, somehow - before she was pulled into his side. “I taught her personally! It was an adventure! I’ve been bloodied less fighting pirates, but after a long, hard and painful struggle, I succeeded!”

She rolled her eyes and shrugged his arm off. “Yes. I can and like to swim.” As long as she could clean the saltwater off her fur before it dried.

“Really?” Sea Hawk blinked. “You like it?”

“When I’m not forced to because our ship’s on fire,” she quickly clarified.

“Oh.” Sea Hawk looked sad for a moment - but Seacat wasn’t fooled. She knew him too well. “My first mate likes swimming!” Yes, there he went, hanging on the rigging and all but singing.

“Are we really sure about these guys?” Brain asked.

“They just need to get us there,” Shrimp replied.

Blondie, though, was staring at her. Seacat met her gaze with narrowed eyes, cocking her hip. Maybe now the girl had realised that she was Seacat, not Catra.

But the girl beamed at her. “That’s exactly how you used to stand when we were cadets!”

Oh, for Maelstrom’s sake! She growled at the idiot and turned away. “I’ll cast off the lines.”

“And I’ll set course for Salineas!”

*****​

“Ahem…”

Seacat hissed as she turned her head to glare at Blondie. “Don’t disturb me while I’m working. Do you want us to capsize?”

“Uh… I thought you were just storing ropes…”

Seacat scoffed. She had managed to keep Blondie at bay by busying herself while they left port, but it seemed that the annoying girl didn’t get the message. She just had to meddle, had she? “The lines control the sails. And the sails are what drives the ship - uncontrolled, they can wreck a ship.”

“Oh.” The blonde took a step back with a dejected expression. Seacat briefly felt the urge to apologise but suppressed it.

“Even a ship as advanced as the Dragon’s Daughter III doesn’t sail herself,” she said instead. “Do you think sailors spend their time doing nothing between ports?”

“No, no, of course not! I just… wanted to talk…” Blondie’s shy smile was a pitiful sight.

Seacat pressed her lips together as she finished tying up the spare lines. “Are you going to try to talk about your missing friend again? The Horde soldier?”

“No? Yes? Maybe?” The girl’s smile grew forced.

“Save it!” Seacat snapped. “I’m not her. I’m not a Horde soldier. I never was a Horde soldier. I’m not your friend. And I don’t want to be your friend!” she hissed in the idiot’s face.

Blondie gasped. “But…” Seacat saw her swallow and blink - and were those tears in the blonde’s eyes? “Sorry…”

Once more, Seacat had to suppress the weird urge to apologise as the blonde turned and walked away. She scoffed at her own weakness. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She wasn’t this ‘Catra’. She wasn’t a Horde soldier. The sooner Blondie accepted that, the better. For both of them.

*****​

Seacat liked being the lookout. Climbing the rigging was fun - and no one was as fast at the top of the main-mast as she was. No one not cheating by using magic like the shrimp, that was. She scowled at the show-off, but not for long.

Here, she felt on top of things. On top of the world. At peace. Just her and the sky and the sea. If the wind was blowing strongly enough, she wouldn’t even hear the captain’s shanties. She took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the ocean. Soon, they would be arriving at Salineas, and the three passengers would go and annoy Mermista. And Seacat and Sea Hawk could set out again, and leave all this… stupidity behind.

She grinned. After all, the three hadn’t hired them for a round trip.

“Oof.”

What? Seacat quickly glanced around. The sea was calm. They were still a good way off the reefs that dominated the straits of Salineas and made the Sea Gate the key to controlling sea trade. So…

She glanced down and growled. Blondie was climbing the rigging. And smiling widely at her.

“Ahem. Sorry… I just felt the urge to climb.”

Oh for Maelstrom’s sake! “Really?” she replied, putting all the doubt she could muster into it.

“I used to climb a lot in, ah, the Fright Zone.”

Seacat growled, and the girl winced.

“Usually to follow, uh… my friend.”

Of course. Seacat smiled. “So, you’re used to high places and strong winds?”

Blondie nodded enthusiastically. “Yes!”

“Good. You can take over lookout duty until dinner.” Seacat bared her teeth at the idiot. “And don’t slack off, or we might hit a reef and sink!” she snapped as she slid down the other side.

As soon as she hit the deck, she chuckled. That should keep Blondie out of her hair for a few hours - the girl wouldn’t slack off. She was far too serious for that, Seacat knew. Always doing her duty…

She frowned, then scoffed. The girl was an open book. Everyone would’ve known that after spending a few hours with her. Yes.

“Uh… what’s Adora doing?” Brain asked,

Seacat rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to talk about the annoying girl. “She relieved me from lookout duty so I could do my other jobs on the ship.”

“Really?”

Honest and gullible. No wonder he was a friend of Blondie. “Yes, really,” she replied.

“And what does a lookout do?”

“Looks out for ships, reefs and other dangers,” she explained.

“Reefs?”

“Yes, reefs,” she repeated herself.

“But… the ship flies.”

She sighed. Landlubber, yes. “It sails over the sea,” she told him. “It doesn’t really fly. Steer it over land - or a rock, or a too shallow sea - and it’ll crash. The magic holding it afloat over the water doesn’t work over land.”

“Oh. That’s why we only have small skiffs on land, not big huge cargo ships.”

“Exactly. That’s a completely different magic.” Honest, gullible but smart. She flashed a smile at him. “You’re the brains of your group, aren’t you?” A little more information about the trio wouldn’t hurt at all.

He blushed a little. Adorable. “Ah, well… I’m a master bowman and a tech master. Well, working on the latter, but I’m close.”

“Ah.” She cocked her head and looked at his quiver. Men loved to talk about their weapons. “You made the arrows yourself?”

“Ah, right.” He beamed. “I’ve got a wide range of arrows for all occasions! Whatever we’ll face, I’ll have an arrow for it!”

She snorted. “Really?”

“Oh, yes!” He pulled out a shaft with a hefty arrowhead. “This one shoots glue!”

“Glue?” She took a step back. Glue and fur didn’t go well together. Not at all. “Don’t point it at me!” she hissed. She didn’t want to have to shave off her fur ever again!

“Uh, sorry.” He smiled weakly. “Didn’t want to scare you.”

“I am not scared,” she growled. She wasn’t scared, She hadn’t had nightmares in months. Huffing, she turned away. “I’ll be busy doing… stuff.”

“Stuff?”

“Important stuff.”

Like napping in her hammock. Away from bothersome passengers.

Seacat couldn’t wait until Blondie and her friends were gone from her ship.

*****​

 

Chapter 2: The Battle of Salineas

“Hey, Adora! Look what I found!”

“Catra?”

She raised her hands, gripping the struggling mouse tightly. “I caught it!”

“Oh! How?”

“I was faster!” She smiled, showing her fangs. She had caught the stupid mouse! It would never eat her rations again. Or Adora’s.

“Great!” Adora scrunched up her nose - she was thinking. “Now what do we do with it?”

“Uh…” She hadn’t thought about that. “Eat it?”

“Ew!” Adora made her icky face.

“Kill it?”

“Kill it?” Adora looked scared.

She shrugged. Wasn’t the mouse bad? And it ate their food! But to kill it…

Suddenly, the mouse twisted in her grip - and bit her!

She yelled and threw the bad mouse away - at the wall. It hit with a crunch and fell down. And she was bleeding! “I’m bleeding!” she sobbed.

“Oh, no!” Adora was there, gripping her hand. “We need to go to the infirmary!”

She shied away. That was a bad place!

“Come on!”

“No!” She shook her head.

But Adora didn’t listen. She dragged her away!

*****​

Seacat blinked. What a weird… what dream? She squinted at the porthole in her cabin. Was the sun setting already? Dinner time, and no one had woken her up? Between that and Blondie being dumb, no wonder she was having stupid dreams that made no sense!

Shaking her head, she climbed out of her hammock and went out on the main deck. Everything looked to be fine. Blondie was still up in the rigging - how long had she stayed up there? It had been hours! - the other two passengers were staring at the sunset, and the captain was at the wheel.

She blinked. Wait! They had set out from Seaworthy to Salineas. The sun shouldn’t be setting that close to their bow - not if they were on course...

She pressed her lips together and quickly climbed up the stairs to the conn. “Captain!”

Seacat saw him flinch, as she had known he would - he knew her tone. “Yes?” And she knew the too-wide smile. “Isn’t it a brilliant day for adventure?” He spread his arms and puffed up his chest, briefly letting go of the rudder. “I mean, it’s now a brilliant evening, but you know what I mean.”

Oh no! She sighed as she frowned at him. So that was why he hadn’t set a course directly for Salineas. As if she wouldn’t notice - she knew the local seas as well as the back of her hand! “We’re not on an adventure - we’re transporting passengers to Salineas,” she reminded him.

“It can be both! Instead of a boring cruise our passengers could have a harrowing adventure!”

She closed her eyes while Sea Hawk posed, flexed her claws, then grabbed the captain by his bandana. “We’re not being paid for adventure! We’re being paid for transporting the Shrimp and her friends to Mermista. And we need the money!”

“Ah… now that you mention it...” His smile widened. “Offering them an adventure should liven up the voyage and make them hire us for the trip back as well, don’t you agree?”

“No, I do not.” she spat. “Change course to Salineas!”

“Hey! Who’s the captain of this ship?”

“And who handles the money?”

“That’s a good point!” He raised his index finger in her face. “However, I have a counterpoint!”

“What?” she growled.

“Reef ahead!” Blondie’s voice rang out - she had strong lungs. “And wrecks! Many wrecks!”

“See? We’ve already arrived! Adventure!” Sea Hawk yelled. He let go of the wheel and pointed to the sky.

“Shipwrecker’s Reef? Turn about!” she snapped back, grabbing the wheel herself. Then she saw the sea serpent emerge from the water. “No…” Too late. Now they had to fight a monster. And with a bunch of useless passengers on board. Damn Sea Hawk!

“It’s a monster!”

“It’s a sea serpent!”

“It’s an adventure!”

“For the Honour of Grayskull!”

“Everyone, hold...what?” Seacat tore her eyes from the approaching monster and saw an impossibly tall blonde woman in shining - literally shining - armour rush towards the railing. And she was wielding Blondie’s sword.

She kept staring as the woman jumped incredibly high - as if she had grown wings - and came down on the serpent’s head, shattering teeth with her sword. “Maelstrom’s maw!” Seacat cursed as both disappeared underwater. “She’s crazy!” And damned… She forced that thought away.

“Oh, no - she does that all the time,” Shrimp said in a rather smug voice.

“Don’t worry, she’s got this,” Brain Boy added, leaning against the railing as if he had no care in the world.

“Got it!” the blonde yelled from the water as if she had heard them. “Wait, no!”

And she was pulled under - or dived, Seacat couldn’t tell.

Fighting a sea serpent by herself? With just a sword? Seacat shook her head.

Then Blondie surfaced. “Now I’ve got it!” she announced with a beaming smile. Blondie? The weird girl had slain a sea serpent? And had changed into a giantess for it??

Behind Seacat, Sea Hawk dropped the harpoons he had taken out of storage. “I guess my brilliant plan to impress our passengers didn’t account for that twist,” he said.

Seacat couldn’t help it - she laughed. “But your plan to entertain them so they’ll hire us again might’ve worked,” she said as Blondie, helped by her friends, climbed back on board, babbling excitedly about her fight.

Wait - that was a bad thing, Seacat reminded herself. Then her eyes widened as she realised what she had seen. There was only one explanation for this.

Blondie was a princess! A bloody princess! A former Horde soldier was a princess? How was that possible? Princesses were born to royalty! Did they lose her as a baby? No, that only happened in stories. Stupid stories for little girls who hadn’t yet learned that the world wasn’t a tale, and that no one would be coming to claim them as their lost grandchild and take them away to a life in safety and luxury.

Seacat shook her head. “How can you be a princess?” she yelled, claws digging into the railing where she stood.

Blondie blinked at her. “I’m She-Ra, Princess of Power.”

“I don’t care about your title,” Seacat growled as she handed the conn over to Sea Hawk. “How can a Horde soldier be a princess?”

“Former Horde soldier,” Brain Boy cut in.

Seacat ignored him as she jumped down to the deck and stalked towards Blondie. The girl had shrunk to a more normal size, and her clothes covered her arms and legs again, hiding those toned muscles. Well, being all wet, they didn’t hide them completely. A white undersuit wasn’t the best choice for swimming or diving, and her ponytail was limply hanging down her back. Not that Seacat cared.

“Ah, well…” Blondie grimaced as she tugged on her jacket. “I found this…”

“That’s a secret,” Shrimp interrupted her, teleporting between them with her arms spread. Did she think Seacat would attack a woman - a princess! - who could take out a sea serpent with just a sword? Well, they were rebels...

“Really?” Seacat narrowed her eyes at the shorter princess. “A secret?”

“Yes, a secret.” The princess frowned at her - and then at Blondie. “Crucially important information for the Rebellion that cannot get out.”

Blondie looked surprised and then guilty. Seacat almost laughed at her expression.

Instead, she nodded. That something was a secret was valuable information by itself. But it was obvious, of course - everyone knew that the power of the princesses had kept the Horde away, even when they were just defending their own realms. And it wasn’t as if anyone but the Horde would profit from spilling the secret. She still wanted to know the secret, of course. But this wasn’t the time. So she scoffed. “Two princesses. We should’ve charged more for this trip.”

“Hey! Just because I’m a princess doesn’t mean I’ve got money!” Blondie protested. “We didn’t have any money in the Horde! I actually don’t have any money now.” She blinked in that stupid manner of hers. “I don’t need money, do I?” she asked her friends.

“Bright Moon will cover all your expenses,” Shrimp replied.

Seacat huffed. Some people had all the luck while others struggled and earned their keep. “Whatever,” she spat and turned around to find something to be busy with. Anything to take her mind of stupid impossibly tall and toned blonde princesses straight out of a children’s tale!

“What is this place, anyway?” Shrimp yelled after her. “I didn’t read about a ship’s graveyard on the way to Salineas when I planned this mission!”

Seacat stopped and grinned without facing them. “The Captain set the course,” she told the princess. “Ask him.”

“What?”

She hid her smile and climbed the rigging while the three passengers went to question Sea Hawk. It wouldn’t teach her captain a lesson - she knew him too well to hope for that - but it would at least be amusing to watch.

*****​

They reached Salineas without too much delay, but the captain wouldn’t be bragging about this trip when he next claimed the Dragon’s Daughter III was the fastest ship on all the seas. Which was more or less correct, of course. Though she was also one of the smallest ocean-going vessels.

Salineas’s port was emptier than usual, Seacat noticed as they approached the breakwater - which would also break any ships that foundered on it, of course. Instead of the dozen ships usually waiting to pass through the gate after reprovisioning, she could only see two - and those were ships of Salineas’s navy. And the guards on the mole outnumbered the people fishing there.

“Something’s not right,” she muttered.

“Hm?”

Seacat felt her fur bristle, but she managed not to jump. How had Blondie snuck up on her? She turned around especially slowly to face the princess. “What?”

“What’s not right?”

“Eavesdropping,” Seacat answered with a toothy grin.

“What?”

Blondie just had to ruin her quip, didn’t she? “Eavesdropping isn’t right,” Seacat explained.

“Oh.” Blondie blinked. “I wasn’t. Eavesdropping, that is. Not intentional, I mean.” She bit her lip, then smiled again. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

But Seacat didn’t want to talk to her. She frowned. “We’re about to make landfall - I’m busy here.”

“Oh.”

That should’ve been obvious. Seacat cocked her head, pointedly looked at where the other princess and Brain Boy were standing at the railing, and nodded. “So, can I go back to keeping us from ramming the pier?”

“Oh. Of course! Sorry! We can talk later!”

Seacat sighed. She should’ve told the girl to get lost. But then Blondie would’ve cried or something. And that would have made a bad impression on the other princess, who still had to pay them. And on Mermista as well. Probably - it was hard to tell with the Princess of Salineas.

The Dragon’s Daughter III came to a stop right at the pier, leaving less than a handwidth between the hull and the wall. It was a perfect example of great seamanship by Sea Hawk - not that the landlubbers would have realised that. But Seacat did, of course.

She jumped over to the pier and secured the ship with the lines hanging there. “She’s tied up, captain!” she yelled with a smile.

“Good work, first mate!” Sea Hawk replied before swinging on a line to land next to her. “Ah! The shores of Salineas! Fairest port on all the seas, and home to the fairest princess in the world!”

Seacat rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” Of course, the man had done this just to impress the princess. Who wasn’t at the pier, anyway. Ah well. She turned to their passengers. “I’ll have the gangplank ready in a moment so you can disembark!”

“No need!” Blondie yelled back and jumped herself, followed by her friends teleporting directly on to the pier.

Seacat frowned - they didn’t have to act as if they couldn’t wait to leave the ship, did they? Before she could say anything, though, Blondie was in her face. “So… the ship’s all secured now, no danger of sinking? So, can we talk now?”

Maelstrom’s mother! Seacat clenched her teeth. She couldn’t blow up at the idiot - they hadn’t paid their fare yet.

“Adora! We need to speak to the princess first. We can’t leave her waiting, or she might be offended,” the shrimp called out.

“Oh…”

“And we have to deal with customs,” Seacat said. “Sorry,” she added with a toothy smile. The harbourmaster of Salineas was usually a pain in the butt with all her required paperwork, but today they only had three passengers to declare, so it shouldn’t take long at all. Just long enough to see the trio well on their way to the palace.

“That can wait!” Sea Hawk declared. “Mermista can’t wait!” Before she could stop him, he turned to the approaching guards. “Ho! Dear fellows! We require an audience with the princess! Tell her Sea Hawk has arrived with a diplomatic delegation from Bright Moon!”

Seacat shook her head as the guards snapped to attention. Well, even if that meant Sea Hawk wouldn’t be here to help her deal with customs, it would also stop Blondie from bothering her.

But Sea Hawk slapped her on the back. “Come on, first mate! Dear Mermista will be overjoyed to see you as well!”

Oh, no.

*****​

The city wasn’t as lively as usual, either, Seacat noted on the way to the palace. She saw fewer guards about, and fewer merchants boasting about their wares. Very few merchants, actually - most of the shops she saw were closed.

Something was wrong. They hadn’t been to Salineas in some time - enough time to let Mermista cool down after the latest ‘unfortunate misunderstanding’, as Sea Hawk called it - but the last time they had visited, the city had been buzzing.

Even so, Blondie seemed impressed, Seacat noted - the girl was looking around as if she’d never seen a port town other than Seaworthy, and she was probably not listening to what Shrimp and Brain Boy tried to tell her about Mermista and about making a good impression.

Well, that was none of her business. Seacat stepped up her pace until she was walking right next to Sea Hawk. “Captain,” she said in a low voice, “do you know where all the people are?”

“Oh?” He blinked, then looked around. “No, can’t say I do!”

She sighed, but it wasn’t as if she had expected anything else.

At least the palace looked the same, and the majordomo had the usual frown on his face when he saw Sea Hawk and Seacat. “Princess Glimmer!” the arrogant prick sad, beaming at Shrimp before he bowed. “Princess Mermista will be receiving you and your friends. If you’ll follow me?”

“Thank you,” the shrimp replied.

Seacat frowned, then stepped closer to Blondie. “Shouldn’t you rate a welcome as well?” she asked in a whisper, “being a princess and all?”

“Ah… It’s complicated.” Blondie smiled at her. “But I don’t mind.”

Yeah, right. A princess not minding not being treated as a princess? Seacat snorted. On the other hand, perhaps Blondie wasn’t used yet to being a princess. The way she acted, she must have been a recent pick or however you became a princess.

“So… you’ve been here before, right? Sea Hawk told us about your visits.” Blondie beamed at her.

Seriously? Was she trying to get information like that? Or was she trying to chat? Seacat narrowed her eyes. “We’ve visited before,” she said carefully.

“Oh. So...”

Fortunately, they reached the throne room, and Blondie fell silent as the majordomo announced them. “Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon. And friends.”

“And the one and only Sea Hawk!” the captain added in a loud voice.

Seacat grinned at the way the prick’s frown deepened.

But then Mermista loudly sighed. “Ew. Who let him in?”

Seacat winced - it seemed they hadn’t been away long enough.

“Guards!” the majordomo bellowed at once. “Remove the captain at once!”

“No, no!” Mermista raised one hand, the other still propping up her head where she was slouching on her throne, “if he’s already here he might as well stay.”

“My dearest Mermista! It’s been too long! I’ve dreamed of you...” Sea Hawk stepped forward with a wide smile.

“For now,” the princess added with a frown, which shut him up.

Seacat frowned - that was typical of the princess; stringing Sea Hawk along with mixed signals.

“And look what the cat dragged in.” Mermista nodded towards her.

“They’re a diplomatic delegation,” Seacat replied, deliberately misunderstanding the princess’s intent. “From Bright Moon.”

“I know that. I didn’t mean them.” Mermista’s glare was lacking her usual intensity, Seacat noticed.

“I’m Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon,” the shrimp announced, taking a step forward. “Our parents fought in the Rebellion together.”

The Princess wasn’t impressed, though. “Yes, that particular disaster is well known in Salineas. Let me guess: You want to renew the alliance and fight the Horde together.” She sighed.

Shrimp was taken aback, and before she could say anything in response, Mermista stood and walked over the wall behind her. A wave of her trident turned it into a window showing the Sea Gate. “We could’ve used help before the Sea Gate started crumbling right when Horde flotillas increased the pressure on my kingdom.”

Seacat felt her ears perk up. That was news. Very unwelcome news. “Is that why the port’s deserted?” she blurted out.

Mermista glared at her for a moment, then shrugged. “People don’t want to stay in a city that will fall as soon as the Sea Gate stops working. Who would have guessed?” she added with a cynical smile.

That was more like the Mermista Seacat knew. But her attitude was… she wasn’t giving up, was she?

“My dearest Mermista! As long as my ship is sailing the waves, no Horde vessel will reach your shores!” Sea Hawk declared, pointing at the ceiling.

“So… that’ll be for about half an hour until it’s burned to the waterline?” Mermista shot back with a wry smile.

“Make it an hour,” Sea Hawk replied with a grin.

Mermista chuckled with a wry smile. “Thank you.”

This was very alarming. She had never seen Mermista like this. And Seacat very much didn’t want to die in a futile charge against an enemy fleet that only served to prolong the battle for half an hour. No, she didn’t want to die, period, she reminded herself.

“That’s why we’re here - to rebuild the Princess Alliance,” Princess Shrimp declared. “Together, we can beat the Horde!”

“Sure, like our parents beat them, right?” Mermista sighed again. “Without the Sea Gate protecting us, we’re pretty much dead.”

And if the Horde controlled Salineas, they’d control the sea routes - the Sea Gate protected the only safe passage between the Maelstrom and the Eastern Reefs. That would spell disaster for any independent captain.

“We’re here to help you!” the shrimp tried again. She was stubborn, Seacat had to admit. Of course, that stubbornness might get her killed here. Well, she’d be in good company - it wasn’t as if Seacat would abandon Sea Hawk, and her captain would never abandon Mermista. Not when she was fighting for her life.

“This is First Ones’ writing…”

Seacat turned - she had almost forgotten about Blondie. The girl was staring at a colourful display with… runes?

“Who’s she again?” Mermista asked.

“She’s Adora. She’s got a magic sword,” Brain Boy said.

Seacat really needed to reconsider his nickname. On the other hand, Shrimp and Blondie were even worse, weren’t they?

*****​

As it turned out, Blondie could read the lost language of the First Ones. Which supposedly meant she could repair the Sea Gate, which apparently somehow had lost or was losing its connection to the runestone.

It didn’t make much sense to Seacat, but she wasn’t a sorceress. She wasn’t really interested in knowing details. This was just a way to pass the time until Mermista either sent the three weirdos away or made an alliance and then spent a few days encouraging Sea Hawk before blowing up at him and driving him away again. Sea Hawk would never change. The sooner Mermista realised that, the better for both of them.

On the other hand, she needed something to keep her from being bored while waiting for the inevitable breakup. “So, you can do magic?” she asked as the group walked over towards the Sea Gate, to check if Blondie was correct.

“Ah… yes?”

“That didn’t sound very confident.”

“It’s a theory,” Blondie replied, frowning a little. “But a sound one.”

“Yes,” Shrimp butted in, “Magic is connected to the runestones.”

“And how are you going to repair it? Hit it with your magic sword?” Seacat joked.

“Uh…”

“Seriously?” She started at the girl. “You’re planning to hit to repair it?” That wasn’t how repairing anything worked.

“Not directly. But I will use my sword.” Now Blondie was pouting. She looked almost adorable like that. Seacat snickered.

“What’s so funny?” Blondie asked, frowning at her.

“Nothing,” Seacat chuckled again, “I’m just imagining how you’ll repair the gate with your sword.”

“Hmph.”

Before the other girl could think of a response - or Shrimp could butt in again - they reached the Sea Gate. “Up close it does look different,” Seacat remarked.

“Oh? Are you an expert?” Shrimp asked.

Seacat rolled her eyes. She didn’t like the princess’s tone. Or expression. Or attitude. At least when it was aimed at herself. “Any sailor passing through the gate as often as we do would notice such changes,” she said.

Mermista cleared her throat, glaring at her as if it was Seacat’s fault that the princess’s gate was failing. “As I was about to say, the gate’s magic has grown weaker since my father’s time, and the process goes on. If you think you can restore its power, feel free to try.”

Blondie nodded with a determined expression. Seacat was tempted to ask if they had agreed on a reward yet, but it was none of her business if Mermista decided to get some free help without committing herself to an alliance. And if the princess had decided to do that, she’d be angry at Seacat for spoiling her plan. Which would put Sea Hawk into a bad spot.

“For the Honour of Grayskull!”

Seacat didn’t gasp as she watched Blondie turning into some seven-foot warrior with coiled muscles and legs that didn’t seem to end. She just took a deep breath. And stared. So, that was a princess’s magic at work.

“Uh... now… how best to do this…” Blondie said as she eyed the barrier.

“Don’t ask me - you’re the one with the magic repairing sword,” Seacat replied with a smirk.

“I wasn’t asking you!”

Hah, she got a rise out of Blondie! Seacat chuckled. “You didn’t exclude me, either.”

“She didn’t have to,” Shrimp added, “this is serious. If you don’t have anything helpful to add, you’re not supposed to interrupt!”

Seacat sighed and rolled her eyes. “I was just joking.”

“And this is no joking matter! The Horde will conquer the kingdom if we can’t restore the gate!”

“I know that!” Seacat snarled at the shrimp.

“Just… point it at the barrier, or the runestone, and direct the magic like that?” Brain Boy suggested as he stepped between Seacat and his friends.

Obviously, the princess didn’t mind him interrupting. Seacat scoffed and walked over to where Mermista and Sea Hawk were standing.

“She’s going to use her magic sword to repair the gate by hitting it,” she told them.

“I know! Isn’t it impressive?” The captain was always too optimistic.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Mermista, of course, was more realistic. “Sea Hawk told me that Adora claims to be a childhood friend of yours.”

Oh that damned… Seacat pressed her lips together. She wouldn’t insult her captain in front of Mermista. Not now, at least. “She also claims that we both are former Horde soldiers,” she said after a moment.

“Why would she lie about that?”

That was a good question, but Seacat didn’t have to answer any question if she didn’t want to. And she very much didn’t want to answer this question.

Fortunately, Blondie finally did something right and distracted the Princess by pointing her sword at the gate and… pushing some light through it? Magic? Seacat felt her fur bristle again and quickly ran her hand over her tail - no need to let everyone know she was a little… impressed. Certainly not worried. Or afraid.

“It’s working. The leaks are closing!” Sea Hawk yelled.

“That’s the least of the gate’s problems,” Mermista replied.

Well, it seemed that Blondie wasn’t just good for beating up monsters, but could also restore ancient magical artifacts to their original power. Well, she couldn’t sail a skiff through a storm!

Brain Boy joined them. “Adora’s at it, but fully repairing the gate will take some time,” he told them. “I hope it won’t take too long, though - even She-Ra gets tired.”

“She can always take a break,” Seacat said, shrugging.

“Ah… that might be problematic,” the boy replied. “She’s kind of stuck.”

“Stuck?” Seacat looked at the blonde again. “What do you mean, ‘stuck’?”

“Uh…” Brain Boy’s smile grew a little forced. “She can’t pull out. The, uh, magic is too strong.”

Seacat took a step back. That was bad. Pretty bad. On the other hand, it was also a little funny. More than a little. To see Blondie - She-Ra - stuck like this, unable to pull out… She chuckled before she reminded herself that this was important. “I hope she slept plenty, then,” she said.

“Oh, yes. Don’t worry about it! As long as no one bothers her, she will be fine.”

That was asking for trouble, in Seacat’s opinion and experience. Just as she was about to point that out to the fool - perhaps with the help of her claws to make a point or three - a bell started ringing.

The bell from the lighthouse.

An enemy fleet had been sighted.

Mermista took off towards the lighthouse, with Sea Hawk in tow. Seacat glanced at Blondie, who was still standing there, pouring or pushing magic or whatever into the gate, then ran after her captain.

She couldn’t do anything here, anyway.

“What’s the enemy’s position and composition?” Mermista barked as soon as a commander of her guard came into view.

“They’re approaching from the south and are about half an hour out. Six frigates, half a dozen troop transports,” the woman replied, “and one bomb vessel.”

Mermista cursed, as did Seacat. A bomb vessel was useless in naval combat, but it could shell fortifications into rubble - or crack the Sea Gate. That was an invasion fleet, not a raiding fleet. “And with most of our fleet escorting the evacuation convoy…”

“Fear not, my love! We will stop them! No matter the cost!” Sea Hawk declared.

“And how?” the princess shot back, apparently unimpressed. “We have one frigate and a sloop available.”

“And the Dragon’s Daughter III!”

“Which is a fast courier,” Mermista pointed out. “Not a warship.”

“Every ship is a warship if you know how to use it!”

Seacat groaned. “You’re going to set her on fire and ram the enemy, aren’t you?”

“Exactly! I might have missed out on a harrowing adventure on the way here, but I shall not shy away from this one!” Sea Hawk put his foot on the nearest railing and pointed to the sky. “The sea is my witness: They shall not pass while I still draw breath!”

The captain was entirely serious, Seacat could tell. As could Mermista - she wasn’t scowling any more. In fact, she was smiling at him.

Seacat sighed. “I’ll get her ready to sail, then.”

Sea Hawk blinked, turning his head away from Mermista - who had probably been about to kiss him - and looked at Seacat. “I think you should better…”

She gave him her best glare. They were a crew! If he actually told her to stay here...

His smile turned a little forced. “...uh, hurry, then.”

Satisfied, she nodded, then started running towards her ship. The evacuation of the civilians proved to be quite handy - if she’d had to deal with a terrified mob of people trying to escape…

“Hey! Seacat!” Princess Shrimp appeared in front of her in a shower of sparkly lights.

“No time!” Seacat yelled as she jumped over the girl, landing on all four and continuing to dash like that towards the pier. Getting the Dragon’s Daughter III ready to sail - ready for battle - would take some time. Time they didn’t have.

“Wait!” Once more, Shrimp appeared in front of her.

“No time!” Seacat took the next corner.

“Wait! What are you doing?”

“Getting ready to fight!” she yelled back as she once more had to dodge the stubborn princess. Wasn’t it obvious?

“We can help!”

No, they couldn’t. They weren’t sailors. They didn’t know how to sail a ship into battle. On the other hand, they could fight. Probably.

“What about Blondie?” Seacat reached the ship and jumped on board, not bothering with the gangplank.

The shrimp appeared on deck, panting even though she hadn’t actually run. “She can’t join us; she tried - she’s stuck there until the Gate is restored.”

“So, she can’t pull out until the Gate’s satisfied?” Seacat’s joke went over the shrimp’s head. It wasn’t really funny, anyway - if they ever needed a bloodthirsty, slightly insane giant warrior with a magic sword on their ship, it would be now. “Who’s watching her?” If the fool was stuck, she was pretty much helpless, after all. And she would be an easy target for Horde scum hiding in the city...

“Uh… drat!” Shrimp disappeared.

Seacat quickly started to set sails. The wind was, fortunately, in their favour - the Horde would have to tack against it to approach them. As she pulled on the line with all her strength, she saw the sloop was also setting sails, but the frigate was lagging behind. Great.

“Here we are! Set sails! Onward!”

The captain had arrived. “I’m already setting sails,” Seacat replied.

“I know, but it was the thing to say!” He flashed her a smile as he scrambled up to the conn.

Seacat shook her head, not bothering to hide her smile, as she tied the line, fixing the mainsail. The captain would never change. And she didn’t want him to. Even if he was about to get her killed alongside himself - the odds of pushing through half a dozen Horde frigates, even with the Salinean vessel helping, were bad. Very bad. And the odds of surviving the battle...

A column of water shot up in the air next to the ship, startling her. What the…? She flinched and dodged to the side as the water arched towards here, then hit the deck, splashing her. What… no, who?

Mermista stood there, trident in hand, smirking at the drenched Seacat.

“You aimed for me!” Seacat yelled.

“I didn’t see you,” the princess lied with a grin. “Sorry.”

Seacat huffed but was smiling herself.

With the princess on board, their odds had just improved. Greatly.

They might actually survive this.

*****​

As expected, they were the first out of port. With the wind blowing steadily, Sea Hawk then slowed down to let the others catch up. Well, at least the sloop; the frigate was still setting sails. If that were her ship, Seacat would keelhaul half the crew. Or all of them.

“Raise the Princess’s flag!”

“What?” Seacat turned from watching the Salinean ships to stare at her captain.

“We’re the flagship; it’s only proper that we announce that fact,” Sea Hawk replied. “You wouldn’t want to enter battle improperly dressed, would you? That’s the same for ships.”

Seacat hissed in annoyance at the reminder of a particularly embarrassing incident in Crimson Port. “We don’t have a flag like that!”

“We do, actually! I commissioned one for exactly such a moment!” he announced with a wide smile.

“For sailing to face an enemy fleet that outnumbers us four to one in a desperate battle to the death?” Mermista asked.

“Well… I was more thinking of a honeymoon cruise, but this also works! Adventure!”

Seacat opened the chest with their spare flags with a kick and started going through them. And yes, there it was: A Salinean flag with a crown. Huffing, she scaled the rigging and raised it on the mainmast.

She slid down a line to land next to the captain and the princess. “This will draw the attention of the entire Horde flotilla.”

“Good!”

She rolled her eyes. As if Sea Hawk would have it any other way. “So, what’s the plan?”

“We’ll go after the bomb vessel,” Sea Hawk said.

“Yes,” Mermista agreed. “The troop transports and escorts don’t matter as long as the Sea Gate stands. The real threat is the bomb vessel. With She-Ra restoring the Sea Gate, we just need to keep the Horde from destroying it before it’s repaired, and that requires taking out that ship.” She pointed at the horizon, where the enemy fleet was rapidly advancing.

Sea Hawk nodded with a smile, and Seacat couldn’t tell if he had come to the same conclusions or if he simply had wanted to hit the enemy flagship. It didn’t matter, anyway - this was a solid plan. Or, as solid as they could get in their position. “So, we just need to evade the six frigates already manoeuvring to cut us off, and then sink a ship about… five times our size?”

“Exactly!”

Well, she’d faced worse odds. While playing cards, mostly. And she had lost most of the time.

Glancing back, she saw that the sloop had caught up, but the frigate was just leaving port. “What a bunch of layabouts!”

“The ship’s performance so far is lacking,” Mermista agreed. “I’ll have to rectify that after the battle.”

“First, we have to make it through the battle,” Seacat reminded her.

“Naturally.” The princess scoffed as if that had been too obvious to mention.

“You’re suddenly…” Seacat trailed off, glancing at Sea Hawk. She bit her lower lips. Pointing out that the princess wasn’t as gloomy any more, even though they faced death in battle, would only cause problems. Perhaps even sink what small chance they had to survive this.

But, oh, she wanted to rub it in the princess’s face. Or not - that would give her more ideas about Sea Hawk.

Scoffing herself, she jumped over the railing, landing lightly on the main deck, and ran towards the bow. They’d soon be in range of the screening frigates, which had formed up in a line now, still headed to intercept them. She ran a quick calculation in her mind. It would be close, but if they timed it right, and if the Horde was unprepared for their actual speed…

“Signal the Salinean Shark to change course and head east, then south!” Sea Hawk yelled.

She quickly grabbed twe flags and started signalling. That would force the enemy to split up their ships. If only the dumb frigate were here. Then the sloop could draw two away, the frigate would keep two more busy, and they would only have to outsail two enemy ships Instead of...

She watched as the flags on the Horde’s lead ship changed. She didn’t know their code, but it wasn’t as if they had too many options. There! The last two ships in the line changed course, tacking as they did so, and were on the way to intercept the sloop.

That left four frigates still bearing down on them. Four to one. Not good odds. Definitely not good odds. The only thing that would give them a chance to pull this off was Mermista’s magic.

Seacat was sure the princess would never let them forget it, either.

If they survived.

A loud explosion made her jerk and her tail puff up before she realised what had happened.

The bombardment had begun. She turned and watched the Sea Gate. How long would a shell take to hit it? Oh. That long.

The explosion covered the Sea Gat in smoke, but the steady wind quickly cleared it. And the gate had held!

Seacat’s smile vanished as she remembered that Blondie was stuck to the gate. If the gate blew up with her right next to it…

They had to hurry and sink the bomb vessel!

But there were four ships between them and the - now anchored - bomb vessel. Four frigates, every one of them carrying enough cannons to blow the Dragon’s Daughter III out of the water if they managed to get close enough.

The Dragon’s Daughter III was faster and had the wind at her back, but that wouldn’t be enough to break through. Not if the Horde commander was even somewhat competent. The cannons on Horde frigates had a reach of about one mile. Effective range was about half that, but if they put out enough shots, some were bound to hit anyway.

So far, both the Horde ships and the Dragon’s Daughter III were headed almost straight towards each other, bow facing bow. That meant only the lead frigate could fire, and only their chase guns - and with the wind directly at their back, Sea Hawk could easily swerve enough to throw off their aim. The Horde flotilla was tacking against the wind, which slowed them down, but they could always turn away and present their broadsides.

The Dragon’s Daughter III could outrun them - but they couldn’t outrun them and get close to the bomb vessel. Which fired again, making Seacat flinch. That was a huge gun on that damn ship.

They were still closing. Now there were about four miles left between them and the Horde lead ship. She licked her lips as she estimated their speed. A few more minutes, and they would be in range.

She spotted two small flashes at the bow of the Horde ship. They were firing already? Had they improved the range of their guns? Then she saw the splashes, far ahead of them, and grinned. No, just an overeager crew. Or an impatient captain.

Mermista joined her, gripping the railing with one hand. “How competent is the enemy?”

“Hard to say,” Seacat replied. “Unless they are trying to bluff us, they aren’t the best sailors on the seas.” She glanced at the princess. “You wouldn’t happen to be able to conjure a huge wave to sweep them away, would you?”

Mermista snorted. “Sure. I’m just waiting to use my power to make it more dramatic.”

Seacat had to chuckle herself at the joke. “Pity,” she said.

“But I can raise waves powerful enough to reach the decks of the enemy. That should throw off their aim. And some of them overboard.”

That would help, but it wouldn’t decide the battle. And... “On all four frigates?” Seacat asked. The leading frigate fired again. This time, the shells hit closer to them, but still about a mile short.

Mermista winced. “Not unless I make the wave weaker.”

“Great.” Seacat clenched her teeth. “You told the captain.”

“Yes.”

The bomb vessel fired again. Now they were going head to head with the frigates. If the enemy started to turn away from the wind now to present their broadsides, the Dragon’s Daughter III would be able to quickly turn the other direction, evading their field of fire - and the Horde leader would block the other ships. And if the enemy turned into the wind… well, that would slow them down so much, they would be able to sail around them.

But the closer they got, the more dangerous it would be to try and evade them. The enemy would be able to close the distance quickly enough to catch them with a broadside, and that would be the end of it. And of them.

“What’s his plan?” Seacat asked the princess. He better have a plan!

“We’ll fly past them.”

“What?” She whipped her head around and almost missed the next salvo from the leading horde ship. This time, they fell short a few dozen yards.

Mermista grinned at her like Sea Hawk used to when he was pulling off a stupid stunt that might get them killed - or become the talk in all the ports.

They were about a mile out, and at their speed, that was shrinking rapidly. Soon, the enemy would turn. And Seacat realised what the captain was planning. “If we survive this, I’m going to kill him,” she spat as she quickly wrapped a line around her arm, tying herself to the ship.

Mermista laughed as she copied her. “Not before I get him!”

Less than three quarters of a mile left. The Dragon’s Daughter II was now swerving back and forth rapidly, and the chase guns spoke again. One shell went wide, but the other shell hit the sea so close, a column of water drenched both Seacat and Mermista.

And the enemy was turning away from the wind.

“There they go!” Seacat yelled as the guns of the enemy came into view.

“Hold fast! This will be our finest adventure!” Sea Hawk yelled back.

Seacat held her breath as she saw the full broadsides of four frigates turn their way. They were about six hundred yards away from the leading ship. What was the captain waiting for?

“What’s he waiting for?” Mermista echoed her thoughts.

Then the guns started to fire, and Sea Hawk yelled: “NOW!”

Mermista waved her trident, and the Dragon’s Daughter III was lifted up, far above the sea, by a huge wave, and propelled forward.

“Yes!” the captain shouted as the first frigate’s broadside passed beneath them, the shells harmlessly punching through the wave.

The second frigate fired her own broadside, with the same result. And the third and fourth were rapidly trying to turn away from the wind to bring the flying Dragon’s Daughter III into the arcs of their guns - without success.

They were shooting past the bow of the first frigate, so close that Seacat could see the Horde sailors struggling to bring the chase guns to bear without success. As soon as they cleared the bow, the enemy captain had the other broadside fire - but they were too close and too high for the cannons to get a bead on them, and the magical wave wasn’t affected by mere shells.

The second frigate had still been turning away from the wind and was now turning back into the wind to bring her other broadside into play - but they were too slow; the Dragon’s Daughter III was opening the distance too quickly for them. And the other two ships were still too far away.

Yes, they had…

“Ugh!” Seacat heard Mermista say.

A moment later, the wave crashed, and with it their ship. They hit the water hard - Seacat could hear wood cracking and splintering even over the roar of water splashing around them - and if not for the lines wrapped around her limbs, she would have been thrown overboard. Even the mainmast seemed to sway far more than it should be able to.

But they were still going fast. Still had the wind at their back. And there was no enemy ship left between them and their target. No warship, at least - even damaged, the Dragon’s Daughter III could outsail a troop transport.

Guns fired behind them - the three trailing frigates finally having been able to aim their cannons - but they were too far away. And too slow to catch up.

Seacat untied herself and dove for the hold. If that cracking had been any indication…

She dropped into the hold and cursed. Cracks ran along the hull, centred on the keel. Sooner or later, the keel would break - or the ship would snap in two.

She jumped, grabbed the lid of the hold, and pulled herself out. “She’s done for, captain!” she yelled. “Keel’s cracking!”

“She’ll hold on for a few more minutes!” the captain yelled back. “Long enough! Set her on fire!”

“What?” Mermista all it shrieked. “Now?”

“Yes, now!” Seacat snapped, running towards the oil barrels. Next to them, a splash showed that the enemy was now firing their chase guns.

It wouldn’t do them any good, though - they were eating up the distance to the bomb vessel. Seacat barely registered that the sloop was fighting two frigates now as she started to splash oil around the hold and deck.

“Where’s the dinghy?” Mermista asked.

“We don’t have one,” Seacat told her.

“What? Where will we be going once all this is on fire?”

“Overboard, of course!” Seacat replied, pouring the last of the oil on the spare sails in the bow. Hadn’t Mermista expected this?

“Sea Hawk failed to mention that part!” the Princess confirmed her suspicion.

“He tends to do that.” Seacat drew her cutlass, the blade glowing as she stuck it into the deck. Flames erupted from the tip at once, rapidly spreading over the oil-soaked deck.

Seacat was already scrambling up to the captain, who was still handling the rudder. “Ship’s set on fire!” she reported, sketching a salute.

“Noted!” he replied, laughing loudly.

With the wind at their back, they didn’t have to deal with smoke reaching them, but between the sails and the smoke, steering the ship would be difficult. Not that that would be a problem - the enemy ship was still anchored and hadn’t set any sails yet.

“First Mate, prepare to abandon ship.”

“Aye aye, Captain!”

They were about four hundred yards out now. Seacat saw the horde soldiers running around in apparent panic. Still no sails going up, but someone must have cut the anchors loose.

It wouldn’t save them, though it meant they had to steer the ship even closer to ensure they’d hit it.

And that would be cutting it a little closely.

Two hundred yards. More creaking and cracking filled the air - did the mainmast just shift?

“Abandon ship! Abandon ship! Adventure!”

Seacat cursed and flung herself over the railing. She hit the water, going under, then swam for the surface. Treading water, she glanced around. Where was… there! Sea Hawk broke the surface, followed by Mermista!

“I was supposed to be the last one to leave the ship!” Sea Hawk complained.

“I wasn’t about to leave you there!” the princess retorted.

“Look!” Seacat shouted, interrupting the argument.

The Dragon’s Daughter III, now fully ablaze, rammed into the bomb vessel. Her bow crumpled, stuck in the enemy’s iron-plated hull. Then the mainmast fell - onto the Horde ship, scattering crew and burning pieces of rigging all over the deck.

“It’s beautiful!” Sea Hawk yelled. “What an adventure! Look at her burning!”

The fire was indeed spreading quickly - very quickly. Half the enemy deck seemed on fire, and the crew was already jumping overboard, which was… Oh no!

The first explosion ripped the ship’s forecastle apart and toppled one mast. Another blew part of the main deck away.

Then the entire ship vanished in a fireball, and everything went dark.

*****​

She woke up sopping wet and retching, coughing out water from her lungs. And she was on a deck - she could feel hardwood beneath her.

“Are you alright?”

Some sailor - Salinean; she could tell from the uniform - was staring at her. She nodded and waved him away. She was fine.

“...did my duty! I came as fast as possible, Princess!”

“You arrived when the Salinean Shark was still fighting two enemy frigates! And you ran from the enemy!”

That was the princess chewing out someone. Seacat was very familiar with that tone thanks to Sea Hawk.

Sea Hawk! She gasped, jumping up and almost falling down as she slid over the wet deck until her claws found purchase. Where was the captain? Oh. There he was. Standing next to and slightly behind Mermista as she was snarling at a Salinean captain.

“I had to save you, Princess! That was the only reason I retreated behind the Sea Gate. Besides, the Shark was beyond hope.”

And that was Captain Slowpoke. Or Captain Coward.

“It was beyond hope because you couldn’t get your ship out of the port in time!”

“Indeed - that was among the sloppiest feats of seamanship I’ve ever seen,” Sea Hawk chimed in.

“But princess! This is a frigate, not a sloop, or a courier ship! Getting ready to sail takes some time!”

“And why weren’t you ready already?”

Seacat chuckled, then coughed some more, spitting out salty seawater. Blergh. So, they were safely behind the Sea Gate, which apparently - she checked; yes, it shone as if new - was restored completely. That meant the invasion had failed.

They had managed to beat a Horde fleet with a fast courier! And a princess and a sloop, but who was counting?

People would hear about this for weeks!

*****​

“Catra! There you are! I was so worried!”

Seacat closed her eyes and clenched her teeth in frustration. Blondie. Of course she had to be at the pier to welcome them back! Sighing, Seacat turned to face the girl. “I told you before, my name is… Maelstrom’s mother! What happened to you?”

Blondie looked like she had fought an entire tavern in a brawl - and lost. One eye swollen shut, multiple bruises - and those were just the visible ones - and she was limping. Seacat took a few steps towards the blonde, reaching out to her before she realised what she was doing and stopped, snapping her arm down.

But Blondie was beaming at her. “Oh! I’m fine. Some Horde spies attacked us, but we fought them off. Well, Glimmer and Bow did - I was stuck while I restored the Sea Gate, so I couldn’t defend myself. But I’m fine!”

“Those bloody cowards!” Seacat spat.

“But what about you? You look like…”

“Yes, I look like a drenched cat,” Seacat replied, rolling her eyes.

“No! I mean, yes, you do, but… you look hurt!”

She was hurt, but like hell would she tell Blondie that. “I was a little too close to the enemy flagship when it blew up, and the shockwave hit me.”

“Oh, no!”

“But I’m fine - it doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

“Oh.” Blondie nodded, as if she believed her. Maybe she did. “Sorry about your ship.”

Seacat shrugged. The Dragon’s Daughter III had lasted longer than she had expected. “You get used to it.”

“And you sunk the bomb ship and saved the Sea Gate! And all of us!” Blondie flashed a stupid smile at her. “This was so brave!”

And Blondie was far too close for comfort. If she hugged Seacat’s aching ribs… “I didn’t do it for you!” she snarled at Blondie.

“That’s exactly what Catra would say!”

Seacat clenched her teeth and fought the sudden urge to claw the blonde’s face off.

*****​

 

Chapter 3: The Outposts

She was facing her enemy with her staff raised across her body. Ready to strike and ready to parry a strike. Just like the trainer had said. And shown.

And her enemy was doing the same, blue eyes staring at her over bared teeth and under a blonde lock of hair.

She licked her lips in response, flashing her fangs. Stay cool. Cool. Her tail flicked back and forth behind her, but there was nothing she could do about that.

The blonde took a step towards her, staff held ready, still baring her teeth. Threatening her.

She started circling the blonde, her claws scratching the padding on the floor as she sped up. She was faster and quicker on her feet. She just had to wait until her enemy stumbled and then she could…

The blonde attacked! Striking with her staff. Fast!

She parried, and almost got her staff hit out of her hands. And there came another blow! Once more she parried, as she had learned, but she was driven back anyway - and she stumbled! The blonde thrust her staff at her, and she jumped to the side, her top almost getting caught on the tip.

Close. Close! Closer!

She darted forward, her staff sliding over the blonde’s, but before she could strike, her enemy twisted her grip, lifted - and her staff went flying.

But she had claws! She ducked under the staff and jumped, headfirst, into the blonde. Both of them fell down, and she started scratching.

Until the trainer pulled her away, holding her at the neck. It hurt, but all her hissing wouldn’t make him let go.

“I said staff training, not… biting and scratching like an animal!”

“But you also said anything goes in a fight!” Adora piped up as she rubbed her scratched arm.

She cringed - talking back to a trainer meant getting punished. But the man nodded, even if he growled, then dropped her on the ground. “Again. And this time, staves only!”

Adora’s beaming smile turned into a smirk as she gripped her staff again.

“This time I’ll beat you, Catra!”

She snorted in return, and then it was on.

At the end of the training, they were covered in bruises - and some scratches for Adora - but they were friends.

*****​

Seacat shook her as she woke up. Another stupid dream. Stupid Blondie. Even when she was half a world away, the girl managed to bother Seacat.

She stretched, resisting the urge to dig her claws into her mattress - Mermista didn’t like it if her guests left holes in the bedding. Or scratches in the furniture, no matter how fragile they were built. Then she rolled off her bed and went to get dressed. Breakfast waited.

She left her room, still retying her hair into a ponytail, and made her way to the kitchen. She didn’t bother knocking on the captain’s room - he hadn’t slept a single night there since the Battle of Salineas. At the big doors that separated the princess’s quarters from the rest of the palace, she stopped and cocked her head, her ears twitching.

She couldn’t hear any yelling or furniture breaking, so Mermista hadn’t lost her temper yet with Sea Hawk. Which was, for a change, a good thing - they were still waiting for the ship the princess had promised them to replace the Dragon’s Daughter III, and while Mermista probably wouldn’t go back on her word, you never knew with princesses.

“The princess is resting,” one of the two guards Seacat had ignored so far told her.

“Just checking.” She grinned in return and went on towards the kitchen. She was hungry, and the kitchen staff, even with half of them not yet having returned after the evacuation, made the best breakfast, ever: lots of fresh roasted fish!

She felt her nostrils flare as she approached the kitchen - yes, that was the heavenly smell of fish covered with the special palace sauce. She licked her lips, then wiped her chin, just in case she might’ve been drooling, and entered. She’d risked her life for the whole kingdom, so she deserved a special breakfast!

The kitchen staff agreed with her - they were smiling at her and even had a plate already ready.

She thanked them - always be polite to those who make your food, as Sea Hawk had taught her - and left again, carrying a plate and a pitcher of some red fruit juice she’d claim was blood if someone bothered her.

Life was good for a hero!

*****​

“And this is the Dragon’s Daughter IV!” Sea Hawk said, spreading his arms wide. “A marvel of shipbuilding, the crown achievement of the Salinean Royal Yards!” He stood at the princess’s private pier, staring at the small ship tied up there.

“It’s a refurbished courier ship,” Mermista said in a flat voice. “Originally built in Seaworthy.”

“But rebuilt here!” Sea Hawk wasn’t going to let a small thing like reality dim his enthusiasm, Seacat knew. “A token of your love for me!”

“I couldn’t exactly let you get stranded here, could I? I’d never be rid of you.”

Seacat frowned. The princess was smiling as she spoke, but this sounded as if Mermista was already getting sick of the captain. “It certainly looks fast enough,” Seacat said. “Though it’s a little wider in the beam unless I’m mistaken.” She wasn’t, of course - she had checked the ship last night.

“It is, but it also has a bigger cargo hold!” Sea Hawk confirmed it.

“So, we’re going to make good money shipping cargo,” Seacat said. If the ship was nearly as fast as the late Dragon’s Daughter III but could hold about a fourth more cargo, then that would result in good profit margins. They just needed a few easy runs from Seaworthy to the Kingdom of Snows, for example.

“Not just any cargo, but important cargo! Crucial supplies for the Rebellion!” The captain beamed at her. “Delivered straight to the soldiers fighting the Horde on the frontlines! It’ll be an adventure!”

There went Seacat’s profit margins. “Usually, dangerous deliveries pay extra-well,” she commented, glancing at Mermista.

“Exploiting the fact that my love’s kingdom is at war would be extremely gauche, first mate! Especially after Mermista gave us such an excellent ship as a gift.”

“As a replacement for the ship we sank saving her kingdom,” Seacat corrected him.

“We saved her kingdom together with my dear Mermista!”

“Without my powers, you’d have ended on the bottom of the sea without getting to ram the Horde bomb vessel first,” the princess commented with a grin. Seacat bared her teeth in a matching grin and was about to enter negotiations when the princess grew serious. “I hate to ask this of you, but almost all Salinean ships are currently busy transporting our evacuated people back to the kingdom - or guarding the transports. And what ships we have available would take too long to supply our forward posts.”

Which would mean they would have to be abandoned - or they’d fall to the Horde. Seacat suppressed a growl. That would be unacceptable. The Horde couldn’t be allowed to advance further into Salineas - or anywhere else. So, as much as it grated, they would have to do this. Afterwards, though, they could return to making money.

“Rest assured, my love, we will fly to supply the Salinean eye!”

“‘Salinean Eye’?” Mermista sounded confused.

“Aren’t your outposts the eyes of your fleet, looking for Horde ships?” Sea Hawk beamed.

“In a manner of speaking, yes. But there’s more than one such post.”

“But that wouldn’t rhyme!”

Seacat sighed. The captain was about to sing. “I’ll check the ship,” she said. “See if there are any issues that need to be corrected before we can sail.” Trying to plug a leak in a hold full with cargo was a nightmare.

“Duty calls, evening falls, out we sail into the squalls…”

Seacat jumped down, grabbing the rigging to slow her fall, as a shanty started behind her. The captain was a great man, but he was a much better sailor than singer.

*****​

True to Sea Hawk’s shanty, they were leaving port in the evening - to better hide from Horde spies, or so Seacat had been told. It made sense - she was sure that the cowards who had attacked Blondie and her friends hadn’t been the only traitors in port. On the other hand, anyone would have noticed the cargo delivered to their new ship, and it wouldn’t take a genius to realise where they might be going. Now, whether the Horde had any ships left to try and catch them was another question. The Horde generally weren’t the best sailors, to say the least. And the favoured firepower over maneuverability.

“Ah! Adventure! As much as I love my dear Mermista, I cannot resist the call of the sea!” Sea Hawk declared, pointing at the horizon.

Seacat made some noncommittal noise as she scaled the rigging. The basic build of their new ship was the same as that of the Dragon’s Daughter III, but there were a few differences. It wouldn’t do to miss a line in the middle of a storm - or a battle. And her eyes saw perfectly fine in the dim light of the moons. Perks of being a cat. Like claws and superior balance. Blondie would be half-blind in her place.

She froze for a moment, growling with anger at herself. Blondie was gone. Back to Bright Moon. Far away from the sea. Why was she still thinking of the idiot? She had a task to do! An important task!

*****​

“About ship!”

Sea Hawk’s command rang out over the deck, and Seacat moved to get ready for the turn into the wind. “Ready!” she yelled.

In response, the ship began to turn into the wind, losing speed as the sail stopped moving her forward and the wind started to push back on the bow. But they were fast enough to complete the turn without having to pull the lines to help the turn along, and soon the Dragon’s Daughter IV was sailing along the next leg of their course as they tacked towards their first destination.

Seacat checked that the lines were fastened and everything else was in order, then dropped by the cabins, grabbing a bite to eat - dried fish - from the pantry before joining the captain on the afterdeck.

“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?” Sea Hawk exclaimed with a beaming smile.

“Our new ship or the princess?” Seacat asked with a grin.

“I was talking about the ship, although, of course, my dear Mermista is a beauty without equal on all the seas!”

Seacat reached out to hold the steering wheel in place as the captain put one boot on the chest nearby and pointed towards the sky.

“I guess so,” she said. “She runs well enough,” she added - they had put the ship through her paces all morning after a rather quiet night, “but she could be a little faster.”

“You only have to be fast enough to evade dangers and catch your enemies! The closer you shave it, the better the adventure!”

“And the more dangerous,” she replied before swallowing the rest of the dried fish.

“That’s what I said!”

“Just don’t set this ship on fire until we’ve got enough saved up for the next.” Wait! That wouldn’t stop him. “And remember that people - Mermista’s soldiers - depend on us delivering them their supplies.”

He blinked as if he’d forgotten this. Then he nodded. “You’re right! The love of my life would never forgive me, at least not for months, if I let her down!”

She couldn’t resist. “Unless you do it gently,” she mumbled.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.” She bared her teeth in a grin, but he wasn’t deterred.

“Ah!” He beamed at her again. “You shouldn’t be jealous of our relationship! As I’ve told you a hundred times, love will find you, too! One day.”

“Yeah, sure.” She snorted, almost turning it into a scoff. “I don’t need that kind of stress in my life.” Just watching Sea Hawk and Mermista wrecking their relationship every few weeks was enough to know that.

“Ah! Shying away from a challenge, first mate? I wouldn’t have thought you were a scaredy…”

She growled at him in return, making a point of flexing her claws next to his hand on the wheel.

He coughed, holding a fist before his mouth. “Although, seriously, romance is nothing to be afraid of. Romance is the spice of life! The soul of adventure!”

“I’m not afraid,” she hissed. “And I’ve got plenty of adventures.” Especially with Sea Hawk.

“Of course! But there could always be more! More passion! More adventure! More life!”

“More food,” she retorted. It wasn’t her fault that she hadn’t found anyone interesting - interesting and interested - yet. “I’m going to grab some more fish. Do you want any?” He wouldn’t - he didn’t like fish as much as she did - but she always asked.

“I’ll get some hardtack later.”

She made a face at that. “Bleargh.”

“A sailor’s stomach can easily handle hardtack!”

“But a sailor’s tongue shouldn’t!” she shot back before jumping over the railing and landing on the deck below.

Unfortunately, by the time she returned with some hardtack for the captain and more fish for her, Sea Hawk had found a new subject that Seacat hated even more than her love life.

“So!” He nodded at her. “That passenger claimed to know you.”

“She’s stupid. And a princess. And a former Horde soldier!”

“Well, why would she lie about you being a missing friend of hers?”

“Just because she thinks something is true doesn’t make it true!” Not even princesses could do that. “You know how I was found - I wasn’t wearing a Horde uniform. And not even the Horde uses child soldiers, anyway!”

“Oh! Now you admit that you were a child?” He grinned at her.

She snorted in return.”I was young and stupid.” And she had wanted a berth on a ship. His ship. To wait on land, not knowing if he’d return…

“And now you’re old and wise?”

“Just wise,” she shot back.

“Disillusionment isn’t wisdom,” he told her.

“Close enough,” she replied, eating another fish.

He hummed in return and focused on his own ration.

She knew he’d bring it up again - he had that annoying habit of not letting things drop - but not for the next few days. Probably. Longer if they ended up in an adventure.

She snorted again - hell, she was almost looking forward to one!

*****​

“I don’t think they’ll need our supplies any more. Or anything else.” Seacat forced herself to sound flippant, almost joking, as they approached the pier. The alternative was hissing and growling with anger. The Salinean outpost had been razed. Half the top of the lookout tower was gone, the ramparts broken. But those could be repaired. The soldiers, though… She couldn’t see anyone, but she could smell a hint of rotting meat. Rotting flesh.

Sea Hawk nodded slowly. “Ahoy!” he suddenly yelled. “The Princess sent us!”

No one moved, though - and the rock upon which the outpost had been built was small enough for the captain’s voice to carry to every corner.

They stopped at the pier - flanked by the reefs that kept larger ships away. “They were informed about our trip,” Seacat said. “Whoever attacked them must have struck after we set out.”

“Two nights ago. Perhaps one,” the captain agreed. “And they didn’t warn Salineas - they must have been surprised. A direct hit from a bomb vessel’s mortar would do that, but...”

She nodded. The whole outpost would’ve been flattened by such a shell. “But if they managed that, why would they still bombard the outpost?” She growled under her breath. The answer was obvious. “Treason. Sabotage.”

“Sabotage the communications, then shell the outpost at your leisure,” Sea Hawk said. “Not much of an adventure.”

“But effective,” she retorted before she jumped over the railing and landed on all fours on the pier. She checked the lines hanging. They were cut. “Someone left in a hurry,” she yelled as she tied up the Dragon’s Daughter IV.

Sea Hawk joined her. “The crew might have fled after they realised their communications had been sabotaged.”

Seacat nodded. It was possible. The outposts couldn’t be held against a determined attack. That was why they had a fast cutter, after all. Smart sailors knew when to cut and run.

But the stench… it was more than a hint now. She clenched her teeth. “Or whoever sabotaged communications took the cutter as well.”

“Let’s check the outpost’s interior.” Sea Hawk drew his sword and started up the stairs leading to the outpost proper.

He wasn’t charging ahead and he wasn’t yelling about adventure. That was a bad sign. She clenched her teeth as she followed him.

By the time they reached the outpost’s gate, she was pinching her nose shut and didn’t need to look at the centre of the courtyard to know what had happened to the crew.

She did it anyway. The attackers had piled up the stripped bodies of the defenders there, forming a large heap.

“Horde scum!” she hissed. They had taken everything! Murdered everyone!

“But why would Horde soldiers take the uniforms and weapons of Salineans?” Sea Hawk asked. “They have ample supplies of the latter, and no use for the former.”

Seacat blinked and almost breathed through her nose - which would have been a very bad experience. “Pirates?” But pirates knew better than to massacre their victims. Especially Salinean sailors. There would be no mercy, nor any way to finagle a pardon after turning privateer against the Horde for a while. And pirates would know that, so why… She gasped. “Horde scum turning pirates?”

“After losing their bomb vessel, the surviving officers might have decided to turn pirate rather than face the consequences of failing.” Sea Hawk looked around. “They had traitors in Salineas. Perhaps they had traitors here as well.”

“Someone must have shown them the way through the reefs,” Seacat agreed. “So... now we’ve got Horde scum roaming the seas as pirates.”

“Not for long, if I have anything to say about it!” Sea Hawk raised his sword. “We shall hunt them down and bring them to justice!”

Just the two of them? Against at least a frigate, probably more than one? Seacat snorted. She should’ve known better than to wish for adventure. But to let Horde scum get away with this?

They’d make them pay. Somehow. Probably involving another burning ship.

*****​

Thick smoke was rising from the outpost’s courtyard when they set sails again. They had turned the heap of bodies into a funeral pyre. A burial at sea might’ve been more appropriate, but to lug two dozen bodies around with them? Seacat shuddered at the mere thought of it. The stench would’ve been unbearable. Better to burn them.

“Let’s hope the second outpost hasn’t suffered the same fate,” she said as they passed the last reefs and Sea Hawk changed the course.

“They would’ve had to be in much faster ships than frigates to cover the distance in the time they had,” Sea Hawk said. “Of course, that doesn’t mean they can’t be attacking right now - with the stolen cutter, they might even attempt a coup de main.”

Seacat scoffed and bared her fangs. “Then let’s find out just how fast our new ship can go!”

“Indeed! Adventure!”

*****​

The second outpost was two days worth of sailing from the first with average winds and an average ship. Or a ship with a crew who had to grow familiar with her. But with a fast ship and a great crew taking all reasonable risk? One day was doable - barely.

Seacat grinned when the outpost’s top appeared on the horizon, the Salinean flag flying above it. Then she licked the back of her hand - which tasted salty - and rubbed it against her cheek. She hated it when saltwater dried on her fur, but there hadn’t been time to groom herself properly. And she would’ve ended up being drenched twice more, anyway.

“Huzzah! We are on time!” Sea Hawk cheered. “What an adventure! We’ve got the fastest ship on the sea!”

“And the craziest captain!” Seacat yelled back as she collapsed the telescope.

“I didn’t hear you protesting on the way here!”

She snorted. “Would you have listened?”

“Listened? Yes. Followed your advice? No!”

She snorted again and scaled the rigging. Time to get a closer look from up top. She grabbed on the mast with one hand, pulled the telescope out of her belt with the other and snapped it open one-handedly with a practised motion.

There was the outpost. She could see soldiers on the ramparts, and… two cutters in the sea? One at the pier, and another approaching.

She couldn’t see the people on the deck of the second cutter, but she was sure that this was the one the Horde-pirates had taken.

Sliding down the line, she landed gracefully on the deck. “Captain! The Horde scum’s about to storm the outpost!”

And they were still about half an hour away unless the wind turned. And yet… “I’ll signal them!” she shouted. She rushed to the chest with the signal flags, kicked it open and grabbed them. A moment later, she was rushing up the rigging again, flags held in her mouth. Now the idiots in the outpost better be having their eyes on them!

She wrapped her leg around a line, dug the claws of one foot into the mast - it could do with some scratches, anyway - and leaned out, waving the flags to signal ‘danger’ and ‘trap’.

She kept repeating the signals, squinting as she tried to see if there was a reaction from the outpost. Was that a soldier running? The second cutter was almost at the pier! What were those idiots doing?

Right before the cutter reached the pier, the cannons on the outpost fired. She dropped the flags and grabbed the telescope again.

The soldiers had reacted too late, despite Seacat’s best effort - the horde scum was already on the pier. She saw two soldiers running up the ramp leading to the outpost’s gate, but both fell before they reached the halfway point.

The cannons on the rampart spoke again, and she saw the cutter’s mast fall. But it was too late - there were dozens of the scum already on the pier. Why hadn’t they used cannister shot? That could’ve swept the pier clear!

And now the horde rushed forward, storming the ramp. Seacat held her breath. If the Salineans were quick enough to reload, they could out a shell right into the horde… but they weren’t. The pirates reached the wall, where the cannons couldn’t fire.

Seacat cursed. “They are at the walls,” she yelled to the captain. “The idiots didn’t manage to stop them!”

“Then it falls to us to save them!”

“Without setting us on fire!” she shouted.

“No promises!”

Seacat cursed again. She had liked their new ship.

“Find us a route through the reefs!”

“Aye aye, Captain!”

She grabbed the telescope again. She had seen the route - part of it - that the cutter had taken. But the entrance… Her fangs dug into her lower lip as she studied the rocks jutting up from the sea ahead of them. The real danger were the ones that didn’t break the surface, of course. The ones that were just deep enough to escape notice, but high enough to rip open the hull of any ship that sailed over them.

This or that passage? Was that a shadow, or a reef in the middle? She squinted. That was… a reef. Which meant it was the other. “Starboard!” she yelled.

“Starboard!” Sea Hawk confirmed. “Huzzah!”

They entered the reefs, and Seacat climbed on the very top of the mast, to get the best angle possible to guide them as Sea Hawk slowed down - a little, at least. There was another reef lurking beneath the surface. “Backboard!”

“Backboard!”

The ship turned, in time.

“Starboard!”

“Starboard!”

“Backboard!”

“Backboard”

Turn by turn, they sailed through the reef.

Until they suddenly had a clear path to the pier. And the pirate cutter there. The ship’s mainmast had fallen, but part of the rigging had kept it from ending up in the sea. Still, that cutter wouldn’t sail anytime soon. The other cutter, though, the one stationed at this outpost, looked whole - and there were people on it. Enemies! Seacat counted half a dozen Horde soldiers.

And two to three dozens assaulting the walls of the outpost, but who was counting? “Let’s board them!”

“Huzzah!” Sea Hawk replied, and the Dragon’s Daughter IV turned, barely avoiding the first cutter, before it scraped alongside the second, bumping into the other ship with enough force to send half the Horde scum stumbling.

But not her. Seacat had grabbed a line a moment before the ships touched and was already swinging over to the cutter. She drew her cutlass with her free hand, slashing with the glowing blade as she flew past one of the pirates still standing.

The man went down, screaming, hands gripping a ruined face, and Seacat let the rope carry her onward. Another horde soldier stepped into her path, and she let go, slamming into the merman with her feet, digging her claws into his protruding belly, leaving long gashes when she jumped off.

He screamed, dropping his weapons to keep his guts in, and Seacat howled, landing on the still moving deck with one hand and both feet down, claws scratching the wood as she slid to a stop and swung her blade with the other hand.

The remaining four of the scum turned to face her, wielding stun batons and knives, and she laughed in their faces. The biggest of them, a lizardman, hissed and charged her while the rest spread out, trying to encircle her.

Pathetic. She met the lizard blade to blade, then let herself fall down on her back when he swung the baton, kicking out with her feet before raking her claws over the horde scum’s legs.

He screamed but didn’t fall, stabbing at her in a frenzy with both blade and baton. She rolled to the side, evading the first attacks, then back, dodging the second, before she deflected the blade with her cutlass and cut the baton off with the backhand stroke.

A roll over her shoulder saw her back on her feet, and the lizard swung again. She forced his blade down, then jumped, lashing out with one leg after the other, kicking him in the chest and face.

He stumbled back, reeling, his head thrown back, and Seacat lunged, whirled and slashed his throat with her blade, almost decapitating him.

“Finally done? You’ve been getting slow!”

She growled at Sea Hawk, who had jumped on the deck as well and was standing over the bodies of the other tree enemies. “He was their leader!”

“Just because he was the biggest doesn’t make him their leader.”

“I also got two on the way in!”

“Then we’re even!”

She snorted and looked around. The pirates attacking the outpost had noticed them by now, and a dozen of them were rushing towards them. Bad odds without surprise.

“Another challenge! Adventure!”

Not for Sea Hawk, of course.

But she wasn’t looking forward to fighting outnumbered six to one. Not without an advantage, preferably an unfair one. “We need to secure the cutter!” she yelled.

“Not quite!” Sea Hawk shouted back. He was running towards the cannon in the bow. But he wouldn’t get it loaded and aimed in time, even with her helping!

She rushed towards him anyway, but he waved her off. “Get our ship clear!”

She gasped - he was crazy! - but obeyed, dashing towards the railing, then jumping off, throwing herself towards the Dragon’s Daughter IV, which had started to drift away.

She missed the deck and railing, but her claws found purchase in the hull, and she quickly scrambled up on deck, then rushed to the wheel. The wind hadn’t changed, so she threw the ship into a turn towards the wind, slowly starting to gather speed as the bow swung around.

Then she glanced back. The pirates had almost reached the cutter. What was Sea Hawk doing? “Captain!” she yelled, then held her breath. The first pirate jumped on the cutter’s deck, and…

There went Sea Hawk, jumping on the railing, grabbing the rigging and swinging his sword - and cutting through the rigging.

The mast swayed at once, and the rigging ripped, pulling him up as if he had been fired from a cannon. He flew in an arc, narrowly missing the cutter’s falling spar, before splashing into the water.

Seacat released her breath.

But the pirates rushed to the railing, one of them climbing on the bow, peering at the water, eager to shoot at the captain as soon as he surfaced

And the cutter’s powder store blew up, the ship’s entire bow section vanishing in an explosion.

For a terrible moment, Seacat saw the bomb vessel blowing up. The explosion travelling underwater, killing all the Horde sailors in the water and almost killing her despite the distance.

But this wasn’t a bomb vessel’s powder magazine going up, well below the waterline. This was a powder storage chest for a cutter’s pivot gun blowing up on the deck. Granted, a big one - the navy rarely skimped on ammunition - but even so, it shouldn’t have… The captain had been thrown almost clear - at least away from the bow…

She clenched her teeth. Sea Hawk couldn’t be…

“Huzzah!”

Her eyes darted to the side. There was a head visible in the sea, an arm waving… She sighed with relief, sagging for a moment, then growled and yelled: “You idiot cut it too close!”

“The only good call is a close call!”

She glanced back at the pier as she turned the ship into the wind so Sea Hawk could catch up. There were no pirates on it. No, she couldn’t see any pirates, she corrected herself. But there were about a dozen or more pirates still left at the outpost’s gates. Caught between the Dragon’s Daughter IV and the outpost’s walls. Or, rather, caught between the walls and the rocky shore, with a damaged cutter their only way to escape.

“Ooof!” Sea Hawk pulled himself over the railing, groaning.

She dug a fang into her lower lip. So he had been hurt by the explosion. “That was too close,” she told him as she helped him up.

“But it was a beautiful explosion!”

“You didn’t even see it.”

“I felt it!”

That made her growl again as she shook her head. “Stick to setting ships on fire.”

He laughed at that, then turned to point at the outpost. “A dozen more notches for our belts!” he exclaimed, tapping his buckle.

She didn’t miss how his hand strayed upwards, rubbing his belly, afterwards. “I think the garrison can handle them.” If they didn’t, then Mermista needed to deal with whoever set up those outposts.

“Perhaps. But we still are needed to keep the pirates from escaping!”

“We need to treat your wounds,” she spat. Explosions could damage the inside of your body. Sea Hawk could be bleeding out inside, or something - the Healers at Salineas had been concerned about that, after the last battle. “And that cutter won’t be sailing anywhere with a broken mainmast!”

“I’m good for another harrowing battle against impossible odds!” He pointed at the outpost. “And look! They’re retreating - they’re coming straight at us!”

“We don’t need to fight them. We can set the cutter on fire and trap them on the island,” Seacat pointed out. Or set the cutter on fire with the pirates on it.

“Or we could blow the cutter up. In a big beautiful explosion!”

Fortunately, the garrison finally developed a spine and sallied, a dozen soldiers chasing the pirates down to the pier. By the time the Dragon’s Daughter IV had turned away from the wind and was sailing towards the cutter, half the pirates had been overtaken and killed, and the other half was battling the soldiers on the damaged cutter.

And the captain was in the rigging, brandishing his sword. “Get us closer! I want to rush them from behind!”

“You just want to beat my score!” she yelled as she brought their ship closer.

“I already beat it with my explosion!”

She blinked, then scoffed. “That doesn’t count!”

They reached the cutter, bumping against it, and Sea Hawk jumped on the other deck before the ships separated again. Seacat saw him cut down the last pirate standing, then face the soldiers with a flourish.

“I’m the one and only Sea Hawk!” she heard him yell. “Feel free to thank me for the timely rescue!”

The officer leading the ragged troop looked as if she had bitten into a rotting lemon.

Seacat was still chuckling at the sight as she guided the ship to a gentle stop near the pier - close enough to use it as an anchor.

*****​

The officer commanding the soldiers wasn’t really grateful, Seacat found out quickly. It was clear that she had to force herself to be polite to them. Granted, they had blown up her cutter, but that had been necessary. And they had another cutter anyway, only slightly damaged.

Seacat waited to point out that, of course. As long as the woman was busy ordering the soldiers around she was already stressed enough. Though Seacat did need answers to a few questions. “Did you find out where the rest of the pirates are hiding?”

“We haven’t even started questioning the survivors!”

“I meant, did they say anything? Offered you a deal? Named their patron?

“No, they didn’t. They just attacked - if not for your warning, we might’ve lost half our troops before we realised what was going on.”

Seacat grinned widely. “So, I saved the entire outpost?”

The woman froze for a moment. Then she pressed her lips together in a frown. “We could have held out until relief forces arrived.”

“Sure.” Seacat flashed her fangs. “You had them right where you wanted them. After we killed half of them for you. And sunk their ship.”

“That was my cutter!”

“Not any longer - they had taken it,” Sea Hawk cut in. “According to the law of the sea, that means it was an enemy ship and a legitimate target for us.”

“And we didn’t even blow it up completely - half the ship you could probably raise and repair,” Seacat added. She looked round. “Well, if you had wood to repair them.” The rock didn’t look like it would grow trees anytime soon.

The officer - what was her name again? Seacat hadn’t really paid attention - looked even more annoyed now.

“The Salinean Navy thanks you for your assistance.”

“Anything for my dear Mermista!” Sea Hawk beamed. “Now we just need to find the pirate frigate.”

“Pirate frigate?”

Seacat sighed. “The pirates are former Horde scum. And they stole the cutter from the other outpost in the area. That means they must have had a ship to reach the outpost before stealing this one. And the last Horde ships we saw in the area were frigates.” And troop transports, but those wouldn’t make plausible pirate ships.

“A frigate.”

“Possibly more - we didn’t sink them. Oh, by the way, could you send a few men to unload the supplies for the outpost?” Sea Hawk asked.

“You’ve brought supplies?” She wasn’t the smartest officer, in Seacat’s opinion.

“We did indeed! We braved pirates and monsters and Horde patrols to supply you!” Sea Hawk raised his fist to the sky again. “And we let no one stop us!”

“I’ll send a crew to unload the ship.”

“Thank you, my dear!”

“And please share everything that the prisoners say,” Seacat added.

*****​

A few hours later, the officer’s attitude still hadn’t improved - apparently, she was the commander of the outpost which explained a lot, in Seacat’s opinion. But the hold of the Dragon’s Daughter IV was empty and they knew the name of the Horde captain who had taken her ship and turned pirate rather than returning to the Fright Zone and answer for her failure.

Octavia.

It was a dumb name, in Seacat’s opinion.

*****​

 

Chapter 4: The Serpent’s Maw

“Hey, furball!”

She turned, her eyes narrowing. Furball. She hated that word. When she saw who had yelled, she hissed.

It was a Horde soldier - an adult, not a cadet. Some fishwoman with tentacles on her back. And a frown on her noseless face. “My name’s not furball!” she hissed.

“Who cares. You’re a furball.”

“And you’re a dumb face!” she spat.

“What did you say, you ugly little piece of…”

The fishwoman stomped towards her, but she wasn’t scared. She knew she was faster than anyone else in this place. “I said you’re a dumb face!” she repeated herself. “You don’t have a nose and no ears?”

“Oh, you!” The fishwoman lunged, webbed hands reaching for her, but she was already dodging, dropping to the floor and rolling against the woman’s knees. As dumb face stumbled, she jumped up, grabbed the flailing arm and pulled herself up like in the training hall. “Dumb face!” she snarled, lashing out with her claws at the woman’s face.

She grinned when she heard the screams. Call her furball, would she? With her hands clutching her bleeding face and one eye covered, the dumb face couldn’t do any…

She was flying through the air. Something had hit her.

She crashed against the wall, her breath knocked out of her, and fell to the ground. She’d been hit, but what could’ve… Blinking, she saw the tentacles flailing around the stumbling woman. Oh. That had.

Blinking, she tried to clear her head when the fishwoman suddenly glared at her, showing razor sharp teeth. “I’m going to kill you, furball!”

She gasped, which made her ribs hurt, and jumped to her feet, which made everything else hurt, and scrambled away on all fours. This time, she avoided all the tentacles and the woman’s legs, and she was up the stairs, heading for the vents, before the dumb face could recover.

*****​

Seacat woke up in the middle of… well, morning. What a weird dream. She tried to recall what she had dreamt, but she only remembered tentacles and some monster. Probably the fault of Sea Hawk singing weird shanties about Kraken and mermaids again.

And speaking of faults… She rolled out of her hammock and checked up on the captain. She found him sleeping in his bunk. No fever, no clammy skin, no paleness. She sniffed the air. Probably a little too much rum.

Well, if he had a headache today, it was no fur off her butt. It was a beautiful day, no cloud in the sky, a calm sea and a steady wind blowing on their back. Perfect for sailing - or hunting.

Perfect for leaving this dump of a rock. Or something. Looking at the outpost above the pier, then at the cutter, where the mainmast still hadn’t been fixed, she scoffed. No wonder the outpost had almost been taken by three dozen pirates - the garrison must be the dregs of the service, as the captain would call it. Had called it, actually, after the third glass of rum.

Well, if the sailors didn’t get their act together, then that was their problem. Sea Hawk and Seacat had saved them once, which should be enough. She grabbed some dried fish for breakfast, mixed milk powder with water to wash it down, then started preparing the Dragon’s Daughter IV to set sail.

The captain appeared on deck sometime around noon, groaning and rubbing his stomach. For a moment, she was concerned, but then he shook his head. “I think that fish was bad.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “It wasn’t!” She’d had four of them!

“Well, perhaps mine was bad.” He grabbed some hardtack and jerky for himself - neither of them would have wanted to dip into the outpost’s supplies, not after checking the cargo - and started munching while he walked towards her. “Everything set?”

“Except for you, everything’s shipshape,” she replied.

“Hey!” He glared at her for a moment before laughing. “Sailors giving you trouble?”

“Haven’t seen them today at all, other than from afar,” she replied, nodding towards the ramparts. “Probably too scared to come out from behind the walls.”

Both had a laugh at that. “My dear Mermista won’t be happy about our evaluation of this garrison’s performance.”

And neither would be the garrison commander, Seacat thought. “So… we’re returning to Salineas, then?” They hadn’t received a new mission, after all, nor new cargo.

“Not quite!” Sea Hawk grinned at her. “How could we face ourselves if we left while some pirate frigate roamed the seas?”

Quite easily - it wasn’t as if Seacat needed a mirror. “You want to take on a Horde frigate with her?” she asked, making a sweeping motion with her hand.

“I prefer to think of it as looking for an adventure! All we need is the right opportunity, and even a frigate won’t stand a chance!”

“You really don’t like the number four, do you?” she asked, shaking her head.

He blinked. “Well, three is the better number, you know, but four can be nice.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean,” she scolded him.

“Yes, but do you know what I mean?” He grinned at her.

“I don’t want to know,” she replied with a toothy smile. “But I’ll ask Mermista about it.”

“Ah… I mean… perhaps we should focus on our mission!” Sea Hawk smiled weakly and went towards the wheel.

Seacat smiled. Eight times out of ten, if she didn’t understand one of the captain’s joke, threatening to ask Mermista shut him up.

*****​

As they sailed past the cutter, Seacat took the time to wave at the handful of Salinean sailors working on the broken mainmast before she scaled the rigging, once again taking up a lookout position on top of the mast. She had to focus on the reefs guarding the outpost. Fortunately, she was an old hand at that - and her sharp eyes were perfect for this duty.

Half an hour later, they were on the open seas, quickly picking up speed after setting full sails. She tied up the last line, then climbed up the stairs to the conn. “Everything’s set,” she reported.

“Good.” Sea Hawk adjusted their course a tiny little bit towards the wind, almost past the point where the sail would start to slacken.

“So… how long are we going to roam the sea, looking for a pirate frigate?” she asked as she leaned against the railing, her hands resting on her hip and the hilt of her cutlass.

He grinned at her. “Oh, I was thinking of about a week.”

Seacat narrowed her eyes as she made a quick calculation. They could cover quite a lot in a week, but blindly roaming the seas wasn’t Sea Hawk’s style - or hers. So… Ah! “Serpent’s Maw?”

He nodded with a smile. “Exactly! Where else would a Horde turned pirate go? They cannot use Horde ports, and with Salineas standing proud, they cannot reach the northern coast.

Seacat nodded. The ports of the northern coast were closed to pirates, but there were always some smaller villages where pirates could do trade. It wasn’t as if a fishing village had much of a choice, anyway - if they didn’t trade, the pirates would just plunder. But south of Salineas, the Horde controlled the coast - and a village caught trading with pirates would be wiped out. Like Gullpeak had been...

She shook her head. “There’s a little problem with your plan, though.”

“Oh?” He looked at her with exaggerated surprise.

“We’re kind of wanted in Serpent’s Maw.” Setting their port ablaze tended to make people mad at you.

“Oh, the one and only Sea Hawk and his trusty first mate certainly would be crazy to even consider sailing into a pirate haven like Serpent’s Maw. However, no one is mad at a mysterious and handsome pirate and his trusty first mate!” Hit bumped his chest with a fist. “It’s a perfect plan! A daring adventure!”

She blinked. “There’s a flaw in that plan as well.”

“How so?”

She pointed at herself with her thumb. “I’m a little distinctive. There aren’t many sailors who share my looks.”

“Ah, but that’s nothing a good disguise cannot handle!”

“I hope you don’t think that a hooded cloak will do,” she retorted with narrowed eyes.

“Err… of course not! Perish the thought! I have something much more sophisticated in mind!”

“Really.” She kept glaring at him, but he didn’t waver.

“Really!”

Seacat sighed. It would be a hooded cloak. She knew it already.

*****

Three days later - the winds had been favourable - they were approaching Serpent’s Maw. Seacat pressed her lips together as she looked round the ship. They had changed the sails, even painted a garish skull on the mainsail with some leftover paint in the hold, but… “I don’t think this will fool anyone who saw us in Salineas,” she said.

“Oh, but the Horde spies in Salineas wouldn’t have been able to reach this pirate haven even if they had set sails the same night we left the port. So, don’t worry, our disguise is foolproof. Remember: No one will expect the famous Sea Hawk to sail a ship with such an ugly figurehead!”

She glared at him. She was no carver, but she had done her best. It wasn’t her fault that claws that could easily cut steel didn’t make her a master carver. “Time to put on our disguises, then,” she said.

“Oh, yes!” He beamed. “This will be fun! Exciting! A tale to tell our friends and enemies!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” she sighed as she went below decks to change. It would be hot. Unbearably hot. At least for her.

She stared at the disguise hanging on a hook next to her hammock. In hindsight, a simple hooded cloak would have been better. But that would mean admitting that Sea Hawk’s first half-baked plan was good. And that she had been wrong to criticise it.

And she could bear the heat for one day - it would be cooler in the evening, anyway. Still...

“Why do we actually have a full-body leather suit on board?” she complained as she returned to the main deck, fiddling with the many ties and clasps that lined its front. Handling those was almost as much a pain as wrapping her tail around her waist and stuffing her feet into boots.

“Ah.” Sea Hawk, who had taken the time to change into black leather pants, black shirt, bandana and a black cloak, actually blushed. “That was supposed to be a gift for Mermista, but there never seemed to be the right opportunity to give it to her.”

She closed her eyes. She shouldn’t have asked.

“But it’s perfect for hiding your fur, and, ah, everything else!”

“Let’s just get this over with,” she hissed through clenched teeth.

“Right! But not before we add the crowning touches!”

“‘Crowning touches’?” Seacat knew that the captain was spending too much time with princesses.

“Our faces are quite distinctive. Who else has a naturally shiny moustache?” He cocked his head at her, and she growled back. She had fur, not a moustache! “So, I’ll be wearing a dashing but not quite as handsome full beard, and you…”

She recoiled from the black face mask he presented to her, baring her fangs, then blinked. Why had she done that?

He frowned at her. “It’s made from light wood. You’ll hardly feel the weight.”

He was correct, of course. And it made a lot of sense - the mask would hide her face, only leaving the eyes exposed. And while her mismatched eyes were distinctive as well, not too many knew about them. Still, why did the thought of wearing the mask make her feel so disgusted? And angry? It made no sense! But she wouldn’t let some stupid feelings stop her. So she shook her head and grabbed the mask. “Alright.”

“And the bandana, to hide your ears!”

She growled again. That wouldn’t be comfortable at all - she had tried that before. And the heat would be murder. And with the mask, she wouldn’t be able to easily drink.

But it would be a cold day in hell before she’d let Sea Hawk alone in a pirate port. Not again. “Alright,” she snarled.

The things she did for the captain!

*****​

“Remember: We’re the Red Beard and his right hand, the Black Death!” Sea Hawk said as they entered the port.

“Yeah, yeah.” Rookie pirates with a stupid name - they would fit right in with the scum here. “Why did you pick a red beard, anyway?”

“It’s supposed to be blood red,” he replied. “You know, menacing in that gauche pirate-y way. And it was easy to paint on our flag!”

That made her snort, which in turn made him smile.

Then they had to focus on the next turn as they turned towards a free berth among the ships in the harbour. About half a dozen pirate ships, and a few merchantmen. She tried to identify them - Mermista would love to know who was trading with pirates here.

Seacat couldn’t spot a Horde frigate, but that didn’t have to mean anything - the pirate crew wouldn’t sail their ship into the Serpent’s Maw without feeling out the port beforehand; the Horde had a reputation for brutally dealing with pirates, after all, and if the pirates thought they were under attack, they would fight. Well, those who couldn’t run from a frigate. But at least one of the merchantmen had a damaged rigging and hull - not a greedy scumbag, then, but a victim of pirates. Perhaps the Horde’s?

A bunch of dockworkers were already gathering at the berth they were steering to. Armed dockworkers. Seacat grinned behind her mask. If they planned to board them, they were welcome to try - cutting down pirates was almost as satisfying as cutting down Horde scum.

But the captain was already yelling: “Ahoy! ‘Tis the Red Beard! Most dangerous pirate captain on all the seas!”

“Never heard of you!” one of the workers, a lanky goat woman, yelled back.

“Really? I shall have to rectify that! I and my trusty first mate, Black Death, have made our way here through hordes of Horde frigates, to prey upon the fat merchantmen of the northern coast!”

“You mean you’ll end up dangling from a Salinean spar, dancing the noose dance!” the woman yelled back. “Do you have cargo to unload?”

“Not yet!” the captain announced as they drew alongside the pier. “We’re here for supplies, first. A prepared pirate is a successful pirate!”

Seacat didn’t like the laughter that followed his comment. Her snarl hidden by her stupid mask, she jumped over the railing and landed on the pier. And almost stumbled - with her tail wrapped around her waist and trapped there by the stupid suit, she wasn’t as balanced as she should be. Still, she made enough of an impression even landing on both feet - in stupid boots - and one gloved hand to send the workers back a step or two. “You think you’re funny?” she growled.

Most shrank away - if they were pirates, then they were smart ones. Or cowardly ones. The goat woman, though, stood her ground. “Wrapped in leather as if you were sailing the Frost Sea? Here in Serpent’s Maw? That is funny!”

When the idiot turned to call the others of her group, Seacat moved. She closed the distance in the blink of an eye, the glowing blade of her cutlass singeing the fur on the goat woman’s throat.

“Don’t kill her!” the captain yelled. “We’re here to resupply, not to sate your bloodlust!”

No one would miss pirate scum - not that Seacat actually was bloodthirsty; she simply didn’t hold back when fighting the kind of people who needed killing, and this was an act anyway. So she took a step back, not taking her eyes off the group, as she sheathed her blade. “You’re in luck,” she growled. “Next time, I’ll cut your throat.”

The goat woman swallowed, rubbing her neck. “You’re mad!”

“That’s what I keep telling her!” Sea Hawk butted in. “Makes most port visits exciting, but you should see her in a fight!”

Even though Sea Hawk was merely acting as a pirate would, Seacat liked hearing such praise.

And she liked seeing the goat woman retreat at a pace just shy of actually running.

This hare-brained mission was starting out better than she had expected. But even now that the sun had set, it was still far too hot in the tight leathers, and Seacat had to struggle with the urge to lift the mask to feel cooler air on her face, at least. But that would be stupid. “Captain?”

“Onward, first mate! Onward to… the tavern!”

Where she wouldn’t be able to drink and where the air would be hotter than outside and filled with smoke and the stench of unwashed pirates. Sometimes, having a better nose than the captain - or most anyone else she had ever met - wasn’t a good thing.

They walked towards the waterfront, a pair of drunk pirates staggering out of their way after a glare from Seacat, and soon were faced with a row of taverns and brothels. “They’re not even trying to be discreet,” she muttered.

“It’s a pirate port, my dear first mate! This is what pirates come for - this, and the opportunity to sell their loot and stock up on supplies!”

Which was their cover as well. “Let’s go,” she muttered. “The sooner we find them, the sooner I can get out of this.”

They entered the first tavern, Sea Hawk heading straight to the bar while Seacat looked round. Lots of lowlives, but she didn’t see many wearing parts of Horde uniforms. Fresh deserters wouldn’t have many spare clothes, would they? She also didn’t see anyone who knew Sea Hawk or had a grudge against him - which usually went with each other, at least among pirates - either.

At the bar, Sea Hawk was already drinking beer and telling stories. “And then, we crossed her bow - you know how slow those frigates turn - and were past the reef before she could come about again, her cannons unable to reach us!”

The bartender, some burly fishman without a nose, nodded with polite but fake interest, but the three pirates nearby openly scoffed. “What a load of seal piss!” the largest told Sea Hawk. “You don’t outrun Horde frigates so easily!”

“Perhaps you don’t!” Sea Hawk shot back with a laugh. “But the Red Beard? Greatest pirate of all the seas? Outwitting and outsailing Horde scum is child’s play!”

The pirate sneered in response. “No one’s ever heard of you!”

“You just did, didn’t you? Hah!”

Seacat rolled her eyes behind her mask as she reached the bar behind the captain. He was overdoing it. Again.

But the pirate facing the captain was now staring at her. Had he missed them entering together? That would make him even stupider than he looked.

“And who’re you supposed to be? ‘Black Leather’? ‘Black Mask’? ‘Leatherface’?”

“This, my dear fellow, is Black Death, my first mate!” Sea Hawk announced. “Please do not annoy her - I’d like to finish my beer without blood splattering all over the bar.”

Seacat wanted a beer as well, but that wasn’t in the cards for now. So she shifted her stance a little, hand on the hilt of her cutlass. Perhaps the idiot would get the message.

He didn’t. The pirate scoffed, glancing over his shoulder as he talked to his mates. “Friends! Are we going to let a pair of idiots talk to us like this?”

“You just did, didn’t you?” Sea Hawk laughed loudly.

Not for the first time, Seacat was impressed by how quickly the captain made enemies. Of course, she had been expecting that, and by the time the pirate started to draw his sabre, she was already moving. Her foot hit his groin with enough force to drive her claws into the reinforced leather of her stupid boot, and the idiot fell to his knees with a stunned whimper.

“Huzzah!” Sea Hawk lunged past her, his sword piercing the closest pirate’s thigh. That man shrieked as he fell down, gripping his bleeding leg.

Seacat, meanwhile, kicked the kneeling idiot into the head and sent him into the path of two of his friends. All three went down in a heap, and he wasted no time kicking the other two in the head as well. It was obvious, after all, that they weren’t using them.

Whirling, she brandished her blade, looking for the next opponent, but the rest of the tavern’s patrons were laughing and jeering, not looking for a fight.

A pity - but they had half a dozen more taverns to visit. She grabbed the untouched beer of the first pirate and started for the door. The shadows of the side alley next to this dive should allow her to drink it without anyone seeing her face.

Seacat certainly needed a drink if she had to stomach more of those lowlives. She could only hope that they’d find the Horde scum quickly.

*****​

Three taverns and two more barfights later, they finally got lucky. Seacat saw a largish group - about a dozen - sitting in a corner, and all of them were wearing at least one piece of the Horde naval uniform. More telling, though, the apparent leader, a large fishwoman, matched the description that the captured pirates had given: Eyepatch, tentacles on the back, and a surly attitude even when she was drinking.

Seacat grinned as she followed Sea Hawk to the bar. “Saw them?” she whispered as she leaned against the bartop next to him.

“Of course!” Sea Hawk stage-whispered back. “And there’s a table free next to them!”

While the captain ordered two beers, Seacat studied the room. There was a sort of tension present. The table next to the Horde pirates was the only one free, and the way the rest of the patrons kept eyeing the new guests… She smiled. The Horde scum wasn’t welcome here, not even among pirate scum.

Even scum had standards.

“Come on, first mate!” Sea Hawk lifted two tankards with one hand. “To our table!”

They hadn’t even reached the table yet when they drew the attention of the Horde. A burly human wearing the ripped remains of a Horde jacket as a vest rose from his seat. “This table is taken!” he told them.

Sea Hawk stopped and stared at the pirate. “Are you blind? It’s empty. Well, now it’s taken since I’ve staked my claim on it! The Red Beard’s claim!”

“We’ve got more crew coming. Get lost!” the pirate snapped as he walked towards them. Behind him, the others laughed - but a few were pushing their chairs back and gripping weapons.

“They can take it up with us, then!” Sea Hawk said, baring his teeth at the man. “Red Beard and his trusty first mate, Black Death! We’ve been outsailing and outfighting Horde scum for years!”

“What?” The man took another step towards them, hand on his weapon now.

Seacat noticed that the other pirates nearby, who had been watching with interest, probably hoping for a fight, had fallen silent. And the Horde pirates at the table had lost all humour.

The captain, of course, ignored everything. “I said we’ve been outsailing and outfighting Horde scum for years, so we aren’t to be intimidated by the threat of more of you.”

“Did you just call us Horde scum?” That had been their leader. Octavia. Her dumb face matched her dumb name.

“Why, yes, I did, didn’t I?” Sea Hawk snorted. “After all, either you are so fond of the Horde, you decided to raid their laundry and steal their uniforms, or you are Horde soldiers.”

That sent whispers and mutters through the room as everyone was now watching.

The fishwoman stood, slowly walking over to them. “We’re not Horde. Were pirates. Like you.”

“Not like us,” Sea Hawk said at once. “For I am the one and only Red Beard, and this is the mysterious and bloodthirsty Black Death! And you are Horde scum.”

Octavia looked around, narrowing her single eye. She must not like the glares from the others in the tavern. “We deserted,” she spat. “Decided to turn pirates - like, I wager, many others here.” She grinned at the rest of the room.

“Deserted? All of you? Including a captain?” Sea Hawk scoffed again. “Did you take your ship as well?”

“And what if we did?” Octavia replied.

“Oldest trick in the book,” The captain flashed her a smile. “You claim to be deserters, to check out the port before you come with your ship, and gain the port’s trust. And then, when your ship arrives, it’s let into the harbour since you’re known - and, suddenly, Boom! Boom! Broadsides into the ships anchored here! Down goes the pirate flag, up goes the Horde flag, and the battle is over. For such a feat, the Horde would probably forgive a lot, wouldn’t it? Even desertion?”

“What?” “I knew it!” “Traitors!” The other pirates got up as well now, brandishing weapons.

The fishhead looked so surprised, Seacat bet that the idiot probably hadn’t even thought about such a ruse.

“Oldest trick in the book!” Sea Hawk declared. “And you’ve used a false flag before, haven’t you? Horde Scum.”

Seacat drew a hissing breath. The captain was again a little too clever for his own good.

“How would you know that?” Octavia snapped.

“I found your handiwork,” Sea Hawk replied. “Massacred the entire garrison, did you? A whole Salinean outpost.”

The mutterings grew louder, but the pirates also looked more nervous now. Less willing to deal with Horde scum in their port.

And the deserters from the Horde looked spitting mad. At Sea Hawk and Seacat.

She took a step away from the captain so they could cover each other better in the fight that was coming and raised her chin. “Bet I can cut up more Horde scum than you can, captain,” she said loud enough to carry through the room.

“Just ensure that they are recognisable,” Sea Hawk replied. He sounded unconcerned, but she saw he was tense. “We might cash them in for the bounty the Salineans are undoubtedly placing on the ‘pirates’ who massacred an entire outpost of theirs.”

A number of the other pirates took a step forward upon hearing that, but not too many. The cowards must be baulking at the thought of facing Horde scum.

The Horde leader scoffed loudly and took a step forward. “You call yourself a pirate, yet talk of bounties? Are you a lapdog of the princesses? Or a traitor?”

Seacat bared her teeth behind her mask. This could get very ugly if the other pirates followed up on that.

“Hah!” Sea Hawk sounded undaunted by the prospect of fighting an entire tavern of pirates. “Trying to accuse me of being a spy to distract from your own plan? Predictable! Tell me, did you disguise yourselves as pirates to massacre the Salineans so the princess would blame the real pirates? Have them hunt down the pirates who survive your upcoming attack? Such a fiendish plan fits the Horde!”

“Lies! We are pirates!”

“Of course you would say that!” Sea Hawk shook his head, then glanced over his shoulder at the other pirates in the tavern. “I say they are Horde spies! Who is with me?”

For a moment, Seacat was sure it would work. The pirates were angry. Angry and drunk. And they outnumbered the Horde scum. But most importantly, Sea Hawk now had them listening like a good captain would.

But then another voice cut through the angry murmurs. “Wait! I know that voice! That’s… You’re Sea Hawk!”

And Seacat knew that voice. When had Scurvy entered the tavern? Or how had she missed him?

“Preposterous!” Sea Hawk yelled. “I’m the one and only Red Beard the Pirate!”

“You are Sea Hawk! Lads, this is a Salinean spy!”

Seacat had known Sea Hawk’s relationship with Mermista would be the death of her one day!

She drew her cutlass and turned the move into a slash at the Horde Scum in front of her. The bullheaded pirate stumbled back, avoiding her blade, but crashed into the pirates behind him, stopping their advance. That gave Seacat enough room to whirl around, cutting down the pirate trying to sneak up on her from behind.

“Have at you, Horde scum!” Sea Hawk yelled next to her, and a charging Horde fishman impaled himself on his sword. Seacat ducked under a wild swing from a pirate with a blade as long as she was tall, then swept his feet with her legs while she dodged a thrown knife from another. Rolling to the side, then over her shoulder, she came up in a crouch. A quick lunge later, the taller pirate sunk to his knees with his hands trying to stem the blood from his slashed throat.

She slid past him, jumping to the side to avoid a sword as she parried an axe, and sunk the claws of her free hands into the sword wielder’s arm. Whirling, she parried the axe again and again, guiding it towards the floor until the pirate wielding it got it stuck in the boards. Her cutlass opened his belly before he could recover or retreat.

Nearby Sea Hawk had dropped two Horde deserters and one pirate. But there were too many, and they were caught between the Horde scum and the pirates.

“A pouch of gold for whoever brings me Sea Hawk’s head!” Scurvy yelled.

“What did I ever do to you, Scurvy?” Sea Hawk yelled back as Seacat frantically parried thrusts and slashes from two pirates working together, yielding ground as she was driven towards her captain.

“You set my ship on fire!”

“That doesn’t count! I do that all the time to my own!”

Seacat would have laughed if she hadn’t been about to die. Those pirates were too skilled. She sidestepped another lunge, parried a slash at her belly, deflected the next attempt to stab her, then whirled to riposte - and a blade flashed towards her face. She jerked back, but she was too slow, stupid boots and suit! Something tugged at her face, and something broke, and she fell on her back, rolling over her shoulder without thinking, pushed herself to stand… and her broken mask fell to the floor.

Well, she never liked the thing anyway. Here the two pirates came again at her, and she was with her back to Sea Hawk, out of room to retreat. This would not…

“YOU!”

Despite herself, Seacat turned her head towards the guttural scream. She wasn’t the only one - the two pirates about to cut her to pieces did the same.

The Horde fishwoman, Octavia, was screaming with rage and coming straight at… Seacat? And the stocky fishwoman was barrelling through her own crew to reach her! Seacat moved to the side without thinking, placing the two skilled pirates between her and the madwoman. Octavia ran into them before they could react, flinging one of them away with her tentacles and the shoulder-checking the other to the side. “I’LL KILL YOU!”

Seacat ran at her, then jumped, flipping over the stupid pirate, her cutlass lashing out - but tentacles snared her sword arm, and she was pulled to the side and smashed into the ground.

That knocked her breath out of her, but as she was lifted into the air again, she recovered in time to swing her free arm at the tentacle holding her, her claws cutting straight through it. Instead of hitting the ground again, she was thrown clear and rolled over a table and a bench before she came to a stop under the next table.

The Horde scum howled even louder than she had screamed, tentacles flailing wildly around her and braining one of the two deadly pirates. His partner yelled something and dashed forward, his blade cutting off another tentacle in what looked like a parry.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer Horde scum! Seacat thought as she rolled out from under the table and jumped to her feet, ramming her cutlass into the belly of an approaching fat fishman. She dodged his wild swing by jumping backwards onto the table, then backflipped onto the next.

Where was Sea Hawk? There! Back to a wall, he was fending off three goons.

And Octavia had gone berserk! Seacat saw the Horde scum cutting apart one of the pirates held in her remaining two tentacles before beheading the other on the ground.

“Hey! Horde scum!” Seacat yelled, waving her blade at the pirate. “Got a haircut?”

Octavia screamed with rage and charged through another group of pirates to get the Seacat. As planned!

Seacat jumped off the table, landed next to a swinging pirate, ducked under his blade and rammed her claws into his groin. She didn’t let go but used his body as a battering ram to press through more pirates as she headed towards her captain.

By the time she reached the captain, her human battering ram had also served a human shield several times and was bleeding all over the place. She dropped him and cut one of the two pirates Sea Hawk hadn’t killed yet down from behind. Then she glanced over her shoulder.

Octavia was, again, coming straight for her. And her crew had started fighting the pirates trying to stop her! It was now or never!

“Captain!” Seacat yelled again, pointing at the door.

“Huzzah!”

She took that as agreement and grabbed the groaning pirate her captain had just cut down. A quick throw and the scumbag hit Octavia’s legs just when she was already reaching for Seacat. The fishwoman couldn’t compensate and stumbled, falling to the floor, and Seacat danced away from her.

Sea Hawk jumped over the pirate, somehow avoiding the tentacles, and landed next to her. “To the ship!” he yelled, pointing with his blade at the door. “Adventure!”

Seacat ran straight at the closest pirate - they had been giving them more room - howling and hissing. He broke and tied to get away, turning his back to her. Perfect. She rammed her cutlass into his kidney from behind, grabbed his neck, and charged ahead, straight into a cluster of pirates between her and the door.

They scattered, and she kept going. At the door, she pulled her blade out of the dying pirate and kicked him to the side.

Sea Hawk passed her, pulling the door open. “Freedom! Huzzah!” And he had something wrapped in his cape.

She followed him outside, pulling the door closed behind her, then ran after the captain on all fours.

They were close to their pier and had a small lead. Long enough so the clumsy pirates wouldn’t be catching up to them before they reached their ship. But not long enough to set sails and get away before they stormed the Dragon’s Daughter IV.

“Huzzah!” Sea Hawk snapped his arm, and something - a bottle - arced through the air, landing on the deck of the pirate ship next to them. And broke into flames.

“Burning oil?”

“Rum, actually. What a tragic waste!”

Another burning rum bottle flew towards the next pirate ship as they ate up the distance to their ship. Screams started to be heard from the first ship Sea Hawk had set on fire.

“You plundered the bar?” When had he done this?

“I recovered stolen loot!” he yelled back as he set another ship on fire.

There was the Dragon’s Daughter IV! Seacat jumped on her deck and started cutting the lines tying her to the pier.

Sea Hawk kicked a stack of crates over, then set them on fire with his last bottle, forming a burning barricade. That would hold the pirates off long enough for them to set sail.

She would never criticise his arsonist mind. Not for another week, at least!

But as she pulled on the mainsail’s line, Sea Hawk already steering the ship away from the pier, she heard Octavia cry out again.

“CATRA!”

*****​

 

Chapter 5: The Princess Prom Part 1

The guards passed below her - dumb and clumsy guards; they didn’t ever look up on their patrols. Grinning, she watched them turn the corner, then twitched her ears until she heard the automated doors close behind them.

Releasing the breath she had been holding, she gripped the pipe upon which she had perching and swung around it, letting go when she was below. She landed lightly on her feet, as always, and crouched, then froze for a moment - that had been a little louder than expected. Claws on steel weren’t sneaky.

But she heard nothing, no footsteps, no alarm. Whew!

Smiling, she padded ahead to the corner. The guards had gone right, but her goal was left. The food storage! Stupid trainers never gave them enough food, and she was hungry. And so was Adora, but the idiot would never complain, much less do something.

Unlike her! She was doing something. She was being decissisis-something! She was sneaking food!

Lowering her head, she peered around the corner. Clear! All the way to the food locker! Wetting her lips, she took care to keep her claws from digging into the floor and making noise, and quickly moved to the door. Still no one. She looked left and right, then listened at the door. It would be bad if someone else was sneaking food right now.

But she didn’t hear anything. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. Or tried to. It was locked, and the code that had worked last time didn’t work any more. She would go hungry! And Adora would go hungry, too.

Growling, she glared at the stupid door. Why didn’t the code work any more? It had worked before. She wanted food! She drew her leg back to kick the stupid door then gasped. That would make noise! And her claws would… damage... the door…

Beaming, she raised her hand, flexing her claws. It was just a metal door. And her claws could cut metal!

A few swipes later, the door was open, and she had food! Plenty of food! Enough for her and Adora!

She pulled her top off and filled it with the tastiest ration bars before leaving again. Adora would be so happy!

At the door, she peered left and right again. Nothing, just shadows. Shadows that moved - no, there was a mask moving through the shadows… Oh, no! Not her. Not...

*****​

Seacat woke up with a gasp, then blinked. Why wasn’t the ship moving… Right. She was in Salineas. In the palace, not on the Dragon’s Daughter IV. She shook her head, then stretched extensively, wincing at the pain she still felt in her bruised side. It was getting better, though.

But she’d had another weird dream. Something about food and whatever. She probably shouldn’t have made a trip to the palace kitchen before bed. On the other hand, going to bed while still being hungry made for weird dreams as well.

Yawning, she went to the bathroom for a long, luxurious shower. Mermista wasn’t good enough for Sea Hawk and also a prissy princess, but she had the best shampoo in her guest rooms. And she hadn’t yet realised that Seacat only ever used half a bottle per day and swiped the rest for the next trip. And this being her second day back in the palace, she could hide a whole bottle in her pack.

Showered and dressed in her usual, comfortable clothes - no sweaty leather suit for her ever again - she headed to the kitchen for breakfast. The sun was already… hm… midmorning, she noted after a quick glance out the window. And Mermista and Sea Hawk had been ‘celebrating’ late last night, so they wouldn’t be up already.

Which meant Seacat wouldn’t be bothered by anyone until noon or something. The guards certainly wouldn’t annoy one of the heroes who had set Serpent’s Maw ablaze and sunk half a dozen pirate ships. And brought back vital information about the defectors.

It was perfect! Breakfast, then napping!

*****​

“Seacat? There you are!”

She frowned as she squeezed her eyes closed. “I’m asleep,” she said.

“No, you aren’t! And you shouldn’t be! Adventure awaits! Or, in this case, lunch! With my dearest Mermista!”

“I’m on a diet.” She still had her eyes closed. The sun felt warm on her fur, and there was just the nicest breeze of air through the open window to keep her from sweating.

“There’ll be salad too.”

“Salad isn’t food.”

“That’s perfect for a diet! Come on, first mate! You don’t let royalty wait!”

She raised her head and glared at him. “Shouldn’t you have breakfast first?”

“We skipped it. Come on!”

She sighed. When he was like this, the captain wouldn’t take no for an answer. And since he usually didn’t bother her like that unless it was important, it probably was important. If not, she’d scratch something or someone. “Alright, alright,” she muttered, stretching and poking her claws into a pillow as she got up. “Let’s go eat.”

*****​

“...and after reviewing your report, it’s clear that I’ll have to reevaluate Commander Krila’s posting,” Mermista said as she cut a smoked salmon on her plate.

“Well, she wasn’t as bad as the commander of the other outpost,” Sea Hawk said before taking a bite from his own meal. “She didn’t lose the entire outpost and get her troops killed.”

So, that was the stuck-up officer’s name. Seacat made some agreeing noise while she reached for her second serving. Mermista might insist on turning a perfectly fine meal in the royal dining room into some bothersome planning session, but Seacat had her priorities straight. And she wasn’t responsible for the Salinean sailors.

“Only because you arrived just in time to save them,” the princess replied. “Without your warning, they would have suffered the same fate.”

“That’s what we do - and why you love me!”

Seacat didn’t have to look up to know her captain would be flashing his best ‘roguish smile’ at Mermista.

“That’s why I tolerate you,” the princess corrected him, and Seacat frowned for a moment before swallowing the rest of the salmon on her plate.

Sea Hawk laughed. “That’s what you say now - but last night told a different story!”

Ugh. Seacat cleared her throat before things could get sappy. “So, will you replace her then?”

Mermista frowned. “That’s a complicated decision. She was sent to the outpost because she didn’t perform adequately as the first officer of a Salinean frigate.”

“And you don’t want to reward her for almost losing the outpost.” Seacat nodded. “Will Captain Slowpoke be sent to the other outpost?” That idiot didn’t deserve to command a ship.

“He would deserve it, but then - we can’t let pirates and Horde ships roam the Southern Sea undetected. We do need competent soldiers there, as your recent adventure has proved.”

“And it was an adventure! We outfought an entire tavern filled with pirates and Horde scum, cut our way clear to our ship while setting fire to all the pirate ships in the harbour and sailed away faster than anyone could catch up!” Sea Hawk jumped up and pointed at the window. “No one but the one and only Sea Hawk could’ve pulled this off!”

“Seacat’s report isn’t quite as optimistic about the number of burned ships,” Mermista remarked.

“That’s because she worries too much!”

“That’s because I can count,” Seacat retorted. “We set fire to half a dozen ships, and at least two managed to control the fire before the ships were beyond saving.” She scooped up the last of the cream sauce with a boiled potato. Excellent!

“Details, details! What is important is that we had another harrowing adventure!”

“We also failed to kill the Horde scum captain,” Seacat added.

“Ah, yes. Octavia.” Mermista nodded, then glanced at Sea Hawk as the captain sat down again.

Seacat felt the hairs of her neck rise and narrowed her eyes. “What?” she spat.

“She went berserk when she recognised you. And she called you ‘Catra’,” Sea Hawk said.

Seacat forced herself to shrug. “She probably saw me at the Battle for Salineas and mistook me for this ‘Catra’. I doubt that she could tell me from another cat.” Seacat wasn’t a Horde scumbag. She was a victim of the Horde.

Mermista glanced at Sea Hawk again, then cleared her throat. “But She-Ra grew up with this Catra.”

“And Blondie last saw her friend years ago,” Catra said through clenched teeth.

“Four years ago,” Sea Hawk added.

She glared at him. “Coincidence.” It was. Just coincidence. “What’s more likely: That I’m the only cat in Etheria, or that there are more of us around to the East? Occupied by the Horde?” She snorted. “I didn’t appear out of thin air, did I?”

“Well, no, but…” Sea Hawk started. “Don’t you think this ‘coincidence’ is worth investigating?” He smiled at her.

“No!” She spat back. “We’ve got more important things to worry about. Like the war against the Horde. And the pirate attacks.”

“Speaking of the war…” Mermista held up a scroll. “Bright Moon is working on expanding the Princess Alliance. So far it’s just Bright Moon, Salineas and Plumeria.”

Seacat shrugged. She wasn’t a princess. This was politics. On the other hand, it was also a distraction. “So recruit more. That’s how you joined, right?” The shrimp had been busy, last Seacat had heard. Not that she cared about Bright Moon or Blondie.

“Exactly. And there’s a perfect opportunity coming up for such.” Mermista smiled in a way that told Seacat she wouldn’t like what came next.

“We’ve been invited to the Princess Prom, which will be held in the Snow Kingdom.”

Seacat frowned. That meant a trip through the Northern Sea. Which was cold, as the name suggested. They’d have to worry about icebergs in the sea, too. All in all, it would take about two weeks to reach the kingdom - and that was with average wind. And all so a bunch of princesses could dance and eat for an evening!

She noticed that Mermista was holding out a letter to her. “What’s this?” she asked as she took it.

Mermista shrugged. “Bright Moon sent a letter to you.”

Bright Moon? Blondie, of course! Seacat frowned and stared at the envelope as she held it up. No glitter. That was the Bright Moon seal, though. She noticed the princess and the captain staring at her and huffed. She broke the seal by sliding a claw under it and cutting, then opened the envelope and pulled the letter out.

And blinked.

“What is it?” Mermista asked, leaning forward. Sea Hawk was leaning to the side, too, as if he could stretch his neck two yards to read over Seacat’s shoulder.

She shook her head. “It’s an invitation. To the prom. From Blondie.”

What the hell? Couldn’t the woman find another date? It wasn’t as if she were ugly. Ah.

“Oh!” The captain nodded. “Bold of her.”

“Bold?” She scoffed at him. “Transparent is what it is! She just wants to bother me the whole evening about her missing friend!” She scowled - she wouldn’t have thought Blondie would be so underhanded! The woman had seemed to be far more straight-forward. Too honest for her own good, actually.

Seacat blinked again. “I bet this was the shrimp’s idea!”

“I do hope you won’t call her that at the prom,” Mermista commented.

“Who says I’m going?” Seacat shot back.

“Well… we’ll be sailing to the Snow Kingdom - my dear Mermista has invited me along, and what better ship to take than the fastest on all the Seas?,” Sea Hawk said with a beaming smile. “So, since you’ll be in the kingdom anyway, why would you want to spend the night in some tavern drinking cheap cold beer if you could enjoy the biggest event of the decade? Think of all the food!”

She definitely wasn’t thinking about all the food the princesses would eat, even though the buffet would be stocked with the finest selection from all of Etheria. “At least I won’t be bothered there!” she spat.

“Really?” Mermista snorted in that eye-rolling manner of hers. “So, you think Adora invited you to the prom just so she can nag you, yet you also expect her not to look for you if you decline her invitation?”

She didn’t have to make it sound stupid. Seacat scowled at her. “I can hide.” Or she could wear a disguise. Not a leather suit, though. A cloak would suffice.

Sea Hawk frowned at her. “That doesn’t sound like much of an adventure. You should meet any challenge head-on! With bravery and guts! Or with a cunning plan!”

“This isn’t a challenge. Or an adventure. This is just an annoyance,” Seacat retorted.

“Such an annoyance, you’d rather hide?” Mermista shook her head with a pointed sigh. “Well, if you don’t think you can handle a princess…”

Now Seacat was the one to roll her eyes. She knew what Mermista was trying to do, and she wasn’t falling for it. She wasn’t Sea Hawk who could be baited into anything with a challenge. “I could handle her - or anyone else - just fine. I just don’t want to.” She pressed her lips together as soon as she had spoken - she shouldn’t have said that. It sounded like whining. And Seacat didn’t whine. The most she did was complain - perfectly justified, mind you - about some things like the weather, the food, or, or some stupid princess.

But Mermista was smirking at her, and Sea Hawk was giving her that disappointed look as if she had failed to set sails in time.

So what? She hadn’t done anything wrong. She didn’t need or want to go to that stupid prom. Least of all with Blondie.

“Well, if it annoys you so much, I’ll talk to Adora and ask her to cut you some slack. Can’t have my first mate get annoyed into hiding, after all.”

“I’ll tell her myself!” Seacat snarled. She could fight her own battles.

“No, no, if the thought of spending time with her annoys you so much, you’d go into hiding, then it’s clearly my duty as your captain to step in. The sacred law of the sea that binds captain and crew together would demand no less!” He stood and raised his hand to point at the ceiling. “No need to be afraid, my dear Seacat, I shall protect you!”

Seacat growled. She didn’t need protection. Not from Blondie. Or from anyone. And she wasn’t afraid of her, either. She saw Mermista smirking and clenched her teeth. This could not stand! She wasn’t some… whatever. “No,” she spat, “I can deal with this myself! I’ll go with her to the stupid Prom, and she’ll realise she’s got the wrong person!”

*****​

Leaning against the railing as they entered the harbour, Seacat shivered despite her fur and the heavy jacket and pants she was wearing. The Kingdom of Snow was as cold as she remembered from her last trip. Snow and ice everywhere. Why would people actually live here? Well, apart from the Northern Sea having the best fishing grounds of Etheria. And the crystal mines that supplied most other kingdoms. The Dragon’s Daughter IV would be taking a cargo of crystals back to Salineas. And enough dried fish for months. Mh.

“Ah! The Shining Star of the North! The Mysterious Jewel of the Northern Sea!” Sea Hawk announced, pointing at the glittering houses forming the capital of the kingdom.

“We’ve been here before. It’s about as mysterious as a melted iceberg. They have travel brochures with suggested tours,” Mermista drawled. “And the light being reflected by all the snow and ice hurts my eyes.”

“Oh, but think of the night of mysteries that awaits us in the palace there! Dancing! Eating! Plotting and politics! Adventure awaits!”

“Making nice with people who barely know where my kingdom is located and don’t give a damn about the war we’re fighting. Fun.”

“Indeed, fun! What tales could they tell that would measure up to our daring deeds and harrowing adventures? We will be the life of the party!”

“Unless we freeze to death first.”

Seacat shook her head. The captain and the princess’s relationship had weathered the trip much better than she had expected - they weren’t fighting, yet - but she wasn’t looking forward to the trip back. Two more weeks on the Dragon’s Daughter IV would see the couple at each other’s throats. Fun indeed.

On the other hand, perhaps this would convince Sea Hawk that Mermista wasn’t the best woman for him? The captain deserved someone who could stand him for longer than a month. Although finding a woman who could stand him for a few weeks in the first place had proven difficult so far.

They reached the pier, and Seacat went to secure the ship and to haul down the mainsail. By the time she had finished, Sea Hawk and Mermista had handled the port master’s paperwork - not that there would be much, not when travelling with a princess. One of the few advantages of transporting Mermista.

“Are you done?” the princess asked, sounding more than a little impatient. Or annoyed.

“Aye,” Seacat replied in her best drawl. Mermista knew exactly how long it took to tie up a ship, and she knew that Seact had been fast.

“Finally! Then let’s go to the palace!”

“I thought the prom wouldn’t start until the evening,” Seacat said, making a point of looking at the afternoon sun. They would’ve arrived two days earlier, if not for an unfortunate encounter with one of Sea Hawk’s exes. Fortunately, they had still arrived in time.

“It does,” Mermista replied. “But you didn’t plan to get ready for the social event of the decade on your ship, did you?”

“Hey!” Sea Hawk protested at once. “The Dragon’s Daughter IV is the best ship to sail all the seas!”

“But it’s not the best closet or changing room,” Mermista retorted. “Onward, I say! To the palace!”

“Onward! To Adventure!” Sea Hawk jumped over the railing and landed on the pier, fist raised high.

“To the Princess Prom! If you dare set the buffet on fire, I’ll gut you like a fish!” Mermista followed him with slightly less grace - in Seacat’s opinion.

She took a last look around the deck. Everything was shipshape. Too bad.

Then she followed the couple.

*****​

By the time they reached the palace, Seacat wished she’d worn boots. Her feet were, if a little chilly, perfectly fine for a ship’s deck, properly swept clear of snow and chipped ice, but the Snow Kingdom apparently thought that a few inches of snow covering their streets was acceptable.

It wasn’t. She took some relief in digging her claws into the polished floor of the palace in retaliation as they entered. At least it was warm here, even though the walls looked as if they were made of gleaming ice.

She caught Mermista glancing over her shoulder at her and dug her claws in extra-deep on the next step.

“Are you claws frozen stiff?” the princess asked. “You’re usually not that clumsy.”

“They’re fine,” Seacat spat back, clenching her teeth.

“Really? That’s good to hear. I still remember when you froze to the railing on our first trip to the Snow Kingdom,” Sea Hawk cut in.

Seacat wasn’t cold any more at all - she felt positively warm at the embarrassing memory. “That was three years ago!” And she had been young and stupid then!

Mermista giggled, but, fortunately, didn’t rub it in. “Let’s go to our quarters to get ready.”

Finally! That should keep everyone busy for some…

“Cat-Seacat! There you are!”

Catsycat? Oh, no! Seacat turned and felt her tail poof up. Blondie was coming straight at her.

“Blondie.” She glared at the woman.

“It’s Adora, actually.” Apparently, Blondie couldn’t read moods since she was beaming at her. “You came! I wasn’t sure - Glimmer said you would, but Bow was sceptical, and… oh! Hi, Sea Hawk! Hello, Mermista!”

“She-Ra,” Mermista nodded at her with her polite smile. The same smile she usually gave to Seacat when Sea Hawk had overstayed his welcome, and they were leaving.

“Hello!” Sea Hawk himself was beaming.

“It’s Adora, actually,” Blondie repeated herself. As if Mermista would have missed ehr the first time. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to attend a ball as She-Ra, I was told. Swords aren’t allowed at the Prom. Or any other weapons.” She nodded.

Seacat frowned. No weapons? Well, she had her claws if anything happened. And if the other guests didn’t have any weapons, that would put her at an advantage. And… “So, She-Ra won’t be attending the prom?” she asked.

“Uh,” Blondie looked confused for a moment. “Technically, I’m She-Ra even if I’m not, you know, being She-Ra. Transformed, I mean. But I was planning to attend like this.” She ran a hand down her front. “Only in a dress, of course. Uniforms aren’t suitable for the Prom, either.”

“Unless you’re a soldier,” Sea Hawk replied.

“Well, I am a soldier. Kind of.”

“You’re a princess,” Seacat told her. “But more importantly… why are you wearing a Horde Uniform?” They must have had more than enough time to get her better clothes than… that.

“Err…” Blondie rubbed the back of her head. “They’re comfortable? I didn’t really think about it since I always change clothes when I change into She-Ra, so…” She shrugged. “And they’re sturdier than civilian clothes!”

“How pragmatic,” Mermista drawled.

“Yes!” Blondie nodded with a smile. “Anyway, Glimmer is still in a meeting with Frosta, and Bow’s checking out the local crafters or something, but I heard you were expected to arrive today, so I decided to look for you.”

Well, today was the last day they could’ve arrived without missing the event. Still… “You waited for us?”

“I guess?” Blondie smiled at her. “I’m not a crafting or diplomatic type, so it wasn’t as if I had anything else to do.”

“I’m flattered,” Seacat said, making a point of showing what she really meant with her expression.

The other woman gasped. “Oh! No, I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Then how did you mean it?”

“I mean... I just… I didn’t want to, uh, stalk you.”

“Ah.” Seacat nodded. “I can see how waiting hours for our arrival and then jumping me as soon as we enter will avoid that, yes.”

Blondie blushed at that. “It didn’t seem like that when I thought about it.”

The woman was either very stupid or a very good liar, in Seacat’s opinion. “Well, you saw that we have arrived. I’d love to stay and chat, but unfortunately, we’ll have to spend the next few hours getting ready for the Prom, so… I guess we’ll meet up at the prom?”

“Before the prom, of course,” Mermista butted in. “You’re her plus one, remember?”

As if Seacat could forget that.

The princess turned to Blondie. “Forgive her; she was raised on a ship. By Sea Hawk. The prom is an entirely new challenge for her.”

Blondie perked up. “Oh, I’m the same! Glimmer was so surprised - and a little shocked - at what I didn’t know about the prom. I had to redo all my plans every time she corrected a mistake!”

Seacat blinked. She shouldn’t ask, shouldn’t give the woman another opening, but… she had to know. “Plans?”

“Oh, yes - this is a diplomatic mission, after all. For the Princess Alliance!” Blondie nodded enthusiastically. “We need to convince Princess Frosta to join the Alliance. So, I planned for every eventuality.”

Ah. Seacat nodded. That made sense - she knew better than most that having a plan or two ready helped when things turned bad. Which often happened with the captain in charge. Though diplomatic missions were a little beyond her. Seacat was a sailor, not a princess. Diplomacy was Memista’s business; not that she was very diplomatic in Seacat’s experience.

But she probably would hold back her attitude when talking to other princesses.

“So… do you need help getting ready? For the prom?” Blondie asked.

“We should manage,” Seacat replied.

“Come by our quarters an hour before the prom starts,” Mermista said.

“Why so early?” Seacat asked as they left Blondie.

“We need to coordinate outfits, of course.”

Seacat had a bad feeling about that.

*****​

As it turned out, Seacat’s fears had been unfounded. Mostly. The shampoo in the bath hadn’t wrecked her fur, for one. Apparently, Sea Hawk hadn’t forgotten that particularly embarrassing incident in Seaworthy and must have informed the palace’s staff. ‘Best shampoo in Bright Moon’, indeed! More likely, of course, Sea Hawk had mentioned it to Mermista, and the princess had organised things.

In any case, Seacat’s fur was soft and shiny. Not poofy. And her hair had been styled without turning it into some absolutely impractical construct that wouldn’t survive a strong gale, much less a storm. And her claws were polished and painted in shiny black. She had rarely looked better, if she was honest. And the bathrobe was soft and fluffy - it would be perfect if it had a hole for her tail. As it was, each time her tail moved, the hem was lifted a little, from her knees to her thighs, though that wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t as if she were going out in it.

But the clothes lined up for her… “Most of those dresses don’t even have a hole for my tail!” she protested.

“That’s normal - the hole will be added once you’ve chosen your dress,” Mermista said.

Seacat shot her a frown. That didn’t match her own experiences. And shouldn’t the princess be worried about her own dress?

“I picked out my dress before we set out for the Kingdom of Snow,” Mermista told her with a smirk as if she had read Seacat’s mind.

Seacat huffed, but didn’t push further. Instead, she pointed at the other row of clothes, smaller, but apparently heavier. “And what’s with the uniforms? I’m not a member of the Navy, much less an officer!”

“Those are styled after officers’ uniforms, they aren’t actual uniforms,” Mermista explained. “As I’ve been told, after our victory at sea, naval uniforms became fashionable in Salineas.”

Seacat snorted. “Would’ve been better if actually serving in the navy would’ve become fashionable,” she muttered.

“What a noble sentiment! You and Sea Hawk could have commissions but for asking,” the princess replied as she walked over to the row of dresses.

“No, thanks,” Seacat shot back. “I like being able to choose my own fate.” And it went without saying that Sea Hawk wouldn’t fit into the Navy. Setting frigates on fire would quickly grow too expensive for any kingdom.

“That’s an incentive to rise through the ranks,” Mermista replies, pulling out a white dress and holding it up, eyes flicking back and forth between it and Seacat. “I think not.”

Seacat rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me that you haven’t planned my outfit already, and this is just for show.”

The princess’s grin told Seacat that she was right. “We still have time to try on a few dresses.”

Seacat glared at Mermista. “Shouldn’t we wait until Blondie arrives so we can ‘coordinate’ outfits?

“I already know what she’s wearing,” Mermista replied, peering at another dress. One that looked like it was made out of plants. “And I know what you’ll be wearing.”

Seacat blinked. “And what’s this, then?” She pointed at the dresses and suits.

“That’s Sea Hawk’s doing.” Mermista’s grin made her look like a shark. “This is your first ball, after all, and he wanted to be prepared for all eventualities.”

“Ah.” Seacat swallowed her first comment. Of course the captain would do such a thing. And it explained the capes on half the dresses and all of the uniforms. She glared at Mermista, but only half-heartedly. It was hard to stop the captain when he got going; Seacat knew that better than anyone else.

But she was also pretty sure that Mermista hadn’t even tried to stop him. Though she was less sure about the princess’s reason for that.

A knock at the door interrupted the sudden silence.

“Enter!” Mermista said, loud enough to be heard through the door, but not yelling.

Seacat told herself that a sailor didn’t need to be able to do that. A sailor needed to be able to yell as loud as possible so they’d be heard in the worst of storms.

Then she blinked. Blondie entered with a weak, shy smile. Dressed in… oh. That was a nice dress. Simple but stylish. Red - and a darker red, almost like Seacat’s preferred shirt, to set it off. It reached mid-calf. No cleavage, but most of the shoulders and arms were bare. Toned arms.

She resisted the urge to whistle. Instead, she said: “I expected more ruffles and lace.”

Blondie actually blushed, looking at the floor near Seacat’s feet. “Ah… that’s an interesting...”

“Please excuse her; she’s got some strange ideas about princesses,” Mermista said. “Beats me where she’d got it from - the only princess she knows is me.”

“Exactly,” Seacat said, flashing her fangs.

Blondie smiled, even chuckled at that. “So… what are you wearing?” She peered at the dresses, almost ignoring Seacat and Mermista.

“Err…” Seacat licked her lips, turning to the clothes. She only had to…

“This one!” A bundle of clothes hit her in the chest before she had turned completely to face Mermista, and only her fast reaction allowed her to catch it before it hit the ground. “Go and try it on!”

Seacat frowned - this was exactly why she didn’t want to join the navy! - but she wasn’t about to argue in front of Blondie.

She glared at the princess anyway, then walked into the bathroom. At least the princess had gotten her favourite colours - black and red - right.

But when she unfolded the bundle, she knew at once that this had been Sea Hawk’s pick. It was a suit with a cape. A half-cape, so it wouldn’t exactly make her trip up or hamper her tail’s movements, but still!

On the other hand, she had to admit once she had put the clothes on and checked herself in the mirror, it looked dashing. Black leggings and jacket, red shirt - with a higher collar than she usually wore - and black half-cape covering her left shoulder. Fingerless half-gloves that matched her leggings. No shoes, of course.

All in all, not bad at all, if she did say so…

“Seacat! Did you get tangled up in the fabric again?”

She rolled her eyes as she opened the door. The princess made it sound as if she had trouble dressing herself. “That was a cargo of silk, ropes and linen,” she said, “and I had to jump into the hold or get crushed by the mainmast when that cannonball smashed its base.”

“And then you got stuck!” Mermista said, laughing.

Not for long, and only because she hadn’t wanted to destroy part of the cargo! But before Seacat could come up with a comeback - probably involving the princess’s on/off relationship with her captain - Blondie started laughing as well.

It wasn’t that funny, in Seacat’s opinion. But the other woman kept laughing for almost half a minute before she finally stopped. “Oh! Oh, no - I’m sorry. I just…” she shrugged, blushing again. “But you look very nice.”

Seacat huffed, even though the princess sounded honest. Then again, of course she looked nice - she always did! She nodded. “Thank you. So, do we pass muster?” she added, looking at Mermista.

The princess made a point of studying her with a frown on her face and making humming noises. “Let’s hope you’ll do.”

“You picked out the clothes,” Seacat told her.

“But you’re wearing them.”

She rolled her eyes. “Shouldn’t you get ready as well? You’ve got half an hour left.”

Hearing Mermista gasp was very satisfying. Seacat smirked and stuck out her tongue as the princess positively rushed out of the room and into her own quarters.

“Catra used to have the same expression when she managed to pull a prank on, well...!”

And there went her good mood. She turned to face Blondie. “I’m not her.”

“Sorry, I forgot.”

“‘Forgot’? What do you mean?”

“Ah…” The other woman grimaced. “It’s like… you know…”

Blondie was a pathetic liar. Seacat narrowed her eyes, flattened her ears and leaned closer. “What do you mean, you ‘forgot’?”

“Well, ah, I know you don’t like it when I tell you about Catra. So I didn’t want to.”

“When you call me Catra, you mean.” She showed her fangs.

Instead of being intimidated, Blondie blushed again. “Sorry. But...”

Seacat frowned. Best to nip that in the bud. Mermista wouldn’t like it if they made a scene in the middle of the prom, and Sea Hawk had been looking forward to this. “It’s an instinct. I’m sure that every cat like me does the same thing. Ears moving, tail swishing, claws scratching…” she raised her hand and flexed her claws.

Blondie nodded with a smile. “That makes sense.”

She sighed. “But you still think I’m your missing friend.”

The other woman blushed again. “Well… yes?” She laughed, but it sounded a bit forced. “But I know you don’t like being reminded of that, so I shouldn’t do it.”

“Yes, you shouldn’t.”

Blondie nodded several times with a very earnest and hopeful expression.

Seacat clenched her teeth. This was more awkward than she had feared. And it was all Blondie’s fault. “Let’s go.”

Once more, the princess nodded with a stupidly happy expression. This was probably a mistake, but Seacat wasn’t a quitter. Sea Hawk and Mermista would never let her forget it if she fled, anyway. And she could always hide at the buffet.

*****​

“Adora! And Seacat.”

Right. The shrimp was there as well. Seacat nodded at the princess as they joined them in the line waiting for the prom to open. She, at least, was wearing a properly ruffled dress. Very princessy.

“Hey!” And Brain Boy was there as well. Although he was with another girl… princess. “Perfuma, this is Seacat. Seacat - Princess Perfuma of Plumeria”

“Hello,” Seacat replied. At least he got her name right.

“Oh! I’ve heard of you!” The princess beamed at her.

Seacat narrowed her eyes. That wasn’t always a good thing. “You have?”

“Yes! Adora told me so much about you!”

Blondie’s smile looked very forced when Seacat glanced at her. “Ah… Perfuma is a very good listener. If you ever have some problems and want to talk about them…”

“Oh, yes. It’s the least I can do.”

“What exactly did she…”

“Hi!”

Seacat didn’t jump back. She merely straightened very fast. Another princess? With… moving hair?

“Ah. Entrapta, this is Seacat. Seacat, Princess Entrapta of Dryl.”

“Hello.” Seacat was meeting too many princesses for her taste. Then again, this was the Princess Prom.

“I’ve heard about you.”

Seacat glared at Blondie, but the other woman was looking at the wall.

And then the princess was in her face. “You’ve lost your memory, right? I can help with that! Probably. Possibly. I’ve got some ideas, at least. Interesting ideas. Hardly more dangerous than any other experiment. What do you think about neurological stimulation? The brain is basically running on electricity, and so are bots! And I’m very good at making bots. Unless some First Ones’ Tech gets out of control, but that hardly happens. About once a month, which is a very good and safe ratio! So, what do you say? Mind a little brain scan? It won’t hurt. I think. Or not much.”

Seacat felt her tail puff out again as she took a step back. She hadn’t understood half the princess’s words, but she recognised danger when it was staring her in the face. “No. I’m here to dance, eat and enjoy the evening. No time for anything else.” She grabbed Blondie’s arm, lightly dug her claws into it to make her point, and bared her fangs at her. “Right?”

“Oh, right, of course. Ow.”

“Oh, and there are our friends! See you later!” Seacat ignored the protests and dragged Blondie over to Sea Hawk and Mermista, who had finally made an appearance. The princess wore - surprise! - a dress in dark green and blue colours that made her look a little like a mermaid. Sea Hawk was dressed in a matching suit. With a cape, of course.

“Hello!”

“You’ve met Blondie already today,” Seacat snapped, glancing over her shoulder. The other princesses were still a little away. Perfect. “Did you know she has a friend who wants to carve open my skull?”

“What?”

Seacat smiled, showing her teeth, as both Mermista and Sea Hawk stared at Blondie. Turnabout was fair play.

*****​

Author Note: I commissioned a picture of Seacat by Carnivalkitten:

Spoiler

 

Chapter 6: The Princess Prom Part 2

“Your friend wants to cut open Seacat’s skull?” Sea Hawk, his back to the still closed door to the palace’s ballroom, gasped before his eyes narrowed and he started glaring.

“No, no! It’s a misunderstanding!” Blondie protested. She shook her head.

Seacat grinned. That was the reaction she had been hoping for.

Mermista, though, sighed. “Ugh. Entrapta got enthusiastic, right?”

Spoilsport.

Blondie nodded, visibly relieved. “Yes, but she doesn’t want to cut into anyone’s skull. She just wants to do a brain scan.”

“She can scan your brain,” Seacat muttered. It was obvious that Blondie’s brain needed more help than Seacat’s.

“Hey!” The other woman frowned at her. Seacat bared her teeth in return.

“Did you ask her to do this?” Sea Hawk was still frowning.

“I, ah, well…” Blondie fidgeted with her fingers. “It’s like... She overheard me talking to Glimmer, and when I mentioned amnesia, she was all fired up about finding out how to treat it - she said something about memory leaks.”

“I’m not a ship that’s leaking,” Seacat told her. “And I’m fine.” She didn’t actually need her missing memory. She had been doing fine for years without it!

“But…” Blondie pressed her lips together.

“We’re here for the Princess Prom, not to get into my head,” she told the other woman. “Right?”

“Of course!” Blondie nodded rapidly. She really was a bad liar.

“Just keep Entrapta away from me,” Seacat snapped. “I like my brain where it is.” And how it was.

“But it… Right! No brainy talk! I mean, no talking about brains!” Blondie once nodded several times with a serious expression.

“Good.”

“Hello!”

And there was Princess Brain Scan. Seacat took a step back, moving closer to her friends, as the group exchanged polite but pointless greetings. She wasn’t afraid or nervous. She was merely concerned. A little. Which was completely justified. On the other hand, she wasn’t about to let a princess scare her. She straightened and stepped forward again. She still kept Blondie between her and the weird princess.

“Mermista! You’ve missed the meeting before the prom!” the shrimp complained.

“Unfortunately, I arrived too late to take part.” Mermista sighed as if she weren’t lying through her teeth. “Our ship was slower than planned.”

“We had to take a small detour,” Sea Hawk corrected the princess. “It was an adventure, actually!”

The story that followed had not much to do with what had happened, but it kept everyone entertained - though Mermista was rolling her eyes a lot - until the prom finally opened and they could enter.

Or could wait in front of the open door, as it turned out, since there was a special order for the guests to enter. “Can you imagine that?” Seacat whispered to Blondie. “You arrive first, and then have to wait until some slowpokes arrive just because they are supposed to be in front of you. If anyone ran a harbour like this…”

“Technically, you were the last to arrive,” the shrimp cut in.

Seacat frowned at the princess. “Who enters the harbour first is not important. Who gets their cargo unloaded and delivered first is the winner. We were among the first to wait here.”

“Because Mermista skipped the meeting and so could finish getting ready earlier than everyone else,” the shrimp retorted.

“If I had attended, I’d have made everyone late,” Mermista defended herself. “Besides, you were probably gossipping about the prom anyway.

“We were not! We were discussing alliances!”

“And dates,” the plant princess added with a beaming smile.

The shrimp blushed a little - but it seemed she was more angry than embarrassed. “That’s part of alliances,” she all but spat out. “Something anyone taking alliances seriously would be aware of!”

“But we weren’t talking about engagements or marriages,” the other princess retorted with a frown.

“Guys, guys!” Brain Boy - perhaps she needed a better nickname for him, seeing that he had just stepped between two angry princesses - smiled. “Let’s just enjoy the prom, right? We can talk politics in the morning.”

“And nurse our hangover,” Mermista muttered. “Because I’ll need a few drinks.”

Seacat nodded in agreement. She had a feeling she’d need some drinks as well.

*****​

She-Ra, and with her Seacat, was among the last of the princesses to be called in. Whether that was because she was the youngest princess or the most famous, Seacat couldn’t tell. Blondie certainly made an impression - everyone was looking at them as the servant announced her.

“She-Ra, Princess of Power. And her date.”

Seacat shot the man a glare - she had a name! A very good name! - but he ignored her. And Blondie was all but dragging her towards the host, Princess Frosta. Who looked almost as bored as Seacat probably would have been in her place. And was about ten years old.

Well, at least a princess her age would have a good dessert buffet at her party.

But first, they had to introduce themselves. Even though Seacat was sure that the princess had met Blondie before and didn’t really care about a sailor.

“Bow, hold it for three seconds,” she heard Blondie mumble under her breath. It probably hadn’t been aimed at Seacat. Not that she needed it, anyway - she’d been drilled about all the rules of this ball by Mermista for half the trip here.

“So, they didn’t trust you to behave, either?” Seacat whispered as they slowly walked towards the Snow Throne or however it was called.

“What? No, no, I planned this out for weeks. Rules for presenting yourself, rules for dancing, rules for eating.”

There were rules for eating? Other than ‘no snatching food from others’ plates’, as Mermista had put it? Seacat clenched her teeth. No, this was easy - she just had to watch how others ate, and then do the same.

Oh, there they were!

“Princess Frosta!” Blondie bowed, Seacat following her a fraction of a second later. One, Two. Three. Smile! Without flashing your fangs. And no giggling at the ten-year-old princess trying to look serious and grown-up. Mermista had been quite firm about that.

“Princess She-Ra. Seacat. Welcome to the All-Princess Ball.” Frosta nodded without changing her expression. And she knew Seacat!

“Thank you.”

“Yes, thank you.” Seacat nodded. That should be it. She pulled on Blondie’s arm, and they made their escape.

“Whew!” Seacat exclaimed as soon as they were out of earshot. “The hard part is over! It’s party time now!”

“Ah…”

“What?” Seacat frowned at Blondie. “You’ve had weeks for your diplomacy! You don’t need to work now, do you?”

“No, no. I was just… surprised.”

Seacat rolled her eyes. “Let me guess: Your friend was all serious and never did anything for fun, huh?”

“What? No, no. Cat… My friend actually liked, ah, goofing off. But you were always so serious when we were travelling together.”

Of course, she had been serious! Someone had to be serious in the crew, and Sea Hawk wouldn’t be serious even when faced with a mob of deadly pirates or Horde Scum. “I’m a sailor,” she told the blonde. “We’re serious when working. We have to be on the open sea.”

“That rhymes!” Blondie coughed. “Sorry.”

Seacat huffed. At least she didn’t mention Sea Hawk. “Let’s get something to eat.”

“Alright!” The way Blondie perked up, she must have been starving herself for this evening. She looked more eager to sample the food than sailors who hadn’t eaten anything but hardtack and salted meat for weeks, washed down with lemon juice.

They made their way through the crowd - some of them were still staring at Blondie as if she were… well, she actually was ‘a legendary princess returned in Etheria’s hour of need’, as Mermista’s head servant had put it, but still! Such staring should be against the rules - it made Seacat want to check her clothes for stains and run her hand through her hair, and that would definitely make matters worse.

But, fortunately for her temper and stomach, they reached the buffet without anyone actually bothering them. She sniffed the air - ah, so many delicious smells!

“Are you purring?”

Really? She glared at Blondie. “That’s not something you ask a cat! It’s rude!”

The other woman gasped. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry - I had no idea!”

Blondie looked so honestly sorry, Seacat almost told her that she had been joking. “Let’s eat!” she said instead and grabbed the biggest plate she could find. Blondie followed her example, she noted with a glance. Well, she was a fighting Princess, not some dainty useless princess who hid in their palace and didn’t do anything. She would need the food to keep in shape. Those muscles…

Seacat huffed and focused on the dishes, licking her lips at the selection of seafood. Oh!

“You really like fish, huh?”

Seacat narrowed her eyes. “Like your friend?”

“What? No, no. We never, uh, ate anything but rations. I was just noticing your selection.”

“Only rations? Horde rations?” Seacat gaped. She had tried those… things… in the past. To be raised on that…

Blondie frowned. “It wasn’t that bad. They don’t taste very good, but they provide you with everything you need. And the taste keeps you from overeating.”

“The taste keeps you from eating,” Seacat replied before sticking out her tongue and making gagging noises. “I’ve tried them before.”

“Oh? When?”

“That was on the Dragon’s Daughter I. We’d raided a Horde outpost but then sailed into an enduring calm and ran out of actual food waiting for the wind to pick up.”

“Oh! Couldn’t you fish?”

“I didn’t catch enough to feed everyone.” Not after Sea Hawk had eaten the good bait, leaving them with bits of rations

“Ah.”

They spent the next few minutes shovelling food into their mouths and making satisfied noises. Then the shrimp decided to join them. “There you are! I’ve been looking for you.”

Seacat swallowed a particularly tasty morsel of fried Ice Fish, and nodded at the princess. “And you found us.” She didn’t add ‘good for you!’, but the face the shrimp made looked as if she heard it anyway.

“It’s really good!” Blondie said, nodding happily, then coughing a little. Swallowing a fistful of roasted meat would do that to you.

“I told you, didn’t I?” The princess grinned, then sighed, “If only Bow would be here.”

Huh? “Did he leave?” Seacat scanned the crowd. Why would anyone leave the ball so early? Unless… oh.

“I meant ‘here’ as in ‘here with us’,” the princess explained with a pout that made her look barely older than Princess Frosta.

But he was at the party, wasn’t he? There he was, about to dance with his date, the plant princess… Oh. Seacat grinned. “You’re jealous!” she said, pointing at the princess’s face.

“What?” The shrimp glared at her. And Blondie grimaced behind her friend’s back, shaking her head at Seacat.

She ignored it. If they meddled with her private life, it was only fair to meddle with theirs. “You wanted him to come as your date, not… who did you come with, anyway?”

“I am technically here with Entrapta,” she replied. “But she went to gather data on social interaction’ or something before we even formally greeted Frosta!”

Oh! So, even princesses broke the rules. Wait - of course, princesses got to break the rules.

“And Bow is perfectly fine to go with anyone he wants to this ball!”

Seacat snorted. “As long as he’s with you, you mean.”

The shrimp’s glare grew even hotter. “That’s none of your business.”

“So? It’s amusing.” Seacat bared her teeth in a wide smile. “You should just take your heart in hand and charge full speed ahead!”

“What?” Both the shrimp and Blondie looked confused.

Seacat frowned. That was what Sea Hawk would say. Had said, when she asked him about his relationship with Mermista after a particularly loud breakup. But they didn’t know the captain as well as she did. “You should tell him that you want him.”

And now the shrimp was blushing. As was Blondie.

“I don’t… I mean, not... “ The shrimp shook her head. “He’s my best friend. We were supposed to attend this ball together, I’ve been waiting for this for years, and now…”

‘Best friend’, huh? That didn’t look like a best friendship to Seacat. “Did he know that?”

“What? Well, of course! We are best friends, we always go to parties together!”

Seacat shrugged. “Should’ve asked him out, then. Before your rival did it.”

“She’s not my rival!”

Seacat smirked. The princess was fooling herself. “Anyway, seems you didn’t know your friend as well as you thought you did.” She speared the last piece of fried shark with one claw and popped it into her mouth. Mhhh. Delicious!

“You’re purring?” the shrimp blurted out.

“UH! Glimmer, it’s rude to say that to a cat!” Blondie whispered into her friend’s ear. Seacat’s ears caught it, of course. “She’s sorry; she didn’t know about that,” the woman went on, a little louder.

“I’ve never heard of this!” the shrimp protested.

“See? She’s telling the truth.” Blondie beamed at her.

“This sounds fishy!” the shrimp said, glaring at them.

“No, this smells fishy. Deliciously fishy!” Seacat retorted. “I’m getting seconds.” She sauntered the few steps back to the buffet, tail swinging back and forth. Blondie was staring at her, she noticed with a subtle glance over her shoulder. Then she caught herself purring again and frowned. She really needed to get a handle on that.

When she had finished filling her plate and returned to her supposed date for the evening, the shrimp was gone.

“She went to ask Bow for a dance,” Blondie explained.

“Cool.” She started eating the tasty morsels again. “Do you think they’ll fight over him?”

“What? No, no. They’re friends. Well, Bow and Glimmer, but Perfuma is, at least, an ally. Probably a friend, too - well, I think of her as a friend.” Seacat found herself frowning for some reason, but Blondie’s eyes widened. “Oh, no! What if they do end up fighting? This could tear the alliance apart! I didn’t consider that possibility when I laid down the relationship web!”

“The ‘relationship web’?”

“Yes! I marked out all known relationships, so we’d know who was dating whom and who can’t stand each other.” Blondie bit her lower lip for a moment. “But I didn’t consider this. Not at all. Oh, no…”

Tsk. Seacat pierced another morsel with her claw - roasted Ice Fish, one of the best and most expensive fishes she knew - and waved it in front of Blondie’s nose until she looked at it with crossed eyes.

“Uh… what?”

“Roasted Ice Fish. Try it. And stop worrying about a lover’s spat. Sea Hawk and Mermista fight each other all the time, but still love each other.”

Blondie opened her mouth and blinked. “But…”

Seacat silenced her by pushing the morsel into her mouth. Blondie closed her mouth reflexively, and she withdrew her finger and claw with a grin. “It’s good, hm?”

The other woman swallowed, blinked again, then nodded and stared at Seacat’s plate.

She shook her head. “Nu-uh. Go get your own fish! I’m not hand-feeding you without you returning the favour.” Then she blinked. That had sounded less… something… in her head.

Fortunately, Blondie laughed and went to fill her own plate, and neither of them spoke much until more fish had been eaten.

“So… ah… What do you do when you’re not being serious on a ship?” Blondie asked once they had put their empty plates down.

Was she trying to compare her to her friend again? Seacat snorted. She had the answer to that. “I carouse.”

“You what?”

She grinned. Blondie didn’t know the word. Well, she hadn’t been raised by the captain. “I go out drinking and partying,” she explained. Like every sailor worth their salt.

“Oh.” The other woman looked surprised - and a little taken aback.

“Never done it yourself?”

“I, ah, don’t drink much.” Blondie looked embarrassed. Justly so, of course.

“I bet you’re a fun drunk,” Seacat told her, smirking.

“I wouldn’t know.” But the woman was blushing far too much for that to be true.

Seacat grinned and leaned a little closer. “Really? You’ve never been drunk?”

Blondie shook her head vehemently. “We, ah, didn’t really have much alcohol as cadets in the Horde, and after I became She-Ra, well… I can’t drink and fight, can I?”

“Of course you can!” Seacat objected. “Drunken brawls are great!”

“I’m not talking about brawling,” Blondie retorted with a frown. “I’m talking about fighting a war!”

Seacat frowned in return. Blondie was correct - trying to fight a naval battle while drunk would be stupid. Very stupid. Sea Hawk had tried it, once, and never again, or so he’d told her. But that didn’t mean she had to admit it. She sniffed. “Well, I was talking about brawling. You know, having a fun fight. Not a serious one.”

“Oh, like sparring?”

Seacat blinked, then nodded, “Kind of. Just drunk, too.” She grinned. “That’s important.”

“I guess so…” But Blondie didn’t look convinced. More worried, actually.

She huffed. “I’m not going to start a brawl here.” Mermista had made both Seacat and Sea Hawk promise, after all. Several times. And it would be stupid with all the princesses around. On the other hand… She suddenly noticed Blondie was all tense and glaring. “What’s wrong?”

“Horde,” Blondie spat.

What? Seacat whirled, hand going to her hip - where the hilt of her cutlass would have been, if she’d been allowed to carry it. A Horde attack? Here?

“The woman there, with the claws and tail,” Blondie said. “That’s a Horde Force Captain.”

Claws and tail… Oh. Not a cat. A bug. A huge bug. And that armour… fighting her would be tricky, but a woman so big couldn’t be quick. Certainly not as quick as Seacat. And Seacat wouldn’t let Horde Scum get away. Not here. Not anywhere. “Someone must have smuggled her inside! Let’s get her before she reaches Frosta!” She dashed across the dance floor, almost sending some stupid couple stumbling, and jumped on the stairs leading up to the Snow Throne, landing between the kid and the Horde scum. “Watch out! She’s a Horde spy!”

The bug woman blinked, frozen by surprise. “What?”

Seacat hissed. All she had to do was to keep the scum from the princess before the guards would dogpile the spy. She blinked. Why were the guards pointing their weapons at her?

“This is Princess Scorpia. She’s a guest,” Frosta said behind her.

“Uh…” She glanced around. Mermista was glaring at her while holding back Sea Hawk. Blondie was standing at the foot of the stairs, faced with two guards, and looking lost and stupid. Shrimp was glaring as well. And everyone else was staring at her. Damn.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was told she was a spy.” She looked pointedly at Blondie. This was all her fault!

“She’s a princess, and therefore invited,” Frosta said as if that was obvious. “I won’t tolerate violence against any guest - by anyone. And I won’t break with centuries of tradition and abolish the neutrality of this event!”

“I haven’t attacked her!” Seacat protested. It was true.

But it was obvious that the princess didn’t see it that way. And Mermista was gesturing towards her. And frowning, as if they had just set something on fire.

Seacat pouted and moved to the side, letting the Horde Scum pass before heading down to Blondie.

“Why didn’t you tell me that she was a guest?” she hissed to the other woman.

“I didn’t know!” Blondie protested.

“I thought you had a plan for everything!” That was what she had said, at least.

“Obviously, I hadn’t planned for the Horde attending this event!”

“‘Obviously’.” Seacat glared at her.

“Obviously!”

“Seacat! What the hell were you thinking?”

Seacat closed her eyes. Just what she needed - Mermista was furious. At her. That wouldn’t do - it wasn’t Seacat’s fault. Not this time. “It’s her fault!” she said, pointing at Blondie. “She told me the bug woman was a Horde spy! I only tried to help!”

“And you did!” Sea Hawk said with a smile. “Selflessly jumping between an enemy and a princess is what we do! Adventure!”

“Causing a diplomatic incident is what you did!” Mermista snapped. But she was glaring at both of them, now!

“I never said she was a spy!” Blondie protested. “I said she was Horde!”

“That’s the same thing!” Seacat shot back.

“It’s not!”

“Well, what was I supposed to think?” Seacat replied.

“What were you thinking!”

Oh, great. The shrimp had arrived as well to yell at her.

And at Blondie, apparently, since she shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking anything - I just recognised the Force Captain and pointed her out to Ca-Seacat!”

“Ugh! You weren’t thinking - you got that right!” Mermista scoffed. “Seacat was raised by Sea Hawk! You don’t point out Horde scum to them without keeping them on a leash!”

Seacat glared at the princess. Everyone knew that in a fight, you needed to be quick and decisive. You couldn’t stop to overthink every action!

“A leash?” Blondie was staring again.

“I wasn’t talking about a literal leash!”

“You better were not!” Seacat snapped.

“Not outside the bedroom, at least!” The Captain nodded, rubbing his chin.

Seacat stared at him, blinking. She wasn’t the only one.

“Uh… do you mean…?” Blondie started.

“No, he didn’t!” Mermista snarled, flushed with anger or embarrassment. “Besides, we have a diplomatic crisis to fix here! Focus on that!”

“I’m no diplomat,” Seacat retorted. “Besides, shouldn’t me trying to protect the princess score us some goodwill?”

The shrimp winced a little. Not a good sign. “Ah… Princess Frosta is a little… sensitive about her age. And about not being taken seriously.”

Blondie nodded. “Oh, yes! Totally!”

Seacat sighed. Typical. “It still isn’t my fault. I was only trying to help!”

“Well, stop trying,” Mermista told her. “We’ll fix this… somehow. Just go and… dance or something. Without fighting anyone! Both of you!”

Seacat glanced at Blondie, who frowned. “We can’t just let a Horde Force Captain wander around here, doing who knows what!” she protested.

Seacat nodded in agreement. The woman had a very good point. “You can’t trust Horde scum!”

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” the shrimp said. “I’ll set Bow and Perfuma on her. You just enjoy the party. Without fighting. We’ll handle Frosta.”

“But…” Blondie started to say, yet everyone else was leaving already. She sighed. “It wasn’t my fault.”

“It certainly wasn’t my fault!” Seacat told her.

They stared at each other for a moment, frowning and glaring.

“Let’s blame the Horde?” Blondie said, smiling weakly.

Seacat huffed. It was still Blondie’s fault. On the other hand, she wouldn’t have said anything without the Horde scum visiting the prom. She nodded curtly.

“Great!” Blondie beamed at her as if things were perfectly well again. “So, uh… should we dance?”

Dancing? Seacat looked at the dance floor. Couples turned around each other. Hm. Perhaps… then she blinked.

The Horde Bug was walking straight towards them! And she was smiling. Smiling far too widely and friendly for Horde Scum. Probably gloating that she had managed to trick them into making a scene. “There you are!”

Seacat took a step to the side, just as Blondie did the same. One more, and it would be easy to flank the woman.

“Whoa!” The Horde Bug raised her pincers. “I’m not here to fight! I’m just here to say hello and play nice.”

Seacat blinked. “‘Play nice’?”

“Yes!” The tall woman beamed at her. “That’s what I was told to do: Be friendly and play nice. Show the princesses that the Horde isn’t evil.”

The Bug Woman was either the worst spy in Etheria or the best, Seacat thought. This was… She actually didn’t know what it was. Weird, in any case.

“Well, you can try, but we know that the Horde is evil!” Blondie bristled. “We were, I mean, I was raised there!”

“Oh, yeah - you’re the Force Captain who deserted on her first mission.” The Horde Bug nodded, apparently not fazed at all. “Adora, right? I’m Scorpia. But you probably knew that already.”

“She also answers to Blondie,” Seacat added, then grinned at the shocked look that earned her from Blondie.

“Blondie?” The bug woman sounded confused. “Ah, a nickname. Cute!”

She frowned at the Horde scum. It wasn’t meant to be cute. It wasn’t cute, period.

Blondie had to ruin it, of course. “Ah, I guess so,” the woman said, with a faint smile, before frowning again. “So you were sent to deceive us about your intentions!”

“Uh…” The Horde Bug was frowning, though more in a confused rather than angry way. “I guess so? Though can you really call it deception if everyone knows about it?”

Seacat still couldn’t tell if this was an act or if the woman was that naive. But why would the Horde send such a naive spy? Wait, Bug Woman was a princess, so they probably didn’t have any choice.

“Not everyone knows just how evil you are, or they’d already be fighting you!”

Well, Blondie wasn’t any less naive, it seemed. Seacat sighed and rolled her eyes.

The Horde Bug laughed, one pincer behind her head. “Ah, I guess so. Though we’re just doing what other kingdoms did before.” She shrugged, and Seacat briefly wondered how her black dress had survived that. “It’s just, well, war, I guess?”

“War against civilians! I was at Thaymor and Plumeria!” You attacked peaceful, harmless civilians!”

“And you wiped out my home village!” Seacat added.

The bug woman looked actually taken aback. “Really? But that makes no sense. Why would we destroy a village? The goal is to conquer it, not to destroy it. On the other hand, things don’t always go according to plan. You know, first casualty in war and all.”

“I think that’s meant to be ‘truth is the first casualty in any war,” Blondie corrected her. “And that no plan survives contact with the enemy.”

“Right! I guess you really paid attention at Force Captain orientation.”

“We studied that as cadets.” Blondie looked even angrier.

“Right!” More nodding. “Anyway - I also got a message for you. From Shadow Weaver.”

Seacat felt the fur on her back rise for no reason. Shadow Weaver… She shook her head. There was no reason to be frightened of someone she had never met. And yet… She felt a shiver run down her spine. What the...

Blondie spat: “I don’t want to hear it.”

The bug woman blinked, then nodded. “She said you’d say that. That’s why she gave it in writing.” The woman craned her neck and stuffed one of her pincers down the front of her dress, then pulled it out with a letter held in it. How she managed that without tearing the envelope or the letter, Seacat had no idea. “Here!” She held the letter out to Blondie.

After a moment of more glaring, Blondie reached out to take it, and Seacat had to step in, grabbing her hand. “Seriously? It could be poisoned! Or cursed!”

“What?” Bug woman looked at the letter, tilting her head. “No, it isn’t!”

Blondie looked torn for a moment before she raised her chin slightly, jaw set. “I know Shadow Weaver. And I don’t trust her.”

“Well… That’s, ah, a problem.” The bug woman moved the letter around a little. “But I am really supposed to give you this message.”

“I’m sure,” Seacat said. “Just drop it on the floor.”

“Really?” The Horde scum perked up. “Alright!”

“No, she was joking,” Blondie interrupted. “If the letter is a trap, then that would endanger others. You can’t just drop it on the floor.” After a moment, she added: “And if it’s no trap, then that’s a private message on the floor. Which is also not OK.”

Seacat rolled her eyes. “Let’s get your friend Princess Shrimp to look at it.”

“Princess Shrimp?” Bug woman blinked. “I don’t think I’ve met her. Or heard of her. And I was briefed on all the princesses for this night.”

Blondie sighed. Loudly. “It’s Seacat’s nickname for Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon.”

“Oh.” The horde scum beamed at Seacat. “You give everyone nicknames? That’s cute! What’s mine?”

“It’s ‘Horde Scum’,” Seacat replied, baring her fangs.

It got the far too cheery woman to frown, finally - Seacat had wondered what it took to get under that chitin skin. But she’d… “That’s a little generic, isn’t it?”

Seriously? That was what the Horde Scum took offence to? ‘A little generic’? “What about Horde Bug?”

The woman kept frowning as if she took that seriously. Then she nodded. “I’ll call you Wildcat, I think. Because, you know, you’re all wild and hissing. And a cat.”

Seacat scoffed. Who cared what Horde Scum called her?

Blondie, though, looked very much confused. “Uh… so… about the letter?”

“Right! Can I give it to your friend?”

“No! We can’t just drop this on her.” Blondie shook her head. “But we can go ask Princess Frosta. She’s the host, so she’s responsible for everyone’s safety.”

“And she invited you, so you’re her problem,” Seacat added, baring her fangs again as she took a step closer to Blondie.

“Good! Let’s go, then!” And the bug woman turned and walked across the dance floor. The couples dancing moved out of her way like sardines parted before a killer whale.

Seacat looked at Blondie, but the woman was already following the Horde spy. Typical.

*****​

Princess Frosta, for all her young age and brattiness, got things done, though. One of her underlings took the letter - Seacat took a step away, just in case - and didn’t drop dead or started screaming. Then the letter was taken away to be examined by a sorceress or something. Presumably in an explosive-proof room.

And Bug Woman turned to them. “So… with that done…”

“We’re done, yes,” Seacat said, baring her teeth. “Enjoy the rest of your evening!”

“Ah, right, uh…”

But Seacat had already grabbed Blondie’s arm and led her away. After they were out of earshot - she checked with a glance over her shoulder - Seacat scoffed. “The nerve of the Horde scum! Acting all nice while plotting our deaths!”

“Uh, yes.”

That wasn’t the firmest agreement Seacat had ever heard. By far. “So… you know Shadow Weaver?” She felt her tail starting bristle and suppressed the urge. She was stronger than this.

“Ah, yes. She, ah… kind of raised me and my friend.”

“Oh.” She shouldn’t have asked. Now the woman would assume… something.

“But she was the worst m...parent. Always taking favourites and manipulating us, and…”

Seacat raised her hand. “No need to go into details. I get the picture. I do.”

“You do? Uh, that’s good, I guess.” Blondie’s smile wasn’t the brightest Seacat had ever seen, either. She looked pretty shaken up - for a woman who attacked sea monsters for fun.

So Seacat nodded towards the dance floor. “Well, while we wait for Princess Frosta’s expendable minions to test your letter for traps, wanna dance?”

A smile lit up Blondie’s face. “Yes!” She blushed and ducked her head a little. “I mean, yes, I would like to.”

Seacat grinned and stepped on the dance floor, then held out her hand. “Come on, Princess!”

Blondie took it, and they started dancing. Fortunately, it wasn’t formal ballroom dancing, even if they were in a ballroom. Seacat would have been lost if she had to fit into some big production where every step had to be perfect as you traded partners multiple times while moving like a ship in formation.

But she knew, from several visits to the Grotto and some lessons from Sea Hawk and Mermista, how to dance. She met Blondie’s eyes, then started to circle in step with the music.

Blondie matched her. She was surprisingly graceful, what with how toned she was. That her dress was cut on one side almost to the hip helped, of course - she could move easily like that, and it also showed her...

Seacat blinked, then focused on Blondie’s face instead of her legs. Releasing her hand, she whirled, then switched hands, circling again. Then they drew close, arms rising, letting Blondie twirl beneath their locked hands before they separated again.

And once more they circled, switching hands, drawing close and apart, eyes meeting every time. On and on…

The song ended, and Seacat took a deep breath. That had been… fun. Blondie blinked, her bright smile dimming a little. She looked almost as if she were shy. “So, shall we…”

The orchestra started a new song, and Seacat grinned widely. She knew this song. And this dance. Lighting-quick, she grabbed Blondie’s hand again. “Not so fast!”

The other woman gasped in obvious surprise as Seacat drew her in close, one hand on her bare back. She could feel her tense for a moment as her claws touched her skin, then she relaxed.

And they danced. Closely. Seacat could almost feel Blondie’s heart beating as they turned, and she felt her own beat a little faster when the woman put her muscular arm around her waist.

Turning, twisting, legs moving so close, but not quite touching - but their chests did. And then she dipped Blondie, and for a moment, time seemed to freeze. The others on the dance floor faded into the background. Their faces were so close, all Seacat would have to do to touch, to kiss her would be tilting her head just a little. Just a little...

She blinked, almost gasped, and drew back, pulling Blondie up with her until both were upright again. A deep breath brought her shivering under control. And her fur kept Blondie from noticing how flushed she felt.

Not that the woman was looking at her right now - she was looking anywhere but at Seacat. They kept dancing, but more sedately. Seacat could breathe without her chest pressing into Blondie’s. And she needed to breathe. That had been… weird. Very weird. That sudden urge to… Seacat wasn’t Sea Hawk, but she had flirted and danced before. But she hadn’t lost - almost lost - control like that. Never. It had always been… different.

“That’s a good orchestra,” she said. “Really catchy song, too.”

“Yes.” Blondie started to nod, then stopped. “Really catchy.”

They turned twice around each other without either saying another word. Then the song ended, and they were left standing on the dance floor looking stupid.

Seacat straightened and looked at the buffet. “I could do with dessert,” she said.

“Dessert sounds good, yes,” Blondie replied.

“Good.”

They were halfway to the buffet when Seacat noticed that she was still holding Blondie’s hand. Her first impulse was to release it at once. But that would’ve made her look as if she were scared or hadn’t noticed what she was doing. So she gripped the hand a little harder and only released it once they were at the buffet and she had an excuse.

*****​

Seacat was halfway through an ice cream dish for which she’d have cheerfully fought Admiral Scurvy’s best ship in a rowboat when Princess Shrimp arrived in front of her and Blondie.

“There you are!”

“Yes, here we are,” Seacat replied in the kind of tone reserved for little children who had managed to tie their shoes or something. Hadn’t they gone through this before?

The shrimp narrowed her eyes, but Blondie managed to swallow the mouthful of ice cream that she had just shovelled into her mouth in time to cut her friend off: “Glimmer! What’s going on?”

The princess shifted her glare to Blondie as a result. “What is going on? I’ll tell you what is going on!”

“Good.” Seacat grinned, then grabbed another spoonful of that heavenly ice cream.

“Oh, you!”

“Glimmer!”

“Alright. What’s going is that Horde scum fake princess! She’s been making the rounds and talking to everyone! And I’m the only one keeping an eye on her because Entrapta is stuck ‘analysing’ what ‘data’ she collected. Mermista and Sea Hawk are off somewhere ‘private’, and you two were flirting on the dance floor for ages!”

Wow. Someone was jealous. Seacat smirked and stepped closer to Blondie just to rub it in. As Sea Hawk always said: Never miss out on an opportunity to show off!

“Oh. What about Bow and Perfuma?” Blondie asked.

“What about them?” the shrimp snarled. “They’re busy having fun! I’m the only one doing my duty for the Rebellion!”

“I’m not a member of the Rebellion,” Seacat pointed out.

“What?” Blondie gasped.

“You aren’t? But Sea Hawk and Mermista are!”

“I’m just Sea Hawk’s first mate,” she told them. “I never formally joined anything.” She was fighting the Horde for her own reasons.

“But your ship belongs to him,” Glimmer said. “And he’s a rebel, so that makes it a rebel ship.”

“So?” Seacat shrugged. “Besides, if I were a member of the Rebellion, I would be under Sea Hawk’s command. Just as I am, actually. And he hasn’t given me any orders other than to enjoy myself and not start a diplomatic incident.” Which she had, but that hadn’t been her fault.

“But…” The princess was gaping at them.

“You’re on your own here, shrimp.”

“That’s… You know what? Fine! I’ll handle this myself!”

And she disappeared in a sparkly cloud of glitter.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Blondie said a moment later.

Seacat glanced at her. The other woman was frowning. She sniffed in return. “You don’t seem to be very concerned about the Horde Bug either.”

“Uh…” Blondie blushed with embarrassment. “Diplomacy and surveillance aren’t my strengths.”

“You don’t need to sneak around here,” Seacat said. “You can just walk up and talk to whoever she’s talking to.”

“I’m sure that’s against some rules. Or impolite.”

“So?” Seacat grinned widely.

“That’s exactly what my friend would say,” Blondie replied. Then she gasped. “Sorry!”

Seacat couldn’t tell if she had slipped or if she had used this to get back at Sea Cat for driving her annoying friend away. She waved her hand. “Forget it.”

“Glimmer is right, though - we need to keep an eye on Scorpia.” Blondie nodded with a firm expression.

Seacat sighed.

*****​

“...and that is why it’s so important that everyone considers how their actions affect others. We’re all part of the same world. Interconnected. A small plant growing in one place might change the weather patterns in another region.” The plant princess was oozing concern as she talked.

“But you can’t always consider that. Sometimes you have to act right now. I mean, not right now as in here at the prom, but hypothetically.” The Horde bug blinked. “A plant can affect the weather? Seriously?”

“Oh, yes. Not easily and not at once, but if they grow and multiply, plants can change the climate. The Crimson Waste was once a lush forest, people say. Until the plants died and the climate changed.”

“Interesting. But back to the main topic: Sometimes you need to act, or react, without being able to plan for hours.”

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t consider your actions and their consequences afterwards.”

Seacat stepped to the side, next to Brain Boy, and whispered: “How long ago did they start talking?”

“About a quarter-hour,” the boy replied.

And the two princesses didn’t seem planning to stop anytime soon. “I don’t like this,” Seacat muttered.

“It’s very suspicious,” Blondie agreed. “Horde Force Captains aren’t that nice.”

“Hey!” Brain Boy spoke up. “You’ve never met her before, right? Maybe she is that nice?”

“It’s an act,” Seacat insisted. No one was that nice talking to their enemies.

“And perhaps seeing that we’re nice, talking with us, celebrating with us, will show her that she’s on the wrong side.”

Seacat stared at Brain Boy. He really needed a new nickname since that was the biggest load of whale shit she had ever heard. Well, outside of a tavern where Sea Hawk had a tiny little bit too much to drink.

Horde scum didn’t change sides. And they weren’t nice.

*****​

 

Chapter 7: The Princess Prom Part 3

“Come on! You can’t keep defending! That’s not how you win a fight!”

“You can’t keep evading, that’s not how you win a fight!”

She wasn’t evading - she was circling her opponent, probing for an opening. Forcing her to keep turning until she stumbled or something. Her opponent was stronger, but she was faster.

She twirled her staff, then stepped to the side. There! She lunged, bringing her staff down then thrusting it forward, straight at the other’s stomach, driving her breath out of...

But her opponent parried it, guiding it away and up in a far too smooth move, and she found herself corps-a-corps with her opponent - struggling against her superior strength. She clenched her teeth as she found herself being forced back. If she could redirect… no, the other was too skilled for that. Too familiar with her own moves.

And she had pulled that trick in the round before this one.

Snarling, she pushed back anyway. She wasn’t a quitter. She wasn’t going to lose like some… some loser. But she was committed - if she retreated now, she’d get hit with the staff. Damn. Damn. Oh! She grinned. She had an ace up her sleeve. Or rather, up her toes. Sort of.

She pushed back again, as much as she could, with a hiss, then dropped on her back, letting the other’s staff pass over her head while she struck with her feet at…

And something heavy fell on her, knocking the breath out of her. Her opponent hadn’t gone with a blow - she had dropped her staff and dropped on her!

She gasped for breath, twisting her body, but her opponent was stronger and heavier, and on top of her. One arm was across her throat, fixing her in place, the other sneaking around her neck for a full chokehold, her hips pinned by hers.

But she wasn’t helpless - she still had her claws. She could drive them in the neck of her opponent, and… NO! This was just a sparring match. And they were friends. But she hated losing. Especially to her. On the other hand, this was… wasn’t so bad. Even if she had trouble breathing, what with the other’s heavy body pressed against her, pinning her on the ground, and…

“Yield?”

“Yield,” she agreed, taking deep breaths as soon as the other withdrew her arms. “Good fight.”

“Yes, good fight.” Her friend smiled at her. The stupid hair poof had survived the match, too - it was always a treat when she managed to mess it up.

For a moment, they smiled at each other, breathing heavily. Her friend still hadn’t gotten up. Was still lying on her.

And she didn’t want her to move. “Well…”

“Adora! Catra!”

She froze, a shudder running down her spine. Shadow Weaver! This was going to hurt.

*****​

Seacat shook her head and resisted the temptation to accidentally shred a pillow or two. What a stupid dream! It was all Blondie’s fault - she hadn’t had such stupid dreams until she’d met the woman. The only dreams she’d had were nightmares about her destroyed village. And her own death.

And while those had been bad and had her wake up shivering more often than not, they had been based in reality. She remembered staggering through her village, seeing corpses strewn around everywhere, having no clue what had happened, or who she was.

She hadn’t woken up afraid of someone she had never heard of before. Or, even worse, all hot and… bothered about Blondie.

She scoffed and shook her head. They’d just danced. That was all. Besides, it would be very stupid to start anything with a woman who still thought Seacat was her missing horde scum friend.

She stretched, yawned, stretched some more, and rolled out of bed. A glance at the sky outside told her that it was… wait, this was the Kingdom of Snows; the sun rose much earlier in summer. So… it was mid-morning.

She blinked. Why was she awake already? Sea Hawk and Mermista wouldn’t wake up until noon. They had drunk too much during the ball, and Seacat was sure that they, unlike her, hadn’t gone straight to sleep after the ball ended.

Not that she wanted to know for sure, anyway. On the other hand, with all the princesses in probably the same state, this was a good occasion of getting something to eat without getting bothered. Princesses weren’t hard-working sailors, so they wouldn’t be used to getting up early to set sail with the tide after a night of carousing.

Right! She yawned again and walked over to the bathroom. Time to get presentable.

*****​

“...and we have another meeting with Princess Frosta in the evening, which we all will attend,” Princess Shrimp said glaring at Mermista.

Seacat sighed after swallowing another bite of Ice Fish stew. What was it with Princesses and turning mealtimes into planning sessions? Lunch shouldn’t be work. Hell, she’d like to see a princess try and set sails while eating! No, Sea Hawk might think it was a good idea.

“Not you, though,” the shrimp went on.

Seacat blinked. The princess was looking at her? “Not that I mind getting out of a boring meeting where I would be out of place anyway, but why so specific?”

“We, ah, kinda blamed you for the whole incident with the Horde princess,” Brain Boy said, smiling in a rather embarrassed way.

“What?” Seacat glared at him, then pointed at Blondie. “It was her fault!” And the woman hadn’t said anything other than a greeting to her today so far. It wasn’t exactly as if Seacat wanted to, well… and they hadn’t done anything, anyway, but... It was rude.

“I didn’t call her a spy!” Blondie protested.

“So what? Any Horde scum is the enemy! Why would you call her out to me if you didn’t want to fight her?” Seacat retorted.

“Because we were at the Princess Prom and not on the battlefield?” the shrimp cut in.

“So? The enemy is supposed to respect that?” Seacat scoffed in return.

“Well, they did,” Princess Plant said. “They didn’t attack anyone. They didn’t even spy on anyone.”

“As far as we know,” Brain Boy said with a slight frown.

“I think Scorpia was honest. I didn’t spot any lie,” the plant princess went on. “She didn’t seem like a good liar, anyway.”

“That’s what she wanted you to think!” the shrimp said. “She almost sabotaged the alliance just by showing up!”

“She benefited from Seacat almost starting a fight in front of our host,” Mermista added.

Seacat glared at the princess. “I was defending our host! Better safe than sorry!”

Sea Hawk, of course, nodded in agreement. “Indeed! When the enemy suddenly emerges out of the fog, best act swiftly and decisively! That’s the hallmark of a hero!”

“No, that’s the hallmark of an idiot,” Mermista shot back.

Sea Hawk gasped. “But dear! What if this had been an assassination attempt?”

“It wasn’t!” Princess Plant objected. “Scorpia might be Horde, but she seems quite decent and honourable to me. We talked a lot, and I’m a good judge of character.”

Seacat rolled her eyes. That was Brain Boy’s fault. If he had kept the princess entertained, she wouldn’t have fallen for the Horde ploy. Really. “If she were a decent woman, bug, whatever, she would have deserted!” she said. “Like Blondie.”

“She might still see the light,” Plant Princess said. “I talked to her about all the evil the Horde is doing, and she was quite shocked.”

Ugh! Seacat made a point of rolling her eyes. “Really? She didn’t notice what the Horde was doing? While fighting for the Horde? Did she think all those villages were accidentally wiped out? Yeah, right!” Hell, the princess’s own kingdom had been invaded a bit ago, hadn’t it?

Blondie must have gotten something down the wrong pipe since she started coughing. “Anyway… if she deserts, we’ll know. Shouldn’t we focus on, ah, recruiting Frosta?”

“Yes,” the shrimp agreed. “And that’s what we’ll be doing at our meeting in the evening, which everyone except Seacat will attend. Especially you, Mermista.”

“Ugh. Why me?” Mermista complained between eating her roasted shark steak.

“You’re a key member of the Princess Alliance!” shrimp retorted. “What kind of example would you set if you wouldn’t attend a crucial diplomatic meeting?”

“The kind of example that tells a ten-year-old princess that we’re a cool group who doesn’t, like, waste their time on mandatory meetings?” Mermista asked with a grin.

“But you do,” Seacat blurted out. After everyone turned to look or, in the shrimp’s case, glare at her, she pointed at Sea Hawk. “He told me.”

“I didn’t. I just said I’d rather have an adventure than a meeting,” her captain replied.

“We all knew that already,” Mermista said. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “But if it makes you happy, I’ll attend the meeting. Hell, the kid might think it’s very grown-up and be flattered.”

Seacat chuckled at that.

“Ahem.” Brain Boy clearing his throat drew the attention of the room to himself. “Did the Horde envoy actually succeed in making people think they’re not evil?”

“Well… the data I gathered about that is inconclusive!” The Hair Princess spoke up for the first time. Apparently, she had finished her tiny fishes. “I was mostly focused on observing and collecting data on interpersonal relationships and public displays of affection - hidden and in public - so I didn’t gather enough data on politics and diplomacy to draw valid conclusions.”

“I think she showed that there are decent people on both sides of the war,” Princess Plant said.

Seacat sighed. There was proof that the Horde’s plan had had some success.

The rest of the meeting was just bickering and blame-shifting. At least that was what Seacat took from it. And none of it was her fault, anyway. No matter what the princesses thought. And who would trust anyone who fell for a Horde ploy, anyway?

As soon as Seacat had finished dessert - which wasn’t leftovers from the prom’s buffet, as she had expected - she stood. “I’ll check the ship, Captain,” she announced and left without waiting for an answer.

There was even more snow in the streets - and this was summer! - but this time, Seacat had come prepared - she was wearing oversized boots. They were uncomfortable and felt unnatural, and they would ruin her footwork should a fight break out - unless her claws ripped them apart, at least - but they kept her feet warm. It was still a bad trade-off. How people managed to live in this kingdom beat her.

The Dragon’s Daughter IV was covered in snow as well, and ice had started to cover some of the more exposed parts. She sighed - it would take her some time to get it shipshape. There was no way around it, though - Sea Hawk had taught her that their ship had to be ready to sail at a moment’s notice. If a mob was pursuing you, you couldn’t spend half an hour sorting out the rigging before setting sail.

But it meant she would be chipping ice and sweeping - or, worse, shovelling snow for some time.

*****​

Seacat had dealt with the ice on the rigging and most of the snow when Blondie arrived. “Hey!” the woman said as she stepped close to the railing but stayed on the pier.

She briefly paused, nodded at the princess, then heaved the next load of snow off the deck and into the water. “Finally done with the pre-meeting?”

“Uh… sort of? I think?”

“You think?” Seacat cocked her head.

“Well… Mermista and Sea Hawk left, and Glimmer and Perfuma were starting to repeat the same arguments about Scorpia, so Bow and I slipped out. I don’t know if they noticed.” Blondie grinned, almost mischievously, for a moment.

Seacat approved. She chuckled. “Won’t the shrimp be mad?”

And that was a wince. A guilty wince. “So… what are you doing?” the woman asked.

Seacat rolled her eyes, both at the blatant attempt to change the subject and at the stupid question. What did it look like she was doing? Dancing? “I’m shovelling snow off the deck.”

“Uh, right. Right.” Blondie nodded. “So…”

“So?” It came out a little sharper than she had intended, but Seacat had things to do.

“What are you going to do now?” Blondie blurted out.

“Now?”

“Please don’t say something about checking the ship or chipping ice or whatever. You know what I mean!” Blondie said, frowning.

“I actually don’t know,” Seacat told her. “It depends on Sea Hawk.” And Mermista, but that was a subject they didn’t need to get into.

“Oh. Because it’s his ship, right.”

Seacat nodded. “And I’m his first mate.”

“Right! And you’re not a member of the Alliance.”

“I’m not a princess,” Seacat said. Unlike Blondie.

“Bow’s not a princess, either.”

So what? Brain Boy followed the shrimp. She scoffed. “Are you trying to recruit me?”

Blondie blinked. “Ah… No? I mean, I’m not trying to recruit you, like, begging you to join.”

“Unlike you all do with Frosta,” Seacat mumbled.

Blondie blushed in return. “The Kingdom of Snows is the largest and one of the most powerful kingdoms of Etheria.”

“You’re still begging.”

“We’ve got a meeting in the evening.”

“And you’ll beg her then.”

Another frown - even a glare - followed. “Do you have to make it sound like…”

“Like calling it what it is? Yes.” Seacat scoffed. “You shouldn’ lie to yourself. That never helps.”

Blondie opened her mouth but didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she closed it and glared at Seacat some more.

She grinned at the woman in return. Score! “So, why did you come here? Too cosy and warm in the palace?”

“No. I wanted to talk to you.”

Uh. “Ah.” Seacat tensed, then forced herself to relax. Somewhat. “About your missing friend?” Who was definitely dead if she hadn’t resurfaced in four years.

“Only if you want to. I was...”

“Well, I don’t!” Seacat interrupted her.

“... yes, I expected that.”

“Good.” She nodded. Firmly.

“But I, ah, liked talking to you. At the prom. When you weren’t all serious and...”

“So you came to talk to me while I’m working.” Seacat nodded in a slightly exaggerated manner. “That makes sense.”

Blondie flushed again. “I can wait until you’re finished.”

“I might take the whole afternoon,” Seacat retorted.

“I’ve got nothing else planned.”

She clenched her teeth. She could busy herself all afternoon, of course. But that would mean staying out in the cold all afternoon. She sighed, then pointed at the broom leaning against the railing. “If you’re going to stay here, at least help me finish faster, then.”

Blondie beamed at her.

*****​

With the woman helping - putting her strength to good use - they finished in good time. All the rigging clear of ice, the whole deck free of snow. As it should be.

“So…”

Seacat clenched her teeth. Of course, having finished their work meant that Blondie expected to talk now. “Not here. I’m freezing.”

“Oh, right!” Blondie nodded, sending her slightly frazzled ponytail bouncing. “Back to the palace, then?”

It would be warm and it had free food. On the other hand, it was at the other end of the city, on top of the hill. And people - princesses - would be bothering Seacat there. “No.” She shook her head. “Let’s hit a tavern here in the harbour.”

“Alright.”

Seacat took them to her favourite tavern in the kingdom - well, her second-favourite, but her favourite one had banned her after a brawl had gone a little out of control during her last visit. “Hot wine for two,” Seacat ordered at the bar, then headed towards a free table in the back.

“Hot wine?” Blondie asked.

“Best cheap drink in town,” Seacat explained. It wasn’t as if anyone would want cold drinks with this weather. “Would you prefer hot tea?”

“Well…” Blondie smiled a little weakly.

Seacat groaned. Was she for real?

“Trying hot wine sounds fine!” the other woman blurted out. “I haven’t drunk much wine, actually.”

Oh! Seacat grinned. Time to see if she could get the princess drunk!

*****​

“...and then she shaid ‘idiot’ and left me. ‘Aven’t sheen her since - she never returned.” Blondie wrapped her arm around Seacat’s waist and pulled her into her side. “Until I’ve mesh you!”

“I’m not your friend,” Seacat spat, trying to wriggle out of the woman’s grasp. But Blondie was too strong, even when she wasn’t seven foot tall and killing sea monsters for fun. She couldn’t hold her drinks, either - Seacat had matched her glass for glass and was only slightly tipsy.

“You’re not my friend? But… You hate me!” Blondie wailed. “It’s all my fault! I shouldn’t have lesh you go!”

“That wasn’t what I meant!” Seacat protested.

“I’m never leshing you go again! Never!” Blondie declared as she pulled Seacat into her lap.

Getting the princess drunk hadn’t really been one of Seacat’s better ideas. She was trapped with some drunk princess who still thought Seacat was her long-lost Horde friend.

Once more, she tried to wriggle out of Blondie’s grasp but stopped after a moment. Trying that in the woman’s lap was… weird. Very weird. “I’m not Catra,” she hissed. She didn’t want to claw the woman, but she didn’t want to spend the rest of the day here. Not really. No, really not!

“I know! You’re Sheacat! You’ve losht your memory! And itsh all my faulsh! I shouldn’t have lesh Shadow Weaver shend you away!” Blondie hugged her with so much force, Seacat thought for a moment that she’d transformed into She-Ra without Seacat noticing.

She should call for help… no! That would be too embarrassing. Everyone would know, and Mermista would never let her forget it. “I wasn’t sent away. I wasn’t in the Horde to begin with!” she hissed. She wasn’t Horde. Couldn’t be Horde. She was a victim of the Horde! What would her friends think if she were actually Horde? And had posed as a victim for years?

Growling, she grabbed the offending arm that trapped her on Blondie’s lap and dug her claws into the skin - not breaking through. Not yet.

“Ow!” Blondie stared at her.

Yes!

“That hurt!” The woman pouted.

Just a little, Seacat told herself. She hadn’t even drawn blood. Hell, Mermista and Sea Hawk had had rougher nights. Or something. Not that she wanted to know such things.

Then Blondie beamed at her. “But itsh a good hurt. Tellsh me you’re shtill alive!”

Oh, no! Once more, the arms tightened around Seacat’s poor body, and she struggled to breathe. “You’re hurting me,” she complained. “Can’t breathe!”

“Oh, no! I hursh you. Yesh. You left! Left me alone!” Blondie sniffled. “Itsh all my fault!”

Seacat agreed with that. Why would the woman drink so much wine if she couldn’t hold her liquor nearly as well as she could hold Seacat? Wait! That was an idea that would solve this - or get her maimed. But at this point, she was willing to risk it as long as she could escape this… situation. She forced herself to smile. “Hey, Blondie!”

“And you call me Blondie! I’m Adora! You even forgot my name!” More sniffling followed.

Seacat rolled her eyes. “Hey, Adora!”

“Yesh?”

“Can you change into She-Ra?”

“Yesh!” Blondie happily nodded. “I can.”

Seacat waited. Blondie kept smiling. Oh, right. “Could you change into She-Ra? Right now?”

“Oh, that’sh what shou meant!”

Blondie reached for her sword, and Seacat used the opportunity and jumped straight out of the woman’s lap, putting the table between her and the princess.

“For the Honour of Greyshkull!”

Seacat had to squint as light enveloped Blondie and the woman suddenly grew a foot or two. In height. And a few pounds in hair. She didn’t quite stare as the clothes changed into a shining white outfit - dry this time. That was… She swallowed. It was a sight, yes. She-Ra was… impressive. Tall. Toned. And…

“Oh no, what have I done?”

...wailing?

She-Ra shook her head. “What have I done?”

Seacat blinked, then shrugged and shifted on the bench, acting as casually as she could manage. “You got drunk.”

“I got drunk!”

“Yes.” And now she was sober.

“But… I called you Catra! Even though I know you don’t like it and told myself a dozen times not to do it! And I grabbed you!” She-Ra shook her head, sending her wild yet still perfectly styled mane flying. “I did exactly what I shouldn’t have done!”

“Well, you were drunk.” Seacat shrugged again. As she had hoped, the transformation had sobered up the woman. Which was really unfair - Blondie probably never had a hangover. She could drink as much as she wanted, then change - and everything was fixed without having to drink Sea Hawk’s special anti-hangover cure.

“Yes. I…” She-Ra’s eyes narrowed. “You got me drunk!”

Seacat grinned. “No. I got myself nicely tipsy. You got yourself drunk when you tried to keep up with me.”

The princess blinked. “But… you knew…”

“I didn’t know you were such a lightweight,” Seacat said. She had hoped to get the woman drunk, but she hadn’t known it would be that easy. “You’re much heavier than I am, after all.”

“Hey!”

Seacat raised her brows at the woman. “Who had trapped who in their lap?”

So She-Ra could blush, she noticed. Quite noticeably. “Uh… sorry. That was… the hot wine!”

“Sure,” Seacat drawled.

“Sorry. I didn’t know… I mean, I never got drunk before. There was this First One artefact with the virus, but… We never had alcohol in the Horde.”

“What?” She stared at She-Ra. “No booze?”

“It was against regulations!”

“So?” As if that would stop a sailor - or soldier.

“It was against the rules,” She-Ra repeated herself.

Seacat sighed. “And you’re all about following the rules, huh?”

The other woman blinked, opened her mouth, then closed it with a snap, grimacing.

Seacat rolled her eyes. “Don’t say it.” She didn’t need to hear how that was just what Blondie’s missing friend had always told her.

She-Ra mimed pinching her lips shut with her fingers. “I’m not saying it.”

But she was thinking it. Seacat knew it. At least the woman wasn’t hugging her any more. Seacat could do without getting squished against Blondie’s chest. Or squirming in her lap, getting all weird.

She really could do without all of that. Nodding firmly, she ordered another glass of hot wine. She needed a drink after all of this.

*****​

When Seacat woke up, her head hurt. A lot. And the sun was busy trying to kill her by driving daggers through her eyes. Or something. She groaned and threw an arm over her eyes, shielding them from the evil sun. It wasn’t enough, though. So she rolled on her side, curled up, and pulled the blankets over her head.

Or rather, she tried to - they refused to cooperate.

Without opening her eyes - the sun was just waiting for such a mistake - she pulled again. Harder. Still without success.

Growling - her headache was getting worse - she grabbed the sheet with both hands and heaved with all her strength.

The blanket finally settled on her, shielding her from the sun, with a startled yelp.

She blinked. A yelp? Blankets didn’t yelp! People yelped. No, no… She couldn’t have... Sea Hawk had taught her better than that. Mostly by showing what not to do, but still!

She kept her eyes firmly squeezed shut and patted herself down. Top and bottom - she was in her sleep clothes. That was a good sign. She sighed with some relief.

“Why did you do that?

And Seacat froze again. That was… She pulled the blanket off her and rolled on her other side. “Blondie!” Then she hissed, as the sun shone straight into her sensitive eyes, and her head hurt like one of Sea Hawk’s first attempts at baking. Through squinted eyes, she stared at Blondie, who was just getting up from the floor. Fully clothed, Seacat noted.

“Why did you kick me out of your bed?”

“I didn’t see you,” Seacat replied, then blinked and shook her head - no, no, that hurt. “Wait. Why were you in my bed?”

“I wasn’t!” the woman replied. But she was blushing, “Well, not in, uh, that sense. I was just… I’ve fallen asleep on your bed.”

“Why were you on my bed, then?” Seacat asked through clenched teeth.

“That was your fault.” Blondie nodded with a slight grin.

“What?” Seacat felt her ears flatten. “What do you mean?”

The woman recoiled a little. “Uh… you were drunk and, well… you had fallen asleep while clinging to me. With your claws!”

Seacat blinked and quickly inspected her claws. “No blood…” She hadn’t licked it off, had she? That would be gross.

Blondie held up her jacket. Two sets of rips were visible on its back. Familiar sets.

“Ah.” Well, that wasn’t Seacat’s fault. Blondie should have kept her out of her lap. Or worn a tougher jacket. “Obviously, you managed to free yourself, though.”

“Ah, yes, but by then it was late, and… well… I fell asleep.” Blondie blushed again. “Sorry.”

“You fell asleep on my bed.” That was her explanation?

“Yes. Obviously.” Blondie nodded in that earnest manner of his. “I’m sorry. I just… I was tired, and, well…”

“Too tired to head to your room.”

“Yes.”

Seacat sighed. That was a very stupid excuse. If the woman didn’t look so… whatever, then Seacat would kick her out of her room. With claws. Although Blondie also had taken Seacat back after she’d gotten stone-drunk. And she was looking at Seacat with such a hopeful expression… “Whatever. My head hurts too much to think this through.”

“Oh.”

“Not everyone can transform into She-Ra to cure a hangover,” she pointed out.

“I didn’t know that would work. I never got drunk before.”

“Well, good thing I thought of it,” Seacat said with a grin. “What time is it, anyway?”

“Uh…”

Of course she wouldn’t know it. Seacat squinted and looked outside, braving the glaring sun. “Close to noon.”

“Ah.”

Well, it was time to get up and get ready for lunch. Seacat pulled the covers away and slid out of bed. Her headache didn’t like it, but she managed not to flinch as she rolled her shoulders before stretching her arms and legs.

“Well, I’m gonna get a shower. You should probably do the same, you’ve slept in your clothes.” And she could smell a few taverns and drinks on them. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Blondie was staring. That felt good, she realised, and she put a little sway into her walk - not much; her head was still hurting, but enough to be noticeable. Seacat did cut a nice figure, after all, especially… She blinked, a few steps from the bathroom, and turned. “Wait. Did you strip me before I fell asleep?”

Blondie blushed but shook her head. “No, no! When I finally got you loose - I mean, got you to stop clinging to me - you started to strip off your clothes and complained that you were too hot!”

“Oh.” Seacat winced, and not just because of her headache. That sounded… well, she could imagine herself saying that. It was still embarrassing. She curtly nodded - which made her wince again - and walked into the bathroom.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she sighed. As far as carousing went, last evening obviously had run into some trouble.

*****​

A long shower and several gulps of water directly from the tap later, Seacat was ready to face the rest of the world - and Blondie - again. She pulled the bathrobe, a far too soft, slightly too short thing with far too many decorative snow and ice motives, on and opened the door.

“...and we were all worried about you! You didn’t show up for the meeting! It was a miracle that Frosta still decided to join the alliance!”

Great. The shrimp was here. And Brain Boy. Berating Blondie.

“But Glimmer! I couldn’t leave Cat-Seacat alone! She was far too drunk!”

“You could’ve told us! We would’ve sent someone to look after her! Probably Sea Hawk to keep him from setting the palace on fire!”

What? Seacat frowned. No one talked bad about her captain in her presence. “Hey!” she snapped.

All three whipped their heads around and stared at her. Had they forgotten that they were in Seacat’s room?

“Oh, you’re finished,” Blondie stated the obvious with a weak smile that twisted a little as her eyes wandered down to Seacat’s legs.

Brain Boy looked away, but the Shrimp was glaring at her, Seacat noticed. Then the princess’s eyes widened, and she turned back to stare at Blondie. “What did you… Did you skip the meeting for.. this?”

Seacat was tempted to run with this - it was the perfect opening. Walk slowly and with her hips swaying over to Blondie, sit in her lap and run a hand over her face, and let the princess’s imagination run amok. But she still had a headache, and a screaming princess would only make it worse. “Simmer down, shrimp,” she said instead. “If we had been doing what you’re thinking, we would have taken the shower together.”

That’s what Sea Hawk and Mermista did, in any case.

“I wasn’t!” the shrimp blurted out, but she was blushing. As was Blondie. And Brain Boy.

“Wow!” Seacat shook her head, then struggled not to wince and ruin the effect - that had been a stupid move. “You need to get out more.”

“I get out plenty!” the shrimp spat. “But I don’t get so drunk, I can’t find my room.”

“That’s her fault,” Seacat said, pointing at Blondie. “She got me drunk.”

“You got me drunk first!” the woman protested.

“I also got you sober again, so that doesn’t count,” Seacat told her with a grin.

“What? I changed into She-Ra.”

“I asked you to.”

“But…”

“Oh, shut up! Both of you! You can sort out who got who drunk later!” the shrimp interrupted them. “We’ve got more important things to worry about!”

“Shouldn’t you have said that first, then? Instead of worrying about what we did while we slept together?” Seacat cocked her head. Slowly so it wouldn’t hurt.

“Oh, you!” The princess snarled at her. “This doesn’t concern you. This is Princess Alliance business. And as you told us, you aren’t a member of the alliance.”

“I’m not a princess,” Seacat replied. “But this is my room, so if you want to talk about ‘Princess Alliance business’, you should leave.” She made a face as she imitated the shrimp.

“And we will!”

“Though you might let Blondie take a shower first.”

The shrimp clenched her teeth in a very impressive - and funny - way as she growled at Seacat.

“What? It’s not my fault,” Blondie complained. “You barged in here before I could get ready, and she was in the bathroom.”

“Well, I’m not any more, so feel free to use the bath while I change,” Seacat said.

“Enough!” The shrimp grabbed both Brain Boy and Blondie, and all three disappeared with a pop and a cloud of glitter.

Seacat closed her eyes and sighed. Her head really hurt.

*****​

Blondie, shrimp and Brain Boy were absent when Seacat reached the mess - dining hall, she reminded herself - of the palace. But Sea Hawk and Mermista were there. Grinning. Well, Sea Hawk was grinning. Mermista was smirking or something.

Seacat rolled her eyes. “Nothing happened,” she told them as she took a seat across the table.

“That’s not what we heard!” the captain exclaimed. “You were last seen cradled in the arms of She-Ra, who carried you to your room as gently as if you were a bride on her wedding night!”

“I was drunk,” Seacat replied.

“Stone drunk,” Mermista added.

Crap. Had the princess seen her? “I had a little too much to drink,” Seacat admitted.

“I’ve paid your tab at the tavern.” The smirk grew worse.

“Most of that was Blondie’s!” Seacat protested. It could be true, anyway. She reached for some bread and smoked fish - she better start with a light meal. Her stomach still felt a little queasy.

“I would hope so, or you’d be dead,” the princess retorted.

“Now, now - my trusty first mate wouldn’t die from a little booze!” Sea Hawk shook his head. “Though it was an impressive tab, I have to admit. Almost as impressive as when I won a drinking competition against Scurvy!”

“You needed a Healer afterwards,” Mermista told him with a frown. “And it was a near thing.”

The captain nodded, beaming at her. “As I said, impressive!”

“Ugh.” The princess sighed and turned to Seacat. “Be more careful in the future. And don’t get She-Ra drunk.”

“She can’t get drunk,” Seacat told her. “Trust me, we’ve tested it.” She did remember that. And that explained her tab, too!

“Whatever. Just be more…” Mermista gestured with her right hand. “...be less like Sea Hawk.”

“Aw!” The captain pouted. “But how can she be happy if she doesn’t pursue her love with all the passion she can muster?”

“My love?” Seacat narrowed her eyes, putting down the mug of milk she had been sipping from. Her headache was down to some easily ignored dull throbbing, but if this continued...

“Please!” Mermista rolled her eyes. “You’ve got the hots for each other. We saw you dancing, remember? If the song had gone on, you’d have started making out on the dance floor!”

“We wouldn’t have!” Seacat shook her head, then winced.

“Sure you wouldn’t have.”

“There’s no shame in love, no matter what,” Sea Hawk said, standing up. He pointed to the ceiling. “Be true to your feelings! Love is the ultimate adventure!”

“There is nothing like that between us!” Seacat snapped. Yes, her headache was back. “Yes, she’s attractive. And I’m hot. But that’s all. Hell, we slept together, and nothing happened!” She blinked. That had sounded better in her head. “I mean…”

Mermista blinked as well. “You tried it? Well, you were too drunk, I guess…”

“Oh, no! How awful! You must be so disappointed!” Sea Hawk said. “And poor Adora…”

“No! It wasn’t because I was too drunk! We didn’t even try!” Seacat glared at both of them until they started to laugh. Then she glared even harder at them. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go - Sea Hawk and Mermista were the ones with the weird relationship! Seacat didn’t have a relationship. And she didn’t want any, anyway!

Huffing, she focused on eating her fish.

Sea Hawk cleared his throat, covering his mouth - and probably his grin - with his fist. “I’m sorry, Seacat. We shouldn’t have made fun of you.”

“Of course we had to!” Mermista cut in.

“No.” The captain even frowned at the princess. “This might be her first serious relationship. This is a very delicate affair. I should’ve realised this much sooner, and taken steps to help her.”

What? Seacat stared at him, her fish forgotten. “‘Help me’? With what? And how, exactly?”

“Why, with relationships, of course. While I wouldn’t call myself an expert…”

“All your exes want to kill you,” Seacat pointed out. “You’re hardly a good example to follow.”

He gasped. “Not all of them! My dear Mermista here doesn’t want to kill me!”

“Not yet, at least,” Mermista said.

“Not this week, yet.” Seacat scoffed.

“Ah, you wound me!” The captain put a hand on his chest for a moment, then withdrew it. “In any case, as your captain, the sacred bond forged between us compels me to help you in this difficult moment!”

“It’s not a difficult moment!” Seacat snarled. “We drank together, and we slept together - we just slept in the same bed. She didn’t even pull her clothes off! End of discussion!”

“You slipped twice in one conversation,” Mermista said, smirking again. “That’s a clear clue!”

“A clue?”

“Yes! Like in a Mermaid Mystery. You might try to lie to the detective, but such clues betray you!” The princess nodded in what she probably thought was a smart, superior manner.

Seacat scoffed again. “This isn’t a novel. This was just a shore leave.”

“We’re still here,” Sea Hawk said.

“But we’re leaving, right? With the next tide?” Seacat leaned forward. “You settled matters with Princess Frosta, so there’s no need to dwell, and Mermista, you really need to return to Salineas before it falls to the Horde in your absence.”

“Ah… Yes. In theory. But I was told that there’s another matter to discuss with the alliance. Which couldn’t be discussed last evening thanks to someone dragging She-Ra through all the taverns of the harbour.” Mermista glared at her.

“Hey! I didn’t drag her through every tavern in the kingdom.” Seacat hadn’t entered the ones where she was banned, of course.

“Just most of them?”Sea Hawk grinned.

“Really. This is…”

“There they are!” Seacat interrupted the princess, pointing at the trio who had just entered the dining hall. Shrimp, Brain Boy and Blondie. And they looked angry - or annoyed. Whatever. Important was that they were here and could serve as a distraction. “Hey!” Seacat yelled, waving. “We saved you a spot!”

Blondie looked relieved as she approached them, and, for a moment, Seaca felt guilty for using her like this. Then she remembered that this was all Blondie’s fault. If she hadn’t carried Seacat to her room last night, the captain and Mermista wouldn’t have heard anything about it.

So she waited until they were seated and blurted out: “So, what was in that Horde letter?”

Blondie’s smile vanished at once. “Not you too! I already told Glimmer and Bow that it’s just a personal message of no importance. Shadow Weaver is trying to manipulate me, that’s all. And she won’t succeed. Now, that’s all.”

“And we keep telling you that it’s important information that concerns the entire Alliance!” The shrimp replied. “If she’s trying to blackmail you…”

“She won’t succeed. She has no hold over me any more,” Blondie said. “End of discussion.”

It was quite obvious that that wasn’t true - otherwise, the woman wouldn’t be so worked up. Then again, it was her business, not Seacat’s.

Of course the shrimp didn’t see it that way. “But…”

“Glimmer.” Brain Boy finally acted like he had a brain and stopped the princess. “We have to trust Adora.”

“Yes!” Blondie agreed. “Have I given you any reason to distrust my judgement?”

Seqacat really didn’t like the glance the shrimp pointedly sent her way. Not at all! She might not want or need a relationship, but that didn’t mean being interested in her was a mistake or anything!

*****​

 

Chapter 8: The New Frigates

“Psst! Adora!” She peeked down from her bunk. The blonde was asleep. “Hey, Adora!”

Without opening her eyes, the girl below briefly groaned. She didn’t really sound awake. It didn’t matter.

She whispered: “I can’t sleep. Can I sleep in your bed?”

Another groan.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Grinning, she pushed herself off the bed and landed lightly on the floor without making a sound. Well, without making much of a sound - her claws hit the concrete. She tilted her head and listened, her eyes twitching. The others in the barracks didn’t react. Good.

A moment later, she was on the bed. It wasn’t big, but it was big enough for two. Especially if one of them was as nimble as herself. With a satisfied sigh, she made herself comfortable, stretching out at the foot of the bed - Adora’s legs were perfect as a pillow. Much more comfortable than her own, empty bed. Warmer, too.

Curling up, she purred and closed her eyes.

But before she managed to fall asleep, her pillow moved. “Hey! What the… Catra!”

She didn’t open her eyes and growled in response.

“What are you doing here?”

She scoffed. Wasn’t it obvious? “Sleeping.”

“But you’ve got your own bunk! You were ready to fight for it!”

“And?” She still had her own bunk. That didn’t mean she had to sleep in it. It was hers either way. She’d claw anyone who tried to take it.

“‘And’?” She heard Adora sigh. “Never mind. But don’t use my legs as pillows.”

“But they’re comfy.” And warm. Like Adora.

“And they’ll fall asleep if you spend the night on them.”

Huh? “Should they stay awake?”

“Not that kind of asleep. They’ll be all tingly and numb and stuff in the morning!” Adora came close to hissing - she must be mad.

But she couldn’t just give in. That would make her look weak. And you couldn’t look weak. To anyone. Not in the Horde. What could she do? Oh! “Alright,” she whispered back. “I’ll change.”

“Good! I really need… what are you doing?”

That was closer to a shriek than a hiss, she noted with a grin as she snuggled up to her friend, placing her head on Adora’s tummy. “That’s not a leg,” she whispered.

“But… ah, alright.”

She heard and felt the blonde sigh and smiled. That was even better. She took a deep breath, basking in Adora’s scent, and fell asleep.

*****​

Seacat woke up with a frown. Another weird dream. Very weird. If she had to dream of sleeping in Blondie’s bed, why couldn’t she dream of something more… exciting? But no, instead she dreamt of some Horde children sleepover.

She made a gagging noise and rolled out of her hammock. It was Blondie’s fault, anyway. If the woman had come by to see them off, instead of avoiding her and going off with the shrimp and Brain Boy for another ‘Important Meeting of the Princess Alliance’ - Seacat made a face - then she wouldn’t be dreaming of her. They would’ve settled things. Made it clear that nothing happened or would happen. Just two women drinking together. Like crew.

She nodded to herself and stretched, then rolled her neck, taking deep breaths of the cool - but not cold - morning air at sea. The sun was rising - she was on time. A week out from the Kingdom of Snows, the temperature had much improved. No need to watch out for drifting ice any more, either. That had been a pain - a fast ship like the Dragon’s Daughter IV could wreck itself if it ran into even a small patch of drifting ice, and if there was fog, you often barely saw the things in time to avoid them.

After grabbing some hardtack and a dried fish, she climbed up to the bridge, where the captain was manning the conn. “Ah, there you are! Just in time!”

“Of course,” she replied with a slight frown. It wasn’t as if she’d oversleep at sea. That was limited to shore leave, when it didn’t matter.

He yawned. “Just keep us steady - the wind doesn’t look like it’ll change.”

She nodded. “Aye-Aye, captain.”

“I assume my dear Mermista is still asleep.”

She grunted in response. Of course, the princess was still asleep - she never got up in time.

“Slept well?” the captain asked.

She shrugged. “Can’t complain.” She wasn’t about to discuss her weird dreams with Sea Hawk. He’d either think she was pining for Blondie, or that it was a sign for an adventure or something. And dreams were just dreams. Weird or not.

“You know, we left without properly saying goodbye to our allies…”

Seacat glared at him. “We have a mission, and they have a meeting. Everyone’s doing their part.”

He chuckled. “Don’t let Princess Glimmer hear that!”

Ah? Seacat grinned. Of course, she’d do exactly that! Once they met again.

*****​

An hour later, the captain was asleep, and Mermista was awake - well, the princess was up, but she was still yawning and looking half-asleep as she stumbled on deck.

“Morning!” Seacat yelled.

Mermista grumbled a response that didn’t seem to consist of any words, then spent a minute leaning over the railing and staring at the sea. Finally, she turned and climbed the stairs leading to the bridge.

“We’re on course, and there haven’t been any problems,” Seacat told her.

“Ah, good.”

Seacat narrowed her eyes a little behind the wheel. She expected some snarky or grouchy comment, not some half-hearted agreement. Something wasn’t right.

The princess took a step to the railing here and looked out over the sea again. As if there was anything interesting out there that Seacat hadn’t seen. Well, perhaps Mermista was sensing something in the water…

But then the woman turned and smiled at her. “So… did you enjoy the Princess Prom?”

Definitely something afoot. “The food was great. The company was a little too princess-y. And it would have been a lot better if we’d have kicked Horde Bug’s butt.”

“That’s diplomacy for you,” Mermista replied. “Everyone lies and plays nice while trying to get one over the other.”

Seacat huffed in response. “Doing what’s expected is a recipe for defeat,” she quoted the captain.

“We made a powerful ally, so it’s not as the whole thing was a failure.”

“And a lot of princesses got the completely wrong impression of the Horde,” Seacat retorted. “They’ll be harder to recruit.”

“Only until they see the Horde’s work first-hand.”

“By then it’ll be too late,” she replied. “But that’s a problem for you and your friends. I’m just a sailor.”

Mermista snorted at that - but once again, no follow-up comment appeared. Nor did she blame Seacat for the Horde spy’s reception. “So… you liked spending time with Adora?”

Oh, no! “I couldn’t exactly tell She-Ra to get lost, could I?”

Now Mermista’s expression turned into that frown Seacat was so familiar with. Although it was usually aimed at the captain. “Of course you could. And you did that often enough to me. And to other princesses.”

“Well, you’re…” Seacat trailed off. A friend? Not like the others? Familiar? “You’re you,” she said instead.

“Why, thank you.” Mermista bared her teeth. “I feel so proud.”

Seacat shrugged in response, baring her fangs. “You helped blame me for the whole Horde thing,” she told her. “And the shrimp really needs to be told more often that she doesn’t get to order everyone around.”

Mermista started to nod, then sighed. “Ugh. That was supposed to go differently.” She shook her head and sighed again. “Anyway, let’s restart.” An almost creepy smile appeared on her face. “Do you like Adora?”

“What?” Seacat stared at the princess. What kind of question was that?

“You spent a day drinking with her and the night in the same bed.” Mermista grinned. “If you don’t like her, then something went really wrong.”

“That’s called getting drunk,” Seacat shot back. She didn’t hiss, but she growled a little. This was getting too personal, and what relationship she had was no one’s business but her own. Not that she had any relationship, anyway!

To her surprise, Mermista looked concerned. “Do you regret what happened?”

Ugh. “Nothing happened, which I told you already. Several times!” She almost turned the wheel because of the stupid question.

“Ugh.” Mermista looked to the side. “I should’ve expected that. I’m no good at this.”

“Then don’t do it!” Seacat snapped. That should’ve been obvious.

“Someone has to, and Sea Hawk isn’t exactly…”

“Exactly what?” Seacat glared at the princess. If she was bad-mouthing the captain…

“What? No, he’s not… Ugh. Look, he’s convinced you are in love with Adora. That kind of colours his advice to you.”

Love? What the…? She shook her head. “There’s nothing between us! She thinks I’m her dead friend, that’s all.” Really.

“Alright.” Mermista nodded, but Seacat couldn’t help feeling that the princess wasn’t completely convinced of the truth of her words. “Anyway, if you want to talk about whatever happened or didn’t happen or should have happened, you can come to me, OK?” She grinned. “No teasing, promise!”

“You already teased me,” Seacat replied with a growl.

“Ah, I guess I - we - did. But we didn’t realise just how complicated things had become, back then.”

“What? Complicated?” Seacat blinked. Was her and Blondie’s… tavern tour the talk of the alliance or what?

“Yes. We thought it was just a drunken fling, you know? Drinking, dancing, dallying?”

“Dallying?”

The princess gave her a flat stare. “Sex.”

“Oh.” She blinked and tried to remember the word. It sounded like something to use when talking to princesses. “Anyway, we just drank and danced, and didn’t dally. It’s not complicated at all.”

Seacat smiled, but Mermista gave her another of those stares that she usually reserved for Sea Hawk when he did something stupid.

“What?”

*****​

“Well, we found the Horde squadron roaming the Southern Seas!” Sea Hawk, standing at the steering wheel, beamed. “Success! And it took us only three days after setting out from Salineas!”

“It looks more as if they found us,” Seacat corrected her captain. Then she flinched when another shot from the closest Horde frigate chasing them fell a little too close to the Dragon’s Daughter IV. Not close enough to damage them, or splash them, but too close for her liking.

“Nonsense!” The captain, of course, was unflappable. “Our mission was to verify its presence before Mermista’s navy starts their own operations, and that’s exactly what we did!”

“We still need to escape to actually report in,” Seacat pointed out. And that was proving a little harder than expected. “We should’ve left them behind already,” she added. “Instead, they’ve kept up.” Granted, that was because of the wind blowing straight from their aft. If they were tacking against the wind, the Dragon’s Daughter IV would’ve outpaced the frigates easily - but even so, the much larger Horde ships shouldn’t have been able to keep up.

“That is quite odd, yes,” Sea Hawk said, rubbing his moustache.

“Quite dangerous too,” Seacat pointed out as she pulled on a line to straighten the mainsail just a little bit more, to edge out a tiny bit of additional speed. They had set every square inch of sail they could, and it still didn’t seem to be enough. If they couldn’t sail away, they would have to fight. Ram the closest frigate, then board it… Seacat would fight to the death before she’d let herself be taken by the Horde scum.

“Indeed!” He sounded cheerful. “It’s a harrowing adventure! Imagine the tale we will be able to tell my dear Mermista after this!”

“We need to escape them first before we can boast about it.” And it didn’t look like the Horde would let them escape. Even worse, they still had no clue how the damn frigates were so damn fast. Usually, Salinean ships were faster and handled better than their Horde counterparts, and the Dragon’s Daughter IV outsailed either easily. But if the Horde suddenly had improved so much, then that changed the whole balance. And not in the Alliance’s favour. “How are they doing this?” she spat. Then she gasped. “Did they manage to finally get a skiff’s magic to work over water?” And on a ship the size of a frigate? That would… the Horde would dominate the seas!

Even Sea Hawk looked worried now. For a moment, then he shook his head. “I doubt that. They would’ve sent out skiffs to harass us in that case. No, it has to be something else. Some added propulsion, indeed, but not like a skiff.” He pulled his telescope out and handed it to her. “See if you can spot something that’s different about these frigates.”

“But…” She glanced at the sails. If she didn’t keep adjusting them, they would lose speed. And even the slightest loss of speed could prove fatal in this situation.

“We need the information. Salineas needs it,” he told her.

She clenched her teeth and nodded, then raised the telescope.

The sails of the frigates, billowing with the wind, hampered her view, of course - she couldn’t spot much. And even with the Horde scum spread out, she barely caught glimpses of the decks. Yet… “Their wakes! Their wakes are different!”

“Oh?”

“Yes!” Seacat had seen the wakes of Horde frigates before. The difference was small, but it was there.”

“Perhaps a new hull shape?” Sea Hawk speculated as another shot hit the water a few dozen yards off their stern.

“I’m no shipbuilder,” she retorted. “But whatever it is, it has to be what makes the Horde Scum so damn fast.”

“But not fast enough to catch us!” Sea Hawk yelled.

“Not so far…” Seacat started to say, then looked at where he was pointing.

And smiled. “A squall!” There was a medium-sized rain cloud in the distance - once they reached it, they’d be all but invisible to the Horde scum.

“Yes! Just in time to save us from relentless pursuit, a squall appears! That’s what I call a harrowing adventure!”

“Don’t sing the shanty before we actually make our escape,” she muttered. But it looked like they would make it out of this mess.

The next shot was so close, part of the water thrown up was carried by the wind to the Dragon’s Daughter IV.

Seacat raced down to the main deck and started adjusting the mainsail again. They only needed a smidgen more speed.

Another shot - no, two. And the ship bucked from the force of the blast behind it. The sails fluttered for a moment, and Seacat pulled with all her weight to correct that. They only had to hold out a little longer.

The Dragon’s Daughter IV swung a little to starboard - Seacat gasped, then realised that the captain was adjusting the course since the wind was changing a little. If it kept changing…

The next shots fell further behind them. And the wind was still turning. And she could feel the first drops of rain on her fur as she raced to the foresail.

Yes! Seacat bared her teeth in a fierce smile as more and more drops hit her face and upper body and splashed against her leggings. They would make their escape!

*****

“...and as soon as we disappeared in the squall, we changed course, and by the time we were out of the rain, the Horde scum was far off the course, unable to catch up any more as we tacked back!” Sea Hawk finished with a wide smile, arms spread.

“Uh.” Mermista didn’t look impressed - she was slouching on her throne, Seacat noticed. She wasn’t bored, though - she looked annoyed. “We already knew you escaped, since you made it back here.”

“But not how! A feat of daring seamanship, a harrowing adventure, an escape in the last second, before mysterious foes caught up…”

“Speaking of catching up,” the princess interrupted the captain. “How exactly did they manage that?”

“That’s a very good question.” Sea Hawk nodded with a serious expression. After a moment, he added: “We don’t know, though.”

“Ugh.” Mermista rolled her eyes, even more annoyed now. Frustrated. And not in the Sea Hawk way.

“They had a different wake,” Seacat said before the princess could start an argument. “We don’t know if they have a different hull, or if there’s something else.”

“We wondered if they managed to get a skiff’s magic working on water, but they would’ve used skiffs against us in that case,” Sea Hawk said. “And they didn’t. So…” He shrugged.

“The Horde frigates were always slower than our own frigates. The Horde’s yards were focusing on quantity, not quality,” Mermista said. “And their designs showed a lack of experience. Salineas, however, has a naval tradition reaching back centuries.”

As expected of an island kingdom, of course. Yet… “That doesn’t mean they’ll stay behind forever. With all their weird magic and tech, they could’ve found a way to, ah, even things out,” Seacat said.

“More than even things out,” Sea Hawk said. “If they can almost catch the Dragon’s Daughter IV, the fastest ship on all the seas, then they will outsail any frigate.”

Which meant the Salinean fleet would be horribly outmatched. Even the best skill and experience wouldn’t help if the other side had such an advantage.

Mermista’s expression showed that she was fully aware of this. “We need to know what they did to their ships.”

“Exactly!” Sea Hawk beamed. “And I have a plan for finding out!”

And Seacat had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

*****​

Splitshard, once a thriving port according to Sea Hawk, now the largest Horde naval base in the Southern Sea, looked busy. At least as far as Seacat could tell looking through a telescope from a mountaintop a few miles away, across the bay. The Horde scum was filling the piers, a few marching in formation, most running this and that way, like ants on an anthill, carrying sacks of supplies back and forth between warehouses and piers.

Warehouses that had the typical look of horde buildings - massive, flat-roofed and ugly, with lots of pipes running up and down the walls and across the roof. Warehouses that had replaced whatever buildings had stood there before the conquest. There wasn’t much left of the original town - the walls had been turned into massive fortifications, earthworks dotted with turrets and barbed wire and most of the town had been remodelled, Horde style. A few older houses still stood, forming a small quarter in the landwards part of it, but they looked run-down as well.

She clenched her teeth. Whatever the Horde touched, it ruined. Like her own home.

Seacat took a deep breath and forced herself to focus on the harbour. They couldn’t do anything about the town, not yet. They were here to find out what made the new frigates of the Horde fleet so damn fast.

“Hm…” she heard Sea Hawk next to her. “All the ships look the same.”

They did. Typical Horde frigates, utterly exchangeable. They didn’t even have proper names, as far as Seacat knew. Just numbers. But that was enough to identify the frigates they sought - or, rather, their absence. “I don’t see the ships that chased us,” she said.

“Must be still at sea,” the captain replied. “But I doubt that those were the only of their class.”

“Yes.” That wouldn’t be the Horde’s style - they were big on uniformity, as Mermista called it. But the Horde frigates in port did look like the old, familiar ones. Sails, cannons, decks… She narrowed her eyes. That frigate in the corner was sporting additional portholes in the hull, at the stern. Large ones. Or… air intakes?

She pointed it out to Sea Hawk.

“Well-spotted!” He praised her. “And most of the frigates have them, or so it seems - that must be a sign of the new modification.”

“Yes.”

“Now all we need is to sneak in and find out what exactly was done to them!”

Sneak into the largest Horde naval base in the area. And out again.

Great. “No disguises!” she said.

“Of course not!” Sea Hawk scoffed. “We already used that plan to infiltrate Serpent’s Maw. We can’t use the same trick twice. Not in close succession, at least!”

That was good to hear. But… Seacat frowned. “What’s your plan, then?”

“We’ll swim, of course!” The captain beamed at her. “We need to inspect the hull of the Horde frigates anyway, so we might as well start in the water already! And they’ll never expect that!”

“It’s a naval base,” Seacat pointed out. “They’ll be watching the sea.”

“For ships and boats. But not for people in the water. And we’ll be diving!”

“Diving.” She felt her ears flatten against her head. Diving. “You said swimming.”

“It’s the same, just underwater.”

In theory. “We should have Mermista to help with that.” Without the princess’s power, Seacat didn’t think they would have an easy time swimming that far underwater.

“She’s needed at home - with rumours of new Horde ships spreading, the Salinean people need her. But don’t worry - I’ve got a perfect plan!” Sea Hawk almost stood up and pointed to the sky, but she managed to drag him down before he exposed them.

“Not here,” she hissed.

“Sorry.” He grinned in return. “But you’ll love it!”

*****​

She didn’t, in fact, love it. “Snorkelling?” She asked, looking at the devices the captain had laid out on the deck of the Dragon’s Daughter IV, which was currently hidden in a small cove further down the coast.

“Yes! With snorkels, we can stay underwater as long as we need to - long enough to pass the entrance to the harbour!” Sea Hawk raised his arm and pointed towards the sky, which was darkening already as the sun was setting.

“Unless they have patrols underwater - they have fishpeople in the Horde,” Seacat reminded him.

“Fishpeople might be able to breathe underwater, but they cannot see in the darkness - unlike you. As long as we wait until the sun has set, we shall be like ghosts in the night, floating past them with no Horde soldier the wiser!” Sea Hawk nodded to his own words. “Although some fishpeople have very good noses, so we’re in need of a small distraction. Just in case.”

“A distraction?” Seacat frowned. Then her eyes widened as she remembered what else the captain had brought with them. Fish oil. Concentrated fish oil. “No! I have a good sense of smell as well!” And she couldn’t stand the stench.

“You’ll be underwater, and unless you suddenly start breathing water, your nose will be fine,” the captain retorted.

“I won’t stay underwater,” she said. “And the stuff reeks. You want us to coat ourselves with it?” Her lovely fur… She shuddered.

“Only a little, to dampen our own scent.” He nodded, “I learned that when I was sneaking into the Underwater Grotto after I was banned for the first time. They have fishmen bouncers.”

“I know - I’ve been there, remember?” Seacat reminded him. She hadn’t been banned, after all.

“Yes, of course. Anyway - just a cup of oil, spread over your skin - your fur - will fool the best noses in the sea. Although it won’t fool sharks if you happen to be bleeding.”

He was looking at her expectantly, but she didn’t ask how he had found out that tidbit - they would be here all night if he launched into another tale. And they had a mission. “If this doesn’t come out of my fur, I’ll keep dousing you in it until it’s gone.”

He laughed.

*****​

An hour later, they were ready. And stinking. Seacat had to plug her nostrils; the fish oil stench was so bad, it had even put her off of having fish for dinner. At least when snorkelling, she wouldn’t smell it.

And they wouldn’t have to swim the whole distance - they could use planks disguised as driftwood as floaters to approach with the rising tide most of the way. In theory at least.

She checked her belt and cutlass again so she was sure she wouldn’t lose it in the water. Without her leggings, it rubbed her thigh a little, but that wouldn’t be a problem in the water. “I’m ready.”

“So am I!” Sea Hawk struck a pose and flexed his muscles.

“Save that for Mermista,” she replied.

He pouted for a moment, then smiled. “I will! I might tell her of this adventure when we’re in her private bath!”

“You should also use the fish oil so she can get a better impression,” Seacat told him with a smirk.

“That’s a…” He blinked, then frowned at her. “That’s a nasty trick you tried to pull on me!”

Seacat giggled and grabbed her plank. It was time to start their mission.

*****​

Even with the planks, and the rising tide dragging them along, it was a long way to the base. By the time they were approaching the entrance to the Horde harbour, Seacat wasn’t worried about the state of her fur any more - she wished she had slathered more grease and oil on her. The water wasn’t very cold here in the south, but she was still feeling it.

“Aright!” she heard Sea Hawk whisper from ahead of her. “Now we’ll have to snorkel. Follow my lead!”

“Yes,” she replied, more loudly - he didn’t have her ears. A moment later, she saw him mount his snorkel and slide under the water, though still holding on to the plank. She followed his example, biting into the mouthpiece when the cold water covered her head and entered her ears. That was one reason she preferred swimming to diving - her ears weren’t made for underwater.

She realised quickly that the snorkel must have come into contact with the fish oil; she could taste the oil with every breath. But they were already committed - even underwater, she could see the lights of the base’s garrison sweep over the sea ahead of them. It wouldn’t help them, though. Not to spot two divers.

She told herself that a few more times as the tide carried them closer and closer to the harbour entrance. Then she spotted something ahead, underwater - something massive and long. She held her breath for a moment before she realised that it was the chain that secured the harbour’s entrance. The links were as large her entire torso, she noticed as she slipped above it. There was no way even a Salinean frigate would be able to force her way through that. Smaller boats, though, might work, she noted.

But they were now inside the harbour - and no alert had been sounded. As far as she could tell, at least. And Sea Hawk was still ahead of her. Things were going well. All they had to do now was to find one of the modified frigates and inspect their stern and hulls.

The captain had stopped moving, letting her catch up. “That one,” she whispered as soon as she reached him, pointing at the second frigate at the pier ahead.

He nodded in response and went under again, only the snorkel peeking out of the water. Time to lose the planks - they wouldn’t make it out of the harbour with them anyway; not against the tide.

Sea Hawk was a good swimmer, better than her, she had to admit, but he was pacing himself - she could easily keep up as they swam towards their target.

The Horde frigate quickly loomed over them - she had to crane her neck to look at the masts with the reefed sails for a last check before she focused on the hull. Sixteen gunports on one side; that hadn’t changed. She couldn’t check the cannons themselves, since the ports were closed, but the chase guns on the foredeck looked like the same guns she was familiar with. There was no one on the foredeck, as far as she could tell, but there would be a watch on the bridge; the Horde wasn’t incompetent.

And indeed - as they swam along the hull to the stern, she could see two figures on the bridge, leaning against the railing. Damn! If they looked down… She quickly reached out to Sea Hawk and tugged on his arm until he looked at her. Then she pointed down.

He didn’t argue - he simply dived down. She followed. If they swam under the keel of the ship, they could surface for air on the other side, and then start diving to inspect the stern.

As she dived, she ran her hand over the hull - it was plated, but with a different material than usual. That alone wouldn’t explain the higher speed, though. All the Salinean ships had sheaths on their hulls as well, and the Dragon’s Daughter IV’s hull was kept immaculately clean thanks to its construction.

She glanced towards the stern as she cleared the keel - there was something sticking out of the keel at the aft… And there was something moving there! Someone - a fishman!

If the Horde scum raised the alarm, Seacat and Sea Hawk were dead - they couldn’t escape the harbour. Not with everyone looking for them.

No time to resurface - if the enemy had spotted them, it would be too late. She clenched her teeth and swam towards the figure, drawing her cutlass halfway to her mark.

Seacat hated fighting underwater - she couldn’t use most fencing techniques Sea Hawk had taught her, and the water’s resistance made her feel sluggish and slow. But she knew how to fight - be it against sea monsters or Horde scum. Same difference, anyway.

The fishman - she couldn’t make out his exact type, but he didn’t have tentacles and wasn’t a shark - was doing some work on the thing protruding from the keel. Fixing a hole or something? It didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that he was so focused on his work, he didn’t notice her until she was almost on top of him. But when he saw her, he didn’t hesitate - he immediately tried to flee.

And the man was fast - if she hadn’t been about to strike, he would’ve escaped. But as it was, her energy blade caught him in the chest as he whirled, and he bent over, clutching his ribs.

That gave her enough time to grab onto his flailing arm with her free hand, digging her claws into his flesh. He tried to shake her off as she drew her cutlass back for another stab at him, but without success - she wrapped her legs around his waist before he managed to free his arm at the cost of her claws carving deep gouges into it.

Blood started to colour the water around them, yet the fishman was still fighting - he struck at her with his good arm, and she only managed to deflect the blow so it hit her shoulder. That also stopped her from stabbing him - her thrust went wide.

At least he had stopped trying to drag her to the surface with him, but her air was starting to run out. Damn. She had to finish this quickly! He hit her in her side, hard enough to make her lose air but not hard enough to dislodge her, and she lashed out with her left hand, slashing across his face.

He recoiled - a familiar reaction, somehow - and hit her with both flailing arms. If not for the water softening the blows, she would’ve been doomed. But she needed air!

She struck again, this time going for his gills. Her claws sliced through the soft flesh there and tore into his throat. They got stuck on something, almost entangled, but then he hit her again, and as the force of his frantic blow finally forced her away from him and dislodged her snorkel, it also forced her claws to come free - taking half his throat with them.

Seacat lunged again, holding on to the thrashing, dying Horde scum. He couldn’t surface. Not alive, not dead - that would alert the watch on deck. But she needed air. Damn, she needed to breathe.

She pushed herself up, using her legs to push the fishman down herself towards the surface, grabbing frantically for her snorkel. If she stayed underwater she should be safe. But the snorkel was full of water - and she didn’t have the breath left to blow it clear.

She had to risk it. She surfaced and gulped down air, chest heaving, then quickly emptied the snorkel and dived below the water again. If anyone had seen her… But no lights came searching for her. And she could breathe again - although the air faintly tasted like blood through the snorkel.

Blood… damn, any shark within miles would soon smell the blood in the water. And any fishman with a sensitive nose, too. Where was Sea Hawk? And where was the Horde scum?

She took a deep breath and dived again, swimming downwards as fast as she could. Where was… Oh! Sea Hawk was there, sticking the fishman’s corpse to the hull? She should’ve thought of that! That way, it wouldn’t surface and tip off the Horde sailors on watch.

She swam to him, then pointed at the pipe the Horde scum had been fixing. It was large - and aimed straight at the rudder. And open. That must be what made the frigates faster! But how did it work?

She gripped it - metal, and quite thick - and peered inside. There was something glowing dimly, very dimly, inside. But even her sharp eyes couldn’t make out what it was. And she needed to breathe again.

She had enough air left to clear her snorkel, so she didn’t have to actually surface, but it was still too close for comfort. How long would it be until the fishman would be missed? Did he have a schedule to report in? An upcoming shift change? She didn’t know how the Horde ran things. She should have asked Blondie about such things.

No - this wasn’t the time to think about what she should’ve done. She had a mission to finish. If only she knew…

Sea Hawk surfacing next to her interrupted her thoughts. He pointed forward, towards the bow of the frigate. Oh! She nodded and sank a little, then swam along the hull towards the bow.

Yes! Below the waterline - way below - there was an opening in the middle, protected by a grate. The same width of the pipe in the back. So…. water would go in here, and out in the back. Somehow pushing the ship ahead.

The captain pointed up again, then swam up. Seacat followed him. This time, he surfaced, so she did the same, resisting the urge to shake the water out of her ears.

“We’ve got it,” he announced. “Now it’s time for a distraction!”

Distraction? Her eyes widened as she saw him pulling a bottle from his belt. What was he trying to do with his spare fish oil...? No, that wasn’t fish oil! Of course, Sea Hawk wouldn’t sneak into a Horde base without planning to set something on fire!

As she realised this, the captain quickly pulled the cap off the bottle, revealing a wick stuffed into the top part. He pulled it out, then activated his energy sword and set it on fire.

Seacat dived under the water - just in case he missed his throw. When she resurfaced, she saw flickering lights above her, on the frigate’s foredeck. And she could hear cries from the watch.

It was past time to get the hell out of the harbour. As fast as she could, Seacat swam towards the exit at snorkel depth. Which wasn’t as fast as she liked, what with the tide still rising. But she was still faster than Sea Hawk, if not by far.

And as much as she didn’t like to admit it, the distraction was working - everyone seemed to be headed towards the frigate, instead of hunting for them. Then again, it wouldn’t take them long to realise that saboteurs were in the water, and start searching. They had to hurry and get out of the harbour so they could go with the tide, further into the bay, away from the base.

She kept swimming, expecting searchlights to go off at any moment. But they didn’t. Not until they had passed over the chain again and entered the bay proper, where the tide pulled them away from prying eyes, to the floaters they had stashed in advance to help them cross the bay to the Dragon’s Daughter IV.

*****​

 

Chapter 9: The Milk Run

“Cadets! Fall in line!”

She growled as she started moving - the instructor was screaming loud enough to hurt her ears. Were they deaf or something? It wasn’t uncommon in the Horde, especially among former artillerymen. Or sailors. The big cannons were incredibly loud.

But they didn’t need to yell that loud, she thought as she jogged towards the wall across the square. She didn’t need to be the fastest, she only needed to beat Kyle, who was still limping from his mishap on the obstacle course, to not be the last cadet of the formation. And she could beat him in her sleep even when he wasn’t hurt.

Then she saw Adora, already at parade rest at the head of the line, glaring at her. Scoffing, she sped up. Her friend was always on her case about not making an effort - as if you needed to. She’d seen the actual soldiers - they never gave their all in drills. As long as she did enough to succeed, everything was fine.

She grinned as she took up position next to Adora, elbowing Lonnie out of the way. “Hey, Adora,” she whispered.

“Catra!” her friend hissed back. “You need to be quicker! The instructor knows you can do better.”

She was about to retort, but then Kyle finally arrived, and the instructor started screaming again, and her ears hurt once more. As if they would win the war by standing extra-straight in formation! All that would do was to present the princesses with better targets! She suppressed a chuckle at her thought.

“Cadet Catra! Did I say something funny?”

She froze and clenched her teeth. Damn. The Instructor had noticed. “No, Force Sergeant!” she yelled.

“Then why were you grinning like a demented rebel? Huh?”

She stood ram-rod straight, as their first instructor - who had been a deaf former artillerywoman - had called it. “I don’t know, Force Sergeant!”

“If you can grin like an idiot, you can do pushups - all of you! Give me thirty, everyone!”

She hissed as she dropped down and started doing pushups. This was bad. And so unfair - everyone would be on her case for this as if it was her fault that the instructor was an arse.

“I told you!” Adora whispered next to her.

“Shut up!” she hissed back.

“If you can still whisper, you can do ten more!”

She suppressed a growl. This was Adora’s fault! Not hers!

*****​

In her hammock on the Dragon’s Daughter IV, on the way back to Salineas, Seacat sighed without opening her eyes. Another weird, stupid dream. She had never been a soldier, much less a Horde soldier. And she’d never been drilled like this - the closest she had come to such exercises was observing some Horde scum walking in formation in the naval base they had left yesterday. It was better than dreaming of the dead Horde fishman, but still...

It was all Blondie’s fault. If the woman hadn’t insisted, even drunk, that Seacat was her missing, dead friend, she wouldn’t keep having such weird nonsense dreams. She’d give the princess a piece of her mind next time they met - and not the piece of her mind that kept dreaming of her!

*****​

“And this is how the propulsion mechanism looked, yes? Yes! Oh, I see! They must have managed to find a solution for the fouling. Something to prevent the impurities found in seawater from building up inside a crystal-laced matrix when the water’s partially steamed while being funnelled through it. How ingenious! I’m almost jealous! Field trip log, day seven: First results have appeared but require further examination and research!”

Seacat glanced at the others in Mermista’s throne room while the hair princess was talking to herself - or to the thing in her hand. Mermista was closely paying attention but trying not to look like it, lounging on the throne - but the way she tightly held her trident betrayed her. Sea Hawk was smiling at the princess and acting as if he didn’t notice.

Brain Boy was nodding along with the hair princess, but the shrimp looked lost yet trying to fake it. And Blondie…

...was looking at Seacat with a smile on her face.

Seacat quickly looked away, then clenched her teeth for her stupid reaction. People could look and smile at her how much they wanted to; that was no skin off her butt. She felt her cheeks heat up a little and drew a hissing breath as she stood straighter, pushing her chest out.

Seacat had no reason to be embarrassed - she had every reason to be proud, instead! They had returned with vital information for the Princess Alliance! A harrowing adventure, indeed, as Sea Hawk had told it - even if the frigate he had set on fire probably hadn’t burned down to the waterline.

Then she realised that she was standing ramrod straight - just as she had been standing in line in her dream.

She forced herself to slouch a little and shifted her weight, then put one foot in front. “So… what can we do about those ships? As they are, they’ll sail circles around the Salinean frigates.”

“Oh…” The Hair Princess looked as if she hadn’t even considered that. That wasn’t a good sign. “Well, I guess… the mechanism that provides propulsion by pumping water through the ship requires both a sort of fuel and air - the additional air intakes at the stern lead to that conclusion. Otherwise, they wouldn’t really be necessary. Although I wonder why they didn’t add the air intakes on the front of the ship.”

“That’s called the bow,” Seacat told her.

“Right, the bow.” The princess blinked. “Did you ever think of putting a giant bow there? To shoot giant arrows at the enemy? I just did, and it sounds like a fun thing!”

“That’s called chase guns, and we’ve had them for a while,” Mermista cut in. “Back on topic: How can we counter those ships?”

“Well, as I said, they need some sort of fuel and air, according to my preliminary calculations and deductions. And, as the grate on the water intake on the front - the bow, sorry - shows, the pump mechanism is also susceptible to foreign objects. Whether they could damage the mechanism or would merely reduce its efficiency remains to be discovered. In any case, clogging the intake should greatly hamper the whole propulsion system,” the Hair Princess rambled on. “As would, presumably, clogging up the air intakes. They probably are quite close to the actual mechanism, by the way, and must be rather voluminous - otherwise, from an efficiency point of view, it would’ve been much better to add intakes in the front as well.”

“Clogging up the intakes, hmm?” Sea Hawk was rubbing his moustache, Seacat noticed. “That sounds like a daring plan!”

“You’d need to get very, very close,” Seacat pointed out.

“Exactly! A harrowing adventure!”

“I don’t think that we’re that desperate yet,” Mermista said.

“Coulda fooled me,” the shrimp mumbled under her breath - Seacat overheard her, of course - which prompted Brain Boy and Blondie to frown at their friend.

“Not to mention that we’d have to face their guns to get close enough to clog their pipes,” Seacat added. “Best case, that’s two chase guns handled by their best gunners. Worst case, they turn and give us a broadside.” And even average Horde gunners wouldn’t miss too much at point-blank range.

Sea Hawk, of course, looked even more eager.

“And even if you can manage, you’re just one crew. We’d need at least one ship per enemy frigate,” Mermista said. “Small ships with expert sailors willing to face such odds…”

“Exactly!”

“Well, I could help with that!” Hair Princess piped up.

“You could?” Mermista looked surprised.

“Sure I could! A catapult to deliver the payload, and you won’t have to go near the enemy at all!” The princess’s hair tentacles were moving rapidly as she started sketching things on a whiteboard nearby. And on the wall next to it. Mermista wouldn’t be pleased.

“A catapult! That could be used with different payloads, right?” Sea Hawk asked, beaming at the princess.

“Sure, I guess,” the Hair Princess replied without looking up from her scribbled notes.

“Perfect! This might revolutionise boarding tactics!”

“No!” Seacat blurted out - together with half the people in the room.

*****​

An hour later, the meeting had broken up. Officially, at least - it had become a research and development session, as the Hair Princess called it, long before that, of course. Seacat didn’t care either way. As long as the Alliance found a way to stop the Horde frigates - preferably without sending brave sailors, like Seacat herself, to their doom - she was fine with it. Although she wasn’t looking forward to having a catapult installed on the Dragon’s Daughter IV. That was as bad as hiring Sea Hawk to transport a cargo full of oil drums.

“That was very brave of you,” Blondie interrupted Seacat’s thoughts. “Sneaking into the naval base like that…”

Seacat narrowed her eyes a little, then grinned and shrugged. “What can I say? We’re the best!” They had done well, after all.

The shrimp frowned a little at her boasting, Seacat noted, but Blondie smiled. “Though now it’s our turn. We’ll have to find out what fuel those frigates need.”

Seacat hid her frown. If she had paid more attention to the warehouses in the base, she might’ve found out that information as well. She should have, in any case, but she had been too focused on the ships. Sloppy. And now Blondie would have to do a spy mission. “I still say we could sneak into the naval base again.”

“You probably could,” Blondie admitted, “but then who would fetch the materials Entrapta needs?”

Someone with a slower boat. Which might mean the princess’s devices wouldn’t be ready in time for the next battle. If they were too slow, a possible Horde blockade might stop them entirely. There were good reasons for Sea Hawk and Seacat not doing the spy mission, but she didn’t like them anyway. “Well, don’t get caught. Wouldn’t want to have all our work be ruined.”

Blondie snorted. “We won’t!”

“And if we are, I’ll get us out,” the shrimp butted in. “I can move us across the entire Fright Zone in a single teleport,” she boasted.

“Yes, you’re really good at running away,” Seacat told her with a wide smile that grew even wider when she saw the princess scowl.

*****​

Seacat spotted Blondie before the other woman reached the pier that the Dragon’s Daughter IV was tied to and sighed. She knew that walk: All determination and stubbornness. Like Mermista when she was angry. No, actually it was different. And she hadn’t seen Blondie like that before, had she? So why...

“Hello.”

And there she was. Seacat forced her stupid thoughts away. “Ahoy,” she replied with a grin.

“Permission to come aboard?”

Oh? Had she been reading up on sailing? “We’re no fancy navy ship with all that stuff. Hop on deck.”

Blondie did. She wasn’t jumping as easily as Seacat, or with as much style as Sea Hawk, but it was still impressive. Sort of.

“I thought you were planning your spy mission,” Seacat said. Just as she was preparing the ship for their own mission.”

“Well, I told them all I knew. I was never actually in the Horde Supply Corps, so that wasn’t all that much,” Blondie said. “Glimmer and Mermista will be sorting it out.”

That made sense. Mermista knew all about the Horde supply routes by sea, and the shrimp would know about the landlubber side of the war. Or should - Bright Moon had been on the frontlines for years, after all, and the shrimp apparently was the commander of their army.

“So you came to help me get the ship ready because you were bored.” Seacat nodded as if that was obvious.

“No!” Blondie blinked. “I mean… not that I won’t help, but I wasn’t bored.”

“You weren’t? Those were some of the most boring meetings I had ever seen,” Seacat lied. She had seen and attended far worse.

“Really?” Blondie looked surprised, and, for a moment, Seacat thought she would call her on her claim. Then the other woman shook her head. “No, I came for another reason.” She stood a little straighter and narrowed her blue eyes slightly, facing Seacat. “Why are you needling Glimmer?”

Oh. Seacat narrowed her eyes in turn. Defending her best friend, was she? “Someone has to, to keep her head from getting too big.” And it was fun to see her all worked up, of course.

“She isn’t like that!” Blondie protested. “She works very hard. And she cares about everyone.”

This time, Seacat huffed. “She’s a princess and thinks she knows best.”

“Well…” Blondie looked quite cute with that scrunched-up expression, but she couldn’t deny this, could she? “But that’s still no reason to make her mad!”

“It’s also funny.” Seacat bared her fangs at Blondie. “And she needs to learn how to control her temper before she becomes queen. I’m actually helping her.”

Blondie opened her mouth, then closed it before opening it again. “That’s… That’s…” Suddenly, she frowned at Seacat. “You’re just doing this because you think it’s fun, aren’t you?”

Rats. Seacat took care to shrug in an especially bored-looking way. “You can have more than one reason for doing something, can’t you?”

The frown didn’t vanish. “Yes. But you’re doing it because you think it’s funny.”

Seacat was frowning herself now. “Well, it is funny. You should try it yourself,” she added with a slightly forced grin. She had no reason to feel bad - it was funny, but also needed. Two birds, one stone or something.

Once more, Blondie gaped at her. Then the woman sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Glimmer doesn’t think it’s funny.”

“That’s part of why it’s funny,” Seacat retorted. “Don’t you think it’s at least a little funny?”

Blondie shook her head with a stern expression. Still, Seacat had seen a hint of a smile and a little red blush appear for a moment before vanishing again. So she smiled widely at the other woman until Blondie sighed.

“I didn’t actually come here to talk about you and Glimmer, you know?”

“No, I didn’t,” Seacat replied. “Why did you do it, then?”

“I thought it was a good opener.”

Seacat snorted. “You should’ve opened with ‘Hey, can I help you?’ instead.”

“Then you’d have me sweep the deck for an hour.”

Seacat smirked. Of course she’d have done that - who would turn down free help? “So, why did you come then?”

Blondie sighed again. That was a bad sign. “What you did was very dangerous.”

Seacat shrugged. “Someone had to do it. Might as well send the best, so it actually gets done.”

“Yes, but… Look, we’ve got a good plan, but we might be a little too late to stop the Horde frigates.”

Seacat clenched her teeth. “We’ll try anyway!” The Horde would take the kingdom over her dead, floating - or sinking - body.

“Yes, but… What I meant was that you’re doing dangerous missions. You might…” Blondie took a deep breath. “...you might die on one of your missions.”

“Yes,” Seacat said, nodding. She tried to appear confident and casual. She didn’t want to die, but war was dangerous. Of course, so was she. And anyway… “The same goes for you,” she pointed out.

“Oh, I’m She-Ra, I’m very hard to kill. It’s you I’m worried about.”

Did she just…? Seacat felt her tail poof up as she clenched her teeth and growled at the idiot. “Worry about yourself, first!”

“But…” Blondie looked confused. “I didn’t mean you’re helpless or weak…”

“Of course not!” Seacat scoffed. The woman just had to double down on the insult, had she?

“But… you’re usually alone out there, with no one except Sea Hawk, and in a small ship. I’m fighting with Glimmer, Bow, Perfuma, Netossa, Spinderella and sometimes Frosta. And Bright Moon’s army, of course. If I should get hurt - which I haven’t yet, not really - there are lots of people to help and save me.”

“And you’re facing the entire Horde,” Seacat shot back.

“Not the entire Horde - they have to garrison a lot of territory, and we keep them off-balance with raids all along the border, so they need to use even more soldiers to guard their supply lines.”

Seacat rolled her eyes. “And they don’t raid your supply lines?” The Horde soldiers were scum, but they weren’t stupid.

Blondie grinned. “They try, but they don’t have princesses. They need a lot more troops to stop one of our raids than we need to stop one of theirs.”

“They have the bug woman,” Seacat retorted. And that woman looked like she could take on an army by herself.

“Ah… Scorpia rarely appears on the frontlines.”

“Then she must be up to something worse.”

“Well, we’ll see. Scorpia isn’t your typical Horde soldier.”

“Of course she isn’t. If she were, we’d have lost the war already. At least on land.” Seacat bared her fangs at the other woman in a sneer.

“Hey!” Blondie frowned at her in return. “Anyway, I’m just saying you’re taking bigger risks than we do. Especially with those super-ships the Horde has now.”

“So? We’ve taken even worse risks.” Hell, Blondie had been there - well, present - in the Battle of Salineas!

“What? But…” The other woman pressed her lips together for a moment, visibly trying to calm down. “Look, I’m worried about you.”

“Worried about me? Or about your friend?” Seacat huffed and crossed her arms.

“I’m worried about you no matter what.” Blondie glared back.

Which meant she still thought Seacat was her former Horde cadet friend. “Well, you don’t have to be. We’re going on a milk run. Even with cargo, we can outsail the Horde frigates.”

“You were saved by a raincloud last time,” Blondie retorted.

“We were caught in a bad spot with the wind blowing from the wrong direction,” Seacat told her. “But even then, we could’ve escaped if we had known how fast the Horde frigates were. Now that we know, they won’t catch us downwind like that again.” The Dragon’s Daughter IV would start evading much sooner, and they’d pick a route that wouldn’t let the Horde ships use their sails to best effect.

“And what if the wind turns?” Blondie shook her head. “It’s still more dangerous than what we’re doing on land.”

“Yeah, because ships can so easily hide in the brush or in a building and ambush you.”

“We’ve turned the last such ambush back on them,” Blondie said, glaring. “I doubt that they’ll try that again anytime soon.”

“Why not? They’ve got soldiers to spare, and they only need to get lucky once.”

“That also goes for you!”

“It’s not the same on the sea.” It was different. A different war.

“Why not?”

“We’re fighting ships, not soldiers.” Unless they were fighting a boarding action, of course.

“So? One unlucky hit and your mast goes down, and you’re helpless!”

So, Blondie had been studying naval warfare or something. Or she had paid more attention to Seacat’s stories at the Princess Prom than Seacat had expected.

“One unlucky hit and you’re out. Or one of your friends.”

“I’m very tough.”

“Tough enough to bounce a cannon shell off your hair poof?” Shells that could wreck ships didn’t care about tiaras.

“Well… I’ve never tried that. I mean, I’ve never had to try. Wait! Are you making fun of my hairstyle?”

“Is this a serious question?” Seacat cocked her head with a grin.

“My hairstyle is perfectly fine!” Was Blondie finally getting angry?

“Perhaps in the Horde.”

“Hey! No one else had my hairstyle!”

“I think I’ll have to raise my estimation of our enemies’ intelligence, then.” She bared her fangs at the stupid, stubborn woman.

Suddenly, Blondie was laughing. After a moment, Seacat joined in. She couldn’t help it, for some weird reason.

“I’m just worried about you,” Blondie said after both of them had calmed down again, leaning against the railing.

“But you expect everyone else not to worry about you?”

“I’m She-Ra. I’m supposed to protect everyone else. That’s my destiny.”

“Who said that?”

“Li… that’s not important.” The woman shook her head. “I’ll fight, and we’ll win.”

“Yes, of course.” They had no choice, after all.

“But I worry that, well…” Blondie trailed off. “If we couldn’t…”

“Couldn’t what?” Seacat narrowed her eyes again. Couldn’t have sex? Or couldn’t ‘remember’? If this was just another attempt to make her believe that she was a former Horde scum...

Blondie stared at her for a moment, wetting her lips. Then she sighed. “Just don’t die.”

Seacat scoffed. “Don’t worry.”

Blondie’s chuckle sounded very forced.

*****​

One of the worst parts of a milk run was the boredom. Seacat was reminded of that fact a few days into their cargo trip. The wind was blowing steady and from behind them, the course was easy to keep, and there were no enemies on the horizon. Which meant there was nothing to do. Well, not nothing - you could always clean or fix something on a ship, so she was currently splicing rope - but nothing that really required her concentration.

Or Sea Hawk’s. Which was worse.

She suppressed a sigh when she saw the captain approach her on the foredeck. “Hey! Everything shipshape?”

“Of course,” she replied. As if she’d accept anything else.

“Good, good!” He leaned against the railing across from her, then looked at the horizon, then at the top of the mast.

“What?” Seacat asked, rolling her eyes.

“What?”

“What do you want?” she asked again. It wouldn’t be a good thing - Sea Hawk rarely needed to work up to a talk with her. He was more the ‘blurt it out’ type.

“Ah.” He beamed at her. “Since the sea and the wind are currently favouring us, I thought we could have a talk or something!”

“The weather can change in a heartbeat,” she reminded himself.

“If it does, we’ll be at our posts in a heartbeat as well!”

“Right.”

“Anyway!” He took a deep breath, then coughed into his fist. “I was wondering about your relationship to Adora - She-Ra.”

“There is no relationship,” she replied at once.

He raised his eyebrows at her but didn’t say anything.

Frowning - and clenching her teeth - she added: “She’s talking to her missing friend, not to me.”

“Are you sure?”

Seacat narrowed her eyes. What exactly did he mean? Was this a hint that he believed Blondie’s absolutely stupid claims? Or was he just asking if Blondie might be talking to Seacat instead of this ‘Catra’? “She still thinks I’m her missing friend. And she’s oh so afraid I’ll die before I ‘remember’.”

“Well…” The captain drew the word out. “She’s been sticking to her story.”

“Which makes no sense.” Seacat scoffed. “You know the Horde - they don’t send cadets into battle.” The scum had no honour, but some lines they didn’t cross. If only because sending children into battle meant fewer adult soldiers in the long run.

“Mistakes do happen.”

“So, this Catra mistakenly arrives at a force that’s about to attack a village, and instead of, well, sending her back, they let her join them?” Seacat scoffed. She wouldn’t have joined butchers about to massacre a village. Cadet or not. “I think the girl deserted and got killed by some monster, and they covered it up so her fellow cadets wouldn’t get any ideas.”

Sea Hawk nodded, but she could tell that he wasn’t convinced.

“I’m not Catra,” she said, baring her fangs at him. “I’m Seacat.”

“Of course!” He flashed her a smile. A genuine one. “But… are you worried about her?”

“She’s She-Ra. Legendary Princess of Power.” Seacat rolled her eyes. “She can throw some of those Horde bots.”

“And bounce shells off her face,” Sea Hawk said. “Or so the legends claim.”

Seacat snorted. She’d believe that if she saw it - not that she wanted to see Blondie get hit by a shell. A boot to the head, on the other hand…

“I just noticed that you’ve been spending more time with her than with anyone - except for me and Mermista, of course.”

She scoffed. “She’s the one following me around.”

“When she’s not carrying you to bed.” The captain grinned at her.

She glared at him in return. “You won’t ever let me forget that, huh?”

“Of course not!” He chuckled, then shook his head and sighed. “Although you should consider that the war’s growing worse. In the last year, the Horde has made more headway than in the decade before.”

Since the Princess Alliance had fallen apart, in other words. “Is it really that bad?”

“Yes. They’ve been building up. New and more weapons. The frigates are just one part of that. Bright Moon’s been hit by more of those giant walking bots they have, and they’ve been fielding mobile cannons.”

“Mobile cannons?”

“Yes.”

“But… the recoil would wreck any skiff they mounted it on!” It had been tried before, after all.

“They don’t shoot while flying - they set down for that.”

“Oh.” That would be… ugh. She winced.

“Yes. So… perhaps… think about not being too stubborn to miss out on something…” He tilted his head in a not-quite-shrug. “...beautiful?”

He patted her head and left to return to the bridge before she could think of an answer.

*****​

Perched on the top of the mast, Seacat narrowed her eyes. Was that…? She squinted, then nodded. The Sea Gate’s slight glow was unmistakable. “Salineas ahead!” she yelled down to the captain.

“As expected!” he yelled back. “We’ve made good time!”

They had - despite the heavy cargo they were transporting back to Salineas. But they weren’t in port, yet. They hadn’t spotted any Horde ships on their trip, so the new frigates had to be somewhere - and blockading Salineas was an obvious move. The enemy ships would be able to intercept arriving ships easily - or, at the very least, drive them away - and sooner or later, the Salinean navy would have to give them battle or see the kingdom starve.

But if there was a blockade, they should’ve seen the pickets guarding the western approaches of the kingdom already. This was the obvious route to take, most of the other routes locked by reefs and the Maelstrom, so where were the Horde sailors?

“Do you see any sails?” Sea Hawk, of course, knew this as well.

“No!” she yelled back, clenching her teeth. She used her telescope to scan the horizon - none. Wait… “There’s one!” She adjusted the telescope, which was a little tricky doing one-handed, and got a clearer view of the sail. “It’s a Salinean sloop.”

“Alright.” He didn’t ask if she were sure, of course.

Seacat felt relieved - trying to outrun a new Horde frigate with a cargo hold full of metal and other materials would have been a little difficult, even with the wind blowing from a favourable direction. But she couldn’t help worrying, either.

If the Horde frigates weren’t blockading Salineas then where were they?

*****​

“Landing operations?”

“Yes.” Mermista wasn’t happy. She was very unhappy, in fact. And not at Sea Hawk, for a change. “The Horde has launched a campaign up the Northern Coast, supported by several landing operations to encircle and take port after port. If they aren’t stopped, they’ll soon control the coast up to the Northern Sea.”

And cutting off Salineas from support by the Alliance - with so many ports, the Horde could easily control the sea up to the Kingdom of Snows.

“We didn’t know - we were at sea for the last few days,” Sea Hawk said. “But surely, we can stop them before they advance too far! If they conduct landing operations, they are vulnerable to a naval attack!”

“We can’t face their frigates and hope to defeat them,” Mermista said. “We lost two frigates on patrol already. I’ve called back the entire fleet until we can counter their advantages.” She smiled for the first time since they had arrived in the throne room. “Which is why your cargo was so essential.”

“Princess Entrapta must be glad to finally have the materials to finish her work,” Sea Hawk said, smiling himself.

Mermista grimaced for a moment before she nodded. “I suppose so.”

*****​

“Oh! This is just perfect! The density is in the green range, too! And there’s enough for several tests! Oh, and this! What’s this?”

‘Glad’ wasn’t the right word to describe the Hair Princess’s reaction. ‘Ecstatic’ would be better. Or ‘hyper’. The princess was all but bouncing around in the room she had obviously transformed into a laboratory or workshop… Wait, now she had taken a leap and bounced off the wall to get behind a stack of metal plates.

“Hello, Entrapta. You’ve got the cargo, I see,” Mermista said.

“Yes, yes, I did! Thank you so much!” The princess used her hair to jump over another stack and land next to Sea Hawk, wrapping him up in purple tentacles. Like a demented squid. “And you!”

Before Seacat could react, the princess moved over to her, and Seacat found herself wrapped in hair. Tightly wrapped. “Hey!”

“Thank you!” The princess whirled, moving back towards her bench. Seacat felt herself dragged along and was about to use her claws to get free when she was suddenly dumped on the floor - which was littered with parts, one of which dug painfully in her rump.

“Ow!” she complained, but it wasn’t like the princess even heard her.

“Those are the last high-tensile components I needed!”

“So you can build your countermeasures, then?” Mermista asked.

“What?” The princess looked up but didn’t remove her mask, which made her look like one of her creepy bots. “Oh, yeah, sure. That’s easy, just have to use the chemical converter over there. Shouldn’t take more than a day to convert the base material.”

“So you’re working on the catapults?” Sea Hawk asked.

“No. Should I? Those are easy, anyway, and a mature technology.” This time, the mask slid up, and the princess’s confused expression was clearly visible. “Your yard workers should be able to build as many as you need.”

Seacat wasn’t the only one who blinked. “You’ve already finished the countermeasures?”

“The design, yes. Others can build it - it’s not First One’s tech. Oh, did you know that if you do everything yourself, you hurt the economy of your kingdom? People need work or they’ll leave, which reduces the amount of taxes and customs you receive, which reduces your research and development budget!”

“Err, yes,” Mermista replied. Sea Hawk nodded.

“I had to learn that for myself.” The princess pouted, then beamed. “But that’s all in the past now that I have the new materials!”

“So…” Sea Hawk spoke up. “If you’re not working on the counteragent or catapults, what are you working on?”

“Happy you asked!” The princess jumped up and landed next to a covered board. Her hairs grabbed the cover and ripped it away, revealing a whiteboard with…

“You’re working on a propulsion system?” Seacat asked.

“Yes!” The smile widened even more. “With this - once it works - your frigate will be the fastest on the seas again!” Then she frowned. “Well, for about half an hour so far.”

Oh.

*****​

A few days later, the Salineans were still working on the catapults. Apparently, it was a little harder than the Hair Princess had claimed. Especially since the ‘mature technology’ actually meant that no one had constructed catapults in a century or so, what with everyone using guns on ships and for sieges instead.

“Should we go seek cover?” Seacat asked as she watched three sailors handle a catapult on a small platform on the shore near the Sea Gate.

Mermista glared at her. “This catapult was built exactly to Entrapta’s specifications.”

“I thought all the others were built to her specs as well,” Seacat replied.

“They were supposed to,” Mermista admitted. “But there were a few problems with the building process.”

And with quality control. Like sinking the boat the first catapult had been mounted on. Seacat was very happy that she had managed to stop Sea Hawk from volunteering their ship for testing.

“But it’s all fine now,” the princess went on. More loudly, she added: “Fire when ready!”

“Aye, aye!” the commander of the catapult crew replied before turning to his men. “Alright, you scallywags! The princess herself is watching! If you mess up, she’ll have us all keelhauled!”

Seacat snickered at that - and at Mermista’s expression. “Great discipline, princess.”

“Keelhauling isn’t actually practised any more in the Salinean Navy,” Mermista replied with a deep frown.

“But do they know that?” Sea Hawk asked.

“Yes. They should, at least.”

In Seacat’s opinion, some of the Salinean sailors would deserve to get keelhauled, if only to encourage the others. Like the crew on the slow frigate in the Battle of Salineas. The catapult crew there, though, threw their backs into it. Two used a crank to pull the arm down, and the third carried the payload - a dummy cask - to load it.

This time, the arm didn’t break, and the catapult didn’t flip over either. It worked as advertised, sending the cask flying in a high arc.

But it didn’t come near the target. Not even close.

“They need more training at aiming,” Sea Hawk commented. “It’s not like aiming a cannon.”

Mermista frowned.

Seacat did so as well. It took weeks to train a gunner so they could hit anything from a ship at sea. She didn’t think it would take less time to train a catapult crew - quite the contrary, actually.

And they didn’t have the time. Not with the Horde rolling up the coast.

*****​

It took the princesses a little longer to realise what Seacat already knew, but after a day’s worth of training - which resulted in another catapult self-destructing and one botched shot almost hitting the Sea Gate - Mermista announced that the catapult project would be abandoned. “We won’t be ready in time. We need to use our current weapons instead of new ones,” she said in her throne room after dinner.

“Technically, it’s not a new weapon at all, but a very old one. Salineas was once protected by numerous catapults covering the approaches,” the Hair Princess retorted. “Catapults of various sizes, even! And installed on ships.”

“Very old or new, the thing is, our sailors aren’t trained to use catapults. And I cannot send them into battle with weapons they don’t understand. That would be murder,” Mermista told her.

“Well, actually… Oh. You were using hyperbole, weren’t you?”

“Yes,* Mermista replied through clenched teeth.

“Thanks! Socialising log day thirty-one: I correctly identified hyperbole.”

Seacat didn’t know if she should laugh at the princess or pity her. There were more important concerns, anyway. “What are you planning then? Shoot the casks out of cannons?”

“That won’t work,” Mermista replied.

“Have you tried it?” Seacat asked.

“Yes! The pressure from the cannon’s charge is too much for the cask!” The Hair Princess made a gesture with her hands that indicated an explosion. “I constructed a cask that was tough enough to withstand the pressure, but that meant it was tough enough not to break up upon hitting the water, which kinda defeated the purpose of shooting it in the first place. I’m trying to calculate the right structural strength so the cask will only just survive the shooting and will be so damaged, it’ll break as soon as it hits the water, but it’s a very fine line - and the standardisation of Salinean cannons leaves a lot to be desired!”

“At least our cannons don’t blow up if they’re handled a little roughly,” Mermista shot back.

Sea Hawk cleared his throat. “As much as I like explosions and catapults, what are our plans now to battle the Horde frigates? Is your new method of propulsion ready to be tested?”

“Yes! It is!” The princess beamed at them. “I just need a volunteer!”

“Not the Dragon’s Daughter IV,” Mermista snapped.

“But it’s ideal for my tests! Light enough so the propulsion booster will show its true potential!”

That sounded worrying. And the gleam in Sea Hawk’s eyes was even more worrying.

“No.” The Salinean princess looked grim. “We’ll need the ship in top shape to lead the battle against the Horde.”

Seacat clenched her teeth. She knew what that meant. “You’re going to swarm the frigates and pour the stuff into the sea at close range.” So close, the Horde frigates would have an easy time aiming their guns.

Mermista nodded. “I don’t like it, but it’s our only chance.”

Seacat didn’t like it either. Not at all. But the princess was right - they had no choice.

“But… I just need a little more time to finish my device!” the Hair Princess protested. “Your chances of survival would be much improved with it!”

“We don’t have the time. If we don’t stop the Horde now, they’ll take Seaworthy, and with that port in their power, they’ll cut the alliance in half. There’s not much north of Seaworthy that could stop them.”

“But…” The Hair princess shook her head, her tentacles flailing around, “That’s… your chances of survival are far too low! It’s irrational!”

“Our chances of survival might be low, but our chances of success are better. And it’s our only option,” Seacat said, chuckling without any humour. Even the weird princess who was often more like a bot than a person knew how bad this was.

Sea Hawk, though, was beaming. “Huzzah! A daring, desperate gambit awaits us! Adventure!”

*****​

 

Chapter 10: The Battle of Seaworthy

She sniffed the air and made a face. There was that smell again. She had the best nose of all the cadets, and the smell was really noticeable among the usual smells of the Fright Zone. No smoke, no stink of whatever materials the factories used, but… weird. Wrong, kind of.

“What’s wrong?” Adora asked, looking up from where she was watching the formation drills on the square below them.

“Something stinks,” she replied. “Very much.”

“It’s probably you,” Lonnie butted in with a sneer. “You ‘forgot’ to wash again?”

She snarled at the stupid girl. “I didn’t forget - I didn’t need to!” It wasn’t her fault that the others couldn’t smell how bad the water stank. She didn’t smell bad, anyway - she had hardly made an effort at the exercises. She didn’t need to, anyway - it was easy to tag the clumsy and slow practice bots.

“Ew.”

“Catra! You can’t neglect your hygiene!” Adora blurted out.

“I didn’t!” she protested. “Lonnie’s stinky, anyway. I’m fine.”

“Really?” Before she could react, Adora had stepped up to her and started sniffing her.

“What are you doing?” She gasped - Adora was far too close - her stupid hair poof was almost tickling her chin!

“Checking. A good officer always checks and verifies reports,” Adora replied, twisting her neck in an attempt to smell her arms.

She moved back, crossing her arms over her chest, and felt her cheeks heat up. “Don’t do that! I’m fine!”

Adora frowned. “You always say you’re fine. Even when you aren’t!”

“I am fine!” she snarled. “And I don’t smell!”

But Adora sniffed the air. “No. That’s a bad smell!”

“That’s not me - that’s the stench I smelt before!” she told her friend.

“Of course you’d say that! Stinker!” Lonnie said.

She glared at the girl, noticing that Rogelio was snickering in that lizard way of his, and even Kyle dared to smile - though the wimp paled quickly when she narrowed her eyes at him. He’d pay for that! “You don’t believe me? I’ll prove it! Follow me!”

She took off before the others could say anything. They didn’t matter anyway - only her friend mattered, and Adora would follow her, as usual.

“Catra! Wait!”

She knew it! She grinned and smelt the air - the stench came from the direction of the disposal site. Where the wrecked gear was disposed of. That made sense.

And she knew the way - you could find useful stuff there, sometimes.

She dropped down on the catwalk below them, dashed forward past the stairs and grabbed the water pipe at the edge. She swung over the railing, slid down the pipe and hit the ground running. No one was as fast as she was when she went all-out!

She had to slow down a little to get through the maze of supply depots and pipework, but she reached her goal far ahead of the others - and not even out of breath. Which was a good thing - the stench was much worse here.

It was so bad, she had to pinch her nose closed. Really bad. And with her nose closed, she couldn’t track the stench any more.

“Catra! There you are… ew!”

“See?” She turned towards Adora, who was panting. “That’s where the smell came from.”

“Ew!”

She nodded. “Yes, it’s bad. Especially for me.” No sign of Lonnie and the others. They probably hadn’t had the guts to follow her. Stupid idiots, anyway.

“But what is it? I’ve never smelt this before,” Adora asked.

“I don’t know. It smells weird. Like the mess hall, once.”

“Rotten, you mean.” Adora nodded. “Let’s find out! If someone’s left food out to spoil that needs to be reported!”

She made a gagging noise - easy with the stench. “Adora! You’re such a goody-shoe!”

“I’m going to be a good officer - and good officers don’t look away when something’s wrong!”

She rolled her eyes - that was Shadow Weaver talking. Adora was such a fool when it came to the witch. But she followed her friend - someone had to keep her out of trouble.

They moved past some wrecked bots and some destroyed cannons, turning around a corner - and stopped. And stared.

Before them were two rows of somethings, covered with tarps. Bodies, she realised after a moment - she could see some limbs and some tails sticking from under tarps.

Dead bodies. Dead Horde bodies - she could easily see the uniforms. Or their bloody remains.

“Bodies…” Adora said.

“Yes,” she agreed. “Lot’s of them.” Almost two dozen. And they were here to be disposed of.

Without saying anything else, they both turned away and left. At a brisk pace.

And she tried to remember how often she had noticed that smell before. Then she tried to forget it.

*****​

Seacat woke up in her hammock and snorted a few times - she could still smell the stench of rotting bodies. Just like on the outpost the Horde pirates had taken. But the Horde didn’t do that to their own soldiers. They certainly wouldn’t just dispose of their dead like broken cannons or skimmers, would they?

No, they wouldn’t. This was just her worrying in her dreams about the upcoming battle. And her possible death.

*****​

“Admiral! Admiral Sea Hawk! Hah! I can’t wait until Scurvy hears of his!” The captain - Seacat wasn’t about to call him admiral just because Mermista had said so - rubbed his moustache for the umpteenth time since they had set out from Salineas. “And we’re leading the entire Salinean fleet! People will talk and sing of this battle forever!”

“As long as we’re among them,” Seacat muttered. She’d rather be alive and a hero than dead and a hero. Who knew what kind of lies they’d tell about her if she wasn’t around to correct people? And Blondie would be crushed. And she’d also proven right about her worries. Both were unacceptable to Seacat.

“Oh, we will! The Dragon’s Daughter IV is the fastest ship on all the seas. And if the wind doesn’t change, we’ll have the advantage we need against the Horde.”

If. The wind could change. Of course, even if the wind changed unexpectedly, and in the worst moment, they probably could still pull off their attack. Hell, they could get sunk and would still be able to make a decent attempt - they carried so much of Entrapta’s Solution, it was probably enough to cover the entire area around Seaworthy.

It was the getting away part that worried her. Unlike in other, slightly similar situations, they wouldn’t have to swim away from a burning Horde ship with a crew that was too busy trying to fight a fire than to hunt them down - they would be facing a fleet, and even with their magic engines shut down and the crews the usual collection of scum and the dregs of the Horde, they would be able to catch up to a couple of swimmers before the rest of the Salinean fleet descended upon them.

They would have to hope that the Horde would be too preoccupied with their failing propulsion and the approaching fleet to take revenge against them. And that the ‘automatic flotation devices’ the Hair Princess had developed worked as advertised.

She glanced at the necklace. The princess had explained how it worked, but other than ‘like inflatable, but not,” it had gone over Seacat’s head. She hadn’t even understood half the words the princess used.

Then again, neither had the others.

“We’ll see,” she said. “As long as we take down the Horde fleet, we’ll have done our... “ She trailed off. It wasn’t their duty - they were volunteers. Although Sea Hawk’s promotion to admiral might have changed that, at least for him. Not for Seacat, though, She was an independent sailor. “...task,” she finished lamely.

“Indeed! However, I aim to do a little bit more than what is expected of us!” Sea Hawk pointed to the horizon, where, if you squinted and had a telescope, the first peaks of the inland mountains would become visible soon. “We will make the Horde rue the day they challenged Admiral Sea Hawk’s fleet!”

Well, that was something Seacat could get behind. Although… “You want to ram one of them?”

“Once they’re helpless and engaged in battle, I want to board it, then set it on fire,” the captain confirmed what she had already known.

“They’ll be expecting that once they see our flotilla,” Seacat pointed out. After the Battle of Salineas, even the Horde would have realised the danger of smaller ships ramming their warships. And worked on countering it.

“They won’t expect us to board them, which will be their undoing!”

Well, that was true - for a simple reason: Two people boarding a frigate was generally suicide.

On the other hand, a panicking crew, torn between the propulsion failing, fire starting and the Salinean frigates bearing down on them… It was still damn dangerous, but they might have a chance. A better chance, in Seacat’s opinion, than swimming for it.

She sighed, and Sea Hawk beamed at her.

He knew her as well as she knew him, after all. He hadn’t even tried to make her stay behind, or serve as ‘liaison’ on a regular frigate. Even though she knew he had wanted to.

But they were crew. He was the captain, and she was the first mate. If he was leading a flotilla of volunteers in small ships, some barely more than boats, then her place was at his side.

No matter what Blondie might think.

Seacat clenched her teeth. This wasn’t the time to be thinking of the woman and her weird views. She had to focus, not wonder how Blondie would react to however this might turn out.

*****​

They reached Seaworthy a day later, in the afternoon. The Horde hadn’t yet launched their attack, but Seacat saw several columns of smoke rising from the port. “The Horde has started their bombardment!” she told the captain.

He frowned, then checked himself with his telescope. “That doesn’t look like a bombardment. Not a siege bombardment. It’s probably just a few guns - mobile ones - to unnerve the defenders and possibly lure them out.”

Ah. “Those mobile guns we’ve heard about?”

“Most likely.” He grinned. “That means they don’t have too many of them yet. And their fleet should be around as well. Just as planned!”

“I must have missed that planning session,” she said, as sarcastically as she could manage.

“Probably,” he replied with a shameless grin. “In any case, they’ll have their landing troops on their ships already, so they won’t be able to run from us.”

“They’ve sunk two Salinean frigates already; I don’t think they’ll run anyway.” Seacat wouldn’t, not with such an advantage. “And they’ll fear that we’ll go after the transports with our flotilla.” Like they had gone after the bomb vessel in the Battle of Salineas.

Sea Hawk’s grin widened, and he rubbed his moustache. “They will be surprised when we go after their frigates instead! A perfect feint!”

“They’ll also do their worst to sink us,” she pointed out.

“They’ll do that anyway!”

He had a point, though she didn’t like admitting it. “Orders?” she asked instead.

“Signal the flotilla to follow us southwards! We’ll search and engage the enemy!”

“Aye aye, Captain!”

“It’s Admiral!”

She chuckled as she climbed the mast, signal flags held in her teeth.

*****​

A night battle would’ve been perfect, but the Horde fleet was already closing in on Seaworthy when they found it - with enough daylight left to land the troops if left undisturbed.

“So much for great planning,” Seacat muttered under her breath as she adjusted the sails. The wind was blowing towards the coast, so neither side had an advantage. She clung to the mast with her legs, one wrapped around a line, and quickly counted the enemy fleet. Thirteen frigates. One bomb vessel, falling back - they had learned their lesson at Salineas. And half a dozen troop transports even further back - turning towards the coast. Were they trying to land troops there now?

It didn’t matter much. They were here for the frigates. “Thirteen frigates!” she called out to Sea Hawk. “One bomb vessel, six transports.”

“Signal the flotilla to pair up and pick their targets. The Dragon’s Daughter IV will go for the enemy flagship! And signal to the main fleet that we’re engaging.”

She checked the horizon - the leading ship of the Salinean main fleet, another courier, was just barely visible from her position. She signalled it first, then started relaying commands to the flotilla. A few of them were already spreading out - no discipline amongst the volunteers.

Then again, she thought as she slid down the mast, they needed bravery more than discipline for this attack.

“Prepare the cargo for dispersal!” Sea Hawk yelled as he adjusted course, lining up their ship with the leading frigate.

“Aye aye, Captain!” she replied, then moved towards the casks tied to the deck, next to improvised rails which would let them slide into the sea with little effort. And the other casks. A last check of the ‘quick-release stopper’ the Hair Princess had provided, then she turned towards the bridge. “Ready!”

“Alright!” Sea Hawk was grinning widely - she could see his white teeth catching the sunlight for a moment.

Then the first shells from the enemy hit the water ahead of them, followed by dozens more - the enemy battleline was firing the chase guns.

“Turn about!” Sea Hawk announced, and Seacat jumped to tighten the lines as the ship turned towards the wind, away from the coast. She craned her head to look at the enemy line. If they didn’t take the bait… But they did. Fearing that the flotilla would circle around them and hit the transports, the entire battleline turned towards the wind as well.

But the Horde frigates were fastest with the wind at their back - tacking against the wind, they couldn’t keep up with the fast ships following Sea Hawk. They wouldn’t have to, of course, if the flotilla were going after the transports - the Horde frigates would still be able to intercept them thanks to their relative positions.

But that wasn’t the goal.

The enemy had stopped firing - at their current course, the angle was wrong for either broadside or chase guns. But that would change soon - the trailing ships of the flotilla would soon be in the line of fire of the leading ships of the enemy. Still out of range, though.

Seacat clenched her teeth. They had cut it very close - possibly too close. If the wind let off just a little, they would be caught in range of the enemy broadsides before they were in position.

Minutes passed as they held course, slowly outpacing the enemy. Slowly reaching the point where the wind would be just right for the final part of their attack.

Too slowly - the enemy started firing again. Broadsides. And the trailing ships were in range. Barely, but with the sheer number of shells thrown their way…

Water columns appeared all around the last two ships. And then the second to last ship suddenly seemed to stop, dipping and listing. Hit below the waterline, Seacat realised. Keel was probably shattered, too - the mast was swaying, and the ship was already sinking.

It didn’t matter, the next volley smashed the entire ship to pieces. The Horde gunners had the range, now.

She looked at Sea Hawk.

“All ships - deploy smoke and close with the enemy!”

Instead of using the signal flags to alert the ship behind them to deploy smoke and charge, Seacat simply lit the prepared smoke charge in the bow. Everyone knew the plan anyway. Then she had to jump to adjust the mainsail as the Dragon’s Daughter IV turned until the wind was almost at her back and she was racing at the enemy.

The smoke was quickly blown towards the enemy line by the wind, obscuring them from view - and concealing the Salinean flotilla from the enemy gunners. Except for the enemy flagship, which was too far ahead relative to the wind’s direction. That meant it had a clear line of fire at the Dragon’s Daughter IV.

The enemy guns roared again, sending shells at the charging ships. Columns of water were thrown up all around them - their sudden turn must have thrown off the gunners’ aim. They would quickly adjust, though. Seacat hissed through clenched teeth, trying to estimate the rapidly closing range and the rate of fire of the enemy. At their current speed, the enemy would get off three volleys before they were close enough to dump the casks overboard.

But if the enemy was competent, they would save the last volley until point-blank range - they would expect a ramming attack and would want to sink them at the last moment. They could only hope that the enemy flagship was crewed by a competent captain - but not too skilled gunners.

“Turn about!” Sea Hawk yelled, and Seacat threw herself to pull the mainsail back as the ship swerved, turning a little into the wind. A moment later, the Horde flagship fired her broadside. Most shells went wide, missing with a good margin. A few were close enough to throw water over the decks. And one shell went through the mainsail, ripping a hole into it, before detonating in the water on the other side.

Sea Hawk quickly turned back, returning to a collision course. Seacat checked the mainsail - it was holding so far, not tearing up, but any sharp manoeuvre could change that. Any manoeuvre such as another hard turn to avoid the next salvo.

She cursed under her breath then looked to starboard. She couldn’t see any of the other ships - the smoke hid them. But that meant they wouldn’t be able to see much, either. They could only hope the other crews were good enough to correctly judge the distance.

Shaking her head, she looked at the enemy flagship again. The Horde used breechloaders, so there was no way to tell when the guns were ready to fire other than timing the volleys and guessing, but any moment, they’d spat more shells at them.

“Turn about!”

Once more, the Dragon’s Daughter IV turned away, towards the wind, slowing down. And once again, the enemy fired a few seconds afterwards. Seacat saw the shells hit the sea, one impact closer than the other. Water washed over the deck, drenching her, but her claws anchored her to the planks - she wouldn’t slip.

Then the bowsprit vanished in an explosion. The Dragon’s Daughter IV shook as if it had struck a reef, and Seacat barely managed to dive behind the casks before splinters shredded her. The ship was rolling, almost stalling - without the bowsprit, the foresail was uselessly flapping.

Seacat jumped up and drew her cutlass. Two slashes, and the foresail was cut free, dropping into the sea next to them. She whirled, dashing back to her post. They were close enough that she could almost make out the expression on the Horde Sailors on deck. The water had extinguished the smoke charge - not that they needed it right now, anyway.

This was it. The Dragon’s Daughter IV was damaged, but she was still sailing. Still going directly at the enemy ship. What would the enemy do? Hold their fire until they were too close to miss? If they fired now, all it would take was one hit. If they turned away to get a better angle, the Dragon’s Daughter IV could turn from the wind to avoid their broadside and strike their stern - not that they wanted to.

The enemy held their fire and held their course. Seacat yelled, baring her teeth, as Sea Hawk turned the ship away again. “Release the cargo!” he yelled.

Once more, Seacat whipped her cutlass around, slashing the ropes holding the casks in place. The first cask rolled over the rails, hitting the water - and breaking up. As planned.

The enemy was now trying to change course, but a frigate wasn’t as nimble as their own ship. The next cask hit the sea. And they were almost out of the firing angle of the enemy broadside. The Horde captain tried to turn to keep up, but they had missed their moment - with each cask hitting the water, the ship grew lighter and gained more speed. The guns of the enemy broadside couldn’t reach them now. And as soon as they were in front of the enemy, Sea Hawk was turning into the wind again as the last few casks hit the water - the Horde frigate wouldn’t be able to avoid them.

Then the chase guns fired. One shell missed, throwing water into the air on the backboard side of the ship. The other shell struck the Dragon’s Daughter IV’s stern. The impact threw Seacat forward, sending her to crash into the rails mounted there and sliding across the deck before a rolled-up line stopped her. Despite the pain in her side, she jumped up.

She whirled and gasped - the entire afterdeck of the Dragon’s Daughter IV was wrecked. The Captain! Sea Hawk! She rushed back, claws digging into the slowly tilting deck, as she tried to find him amongst the debris and smoke.

The keel must have held - they hadn’t capsized already - but without the rudder, the wind hitting the mainsail was pushing the ship off course and would soon push it over. If it didn’t sink or got blown before that.

“Sea Hawk!” she yelled, climbing over the remains of the stairs leading up to the wrecked afterdeck. “Captain!” Had he been blown into the water? Or... No! He couldn’t have! She clenched her teeth and reached the top - the entire afterdeck was gone. She could see the keel through the empty space.

“Captain!” Where was he? Why couldn’t she… There! She saw a speck of orange, down in the water, surrounded by floating debris. The flotation device had worked!

She dived into the sea without hesitation, narrowly missing a particularly large splintered beam, but instead of diving, she was pulled to the surface as her own flotation device pulled her up - the amulet had released some balloon-like swimmers around her neck. She couldn’t swim like this! Or fight! Her claws made short work of the flotation things and she pulled the device off her neck, then quickly swam towards Captain. He wasn’t moving. Clenching her teeth, she grabbed him under the shoulders. “Captain!”

He wasn’t answering. Was he breathing? She couldn’t tell. And the Dragon’s Daughter IV had turned away from the wind and was slowly rolling over. If she reached it…

The roar of another broadside almost deafened her. Eyes widening, she slashed Sea Hawk’s floatation device and pulled him underwater, trying to get as deep as possible before…

She was thrown around as if hit by a minotaur, multiple times, when the shells exploded. She felt her breath being driven out of her lungs by the shockwave and almost lost her grip on the captain before she managed to claw her way back to the surface.

She gasped for air, then pulled Sea Hawk’s head up as well. The Dragon’s Daughter IV was gone - blown up by several shells hitting it. But there was floating debris around. On her back, she swam towards the largest, a piece of the deck, dragging Sea Hawk behind her, his head pressed to her chest, above the water. It was all she could do, and if the damned Horde wanted to finish them, she would be helpless.

But they weren’t finishing them off - even with her ringing ears, she could hear the sudden screams from the flagship. They must have spotted the main fleet of the Salineans, sailing at them with the wind at their back, their approach hidden by the smoke so far.

She pulled Sea Hawk on to the floating wood and finally could check him. He was bleeding from a cut in his forehead, but his heart was beating - and he was still breathing. Coughing up foul-smelling water, tainted by the solution they had poured into the sea, but breathing.

Laughing - and coughing herself - she looked around. The smoke was mostly gone, so she could see the rest of the Horde fleet - and what was left of the flotilla.

There weren’t many ships left of them, she realised. She counted six burning wrecks, and who knew how many of the small ships had just vanished, like their own? But a few had made it through the enemy lines and were sailing away as fast as they could while the Horde ships were trying to form a line to receive the Salienan main attack.

Trying - and failing. She bared her teeth as the first shots from the Salinean chase guns rang out, shells splashing the water near the frantically turning Horde ships - and hitting them.

“Seacat?”

“Captain!” She gasped. He was awake!

“Did we ram the ship?” Sea Haw tried to push himself up on his elbows.

“No, we got sunk,” she told him. “But we did wreck their ships.” She wasn’t lying - the Horde frigates were sailing far slower than before - slower than they had before being upgraded, even. All those water intakes must have added drag to the designs.

And the Salineans were placed in a perfect position to exploit it. They were now sailing parallel to the Horde line, exchanging broadsides - but they were easily outpacing the Horde ships and would be able to cross the enemy’s T before long.

If the Horde scum lasted that long - she saw one frigate’s main mast fall, dragging most of her rigging down and slowing the ship so much, the following frigate couldn’t turn away in time and rammed it from behind. Two Salinean frigates lost no time swerving and raking the Horde ship’s sterns with heavy volleys. The rest of the battle line stayed on course, though - and was now about to pass Seacat and Sea Hawk’s position.

Which meant they were about to find themselves smack in the middle between two battle lines - and too close to the Horde ship. “Dive!” she yelled, sliding off the piece of deck. A moment later, Sea Hawk followed.

Seacat remained underwater as long as she could hold her breath. The chance of getting hit by splinters was low, but with the number of shells a broadside threw at the enemy… When she resurfaced, gasping for air, the Horde frigate was burning and had lost one mast. Her cannons were still firing, though - and the Salinean frigate had taken several hits as well, though none of them crippling, as far as Seacat could tell.

“Huzzah! That’s the enemy flagship! Give it to them!”

“Dive!”

She turned underwater, trying to spot a glimpse of the enemy’s hull underwater, but they weren’t close enough for that. She could hear the muted explosions, though. If the enemy frigate’s magazine went up…

The next time they resurfaced, the Horde flagship had been completely demasted and she was dead in the water. Seacat could spot several horde sailors jumping into the sea. She didn’t see anyone lowering dinghies into the water - but judging by the damage she could see, they hadn’t survived the fight anyway. And the smoke rising from the hulk...

An explosion shook the frigate, sending spouts of water up in the air - not the main magazine; probably propellant left on the gun deck - and the frigate slowly started to turn turtle.

“And down she goes! Hah! Another heroic adventure successfully concluded!” Sea Hawk yelled, pointing at the sinking ship.

“Thanks to the Salinean fleet,” Seacat muttered as she pulled herself up on the piece of deck from the Dragon’s Daughter IV that had remained nearby.

“They helped, of course, as was the plan!” the captain exclaimed as he followed her.

Seacat was too busy watching the enemy’s hull as it completely turned over to reply. There was the water intake - and the pipe at the stern.

“Hm. With the water pushed straight at the rudder, the frigate should’ve been more responsive. I think there’s more to the engine than what we assumed,” Sea Hawk said.

She glanced at him and saw that he was squeezing water out of his moustache. “I think we’ve got more things to worry about than that,” she said.

“On the contrary! Until we’re picked up by our valiant allies, we have nothing else to do than wait and watch!”

Well, he had a point. She looked around. The enemy’s numbers had been reduced to about half, from what she could see, what with smoke from burning ships blocking her view in some areas. And all the Horde frigates she could spot were in bad shape, engaged by at least one Salinean ship.

A not so distant explosion sent smoke and fire high in the air - that had been a magazine going up. A Horde frigate’s, or so Seacat hoped. The Salineans hadn’t escaped unscathed either - she could only count nine frigates still sailing, and what might be a burning hulk in the distance. But the outcome wasn’t in doubt any more.

She saw two Salinean frigates finish off the closest Horde frigate. Good! That meant… She blinked. They were turning away? Oh. “They’re going after the transports.”

“Of course! With the enemy fleet defeated, this is the best opportunity to end the threat of another landing!” the captain said.

“It also means we won’t get picked up until the last enemy has been sunk,” Seacat told him.

He blinked, then beamed at her. “Indeed! This will be another captivating part of our tale!”

“Really.” She frowned. She didn’t hate swimming, unlike Blondie’s friend, but sitting on a floating piece of deck, soaked to the bone, her fur already getting crusty with salt? She could do without all of that, heroic adventure or not. On the other hand, they had survived the battle, and that was… She blinked. “Horde!” she hissed.

“What?” Sea Hawk was at her side in a moment. “Where?”

She pointed at a figure in the water swimming towards them. They were coming from the position where the enemy flagship had sunk. No allied ship had been near there. Other than the Dragon’s Daughter IV.

She drew her cutlass. What was the Horde scum thinking, coming at them? She almost wanted to jump into the water and slice the scum up before it could try to capsize their raft!

“They seem to be alone,” Sea Hawk commented.

“Gutsy bastard,” she spat.

“Maybe not.”

“What?” She glanced at him. “What do you mean?”

Then the enemy reached their raft and gripped its edge. “Made it!” the man gasped, panting. “A hand, mate?”

She saw him look up, his eyes widening as he got a look at them. And at her cutlass.

But next to her, the captain was kneeling down and reaching out to the enemy. “Welcome to what remains of the Dragon’s Daughter IV. I believe you are our prisoner!”

The Horde sailor coughed, then gripped the captain’s hand and let himself get pulled onto the raft. “Thank you,” he said as he sat down, slumping over. He was barefoot, only wearing the Horde uniform pants and shirt, and his dark hair was plastered to his head.

Seacat glared at him, her cutlass pointed at him. If he made the slightest move…

“We’re just doing what any sailor would in our position. The law of the sea is clear about this,” Sea Hawk said. “And, we’re kind of in the same boat. Or on the same raft.”

The Horde scum weakly chuckled, coughed again, and groaned. “You were the ones in the small ship trying to ram us, then?”

“No!” Seacat spat. “If we had wanted to ram you, we would have done so!”

He shied away from her.

Sea Hawk cleared his throat. “Not exactly. Suffice to say that we completed our mission before your chase gunners got lucky.”

The man nodded but didn’t take his eyes off Seacat’s blade. She kept it pointed at him for a few more seconds, then sheathed it. He wasn’t armed. And even without her blade, she could disembowel him with her claws if he tried anything.

Sea Hawk smiled and struck a pose. “You are twice fortunate. Not only did you survive the sinking of your ship, but you were rescued by the one and only Sea Hawk, and my first mate, Seacat!”

She was about to remind the captain that there was a time and place for such boasting, and it wasn’t when they were on the floating remains of their ship, but their prisoners gasped and stared at her with wide eyes.

“Seacat? Catra?”

Not again! She grabbed the scum by his throat and held him up. “Why do you know that name?”

“Ah, Seacat…”

She ignored the captain. She had almost been killed by the Horde, she could feel the seawater drying on her fur, leaving salt crusts and whatever the princess had put into those casks, and now this Horde scum was insulting her? “Talk!”

The man coughed, feeble hands gripping her wrist.

“He can’t talk if he can’t breathe.”

She glared at the captain, then released the scum. “Talk!”

He coughed instead of talking, rubbing his throat. “Just heard the names… general orders.”

“‘General orders’?” Sea Hawk asked.

“What orders?” she spat.

“Just that…” The scum coughed again. “That should we capture, ah, Seacat or Catra, we should deliver her to the Fright Zone.”

What? She blinked.

“What? Seacat? Are you sure they didn’t mean Sea Hawk?” the captain asked. “The one and only Sea Hawk? Scourge of the Horde fleet? Love of Princess Mermista’s life? Captain of the fastest ship on all the seas? Most wanted man on Etheria? The Sea Hawk?”

She glared at him. This wasn’t the time to worry about your fame!

“Uh… yes? We got a description, too. Ears and tails. They, uh, match…?” The Horde sailor grimaced, then cowered when she glared at him.

“And you had no other special orders?” Seacat asked.

He shook his head wildly.

She frowned. “Why would the Horde single me out?”

“Indeed! You are the best first mate one could wish for, but I’m the captain of our crew! How could they mistake you for me?”

She couldn’t tell if Sea Hawk was joking or not.

*****​

It took another hour before Seacat saw a dinghy heading their way from one of the two damaged Salinean frigates that had stayed in the area - all the others had sailed off to hunt down the bomb vessel, the transports and what other Horde ships hadn’t been smart enough to flee in time.

“Ah! Relief at last!”

“Yeah,” she muttered, glancing at the Horde sailor. He hadn’t looked up. He hadn’t said anything since the interrogation, either. Which was just fine with her.

“Ahoy!” Sea Hawk yelled, waving.

“Took you long enough!” Seacat added, then smirked when she saw the Salinean midshipman in charge of the boat flinch. Yes, leaving the lover of your princess in the water for hours might not have been the best decision.

Not that the captain would abuse his relationship for that. Not when drifting on the sea for hours made a much more compelling tale. By the time they hit Seaworthy, Sea Hawk might have added nearly dying from hunger and thirst to the tale.

“Captain Sea Hawk?”

“Admiral Sea Hawk, if you please! My flotilla might be gone, and my ship most definitely was sunk - we’re standing on the last remaining piece of her that’s still afloat - but I still have my rank!”

“Until Mermista decommissions you,” Seacat added, smirking when he frowned at her.

But he smiled again in a heartbeat. “In any case, this was a splendid victory! My compliments to Admiral Gharn - she hit them right when they were the most vulnerable.”

“Ah, thank you, Admiral,” the young midshipman managed to reply as she gestured at her boat. “If you’d like to board…?”

“Certainly! Also, this is our prisoner - Sailor... “ Sa Hawk frowned. “I actually didn’t get your name in all the excitement. But he served on the enemy flagship and has vital information about the enemy plans!”

“Oh?” The officer perked up and looked at the Horde scum.

“I what?” The sailor looked confused in return.

“Captain!” Seacat hissed. This wasn’t anyone else’s business!

But Sea Hawk wasn’t listening to her. “Indeed! There was a very interesting general order given to the Horde fleet! The Princesses have to hear about this at once!”

“No, they don’t!” she snapped. Especially not Blondie!

But everyone was ignoring her.

*****​

 

Chapter 11: The Bounty

“You could’ve done better, Adora.”

She didn’t like the voice. Not at all. She pulled back a little more, pushing herself into the corner behind the pillar that was a little off, near the door to their quarters. No one would find her there, and she could still hear everything - her ears were much better than anyone else’s - she knew that!

“We passed the exercise.”

“Adora…”

She clenched her teeth, hissing under her breath as she felt her fur rise. She hated that tone, especially!

A sigh.

Fake. Fake. Fake.

“Passing is not enough. Not for someone with as much potential as you. You’re letting others hold you back. Stifle you.”

She wanted to spit. ‘Potential’. Bah! She was faster and she had claws! And she could see and hear things better than anyone else. But no one, ever, said she had potential.

“But it was a group exercise. We had to work together” Adora said.

“You were the leader, and they let you down.”

“They didn’t! We passed,” Adora protested.

“You could’ve done better. You were distracted, Adora. You can’t allow yourself to be distracted. As a Force Captain, everyone will depend on you.”

Yeah, yeah - Adora would be a Force Captain. She knew this already. Everyone knew this. Feh!

“And I won’t let them down!”

“You can’t let them drag you down - even if they are your friends, you have to be better than that.”

“This is about Catra, isn’t it? She took down the main bot from ambush!”

“After hiding for the entire exercise. She’s dragging you down. And you let it happen.”

“She’s my friend!”

“And what will you do when her laziness and mistakes cause the death of others under your command? And that will happen, Adora! She’s a liability. A soldier of the Horde has to always give their best. You have to trust them to obey your orders, or your plans will fail. She is a distraction - no, she’s a danger to you and everyone else.”

“She’s my friend! She won’t drag me down!”

Yes! Tell her, Adora!” She hissed again. Stupid… stupid…

*****​

Seacat woke up shivering. Again that stupid, hateful voice. Again a stupid dream - she didn’t even know how the face the voice belonged to looked like. If that didn’t prove that she wasn’t this ‘Catra’, then nothing would.

She stared at the ceiling. Solid wooden beams - but she wasn’t on a ship. She was in Seaworthy, in an inn. The best inn of the port, actually. Sea Hawk might not have been an admiral for longer than a week, and he might not remain an admiral for much longer, now that their work was done, but the people in Seaworthy didn’t know that and had been very grateful for being saved from the Horde invasion.

Sea Hawk’s latest shanty hadn’t hurt, of course. How the captain had found the time to compose it she didn’t know - he had been handling his report and looking into the survivors of the flotilla on the way to Seaworthy, and she didn’t think he had invented it on the spot.

Not that there had been many survivors. She sighed as she got out of bed and splashed some cold water on her face, then rubbed it dry with a towel. As they had expected - and as Sea Hawk had told them - the Horde had been prepared for ramming attacks by fast boats. They had installed carronades on their frigates. Those guns had a pitiful range but were devastating close up. Grapeshot at point-blank range…

She shivered once more as she pulled her clothes on. A single carronade could destroy a boat and kill her crew at once. If the Dragon’s Daughter IV had just sailed a little closer, or if the Horde scum hadn’t been patient and skilled enough to wait a little longer…

Only three ships of their flotilla had survived. And one of them had been sunk attacking a transport later. Fools - all they should have done was shadowing the transports and leading the rest of the fleet to them. Which the other two had managed, at least.

She bared her teeth. All transports sunk, most of them with the landing forces still on them - the Horde scum would feel this loss for a long time!

Well, it was time for breakfast. Seacat hoped that she was early enough to eat without getting bothered by anyone. Like a princess.

She took a deep breath as she stepped into the hallway, her nostrils flaring. Oh, fresh milk bread! That was something you didn’t get to eat on a ship. Licking her lips, she went down to the inn’s dining room, taking two steps a time.

And came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. Blondie and her friends were there, sitting at the closest table.

Looking at her. Damn.

“Cat-Seacat!” And Blondie made a beeline towards her, almost shoving the waitress out of her way.

Seacat smiled at her. “So, you made it as well. How did…” Before she could finish, she found herself interrupted by the woman grabbing her in a hug strong enough to push her breath out of her - and she wasn’t even transformed! “Ack!”

Blondie released her, only to grab her by her arms instead. “What were you thinking? We’ve heard about what you did! Who had this… this plan?”

Uh-oh. “What plan?” She had to delay. Distract the woman. She just had to stall and… why weren’t the shrimp and Brain Boy interrupting them?

“What plan? The plan to rush at a Horde battle line in small boats and get sunk!”

“Ah, that plan.” Seacat forced herself to smile. Stalling didn’t work very well. And the shrimp and Brain Boy were glaring at her as well - as if this was her fault!

“Yes, that plan!” Blondie looked really angry. Were those tears in the corner of her eyes? For her? Or had she tried the hot fish stew for breakfast?

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?” As Sea Hawk had taught her, it was hard to argue with success. Not impossible, but hard.

“It also caused over fifty per cent casualties among the soldiers involved,” the shrimp said. As if that was her business!

“Sailors,” Seacat corrected the princess, “not soldiers.”

“Who cares? You almost died!” Blondie blurted out. “And after you said…” She shook her head - shaking Seacat a little as well since Blondie still kept vice-like grips on Seacat’s upper arms. “Whose plan was it?”

Blondie was really mad. There was only one answer. “The Salinean Navy’s!” Seacat replied. They could take the casualties better than Seacat’s crew could. She had only one captain, and the Salineans had officers to spare, many of them useless anyway.

“Oh! I’m going to give Mermista a piece of my mind!”

Ugh. If Blondie went after Mermista, Sea Hawk would step in to protect the princess. “We volunteered! We knew how dangerous it was, but it was the only way to save Seaworthy!” Seacat told Blondie. “We tried catapults to deploy the mixture, but they didn’t work, cannons wouldn’t work either, and the Hair Princess’s new invention to make our ships faster wasn’t ready yet.”

“Sea Hawk volunteered you?” Blondie had no fangs, but up close, her teeth looked quite impressive when clenched.

“We volunteered,” Seacat spat.

“What were you thinking? You almost died!”

She finally managed to wriggle out of the woman’s grip. “But we didn’t! And we had it all planned out - attacking with the wind, smoke to hide us and hinder their gunners, turning outside the point-blank range of the enemy… We even had new flotation devices the princess made for us.” Which hadn’t really been that helpful - quite the contrary, actually - but there was no need to mention that.

“And you got sunk!”

“One of the Horde gunners got lucky,” Seacat spat with a frown. But Blondie was still glaring at her. And those were definitely tears in her eyes. Damn. Seacat forced a weak smile on her face. “Look, I know the general order the Horde got to capture me looks bad, but…”

“‘General order’? They want to capture you?”

Seacat winced at the volume. “So… you hadn’t heard about it, yet?” And she was still so worked up?

“We arrived late at night,” Brain Boy said. “And we convinced Adora that you needed your sleep after your, ah, ordeal.”

Was that a fancy word for battle?

“I wasn’t about to wake her up!” Blondie protested.

“You were about to transform and break through her door,” the shrimp retorted.

“Never mind!” Blondie turned back to Seacat and glared at her. “What did you say about a general order to capture you?”

That was an intense glare the woman had. Seacat felt her fur bristle a little in response. Even though she wasn’t afraid or even impressed. She huffed and sneered a little. “We captured a sailor. He told us that if they captured me or Catra, they should bring us to the Fright Zone. So, you see - it’s an order to capture me, but just an order what to do should they capture me. Which they won’t, anyway!” She flashed her teeth in a smile. A confident smile.

But Blondie wasn’t looking at her - she was frowning at the floor or something, and biting her thumb. “Shadow Weaver! She’s behind this! I should’ve expected that after her letter!”

Shadow Weaver… Seacat felt a shiver run down her spine. She didn’t like that name. At all. Wait! She blinked. “What letter?”

“The letter Scorpia delivered to you at the Princess Prom?” the shrimp was suddenly at their side. “That letter?”

“Yes,” Blondie replied, grimacing. “She tried to use my old comrades in the Horde against me. As if I’d fall for that! But I should’ve expected that she wouldn’t give up.”

“Wait! You’re the reason the Horde wants to capture me?” Seacat blurted out. “They think I’m your friend? Your missing friend?”

Everyone was staring at her again.

“Err…” Blondie coughed. “Yes?”

“Why?” Seacat snapped. “Why, damn it?” This couldn’t be true!

“Uh…” Brain Boy spoke up. “Are you asking why Shadow Weaver wants to kidnap you, or why she thinks that you’re Catra?”

Before Seacat could answer the stupid question, the shrimp spoke up. “What kind of question is that? Everyone knows that she’s Catra! The dates match, she looks like her, she acts like her…”

“I don’t act like her at all!” Seacat protested. “I like to swim! And I hate the Horde!”

“Big deal!” the shrimp retorted. “I didn’t like to swim when I was younger, either! And Adora hates the Horde, too!”

That stupid princess! Seacat hissed. This wasn’t true!

“And, ah… Shadow Weaver wants you because you’re my… friend,” Blondie added, with a glance towards her friends.

“One of her friends,” the shrimp added before she was elbowed by Brain Boy.

“So… this Shadow Weaver…” Seacat felt her fur bristle again just saying the name. “...she wants me as a hostage?”

“Yes.” Blondie nodded. “She must have found out about you at the Princess Prom, from Scorpia. And when I didn’t react to the threats to the cadets in my former squad…”

Seacat shook her head with clenched teeth. This wasn’t true! This couldn’t be true! She wasn’t just some hostage! She wasn’t just leverage against She-Ra! She was Seacat! She had fought the Horde! She had beaten the Horde - with Sea Hawk. She had done much more things that mattered than… dancing with a princess at a ball!

“No!” she spat and whirled around.

“Ca-Seacat! Wait!”

“Leave me alone!” she hissed at Blondie. “This is all your fault!”

Then she leapt to the door, ripped it open and rushed out of the inn. Away from… away from everyone.

“Wait!”

Blondie was coming after her. Of course!

“Wait! Seacat, wait!”

But the woman didn’t know Seaworthy as well as Seacat did. And she wasn’t as fast as Seacat. Not by a long shot.

Seacat sprinted down the main street on all fours, dodging around the passers-by and easily outdistancing the Blondie, until she reached a particular intersection. She bared her fangs as she took the corner, dashing down a side alley, then took the next corner, and another and one more.

Then she slowed down. Here, the alleys were so narrow, sometimes you couldn’t even see the sky above you. There was no way Blondie - or any princess - would find her here.

Sighing, she sat down and leaned against the wall.

And cursed the Horde, Blondie, the princesses. Everyone.

She wasn’t Catra! She was Seacat! The damn best first mate of the fastest ship in Etheria! She mattered!

And she wasn’t crying!

*****​

Seacat sniffed the air and grinned. She could smell the roasted fish around two corners - her third-favourite food stall in Seaworthy was open! She could finally get breakfast. Scoffing, she reminded herself that this, too, was all Blondie’s fault. If not for the princess and her stupid friends, she could’ve eaten in the inn. Milk bread!

But now she could eat in peace. And it was late enough so she could order breakfast and lunch together. Perhaps one order of roasted fish and one of fried fish? Yeah, that would do. Running from a stupid princess had made her work up an appetite, too!

She was licking her lips as she rounded the last corner. There was the stall - and that was a piece of arctic shark on the spit in the corner! And there was…

…Sea Hawk sitting at the counter.

She froze for a moment, almost turning and dashing back around the corner. Then she scoffed and straightened. She wasn’t going to run away from her captain.

Instead, she continued walking and sat down on the seat next to him. “Morning,” she grumbled.

“Morning, first mate!” he replied with a smile.

She didn’t ask how he had found her - he had shown her the back alleys of Seaworthy, after all. But she looked around.

“No one else is here,” he told her.

She huffed in response. But she was glad he hadn’t brought Blondie here. Not that she had really expected him to.

“I’ll have the fried fish and the roasted shark,” she told the cook.

“Good choice,” Sea Hawk told her. “The shark’s delicious - fresh from the Kingdom of Snows. I had it myself.”

That was good news. She nodded, licking her lips as she watched the cook put the fish pieces into the boiling oil before cutting off a generous portion from the shark. She had been here often enough, so the man knew better than to ask if she wanted some greasy side dishes with her fish.

And the shark was delicious. She gobbled it down while the cook finished frying her next order.

Sea Hawk didn’t say anything while she ate, but as soon as she swallowed the last piece of fried fish, he cleared his throat.

And Seacat suppressed the urge to wince. “It’s all Blondie’s fault!” she spat before he could say anything.

“Is it?”

“Yes!” Of course it was!

“That the Horde wants to capture you?”

She clenched her teeth for a moment, almost hissing, before she answered: “Yes. They want me as a hostage. Because she thinks I’m her missing friend.”

“I think dancing and sleeping with her in the Kingdom of Snows also played a role there.” He nodded slowly and took a sip from his ale.

This time, she did hiss. “I didn’t sleep with her - we just slept in the same bed!” she corrected him.

“Well, you know gossip and rumour.” He chuckled softly. “I think people were already talking about your passionate night with Adora before we left port.”

“You mean She-Ra.” She scoffed. “No one would care about her if she were just a Horde deserter fighting against them. The Horde.”

“Ah.” He frowned and tilted his head. “Are you angry that the Horde didn’t put a bounty on your head for being the best first mate on all the seas?”

She clenched her teeth again. She didn’t want to sound arrogant, but…

She had taken too long to answer since he patted her shoulder before she could say anything and told her. “I understand completely, Seacat. I, too, know how it feels when your accomplishments haven’t been appreciated as they should’ve been.”

“They made you an admiral,” she replied in a flat voice.

“And it was completely justified, as we proved during the battle, yes!” He smiled widely. “However, it took me a long time to develop my reputation as the best captain on all the seas. Oh, the years of doing heroic deed after heroic deed, surviving adventures that would have left others dead and destroyed…”

“Such as setting your own ship on fire,” she interrupted him.

He ignored her jab. “...without being recognised for it. Well, except for the bounty hunters and the jealous captains. Or their jealous lovers.” He nodded to his own words. “But in the end, Mermista acknowledged my heroic and dashing nature and my pure love for her!” He reached over and grabbed her by both shoulders, looking into her eyes. “You, too, will achieve your dreams, as long as you persevere and never give up!”

“I don’t want a relationship with Blondie,” she retorted.

“Did I say that?” he asked - far too innocently to be innocent.

She narrowed her eyes and growled at him.

He released her shoulders in response and coughed into his fist. “Trust me, you too will soon be hunted by the Horde for your own merits - they’re just a little slow to realise what we’ve done to them, together. Part of the reason for this is that Mermista has forbidden me to sing shanties about our spy missions for ‘operational security’.”

“That’s so we won’t run into a trap the next time we do such a mission,” she told him.

“Probably, yes.” He grinned. “My dear Mermista is a little too cautious. I’ve told her that we wouldn’t use the same plan twice, so letting the Horde know what we did would only make them focus on the wrong areas, but she remains unconvinced.”

She scoffed in return.

“Exactly! But I might yet convince her. Anyway, you shouldn’t blame our friends for the Horde’s actions.”

“It was their actions that led to this,” Seacat told him. “If she hadn’t mistaken me for her missing friend, none of this would’ve happened.”

“Are you certain?” He cocked his head. “She didn’t force you to spend so much time with her, did she? If she did, I’ll have a word with her - as your captain, the law of the sea compels me to protect you from such… advances.”

Seacat clenched her teeth. She was tempted to lie - it would serve Blondie well to have the captain come after her - but… She wasn’t the kind of sailor who had a lover in every port, nor was she a rake like some of Sea Hawk’s friends, but she, well… If Blondie weren’t a princess, not a former Horde soldier, and not such a pain in the stern about her missing friend, she wouldn’t be the worst choice to spend an evening carousing with.

“Ah!” The captain was smiling widely - she had taken too long to answer. Again.

“It’s not like that!” she spat.

He chuckled in return. “Of course not. But it could be, couldn’t it?”

She glared at him instead of answering.

He sighed and put his hand on her shoulder again. “Seacat, I know this isn’t easy for you. But remember: This isn’t your fault, nor hers. Nor anyone’s except the Horde’s. Adora and the others mean well.”

“She still thinks I’m Catra.”

“She’ll come around.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Now, shall we head back to the inn to discuss our next step in the war?”

She scoffed again but nodded.

*****​

“So… what about our ship?” she asked on the way back to the inn - where, apparently, the Alliance would be planning the next step of the war. “Did you check the harbour if there’s a nice courier ship for sale? With Mermista bankrolling us, you should be able to outbid anyone else who lost theirs in the battle.”

“Ah, no. Actually, our new ship is waiting - or so I hope - in Salineas for us.” The captain smiled at her, flashing his teeth.

That was the sort of foreplanning Seacat wouldn’t have expected of Sea Hawk. He didn’t believe that preparing for misfortune would ensure it would befall you, as some superstitious - and stupid - sailors thought, but he was a great believer in improvising. Although this had been a very dangerous mission, and it wasn’t out of the question that Sea Hawk would have taken steps to… No. He hadn’t been planning ahead like this even when he had been planning to wreck his ship ramming the Horde bomb vessel in the Battle of Salineas. That meant… No. “You didn’t… you didn’t pick the Princess’ test ship!”

He nodded with a wide grin. “Of course I did! Princess Entrapta said that it would be the fastest ship on all the seas once she has perfected the design. Imagine if someone else would get to sail her instead of us! The shame! We have a reputation to defend - now more than ever!”

She felt her ears flatten against her head as she stopped walking and glared at him. “Are you seriously trying to use this mess about Blondie’s friend to… to justify risking our lives with the Hair Princess’s project?”

Sea Hawk beamed at her and cocked his head sideways. “Yes. Is it working?”

She growled, shook her head and turned to continue to walk briskly towards the inn. Even dealing with Blondie and her stupid friends was better than trying to talk sense into Sea Hawk right now.

*****​

“Seacat!” Blondie jumped up as soon as Seacat and Sea Hawk entered the inn. “I’m sorry!”

Seacat glared at her. “What are you sorry for?”

“Uh…” The woman blinked with a particularly stupid expression. “Everything?”

Seacat rolled her eyes. “It’s the Horde’s fault, you idiot!”

Blondie started nodding and smiling. It didn’t make her look smarter in any way.

“Are we really doing our planning here?” Seacat pointedly looked around and eyed the waitresses and the innkeeper, all of whom were staring at them. The Horde must have spies in Seaworthy, and who knew who they were? They hadn’t revealed themselves during the battle, unlike the ones in Salineas.

“Of course not,” the shrimp spoke up. “We’ve got a secure room prepared. Upstairs.” She stood. “Let’s go! The admiral is waiting,” she added with a frown at Seacat.

As if that was Seacat’s fault! She stuck out her tongue at the shrimp’s back as they climbed the stairs.

“The other admiral,” Sea Hawk said. “I’m also an admiral.”

Admiral Gharn was already in a large room on the first floor - with two marines standing guard outside - but it didn’t look like she had been waiting for them; she was at a long table scribbling on sheets.

“Admiral Gharn! How’s my fellow flag officer doing?” Sea Hawk blurted out as soon as the door opened.

“Doing paperwork,” the woman replied with a frown.

“Ah!” Sea Hawk nodded sagely before sitting down and putting his boots on the table. “My own, sadly, sank with my ship. Very unfortunate.”

“Not as unfortunate as our casualties,” the admiral retorted.

“Yes.” Sea Hawk nodded again. “I’ve lost my ship as well.”

“And most of your command.”

Seacat clenched her teeth and glared at the officer. “Everyone knew the risks,” she spat. “We did better than expected.”

“Yes. A few ships survived, actually,” Sea Hawk added with another nod.

“And replacing those that didn’t will take a long time,” Gharn said. “Until then, our ability to keep up lines of communication with headquarters as well as keeping eyes on the enemy fleet will be restricted.”

“What enemy fleet?” Blondie asked. “You sank the Horde ships in the area, didn’t you?”

“The Horde will be sending more ships. And my own fleet is in dire need of repairs and resupply. Our victory was bought with blood.”

“As was the victory in the land battle,” the shrimp said. “And we have to keep fighting. The Horde’s reeling - this is the best time to hit them. Hard.”

“Half my ships won’t be hitting anything until they’ve been patched up. If I sent them out in their current state, I might as well sink them myself.”

“That still leaves the other half of your ships, my fellow admiral,” Sea Hawk said. “And you should still have two couriers to serve as the eyes of your fleet. More than enough to push down the coast and take a port or two back.”

“Yes!” Blondie said. “We can land troops, too! If you take a force down the coast, we can hit them before they know what’s coming.”

“I cannot risk the Salinean fleet without approval from Princess Mermista.”

Seacat hissed. Bloody coward.

“Well, unless I bungled my admiral orientation,” Sea Hawk said with a sly grin, “which was given to me by the princess in person, mind you, then our standing orders are that absent other orders, we’re to hunt down fleeing Horde ships. And I’m reasonably sure that some Horde ships are fleeing south. Although we’re bound for Salineas, to take possession of our new ship, so I can ask if your different orders take precedence.”

Gharn looked like she wanted nothing more than shooting Sea Hawk out of a cannon right now. “I’ll send out scouts to recon the southern coast.”

“Great!”

“And we’ll send out scouts as well,” the shrimp said. “To clear the coast down to the closest enemy naval base.”

Well, it looked like matters were settled. Of course, that would mean that people would now spend far too much time talking about stupid details. Seacat made a point of closing her eyes and leaning back, though she didn’t put her feet on the table.

*****​

“I can’t believe you fell asleep in the briefing!” Blondie, sounding both shocked and annoyed, cornered Seacat as soon as they had left the briefing room.

Seacat made a point of yawning and stretching, craning her neck for good measure, before replying. “Why?”

The other woman blinked. “Huh… I mean: What were you thinking?” She was flushed now, too. She must really care about rules and expectations.

“I was thinking that I said my piece and had no need to listen to all the logistical details. I don’t need to know about who supplied whom and who gets to order whom around on the move south since I’m not going to head south for a while.” Seacat grinned.

“But…”

“Also, me listening would’ve been a bad idea since such information is need to know, and since I won’t be taking part in the operation, I don’t have a need to know. So, you see, me taking a nap - which was quite challenging with all the whispering from you - was actually just me doing my duty for the Alliance.”

Blondie was gaping again. “But… but…”

Of course, the shrimp just had to butt in. “So you acknowledge that you’re a member of the Alliance now?”

Seacat frowned at the princess. That was… well, she was correct. Kind of. But not really. “I’m Sea Hawk’s first mate,” she said. “And he’s an admiral of the Salinean Navy.”

“A soon to be decorated admiral!” the captain said from further ahead, looking over his shoulder at them.

She rolled her eyes. “But I didn’t join the Navy,” she went on. She would remember that. Even if others assumed so.

“But…” Blondie tried again.

Seacat interrupted her with a raised claw. “No buts. There’s only one man who can give me orders, and that is Sea Hawk.” And as long as she didn’t join the Navy, that wouldn’t change - she knew better than letting all the idiot officers in the Salinean fleet order her around.

“That’s… incredibly…” The shrimp seemed at a loss for words.

“...smart?” Seacat prompted her, flashing her fangs in a grin.

“...Selfish! And disruptive!” the princess tried.

“No. Even if we were both in the Navy, I’d be directly under him, with no one between us. No one else would be in my chain of command,” Seacat told her.

“Mermista could give you orders!” The shrimp obviously didn’t like to lose an argument.

“That’s different,” Seacat replied, “and not related to the Navy at all.” And she wasn’t going into the reasons she - sometimes, only - listened to Mermista.

“But…” The shrimp finally huffed - and clenched her teeth, which made her look more like a child than the commander of Bright Moon’s army she was. “Fine! Whatever! You’re not in the stupid Navy!” She turned to her friends. “Let’s go and talk to our troops! We’ve lost enough time here!” She whirled and walked - stomped - down the hallway towards the stairs.

Brain Boy, who had stayed silent so far, glanced at Seacat before following the princess.

Blondie, though, hesitated. “Uh… if you’re not going to join the attack down the coast, where are you going?” she asked.

“Back to Salineas,” Seacat told her. “We need to get our new ship and get it sea-ready.” Which could take a while even if she didn’t blow up the first time they pushed her.

“Oh.” The woman looked almost disappointed for a moment before smiling at Seacat. “That’s great!”

“We’ll see,” Seacat said. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to testing the inventions of the Hair Princess, but Sea Hawk was correct that they couldn’t let others have a shot at the fastest ship on the seas, even if it was a little dangerous.

“Is something wrong?” Blondie frowned at her.

“Nothing,” Seacat lied and stretched again. “It’s just been a long day, and a troublesome morning.”

Blondie had the grace to blush in response. “Again, sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. It’s the Horde’s.” Like so much else.

“But still… you’re now in even more danger!”

Seacat scoffed. “More danger than charging at a Horde battle line in a courier?”

“Well…” The woman looked confused for a second, then frowned again and leaned towards her. “You won’t do that again, right?”

Seacat leaned back before she realised what she was doing. That was an intense glare - worse than Mermista’s in a bad mood. But she was Seacat, not some Alliance soldier or whatever. She raised her chin. “Not until it’s needed. You won’t be charging Horde artillery, will you?”

Blondie opened her mouth, then closed it again, her frown turning into a pout before she smiled - weakly, but it was there. “Not until it’s needed.”

Seacat chuckled, and, a moment later, both of them were laughing.

*****​

Seaworthy might have been under siege less than two days ago - although not for long, all things considered, and the port hadn’t been completely surrounded on the land side - but the seedy underbelly of the port, as Mermista would have called it, hadn’t been affected much. The tavern Seacat had just entered - the same where she had met Blondie for the first time - proved that beyond a doubt. It was as busy as ever, and the patrons as shady and untrustworthy as they came. As usual.

She walked up to the bar, glaring at a drunken sailor who stared too openly at her butt, and flipped a coin to the fishwoman behind the counter. “Ale,” she ordered. “Cold. Keep the change.”

The woman caught the coin without looking at her and quickly filled a mug. “Here.”

Seacat took a sip and blinked. The ale was stronger than usual. She turned to address the bartender and lifted her mug. “Is this a new brew?”

“To celebrate the victory against the Horde.” The woman’s smile was a little forced, but the surrounding patrons lifted their glasses and mugs. “To victory!”

Seacat joined in - it was her victory, after all. Well, hers and Sea Hawk’s. And their flotilla. And the Salinean Fleet had helped, too.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and resisted the urge to lick it clean right away. That was strong ale, though the aftertaste was a little off. “Need to go over the recipe again,” she told the bartender, wrinkling her nose. “There’s some aftertaste.”

“Huh?” The drunken sailor - a goatman - next to her grunted. “Whatcha talkin’ ‘bout? It’s fine!”

She scoffed. “Just because you have no taste…” She blinked. The man looked a little… hazy. Seacat hadn’t drunk that much. And it was ale, not liquor!

She pushed off the bar and felt her legs wobble for a moment. Damn - the ale! She whirled around with a hiss. The bartender was at the other end of the bar, headed towards the door there.

Growling, Seacat jumped on the bar and dashed along it on all fours. The fishwoman yelped and started to run, but she was too slow. Seacat smashed into her just as she reached the door and tackled her to the floor. A quick blow to the chest stopped the scumbag’s attempt to fend her off. While the woman clutched her ribs, Seacat kicked her in the other side, flipping her on her back. “What did you put into my ale?”

“Nothing! I swear!”

“Then why did you try to run?” She kicked the liar again and flashed her claws. “Talk or I’ll gut you like a… a fish!”

“Help! Help!”

Damn. Seacat placed a foot on the woman’s belly and looked over her shoulder. Four people, including the goatman, were moving towards her, weapons drawn. “Stay back! She poisoned me!” Seacat snapped. She had to blink again - things were getting hazy once more. “Call the guards!” she added.

But the four kept dancing - and fanning out.

“Ah! That was your plan! Horde scum!” Seacat snarled. She drew her cutlass and ignited it, waving it towards the closest attacker. The man shied away, and Seacat jumped forward, to the door the bartender had tried to reach.

It wasn’t locked! She kicked it open and swung her blade again, almost catching the goatman in the stomach, but the nimble bastard managed to jump back in time. Then Seacat dashed through the open door - and found herself in the tavern’s kitchen. The cook, a fat woman, shrieked and moved into the corner, but Seacat had only eyes for the exit - the backdoor. There!

She took a step, but her leg almost buckled. Damn! And everything was now hazy.

She steadied herself with one hand on the big table in the centre of the kitchen and turned just in time to meet a burly man jumping at her, hands outstretched. Seacat snarled and ducked, then pushed herself up, sending the fool flying headfirst into the huge pot of soup on the stove behind her.

He smashed into it, spilling boiling hot, greasy broth all over himself and the floor. While he screamed like a stuck pig, Seacat jumped on the table - she didn’t fancy getting her feet scolded.

But her legs gave out, and she ended up on her back on the table, sending spices and bread flying. And the goatman was charging at her, wielding a sap.

Seacat rolled to her side and raised her blade, but before she could stick it through the scum’s chest, his hooves slipped on the greasy floor, and he fell down, hard.

Seacat rolled on her belly and stabbed down, catching him in the shoulder. He screamed and rolled away, and before she could recover and cut his flailing legs, a fishman jumped on top of her with a high-pitched yell.

The impact drove the breath out of her lungs, and she almost dropped her cutlass. Before she could react, she felt hands around her throat - he was choking her.

Snarling, she lashed out over her shoulder, burying the claws of her free hand deep into his lower arm, then ripped them out again.

The fishman howled and released her neck, and she felt blood drop down on her back. Hissing, she reversed her grip on her cutlass and drove the blade back - into the fool’s stomach. His screams cut off, and she twisted, pushing the dying bastard off her.

That left the goatman and the fourth, a lizard. She rolled off the table and faced them. Just two left, and she could flee out the back…

She blinked. The goatman had doubled. As had the lizard. And they were growing taller. No, floating.

No, Seacat’s legs were collapsing - she was sinking to the floor.

Everything went black before she hit the ground.

*****​

 

Chapter 12: The Witch

“Oh, look at this!”

“It’s a skiff, Catra.”

“Yes - but look at it! It’s flying!” She cocked her head, smiling.

“It’s hovering, actually. It can’t really fly.”

Adora was being a killjoy again.

“It doesn’t have to be touching the ground to move and it can go higher than a tall trooper stands. That’s flying!” Anyone could see that the skiff was flying - to demonstrate, she quickly passed underneath it. “See? Flying!”

Adora frowned at her. “It’s not really flying. It needs the ground to work.”

“So?” Who cared? As long as it could soar above everyone else on the ground? And could go fast!

“That means that it won’t work over water.” Adora huffed at her.

“What? That makes no sense!” She stared at her friend. Why wouldn’t the skiff be able to fly over water? If you could fly over rocks and grass, why not water?

“It’s magic, duh.” Adora shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Magic?” That couldn’t be true!

“Yes, magic.” Adora nodded with that overly serious expression of hers.

“But… why are we using magic?” She took a step back. Magic. Only princesses used magic. The Horde used technology! Like the cannons. And the bots. And the shock weapons.

“We aren’t - we’re using the skiffs,” Adora explained. “Making them needs magic, but anyone can use them.”

“So we’ve got princesses in the Horde making them?” That sounded wrong, too - everyone knew princesses were the enemy of the Horde.

Adora blinked. “I don’t think you need to be a princess to do magic. Shadow Weaver isn’t a princess, and she can do magic.”

She felt her fur bristle at the name, and she hissed, then looked away. “Well, if it’s from Shadow Weaver I don’t want to have anything to do with it!”

“Catra! It’s not from Shadow Weaver. I think, at least.” Adora blinked. “Someone else probably worked on it. Or we took the magic thingies from the princesses and built the skiffs around them.”

“‘Magic thingies’?” She raised her eyebrows with a grin.

Adora scowled at her. “You know what I meant. The magic…”

“...thing?” She flashed her fangs, chuckling.

“...device that makes things fly.”

“‘Things’!”

“Oh, you!” Adora glared at her, huffing.

“Whatever - let’s check it out!” She jumped, grabbed onto the railing, and swung herself onto the skiff. “Whoa…” She could feel it shift slightly under her feet as she walked. That wasn’t a solid wagon. It was more like… a boat. She shuddered, remembering the ‘amphibious training’ they had gone through. She wasn’t made for water!

“Catra! Come down! We’re not supposed to touch the skiffs - we aren’t even supposed to be here!”

“Feh!” She scoffed. She could also feel something vibrate. Softly, but it was there. Was that the magic? She cocked her head, trying to get a feeling for it.

“Hey! What are you doing here? This is off-limits to cadets!”

Uh-Oh!

*****​

The vibrations were the first thing Seacat noticed when waking up. Like in her dream - she was on a skiff. Then she gasped - she was bound. And she remembered. She had been attacked. Poisoned! She looked around - it was dark, but not completely dark. She was in… in a crate. A wooden crate - a little light came through the gaps between the boards.

She had been kidnapped! And hogtied! Clenching her teeth, she tried to break her bonds, but no matter how much she flexed and strained, the bands holding her wrists and ankles together - behind her back - didn’t budge. And she couldn’t use her claws on the bonds.

Damn! She settled for slamming her body against the boards. If she rocked the crate, perhaps...

“The cat woke up!”

“So?”

“She’s banging around in the crate.”

“So? Let her.”

“What if she brains herself? We won’t get the reward if she’s dead!”

“‘Brains herself’?”

Seacat hissed. She knew that voice - the goatman from the tavern! The other must be the lizard.

“Killing herself by hitting her head against the wall. People do that.”

“In your damned Mermaid Mysteries, perhaps.”

“Oi! They’re good books!”

“They’re trash!”

“Don’t say that!”

“I’ll say what I want! I got us this windfall!”

“And you got Juke and Oli killed!”

“I didn’t get them killed - they got themselves killed attacking the cat. I fought her and lived!”

“You almost died - she cut your shoulder.”

“And I’ll heal. Unlike Juke and Oli. Now shut up and let the cat tire herself out. No one can hear us out here anyway.”

Seacat hissed again. That was important information. Important but not very promising. At least she had killed two of the Horde scum who had poisoned her. But they must be far inland if there wasn’t anyone around. And they were headed to the Horde territory.

Damn.

She threw herself at the crate again. That didn’t do anything. But she could use the claws on the boards, couldn’t she? Of course she could!

She twisted until she was lying on her back and tried her claws on the board below her. They easily went through the wood. Good. But how to escape? She was on a skiff, that much she knew. Perhaps if she dug through the board and the deck below, she could damage the skiff and cause it to crash?

They weren’t flying high, so she would survive. So would the two scumbags, though - but if they crashed, there was the hope that others would find them. Sea Hawk would know about the kidnapping - everyone in the tavern had seen the fight. And Blondie would probably charge after them on foot and without any directions…

Seacat chuckled under her breath at the thought. That would be… She frowned. She didn’t need a rescue by Blondie. She could escape herself. All she needed was a little luck. Like the goatman and the lizard crushing their skulls in a crash.

Clenching her teeth, she started scratching through the board. She couldn’t see her work, and just using her fingers as leverage made it far harder than usual, but this was wood used for crates; far from the hardwood used for the decks of ships or their hulls. After a little while, she had made a hole big enough so she could easily reach the deck below.

That was made of metal - and harder than she remembered… had dreamt of. Still, she could feel her claws cut it. Little by little. Her fingers hurt, but she’d hurt her kidnappers more. All she needed to do was to crash the skiff, then get out of the crate and roll onto them until she could dig her claws into their flesh.

But first, she needed to get through the skiff’s deck. She just needed to be patient. Revenge would be hers. And she would get the key to her bonds.

After a good while, she finally broke through the deck. But as much as she twisted, she couldn’t reach anything below it with her hands. Damn it. That meant, she would have to widen the holes in the crate and the deck. Probably large enough so she could fall through them.

That would take a long time, but it wasn’t as if she had better things to do. As long as she managed before they reached Horde territory…

She heard steps approaching the crate and froze. Had the kidnappers heard her? No, she hadn’t been loud enough; she’d know. So…

The steps stopped, and, for a moment, she felt relief. But then, the lid of the crate was removed, and she was blinded by sunlight, hissing as she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Here’s some water, you…” The lizard gasped. “Brad!”

She snarled and threw herself upward, fangs bared. The lizard raised his arms, and she bit him, sinking her fangs into his lower arm.

“Ah! Help! Help!”

He recoiled, but she didn’t let him go - she clenched her jaws and hung on. All she needed was a little leverage, a twist, and she could use her claws on him.

But he shook her too hard for that - she could barely hang on.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to get her off!”

“Well, just hit her, idiot!”

She hissed and let go, landing a few yards away and rolling until she hit the railing. She shook her head, then glanced around. They were in some kind of forest. The goatman was at the helm, clutching the steering wheel. And the lizard...

“Look at my arm!”

...was wailing and clutching his barely-bleeding warm.

“Get her! She’s about to escape!”

“But my…”

“Get her!” The goatman was screeching.

Escaping was a good idea, but hogtied as she was, she couldn’t exactly move well. She couldn’t even get up. This wasn’t going as planned.

The lizard approached her, and she hissed and snapped, driving him back.

“Get her, you fool! She’s tied up, you worthless, useless idiot!”

“Oli! You saw what she did to my arm! What if her fangs are poisoned?”

“Just grab her - she can’t really hurt you!”

“She hurt me already!”

But the lizard was advancing on her again. Seacat lunged - as much as she could, bound as she was - but he sidestepped her attack and grabbed her by the neck. She managed to slam her knees into his shin, but except for forcing him to take a step back, it didn’t do anything.

And he hadn’t released her. Instead, he held her up. “Got her!”

She hissed again, but he barely flinched.

“Finally! Now poison her! I’m not going to have her escape again!”

“But…”

“Do it!”

Seacat struggled as much as she was able to, shaking and growling. “You’ll pay for this! They’ll come for you! They’ll already have your names!”

“Oli…?”

“Shut her up, damn it. We’ll be fine in the Horde!”

Despite her resistance, the lizard forced a piece of wood into her mouth. She tried to bite through it, but that was hardwood. She wouldn’t… wouldn’t…

Everything went dark again.

*****​

The smell was the first thing that hit her when she woke up. She knew it. A bit of smoke - coal, not wood - and oil or other stuff. And no hint of the scent of the sea. None at all. Yet, it was… familiar. She had smelt it before. It was… it was… Horde!

She gasped, opening her eyes and looking around. She was in Horde territory! Blinking, she looked around. She was in a cell. A metal cell, with dimly glowing bars instead of a door. Horde style. Green, dim light filled the room. She wasn’t hogtied anymore. And her hands were in cuffs, but in front of her, not on her back. Good.

But her throat hurt. As did her stomach. The kidnappers hadn’t fed her much during the rest of the trip - she only remembered waking up a few times, and getting water and some dried meat. The scum had kept her drugged for the entire time!

And it hadn’t done her any favours - her head hurt, and standing up was… well, she managed. On the third try. But she was parched and hungry. Didn’t the Horde feed their prisoners?

She looked around again. In front of the bars there was a tray, and on it… Water! She stumbled towards it, almost falling down, and grabbed the bottle with both hands. Water!

She gulped down most of it, sighing as it soothed her throat. Sweet, sweet… well, the water had a metallic aftertaste. Like drinking from a metal can after a month at sea. Seacat made a face but drank the rest of the water anyway.

There were a grey and a brown bar on the tray as well. Horde ration bars. She wrinkled her nose - even the supposedly good ones tasted bad. But it was food. Sort of.

And she needed food. She couldn’t escape while starving. She sniffed the bars, then took a cautious bite.

Bleargh. She shuddered at the taste but kept eating. She had eaten worse, after all. And the taste was kind of familiar. Like...

She blinked, then clenched her teeth. She had eaten Horde ration bars before, at sea. That was why they tasted familiar. No other reason. None!

Growling, she finished both bars, tried to lick the last drops of water from the bottle, then scuttled back and leaned against the wall.

She was in a Horde cell. Probably in the Fright Zone - the Horde Heartland. And the Horde had a bounty on her head. They wanted to use her as a hostage against Blondie.

She needed to escape, and quickly.

*****​

She met the first Horde scum about an hour later - it was hard to tell the time without seeing the sky. She heard them, first - steps on metal grates. Those were rather uncomfortable for bare feet and claws could get stuck in them. Or would. Before she could consider the stray thought, a figure in Horde armour stepped into the hallway outside her cell. They looked female, but with the chest plate and helmet, it was hard to tell.

Seacat glared at them, but they didn’t even stop - they just walked past the cell. That wouldn’t do. “Hey!”

That made them stop and turn around. “What?”

So, there was a man under that armour.

“I’m hungry.” She kicked her tray towards the bars. She could jump the scum when they opened the cell to feed her.

“You’ll get food in the evening.” He turned away.

Damn. “And when will that be?”

“In the evening.”

“What time is it?” she spat.

He snorted. “Noon.”

She couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. “And where am I?”

A scoff was her only answer, and the scum walked away, ignoring the curses she sent after him.

“Scum,” she muttered one last time, then sat down, leaning against the wall again. With the guard gone, she was alone again - there wasn’t even anyone in the cells nearby. No one she could hear or smell, in any case.

Though that was an opportunity as well. She grinned and looked at the wall. Metal - but that wouldn’t stop her claws. And she had, unless the scum had lied to her, a few hours to bust out of this cell before they came to feed her.

That should be more than enough to get through the metal wall. She raised her hands - slightly awkward, since they were still cuffed together - and started scratching the wall.

It was much, much harder than she’d expected. She was just scratching the wall, instead of leaving deep gouges in it. And her claws started to hurt. As did her wrists - the cuffs dug into her wrists with each swipe.

This might not work as she had planned. Whoever had built this cell had been prepared for her.

And wasn’t that worrying? First the general order - and a bounty on her had - and now this. All the work of this ‘Shadow Weaver’?

She shuddered against her will and clenched her teeth. She was better than this. She had fought and beaten the Horde scum - sank their ships. She wasn’t about to be scared by anyone. She…

Footsteps. She cocked her head, her ears twitching. Several people - three. Coming towards her. Coming for her.

She had run out of time.

But.. Seacat’s ears perked up. They were talking!

“Should we be doing this?”

“Yes.”

“Are you really sure? This is a restricted area. Like, really restricted. Not normal restricted.”

“Yes, Kyle. Now shut up.”

That didn’t sound like a goon squad here to fetch her to whoever - Shadow Weaver - had wanted to capture her. She shifted a little, stretching out and crossing her legs as she was lounging on a deck in the sun. She wouldn’t appear weak to anyone.

Three Horde scum stepped in front of her cell. A wimpy looking blond man, a tall lizard - not the bounty hunter scum, though - and a tough-looking woman with a stupid haircut. All wearing Horde uniforms, but no armour. And all looked a little surprised when they saw her.

Seacat flashed her fangs at them with a smirk. “Hello, there.”

The woman pressed her lips together for a moment, frowning. “Catra.”

Oh, no! Seacat hissed and glared at her. “Not another one! I’m Seacat, not ‘Catra’. You dumbasses need to get it right!”

The blonde looked surprised. “Really? Oh, that would…”

“Kyle!” the woman snapped. “She’s lying - of course, that’s Catra!”

“I’m not,” Seacat retorted.

The lizard hissed something in return, and the woman nodded. “Yes, Rogelio. See, Kyle? She has the same markings. And the same attitude.”

Attitude? She’d give the idiot attitude! Seacat growled. “You just don’t want to admit that a pair of loser bounty hunters fooled you and got the reward!”

“Loser bounty hunters who managed to capture you. What does that make you?” The woman scoffed at her.

She bared her teeth at them and felt her tail tap the ground as her ears flattened a little. “They poisoned me before they attacked, and I still killed half of them!” The idiots had been lucky, that was all.

“Oh.” The blond took a step back.

“And yet you were captured.” The woman scoffed again. “How does that feel, Catra?”

“I’m not Catra!” Why couldn’t the scum see that?

“Try to tell that to someone who doesn’t know you.” The woman leaned forward, touching the bars. “You haven’t really changed, have you? Still mouthing off and screwing up, huh?”

“Screwing up?” Seacat got up and walked to the bars, snarling at the woman. “I fought you scum for years! I’ve sunk your ships and killed your soldiers!”

All of them gasped - even the lizard. “You… you traitor!” the blond blurted out.

“Of course she’s a traitor, Kyle,” the woman said, glaring at her. “She’s joined up with Adora, remember?”

“I didn’t!” Was there something in the water that made everyone in the Horde stupid? “I’m Admiral Sea Hawk’s first mate!”

“Who?” the blond asked.

“Sea Hawk! The best captain on all the seas!”

“Some rebel,” the woman said. “Like you, huh?”

Seacat hissed at her. “Says the Horde scum.”

“You were one of us until you deserted!” the other woman spat. Then she raised her chin a little and sneered at her. “But you never really were one of us, were you? Always hanging out with Adora, looking down on us, lazying around while we did all the work… I bet you only deserted because it got too hard for you to shirk your duties. Too much work.”

“‘Too much work’?” Seacat growled. She was the best first mate - she worked damn hard! “For the last time: I didn’t desert - I never was in the Horde! You scum destroyed my village and killed my family!” she hissed at the scum in front of her.

“Uh…” The blond seemed to hunch over a little and shy away from her. “But we didn’t…”

“Kyle! She’s lying. That’s Catra.” The woman scoffed. “We wanted to talk to you, for old time’s sake, but if you’re being like this… Rot in here for all I care!” She turned around and walked away.

The lizard hissed something and followed her. The blond, though, looked at them, then at Seacat. “You really aren’t Catra?”

“Why doesn’t anyone listen? I’m Seacat!”

“Uh… sorry…” He trailed off. “You know, Lonnie’s been under a lot of pressure after Adora deserted.”

Seacat huffed. “So?” Who cared about Horde scum?

“Just saying. She isn’t usually like this.”

“That’s what they all say.” She bared her teeth at him.

“You really don’t, uh remember me?”

“I haven’t seen you before in my life.” Only in some weird dreams, she realised. No, that couldn’t have been them. Or her.

She turned away, tail swishing against the bars, and ignored him until he had left.

She had to escape. She was going mad in here.

She looked at the bars. They were thicker than she expected. And made from the same metal as the walls - just covered with a different coat of paint, as she found after scratching one. Damn. She clenched her teeth. Horde scum trying to keep up this farce… And it was a farce. And it was all Blondie’s fault. She wasn’t Catra. She was Seacat. She wasn’t Horde scum.

No matter what anyone else claimed.

She took a few deep breaths. She had been stupid to chase the Horde soldier away. She might have convinced him to let her out...no, no one was that dumb. But fool him into coming into her cell? Fake an illness? That probably could’ve worked. Could still work - they had to feed her, after all.

That was a plan. Wait for the evening, then jump the scum serving her dinner. Easy. She just had to wait. For hours.

She cursed again and kicked the bars. She hated waiting. Unable to do anything. Just waiting. For others. Helpless… no, not helpless. Even with her hands in cuffs, she could still fight. An average Horde soldier? No contest. She could outfight one of those with both hands tied behind her back.

She scoffed, then sighed and sat down again, leaning her head back against the wall and staring at the ceiling above her. There was a grate covering the air duct. If she could climb up, she should be able to remove it and slip into the ducts. She could disappear there - they were narrow, but she was slim and flexible. She would be able to pass through them. Get to the outside, then disappear in the Fright Zone’s labyrinth of factories and refineries…

...well, the supposed factories and refineries. She had only heard of them. Though she could smell them. Burning coal and other stuff. That meant the ducts had no filtration. A logical deduction, as Mermista would call it.

She snorted at the weak joke. A deduction. She didn’t - couldn’t! - know the ducts, or the area, but she could deduce how it looked. Mostly.

Not that it mattered - she couldn’t climb the walls. They were too hard, too smooth. Her claws couldn’t find any purchase.

That left plan ‘jump the Horde soldier’. She liked that plan - she needed to fight someone. Break something. Anything. Teach the Horde that she wasn’t helpless. That she was dangerous. That she wasn’t just a stupid hostage, but a threat to them!

But she had to wait until someone came visiting her. She hated that part of the plan. She needed to move, to do something.

She sighed again. Perhaps a nap would help. Though she doubted that she would be able to sleep easily with all the noise and the stench from the Fright Zone. And who knew what kind of stupid dream she’d have? More stupid Horde soldier dreams? Perhaps with the three idiots from before?

She’d rather have a nightmare. Or another weird dream with Blondie.

Damn. She really needed to escape. Before she started feeling as if…

She growled at her own stupidity. She was Seacat. Not Catra. Never Catra.

Huffing, she lay down on the floor, squirming a little to find a comfortable position. With her hands cuffed together, it wasn’t as easy as usual, and the stupid metal floor didn’t help, either. But she managed, using her arms as a pillow.

But she couldn’t sleep. She was in the Fright Zone. The Horde wanted to use her as a hostage against Blondie. She couldn’t let them do that. Not that Blondie would give in - she wasn’t that stupid - but it would… well, she couldn’t let the Horde do this. No matter what.

She found herself gnawing on her lower lip, almost piercing her skin with her fangs. Could she kill herself, if everything else failed? Would serve them right, mistaking her for Catra. But it wouldn’t work - the Horde could lie about her death.

And killing herself would have been stupid, anyway. There was always hope as long as you were alive, no matter how bad things looked. Sea Hawk had taught her that. And experience. She just had to be ready to take any opportunity that might appear.

She sighed. Sea Hawk. He would be so worried about her. Probably trying to sail their ship… no, he didn’t have a ship. She clenched her teeth. He would come for her. Probably with Blondie. And the Horde would be expecting them.

No! She growled again. She couldn’t let anyone get killed for her. This was her fault - she shouldn’t have let herself get caught by some stupid bounty hunter scum. So she had to fix it. She had to escape. Where was the stupid Horde scum with her dinner, so she could jump him?

Where was…

She froze. Someone was… something…

A figure stepped - no, glided - into view outside her cell. Red robes, moving by themselves. A mask hiding her entire face. Wild dark hair peeking out… Seacat drew a hissing breath.

She knew this woman. She knew her.

“Shadow Weaver.”

The woman tilted her head. It looked… off, somehow. But that might’ve been the way she seemed to glide and float, instead of walking. “You remember me, then.” Her voice was… raspier than expected.

Seacat knew that the woman was smiling, even though she couldn’t see her face. But the attitude… the arrogance. The way she held herself showed it. And the tone of her voice, always so… “No, Blondie told me about you,” Seacat spat.

“Really?” The woman’s voice dripped with condescension. “Did she try to jog your shaken brain into remembering your past?”

“No.” Seacat hissed at the woman. “She told me that you were the worst parent. That you were trying to manipulate her - and failed.” She bared her teeth.

“Oh? I guess even Adora thought that it wasn’t worth trying to recover your memories.” Shadow Weaver shrugged. “Perhaps she prefers your current personality. You certainly weren’t a prize while growing up, Catra.”

“I’m not Catra!” Seacat spat.

“Really? You deny it, even at this point? I knew you were remarkably stubborn and simple-minded, but this is…” The woman shook her head with a sigh. “...ridiculous.”

“It’s not! I’m not Catra.”

The Horde scum ignored her. “Your denial is understandable, of course - I wouldn’t want to be Catra myself. No one would. She was always in trouble. Skiving off, failing to follow orders, making a nuisance out of her, trying to distract and drag down her fellow cadets… She was a pest, to be honest. Worthless.”

Seacat growled, her tail lashing as her ears flattened themselves against her head. This was… this was… not true! “Wrong!”

“‘Wrong’?” Shadow Weaver laughed. “Didn’t Adora tell you about ‘her friend’? How she always had to cover for the pest?” She scoffed. “Or did she lie to you, perhaps?”

“She didn’t lie to me!” Adora couldn’t lie worth anything!

“So you say.” The Horde witch shook her head. “But deep down, you know the truth. You are worthless.”

“So worthless, you put a bounty on me! General orders!” Seacat sneered at the witch.

“You’re nothing. Your only worth is as a means to convince Adora to return to me.”

“No!” She jumped to her feet and moved to the bars, glaring at the arrogant Horde scum. “I’m Seacat. I sunk your ships and foiled your invasions!”

“You? Don’t make me laugh! Still riding the coattails of your betters, I see, and claiming their success as your own. Just as you did as a cadet!” The woman leaned forward - but not close enough for Seacat’s claws to reach her. The gap between the bars was too narrow to allow her to stick her arm through. “A nuisance. A distraction. A pest. That is what your existence amounts to.”

“For the Horde,” Seacat shot back. “But my friends know better.”

“Your friends are fools as well. Their stubborn refusal to admit defeat is all that keeps this war going.”

“We just defeated your invasion of Seaworthy! And we sunk your fleet! We’ll push you back into the Fright Zone, and then we’ll finish you!”

Once more, the woman laughed. “You have no idea. This war won’t be decided at sea. You could sink every ship that the Horde fields, occupy every port, and you’d still lose.”

“You’re delusional!” Seacat spat. “The Kingdom of Snows joined the alliance. It’s the biggest kingdom in Etheria. The Horde hasn’t managed to defeat Bright Moon when it stood alone, and now you want to defeat the entire alliance? You’re even more stupid than your sailors!” She scoffed. The woman was mad. Unless… No. This had to be a ruse. An attempt to make her lose hope and give up. And she wouldn’t! She’d rather die!

“Of course someone as shortsighted and ignorant as you would think so.”

“We’ll see who’s right soon enough.” She bared her teeth again and gripped the bars.

Shadow Weaver scoffed again. “We? You’ll rot in this cell. You won’t see anything ever again except these walls.”

Seacat scoffed in return. “Really? You want to use me as a hostage to make Adora switch sides, don’t you? How well do you think that’ll work with me isolated here?” She forced herself to laugh before she imitated the woman’s voice. “‘Oh, yes, Adora - I have Seacat in a cell, trust me! I would never lie to you! Now do what I say!’ No wonder Adora deserted as soon as she could.”

She saw the witch freeze for a moment before Shadow Weaver’s hands rose and something hit Seacat, through the bars, throwing her back a yard.

Magic.

Seacat managed not to rub her aching chest and face as she got up. “Feh! I’ve been hit harder in friendly tavern brawls!”

“Do not test my patience. I only need you alive, not unhurt.” Shadow Weaver told her in a clipped tone - she was mad! Good!

“And that will make Adora see the error of her ways, right?” Seacat laughed again. “You really are bad at this, aren’t you?”

The witch grew still again, and Seacat wondered if she had pushed the Horde scum too far.

But the witch didn’t lash out again. “You haven’t changed at all. I had wondered if your… experiences… had changed you. For the better. But you’re as insolent as ever,” Shadow Weaver spat. “You haven’t grown up at all. You’re still the useless brat I knew.”

“Takes one to know one,” Seacat shot back. “Not that you’d know me since I’m not Catra!”

But instead of getting angrier, the woman seemed to relax. She even snorted at Seacat, cocking her head. “Really? How long will you keep up this useless charade? Or do you honestly think you aren’t Catra? No, not even you could be so stupid. Not in the face of all the evidence. Adora recognised you, after all. As did your former comrades. As did I.”

“They’re mistaken!” Seacat snarled. They had to be. She wasn’t Horde scum!

Shadow Weaver laughed in response, and Seacat cringed. That was… that sound… She knew it… No!

“Oh, I understand now. You don’t want to accept the truth. You are so desperate to be someone else, anyone else but the failure that was Catra, you’ll ignore the truth staring you in the face.” She laughed again and leaned forward until her eyes were on the same level as Seacat’s. “Poor, naive Catra. So desperate to succeed, to be more than a fool and a distraction! You tried, but your base nature and your mental limits betrayed you every time, and now all that is left is mindless denial. But no matter how often you repeat it, it won’t come true. You are Catra. A former Horde cadet too weak and inept to make it. Not even Adora, for all her efforts, could salvage you. Vanishing was the best thing you did.”

“You lie!” Seacat threw herself against the bars, tried to jam her arms, even bound as they were, through to reach the woman and claw her mask and face off. “It’s not true!” She didn’t care about the pain - she was hurting anyway. “I’m not a failure!” She hated the witch. Hated her more than anyone else.

Once more, the woman laughed. “But you are! A complete failure. No discipline. No intelligence. You’re barely more than a wild animal, always acting on your whims. Spoiled rotten by Adora. And how did you thank her? By dragging her down! You’re a hindrance, nothing more!”

“No! I’m the best first mate on all the seas!” Sea Hawk’s first mate. Seacat.

“Did they tell you that? Probably to avoid hurting your poor feelings. But you know the truth - you aren’t good enough. You’ll never be good enough. You are and remain a failure. Your only worth is that Adora, out of mistaken loyalty, still cares for you. Probably out of pity for her pet.”

No. No! NO!

Seacat growled and hissed: “No!” Not pity! She managed to refrain from throwing herself at the bars again. That was what Shadow Weaver wanted - a stupid girl hurting herself while trying to claw her. Seacat wasn’t stupid. She forced herself to laugh. It was a choked laugh, but the best she could manage. “You are blind,” she added with a scoff. “And stupid.”

Shadow Weaver snorted in response. “I know you. Better than you know yourself - if your claims of having lost your memories are true and not some pathetic attempt to hide from your past.”

“They are!” Seacat snarled. No - she couldn’t lose her temper. That would let the witch win. And that couldn’t be allowed! That would be… like in her dreams. No. She raised her chin and sneered at Shadow Weaver. “But you don’t know me. You just see what you want to see. That’s worse than being blind. I’m Seacat. I’m the first mate of the fastest ship on all the seas. I’ve outsailed, outfought and out-thought the best of your fleet. I’ve spied on your ships, I set them on fire - and I crippled them in the Battle of Seaworthy. My captain, Admiral Sea Hawk, trusts me with his life.” And she him with hers, of course.

“He must be a bigger fool than I had heard, then,” the witch replied.

She snarled at the witch once more. No one insulted her captain! Well, except Mermista. And Seacat herself- but only if he deserved it. The stray thought allowed her to snort, even chuckle. “Again, you only see what you want to see. He led the Salinean fleet against your ships - and his tactics saw the Horde frigates sunk. He’s been sailing circles around your ships for years. If he’s a fool, then what does that make you?”

“He was lucky so far. But luck runs out sooner or later.” Shadow Weaver’s hand rose, then fell again. “He’ll reap what he sowed soon enough.”

“Keep dreaming!” Seacat spat. “He’ll sink the pathetic rest of your fleet, then the Salienans will take your ports and wreck your supplies! And then Adora will lead the alliance into the Fright Zone and crush the Horde once and for all!”

“Adora will do no such thing! Once she’s separated from the rebellion and back in her proper place, she’ll…”

“...cut you down with her magic sword!” Seacat interrupted her, baring her teeth. “You really think hurting and threatening her friends will work? I haven’t known her for long, but even I can tell you that this won’t end well - for you.” She scoffed, shaking her head. “She said you raised her, but I can’t believe that. Not when she deserted the Horde as soon as she could and spent all her time since then fighting you. If you really raised her, then you were a total failure. A complete screwup! An utter fool! A moron of such...”

“Enough!” Shadow Weaver screeched and pushed her hands towards her.

Seacat saw something sparkle between the clawed fingers of the witch, then lightning struck her.

And she screamed. Her body felt as if she were burning. Her muscles were frozen - and hurting. She was clenching her jaws so hard, she thought she could hear her teeth crack. This was like when she had been hit with one of the shock rods. No. This was worse. Much worse. And different.

But familiar. She’d suffered like this before. No!

She thrashed on the metal floor, convulsing as her limbs flailed around, still screaming. No! She hadn’t been here before. Hadn’t suffered this before.

It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be true. She didn’t… she wasn’t…

She arched her back, against her will, as pain filled her. Overwhelmed her. Reduced her to a screaming, trembling wreck.

But she didn’t care any more.

She remembered.

*****​

 

Chapter 13: The Return Part 1

“A field exercise?” Adora gasped. “We’re going to be deployed in the field?”

Catra rolled her eyes. Her friend was far too naive. This was just another exercise, only in a different location. They probably wouldn’t even leave the Fright Zone. Really, Adora shouldn’t get so excited. It wasn’t as if they’d let her command actual soldiers.

“Indeed. For one week, starting tomorrow, you will be working with units in the field.” Shadow Weaver nodded.

“On the frontlines?” Adora asked.

“No, you’ll be training with formations which are working up for deployment at the front.”

As Catra had expected. Training as usual, just with different instructors. She snorted - silently.

“Oh. New formations?” Adora asked. Always the teacher’s pet. Or Shadow Weaver’s pet.

“No. You’ll be assigned to combat formations that are integrating replacement soldiers. You’ll be able to profit from the experience the veteran soldiers will impart on the new soldiers.”

“Ah.” Adora nodded with the most serious expression. “That makes sense.”

“Indeed, Adora. Perceptive as usual.”

Catra clenched her teeth. If she had said that, Shadow Weaver would have called her out for being insolent. But Adora got praise. Typical.

“So, which unit will we be assigned to?”

“You’ll be split up,” the witch told them.

“What?” Catra blurted out. Split up?

“An entire squad would be too much for the formations. By splitting you up, you’ll also be forced to interact with experienced soldiers instead of sticking with each other,” Shadow Weaver added.

And Catra knew exactly to whom this was addressed. She bared her fangs in response, but the witch didn’t even twitch.

Damn.

“Report to your assigned units tomorrow. Dismissed, cadets!”

And the witch glided away. Oh, if only Catra could see her stumble once…

“Wow! We’re going to be working with actual soldiers!” Adora gushed.

Catra sighed loudly. “Come on, Adora - she’s left. No need to act all eager. It’s just training.”

“But training as soldiers, not cadets! This is a major step for us - if we do well, we’ll be so much closer to becoming soldiers ourselves!”

The others were nodding in agreement. No surprise there - Catra was surrounded by morons and naive Adora. “We’re going to be training with them. Big deal.” She scoffed. “And we might learn a trick or two from a veteran. Cleaning boots without polish - life-changing.”

“I’d love to be able to clean boots without having to replenish my polish can every week.”

“Shut up, Kyle!” Catra spat. She scoffed. “Anyway, I’m going to take a nap.”

“But we should prepare for the exercise!”

Catra stretched and looked over her shoulder at Adora, who blinked at her. “You can do that. I’m best when I’m improvising.” And it was just training, anyway - Catra could do that in her sleep.

*****​

“We’re deploying?” Catra asked, frowning.

The officer in charge of the company she had been assigned to, Second Company, glared at her. “Are you hard of hearing, cadet? Yes, we’re deploying. We’re about to take a rebel village. Now get on that skiff there!”

Catra’s eyes widened. This had to be a mistake - they weren’t supposed to be at the front. They were supposed to be assigned to units in training. She opened her mouth to complain, then blinked. She didn’t know that this was a mistake, did she? She was supposed to follow orders from the officer in charge, wasn’t she?

Grinning, she saluted, then sped away to the closest skiff. Hah! She’d get actual combat experience! The others would be so jealous! And the best thing, it was Shadow Weaver’s fault! The witch had personally handed her her orders!

Hah!

She jumped and grabbed the railing of the skiff, then pulled herself up and slid over it. “Cadet Catra, reporting as ordered!” she snapped, saluting again.

The gruff-looking man at the helm snorted. “None of that here, cadet - we’re a recon unit for the main force. We don’t salute in the field.”

Now that was nice to know. Catra nodded. “Got it.”

“So, you’re the hotshot cadet who’s good for recon, huh?”

Hotshot cadet? Had Shadow Weaver mixed up her orders with Adora’s? Catra flinched a little. The witch would blame her, then. But… Adora was slated for command, not recon. She was very good at almost everything, but she wasn’t a scout.

Catra, on the other hand, was the best at skulking and sneaking, and getting into places she shouldn’t be in. And Shadow Weaver knew that. What if… What if this wasn’t a mistake? What if Shadow Weaver had picked her for this operation? A trial by fire? A test to see how she worked with actual soldiers, in her speciality? She smiled, almost against her will. An opportunity for her to prove herself!

“Yes.” She nodded. “That’s me - the best scout of all the cadets!”

The man snorted again. “Don’t get a big head, you’re still a cadet. But command said you were good enough for a field mission.”

Yes! She knew it! This was her chance! She nodded again.

“So… it’s an easy one - Gullpeak, that’s the village, shouldn’t be fortified. All we have to do is scout out what forces the alliance has in the village. Then we take it, push the enemy out, and go home.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Catra said. It did.

He shook his head. “It’s never easy. But it’s simple enough.”

She nodded again, then frowned as she spotted an unfamiliar bot walking in formation with the rest of the bots supporting them. “What’s that?”

“That? Oh, some new bot. Only the captain knows what it’s supposed to do.”

“Ah.”

Nothing to worry about, then.

Catra picked a spot on the skiff’s bow and sat down. They’d take some time until they’d hit the rebel village.

*****​

She came to panting and shivering. Her body felt as if she had been dipped in fire. Groaning, she rolled over on the metal floor. She was in a cell - standard Horde prison, she remembered. No, not standard. Reinforced. Had to be. Standard, she could scratch. She had proved that, once.

And she’d been punished for it. By Shadow Weaver. Just like before. Now. She’d tried to explain that now they knew the cells weren’t enough for someone like her, but… the witch hadn’t listened. Hadn’t wanted to listen.

She remembered that day. And she remembered every other day. In the Horde. She was Catra. Horde cadet. Horde scum. Blondie - Adora - had been right. Damn. Damn. Damn!

She wiped her eyes. She couldn’t cry. Not with Shadow Weaver watching. No matter how much it hurt.

She took a deep breath. That hurt too - but she could handle that kind of pain. She was used to it. Had been used to it. Damn. Damn. So much… so many memories. She couldn’t… she had to focus. She was in a cell. She needed to escape. She had to. This was…

She blinked. Her last memory before… No. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t!

She clenched her teeth. It couldn’t… no, of course, it could be. This was Shadow Weaver.

“Have you learned your lesson?”

She hated that voice. Hated that woman. Clenching her teeth, she opened her eyes and turned her head, staring at the witch. “It wasn’t a mistake, was it?” Every word hurt.

Shadow Weaver slightly tilted her head to the side. “What are you talking about?”

“My ’training exercise’. You didn’t make a mistake and assigned me to a frontline unit. You wanted me to go to Gullpeak. As a scout - first into the fray, and all. You wanted me to die.” She shuddered as she tried to sit up without losing eye contact with the witch.

The other woman stared at her for a few seconds before scoffing. “Figured it out, did you? Took you long enough.”

No hint of remorse. No hatred. Just disdain. And that hurt the most.

She should have known better, back then and now. But she had hoped…Of course it had been a pipe dream. A stupid fantasy.

She scoffed in return. “Why did you go to that trouble? Why didn’t you kill me yourself?”

And the other woman laughed. “I see your mental facilities haven’t improved despite your memory returning. I needed to get rid of you before you ruined my dear Adora. But if I had killed you, she would have blamed me. She wouldn’t have understood that it was for the best. That it was better for her. She would have resented me for doing what was needed. What she needed.”

“Hell, yeah, she would have,” she spat.

“So, I had to arrange an accident. I thought about a training accident. Tragic, but it happens.”

She shouldn’t ask, but… she couldn’t help it. “Why didn’t you?”

“In hindsight, I should have. The risk of Adora finding out the truth was minimal. And even though losing a cadet would have reflected badly on me, I could’ve handled the consequences.”

The witch was talking about her death as if it was a footnote. Some banal task - necessary but boring. She found herself hissing under her breath.

“But… I saw an opportunity. If you died at the hands of the enemy - or close enough - Adora would’ve been even more motivated. Driven by the need to avenge you. And I would be able to console her, and help her through those trying times.”

Oh, yes, she could imagine that. Shadow Weaver, playing nicely, being oh so understanding and helpful… She growled. “Too bad that the new bot malfunctioned and killed everyone.”

“Oh, yes, too bad.”

Wait. That sounded smug, not annoyed. But why would… no. That couldn’t be true. It was… not even Shadow Weaver would’ve been cruel enough to…

“Oh. What are you thinking now?”

“Nothing,” she spat. Don’t tell the enemy anything. Information was a weapon. But… “You never used that weapon again.” She had checked, fearing more such massacres. But no other village had been wiped out like Gullpeak.

“The weapon wasn’t reliable. An expensive and costly mistake. Fielded too soon, without appropriate refining.”

“It wasn’t your weapon.” She felt her stomach sinking.

“Of course not. Although I was involved in the development in a peripheral role. Interaction of magical components.”

Which would’ve given her ample opportunities for sabotage. One less rival. One less nuisance. No witnesses.

“You look shocked. Have you started to fool yourself again? Perhaps told yourself that you were so important, someone sacrificed an entire company to get rid of you? Don’t flatter yourself. You weren’t worth anything back then, just as you’re worthless now.”

The crazy women had done it. She stared at Shadow Weaver, baring her teeth. “You failed. I survived. And I even met Adora again while you lost her.”

The witch raised her hands again.

This time, she managed to close her eyes just before the spell struck her.

*****​

She didn’t immediately open her eyes when she woke up next. Instead, she listened - making sure that her ears didn’t twitch and gave her away. She couldn’t hear anyone or anything but the familiar faint sounds of the Fright Zone’s machines. She opened her eyes just a sliver and glanced at the bars of her cell. No one was there, either. Shadow Weaver was gone, then.

Good.

She groaned as she sat up. The witch had been really mad. And Catra… Seacat… had been really stupid. Taunting someone who had admitted that she wanted you dead? That was a desperation move in a fight, not something to do while you were locked up in a cell. The Captain would not be happy with her.

But he’d be happy to be able to scold her for it. She smiled at the thought, then frowned. For that, she needed to escape the prison. Before the others tried to save her and got captured themselves - or worse. Shadow Weaver would be expecting them. Hell, this was probably her plan. Not even Adora would be as stupid as to surrender herself to Shadow Weaver for Catr… Seacat.

She blinked. She remembered her life now. Both her lives. Both her names. Both of her very different lives. Damn. She was Horde scum. Had been Horde scum. Watever. Damn. Adora had been right. Again. What would they think of her, once they found out she hadn’t been a victim of the Horde, but one of the scum wiping out Gullpeak? What would Mermista say? What would the Captain think? She didn’t want to know. Not after… not after...

Sighing, she leaned against the wall. She had no time for this. She had to escape. She could sort this out later. Much, much later.

For now, she had to focus. Escape the cell. Escape the Fright Zone. Return to the others. To Sea Hawk. And Adora.

Adora… Her best friend. Her only friend, not counting Sea Hawk and Mermista, who were… well, something different. So very unlike…

She clenched her teeth. She wasn’t a cadet. Not any more. Nor was she a stupid little girl still dreaming of… whatever.

Except for bashing in Shadow Weaver’s face. Shattering her stupid mask. Paying her back for everything she had done. The witch had tried to kill her. Get her killed. And so many others. Gullpeak. And the entire Second Company. Which had been Horde scum. Like Catra.

She hissed under her breath. Well, Seacat wasn’t Horde scum any more. But the Second Company had trusted Shadow Weaver. And had been… She still couldn’t believe the woman had gone so far. And had she, really? Or was that just another attempt to confuse and manipulate her? Would she really sacrifice a whole company just to get rid of Catra?

No. That was… just no.

But if Shadow Weaver could get rid of a rival, or get more power? Catra didn’t know what exactly Shadow Weaver was doing, other than favouring Adora and getting on her case, but she was a witch. And the second in command of the Horde. She was doing magic, in any case. And the bots weren’t magic. Even if you couldn’t see how they worked.

In any case, Shadow Weaver didn’t build bots. Hordak wasn’t building them, either. Not that she’d know, anyway. At least she couldn’t imagine the Horde leader getting his hands dirty. So, someone else would’ve built the bot Catra remembered. A potential rival? She couldn’t think of anyone. But then, she had been a stupid little girl and hadn’t cared about stuff like that.

She shook her head, growling. She had no time to dwell on this. She had to escape. Before her friends did something stupid. More stupid than usual, she added with a snort. Which turned into a sob. Sea Hawk would do whatever he thought would help her, no matter how stupid. Mermista would rein him in - but Mermista hadn’t been at Seaworthy. She was days away in her kingdom. And Adora… Adora would also do whatever it took, no matter how stupid or dangerous, to save her. To save Horde - former Horde scum.

She growled again. She had to hope the shrimp and Brain Boy would be enough to keep the others alive.

Great.

She really needed to escape as soon as possible!

Fortunately, for all the pain Shadow Weaver had caused her, Seacat had finally remembered her life as Catra. And that meant she remembered everything she knew about the Horde and the Fright Zone.

And that was a lot. The witch might call her a failure and a nuisance, but Catra had paid attention to their lessons, even if she hadn’t shown it. She looked up. If she could get into the air ducts, she could get out. She knew her way around them - all of them were laid out the same way. And while she couldn’t reach the air ducts from her cell, out in the hallways, the air ducts were easily accessible for maintenance.

All she had to do was to get out of the cell, first. And now that she remembered Horde rules and procedures, that shouldn’t be too hard…

Well, it wouldn’t be easy, either. This was the Fright Zone - and a personal project of Shadow Weaver. The witch wouldn’t be using the dregs of the Horde. And if she thought you were slacking off, instead of taking a well-deserved break after doing everything you were told to, then she tended to get testy. And nasty.

She clenched her teeth at the memories that thought brought up. Yes, she couldn’t count on the Horde soldiers handling her being sloppy. And she probably couldn’t count on Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio returning, either. Not that they would help her, anyway - Lonnie was almost as much a hardass for rules and regs as Adora had been at her worst, and the woman didn’t like Catra. Kyle might be gullible enough to get talked into letting her out of the cell.

She frowned. No. It had been four years. Even Kyle would’ve wised up in that time - he was a Horde soldier now, wasn’t he? If he were still as prone to screwing up as he had been as a cadet, he would’ve been in the cell next to her. Probably.

She snorted at the thought, then sighed. As Sea Hawk had taught her: While she should always be ready to exploit any mistake an enemy made, she couldn’t count on them making mistakes in the first place. Any plan that relied on enemy mistakes was a bad plan.

Of course, sometimes, a bad plan was all you had, and, often, a bad plan was better than no plan at all. Sea Hawk disagreed with that, of course, but Mermista was on Seacat’s side there.

In any case, she had a decent plan. All she needed was a little luck. And Shadow Weaver being her usual self and ignoring her.

She curled up and shivered, letting her fur ripple a little. Then she moaned and groaned. It wouldn’t fool Sea Hawk or Adora, but she was very sure that whoever was guarding her cell and coming to feed her wouldn’t know her well enough to tell. And it had worked on that guard in Seventower, after that misunderstanding about their cargo. It would work here as well. It had to.

All she had to do was look pitiful and wait.

*****​

Hours - at least! It was hard to tell the time here - later, she was wondering if they even planned to feed her. Shadow Weaver had tried to kill her, letting her starve wouldn’t be beyond her. But it would be stupid - she needed Catra as leverage against Adora. And for that, she needed Catra alive. And reasonably healthy. Or so Seacat hoped. And she had been fed before already.

But she was getting hungry enough so she didn’t have to fake her groaning. Perhaps that was Shadow Weaver’s plan? Weaken her enough so she couldn’t do anything? No. The witch thought Catra was useless; she wouldn’t go to such lengths to weaken a ’nuisance’.

She growled under her breath. She’d show the witch who was a nuisance! She was Seacat, scourge of the Horde fleet! She’d show her! Show them all!

As soon as she got out of this cell. And got something to eat. Rations, probably. She gagged at the thought. Hell, if the others knew about how much better people had it outside the Horde, they would… Steps! Someone was coming!

She curled up tighter, holding her stomach - or tried to, with her hands in cuffs, it was a little difficult. And she moaned.

“Here’s your dinner.”

She opened her eyes, groaning as if it hurt, and blinked. There was a guard, in full Horde armour. And they had dropped a ration bar in her cell, and a water bottle.

“Water?” she asked. After not saying anything for a few hours, and not drinking much, her voice croaked.

But the guard scoffed and turned away.

She almost cried out after them but managed to control herself. When they returned in the morning, her act would look more convincing. Especially if she hadn’t touched the food.

Which wasn’t really hard, anyway - it wasn’t one of the good rations.

Then her stomach rumbled. Damn. She never slept well on an empty stomach. And she needed the rest. As much as she needed the food. Which she couldn’t eat.

She crawled forward, in case someone was watching, and grabbed the water bottle. Opening it was awkward with her cuffed hands, but she managed. Drinking helped a little.

She curled up again. The guard would return in the morning.

And then she would escape.

*****​

“Catra! Catra!”

Adora was running towards her, waving. And smiling. And behind her were Sea Hawk and Mermista. And the shrimp and Brain Boy. All of them were here, for her!

All of them were walking into a trap. She wanted to warn them - but Shadow Weaver had tied her to a pole and gagged her, and no matter how she struggled, she couldn’t break free.

“We’ll have you free in a moment!” Adora yelled.

She frantically shook her head. No! No! Don’t approach! She tried to yell, but the gag silenced her. No!

Then the trap was sprung - Adora’s friends suddenly vanished in a big hole. And Shadow Weaver appeared next to her, holding a knife to her throat.

“Surrender, or the nuisance dies!”

No! She struggled even harder, but couldn’t move even a finger. No! Adora was wavering. Her big sword was pointing at the ground. No! Don’t do it, Adora! You stupid idiot!

There was just one way to save her and her friends: She had to remove herself as a hostage. Crying, she pushed her head down, trying to cut her own throat on Shadow Weaver’s blade…

*****​

She woke up with a gasp, cuffed hands going for her throat. No blood. No pain. It had been a nightmare. A stupid nightmare - as if Shadow Weaver would use such a blatant trap! Or a knife. Just a stupid nightmare.

She forced herself to calm her breathing. A stupid nightmare, nothing more. She was still shivering, though. Her friends were coming for her. She knew it. And if she didn’t escape as soon as possible, it would be her fault if anything happened to them. She had let herself be captured by some stupid bounty hunters.

But she had a plan. A good plan. She just had to wait for the guard to return with breakfast. Breakfast… She glanced at the ration bar near the bars. Against her will, her nostrils flared. Food. She was hungry. She needed to eat. Even if it was just a ration bar. And the water… Her throat felt parched. She needed water.

But if she ate or drank, the guard wouldn’t fall for her ruse. Clenching her teeth, she curled up, groaning and holding her stomach. If only the stupid Horde scum would arrive already!

It took another eternity - at least an hour - until she finally heard steps. Booted steps. The Horde! She tucked her head into her arms some more and kept her eyes closed.

“Breakfast.”

In response, she groaned. Softly.

“Are you trying to starve yourself?”

She groaned again. “Water…”

“There’s water, traitor.”

This was it. This had to work. She slowly uncurled, groaning and holding her stomach. Which was aching for real. “Water?” her voice sounded weak and rough. She blinked at the guard, hoping her face looked as bad as her fur felt. “Go away!”

“I will.”

“Go away!” she repeated herself, then groaned and curled up again. “Leave me alone!” She shuddered and trembled.

“As you want, you… ah, screw it.”

Yes! She hid her grin. Now he would step into her cell, and she would jump him, grabbing his keys and weapons…

“Hey, Lern! I need you - the prisoner seems sick.”

Damn! He was bringing another guard. Well, she could take two Horde scumbags at once. She had done it before.

But the steps she could hear approaching weren’t just from one guard.

“Alright. You two stay outside. Lock up after us. We’re going in.”

“Do we have to?”

“Shadow Weaver wants the traitor alive. If she’s dying from some infection or illness, and we didn’t do anything…”

“Right!”

Damn. At least four, then. And they were smart about it. That meant she had to strike as soon as the bars were pulled up. She clenched her teeth and moaned again as she waited, her heart beating faster in her chest. Any moment now…

Then she heard the sound of metal grinding against metal - the bars were being raised. And then she heard footsteps.

Now!

She uncurled and whirled as she rose into a crouch, then pounced on the two guards standing right beneath the bars with a hiss.

“Whoa!”

“Ah!”

One of them tried to hit her with a shock rod, but he was too slow - he had been aiming at the floor, where she had been, and she was already above him when he started to raise the rod.

She slammed her hands on his helmet and raked her feet, claws out, across his arm and chest, before jumping off him. The one guard next to him was turning towards her, but a kick to the woman’s visor sent her stumbling back and further into the cell.

Seacat twisted in mid-air, feet hitting the doorframe, and propelled herself at the guards outside the cell. Both had their shock rods out already, but they still underestimated her. She hit the ground and rolled over her shoulder, under the swing of the closest one. She came up inside his guard with her hands raised above his head and her fangs bared.

Then she raked her claws down his front, shattering his visor and leaving deep gouges in his chest plate - and in his stomach below it. He collapsed, screaming, while she pivoted on the ground, legs sweeping out and catching the second guard in the shins. He, too, fell down with his muscles shredded.

But the first one was already coming at her. She tried to evade, but his boot caught her in the stomach and slammed her back, into the gutted guard.

Seacat had her breath knocked out of her, but she managed to recover before the guard could follow up. Snarling, she jumped straight at him, aiming for his ruined arm. Her knee dug into his stomach, where the armour was flexible, and she hit him in the neck with both hands, digging her claws into his helmet.

Then she twisted until she heard a satisfying crack.

One left. The female guard she had kicked in the head had recovered and rushed her - but, once more, was too slow. Seacat grinned as she hit the door controls and the bars slammed into the woman from above, knocking her down. That gave Seacat rough time to pick up one of the shock rods and drop her for good, then do the same to the guard on the ground who was holding his shredded shins.

Hah!

Now she had to get rid of the cuffs. Didn’t one of the guards have a key? They should, shouldn’t they? She quickly searched the one who had brought her breakfast - he had ordered the others around. Horde cuffs were standard, anyway, and… there! She grinned as she pulled out the key from the pocket in the back of the guard’s belt.

Unlocking her cuffs was child’s play. Now she had to get away. The guards hadn’t managed to sound the alarm, but that wouldn’t last. She pushed the guards still outside the cell into it, then locked the bars in place and wrecked the door controls. Those wouldn’t come after her. Well, the one she gutted wouldn’t, anyway - he had died in the meantime.

No big loss. Just another Horde scum. She clenched her teeth and grabbed another shock rod - hers would have lost some charges - and one spare.

Then she dashed down the hallway. The doors would be locked with a code, and with all prisoners knocked out - or dead - she couldn’t get the codes out of them. But she only needed access to the air ducts.

The next room was a small room for the guard shift. Four cots, a small table, an armoury - just shock rods, though, and she already had two. Nothing else that would be of use - there were playing cards left on the table, but they had played for bottle caps, not valuables.

But there was food! Well, rations. But the good ones! She grabbed one and wolfed it down while stuffing two more down her shirt - supplies for her escape. Another followed.

And there was the grate covering the air ducts! She was tempted to rip the grate off, but she still had some time - and if she didn’t make it obvious how she had escaped, the Horde soldiers would take longer to realise that she was in the air ducts.

She used a small knife to pull out the screws, then removed the grate and crawled inside. Pulling the grate back in place behind her took some squirming and heaving, and putting the screws in was even more of a pain - she didn’t manage it, but she managed to get the grate stuck in place by using the screws to wedge it closed.

“So long, suckers!” she whispered, sticking her tongue out, before she twisted around in the narrow duct and started crawling.

She didn’t know exactly where she was - there were several holding areas, and this wasn’t one of those Catra had seen before - but that didn’t matter. She could follow the flow of fresh air.

Sort of fresh, she amended her thoughts with a grimace - the stench of the Fright Zone’s factories would never smell fresh to anyone who knew the open sea. Hell, even Seaworthy’s harbour at its worst smelled better!

She came to a t-junction. The air current - almost like a soft breeze barely strong enough to fill a sail - came from the right. Following it, she came to a narrow shaft. Up or down? No question. Up. You had to climb up in the Fright Zone.

She entered the shaft. The metal wasn’t as hard as the material in her cell, so she could easily climb it using her claws. She passed several ducts branching out from the shaft, but ignored them, following the air current. All the way to the top.

Just like before.

Here, the air currents were stronger, but still no problem. Not for her. She crawled through the air duct until she reached the big fan at the end.

That was a problem. Not the fan itself - she could wreck it and get past it easily enough. But that would also show the guards where she went.

On the other hand, they wouldn’t take too long to find the route she had taken - there were not many alternatives.

She scoffed and started slashing at the fans. She needed to get out of the building. Then it would be easy to get away.

She had to duck to avoid one blade spinning as it tore itself off, and another hit her hand hard enough to bruise, but less than a minute later, she was squeezing through the remains. Now only another grate stood before her and freedom! She could see the roof and the sky through the metal mesh! She was almost out of the prison! Just one grate left!

But it resisted her claws. Hissing in frustration, she tried the walls, but they were reinforced as well.

Damn. She tried to reach the screws, but she couldn’t get her hand through the grate.

No choice - she had to backtrack and try another way.

Cursing under her breath, she scrambled back. The guards could be detected at any moment, which would trigger the alarm. She needed to be outside when that happened.

She squeezed through the wrecked remains of the fan again, resulting in a tear in her shirt’s sleeve, then climbed down the shaft. Still no alert. Good. She took the first air duct from the top. The higher the better - they would be watching the ground entrances. And the underground ones. Few guards ever watched the topmost balconies, as Sea Hawk had taught Seacat.

Granted, he had been talking about sneaking into a palace - Mermista’s, to be exact - but it held true. At least in her experience.

She reached a grate and peered through it. Even in the dim light, her eyes had no trouble making out a storage room - no, a janitorial closet. That would be perfect; those were never locked. Now to open the grate…

It was impossible to reach the screws from the inside, but this grate wasn’t reinforced metal. She grinned as she started cutting through it. The Horde always went for the cheapest possible solution, as Catra knew. Well, Shadow Weaver probably had luxury quarters, and she doubted that Hordak cut any corners when it came to his, but the Horde couldn’t afford to make everything too tough for her claws.

Grinning, she gripped the grate she had cut before it dropped on the floor, then lowered it gently down. It still made a sound - stupid metal floor; a ship’s deck would’ve masked it. She listened for a moment, but couldn’t hear anything. Good. And still no alert. How often did they check the cells? Or the guard shifts?

She slid through the opening - no more tears in her clothes this time! - and landed lightly on the floor below. The closet was filled with cleaning supplies, and She frowned. She knew that smell. Catra had been forced to clean the hallways often enough. Too often. If there were some janitor’s uniforms, she could disguise herself and pass as one easily enough, but in her own clothes...

Scoffing, she opened the door a gap wide. Still nothing and no one outside. Still no alert. How many soldiers were in the building, anyway? Shouldn’t there be a regular check-in? Or were secret special prisons exempt from that?

It didn’t matter; she was getting out of here. She stepped into the hallway and looked around. Left or right? She frowned, recalling the direction. Right it was.

She padded softly through the hallway, ears twitching as she listened for footsteps, or any other signs of Horde soldiers. But she didn’t hear anything. Was the prison actually mostly empty? What a waste. Like sending a ship with half the cargo hold empty.

Well, that was the Horde for you…

Snorting, she approached the doors ahead of her. A storage room - paper and ink and stamps; nothing useful - and an office. Not one in use - there was a fine coating of dust on the desk. No windows, though she hadn’t expected any - she was, by her reckoning, still not at the outer walls.

There was a checkpoint ahead, but it wasn’t manned. This was starting to get weird. Where were the other guards? And the prison staff? Was this prison so secret, only a handful of guards had the needed clearance?

Well, never complain about the enemy making mistakes, as Sea Hawk liked to say. She passed through the checkpoint and reached the stairs. Finally! All she needed was to get to the roof and she would be clear!

Once more, she listened for footsteps. Or talking. Nothing. Was the whole damn building empty? Or was it constructed so the sound didn’t carry? Not everyone liked to hear screaming prisoners.

She shook her head as she dashed up the stairs. Escape now, think later.

The door to the roof was locked, but that had never stopped Catra before - well, not since she learned how to manipulate the controls. And the door controls were on the inside, as was standard for Horde buildings.

She grinned as she cut into the side of the panel with her claws, peeling away the cover. Yes - they hadn’t changed the setup! She cut the green wire, and the door slid open. Yes!

And the alarm sounded. She blinked, gasping. What the…? Had they changed the door controls? Of course they would have - this was a prison, not the barracks or a factory! Doors to the outside opening would sound an alert!

Cursing her own stupidity, she dashed across the roof to the railing. And froze for a moment. The entire Fright Zone - well, the part of it that she could see from her spot through the smoke - was on alert. She could hear multiple alarm sirens going off - general alert. And she could see soldiers scrambling out of barracks.

Shadow Weaver really didn’t want her to escape.

Pressing her lips together, she grabbed the railing and peered down. Yes, there were plenty of hand- and footholds to climb down. But she couldn’t take her time. Not with every damn Horde scum looking for her.

She climbed over the railing and started her descent, jumping from ledge to ledge whenever possible. Once she used her claws as a brake to slide down a gutter. More than once she almost fell, only catching herself in the last moment.

And for the whole time, she expected to be detected, soldiers scrambling on the ground to cut off her escape route. Why weren’t they gathering? They had to know she wouldn’t stay on the roof!

But against all hope, she reached the ground without getting shot at. Good. Now she could disappear in the maze of buildings and channels. The junkyards and factory feeders would be her best bet; no one ever patrolled there unless on punishment detail. And from what she had seen from the roof, she just had to…

“Wow! You’re the intruder?”

Seacat froze. A huge figure stepped around the corner, blocking her escape route. Massive claws cracked as she flexed and a giant stinger dangled over her head from an armoured tail.

The Bug Princess of the Horde was barring her way.

*****​