1856/Just don't ask

Just don't ask
Date of Scene:	12 August 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Hinoiri as a tiny alicorn has gotten trapped in a net! It's up to Adora to save her! But, who's this?! CATRA! GASP! Can these two work out their trauma or will it just make matters worse?! It's them, so guess.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Adora Rainbowfist, Catra

---

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
When you were a tiny alicorn, like someones big stuffed animal, life could be difficult. Life could be so, so difficult.

For example, in Hinoiri's case? She'd... decided to hang out with Swiftwind. The 'turned into a tiny alicorn' issue was allllmost resolved. Within the next few days she expected to be herself again.

But for now? Now she was stuck, dangling from a branch and inside a net. Tangled up and admittedly scared to move much as the net was wrapped all around her and she did NOT want to damage her wings. So she'd done the only thing she could do...

She told Swiftwind to go find help.

How had she ended up like this? She would NEVER tell. Ever. But... hey. At least they were on the school grounds, right? That... had to count for something?

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"What's that swiftwind? ... Who's caught up a tree?"

"Hinoiri, our friend!"

"...Right." Well. Adora is still just as confused by that answer, but as she's riding on Swiftwind's back to where Hinoiri had gotten trapped, she wasn't /super/ worried about the details in the long run, mostly just confused. But someone needed help, and that's right up Adora's alley of the things she can do to distract her from the horrible existential crisis of being in another world and apparently from the past??? Or the present? Who knows.

"Did somebody call for Swiftwind!?" Calls out the alicorn when he arrives. This might be his way of locating Hinoiri without openly admitting he wasn't precisely sure which exact tree she was in because they mostly all look the same.

Adora, meanwhile, is looking around, assuming to find a person, because well. Let's be honest, Swiftwind is amazing. But he's not always the best at explaining details.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara groaned and then, in her majestic voice... called out.

"I'm over here, Swiftwind!"

If that voice didn't tell her that something... weird... was going on, nothing would. And then she'd arrive and find... a small, orange alicorn. With a flaming orange and red mane. And she was about Swiftwind's size.

And she was an alicorn.

And she was entangled in a net, dangling from a tree like the world's least majestic pinata. "Who did you get to get me out of this?" she asked. Never. Telling. Anyone. How this happened. IT was TOTALLY Swiftwind's fault.

"W-wait, SHE-RA?!" she asked, giving a light squeak and panic flailing. "I-I can explain!" ... On the upside, She-ra likely did NOT recognize her. But she scertainly recognized her.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Ah-hah, there you are, my majestic friend!" Swiftwind calls out, drawing Adora's attention to the proper tree, and properly leading Adora over to it.

"Yes, it is I, She-Ra!" Adora replies to Hinoiri, trying probably far too hard to sound majestic and cool and hide the fact that when she first saw the tiny Alicorn she got the big sparkly eyes that many people do in her world. Which is very strange on She-Ra, considering she is a giant amazonian of a woman. "Alright, let's get you out of that mess." She turns the sword briefly into a grappling hook to get up onto the tree limb holding the net, perching on it as she grabs the rope holding the net in place, taking the time to untie it and lift the dangling net up to cradle the bundle of Hinoiri in her arms and leap back down.

Where she promptly changes back into Adora form and sit cross-legged on the ground to start carefully working at untangling Hinoiri from the mess. "So anyway, explain what, specifically?" Adora asks, turning the Sword of Power into a tiny dagger shape to help with removing a few of the extra bits of the mess that were more away from Hinoiri's body, taking care to avoid hurting her through brute force.

Catra has posed:
Adora isn't alone. Well, other than Swiftwind. She may not have noticed, but she is being tailed by Catra; though right now she's in her illusory disguise, walking along in the guise of the ever-obnoxious Rachel Miller, dressed in a ragged hoodie and equally ragged jeans, hands in her pockets. She's got her earbuds in and is busy listening to something appropriate to her mood, with lots of harsh guitar and screaming.

Yeah, it's perfect.

She can still hear Adora just fine; the benefits (and drawbacks) of markedly superior hearing. She'd seen Adora by chance, and rather than reveal herself and say hi, or reveal herself and try to cause trouble, or just go straight into crossing swords, she just... didn't want to do any of that. So she turned her music up and slunk along, following the tall blonde from further away than most people would need to, and just allowing her feelings to churn themselves up inside her mind.

Well, at least until Adora stops to... rescue... A miniature pony with wings from a tree. Who's voice... doesn't really sound overmuch like Hinoiri, but it's similar. Kinda. Enough that Catra just assumes it's her. Even though Catra hasn't seen her like this before, it's probably her right? Right. Who else would it be? Catra's world doesn't work like that. So, here she is; former best friend forever (which didn't last) and former bestie from Obsidian (which didn't last either). The fact that she's tried to kill both of them in the past likely isn't going to help.

Admittedly, she never tried all that hard. Not really. But it's not like that's a very compelling argument.

So, she just... stops, and stands there, watching things unfold with her hands in her pockets. And eventually, rather than being completely obvious, she pulls out her phone and starts fiddling with it. There's... pokemon here to catch or something. Not that she plays that game, it's dumb. But they don't know that.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara went incredibly tense when she saw She-ra climbing the tree. Oh. Oh gosh. Was this how she died? Having been captured by her minion, shamed and disgraced, and in the end... serving herself up as a pinata for the world's most oblivious crazy cat lady?!

"... Wait, did your sword just turn into a *grappling hook*? Why in the world does it... no, nevermind," Hinoiri muttered.

And rather than killing her? Instead Adora cuts her down and, gently(ish) carries her down from the tree.

"Oh... uhhhh. T-thank you. Adora. I ummm..."

Then Hinoiri opened her mouth to say something, only to stop. And then blink a few more times.

"You're... ummm... kidding, right? Errr, did Swiftwind... not... tell you who I was?" she asked. "Hinoiri Kirara?" she asked.

And when she saw the (likely) confusion on the girl's face... "Uhhh... The girl you stabbed and almost killed? Who made you those cookies that one time... well... not you. But let you have the rejected ones that I wasn't going to give Swiftwind. Uhhhh... Ex-obsidian employee? Catra's friend? Kind of? Actually, now that Obsidian kicked me out I'm not... sure if she counts me as a friend? But that's... par for the... course, really, I guess. She did try to kill me but lots of people tried to kill me so I can't hold that against her. Uhhhhh... are you... okay?"

"... It's the eyes, isn't it? It's the big, adorable, green eyes? They have you mesmerized, don't they?" They were VERY adorable eyes.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora is ... not really aware of Catra! Doubly so because right now she's currently in an illusory guise as a different person. She is, however, moderately aware of the fact there is someone nearby fiddling around with one of those little dataplates like Bow used in their world. Right as she had just transformed from She-Ra into herself. And was not fiddling with a magical Alicorn, while /another/ magical Alicorn floats nearby her, fretting and worrying about his friend.

"Oh. Heeeeeey... uh. This is completely normal, I swear." She says towards the girl standing there. Definitely not 'spotted'. She ahems softly, before doing one of those like, urgent half-whispers. "Swiftwind. Swiftwind. Operation Plushy Mode."

"Right!" Swiftwind says, before suddenly flying down, and then going stiff and over-acting being an unmoving plushy next to Adora's side. Adora looks up towards 'Rachel', "See? Completely normal." Don't mind the fact she's currently working on untangling a still-talking and moving Alicorn on her lap. Yeeeeep. She's ... definitely /great/ at acting.

"You're welcome, uh. Hinoiri." Paaause. "I mean, he mentioned the name, yeah." She really didn't seem to be making the connection between the name and anything else, that's for sure. She gently continues the work on untangling the Alicorn on her lap, using the Knife of Power here and there to carefully cut some of the more stubborn net bits, ensuring the blunt side is always facing towards Hinoiri whenever possible. "Careful, try not to move too much, you're REALLY tangled up."

The explanation of the past situation between them gets a bit of a shrug from Adora. "Yeah I don't know any of that. I'm not that Adora." She says pretty calmly. "Sounds like a pretty rough time between us in the past, though. I'm pretty alright, the whole situation is weird, though. Can you try and tuck your legs and wings in a bit?" Yeah she's basically forgotten a 'normal' girl is standing there as she focuses on trying to get things untangled enough that she can kind of just, slip Hinoiri forward and out of that net.

Catra has posed:
Catra tugs on her hoodie, making sure it better hides her face and helps her to look anonymous. Just in case she needed to look any more like that. She keeps fiddling with her phone, doing basically nothing but scrolling through music lists without really paying attention to it, all while watching Adora and... oh okay good so it *is* Hinoiri. There they both are, acting like a couple of complete dorks.

Complete. Dorks.

The disguised feline sighs audibly; Adora is being absolutely herself, and it's just... it's too much. It's painful. It's like watching someone drop a banana peel on some train tracks causing a train from a kid's show to derail in slow motion. She just sighs again, rolling her eyes all the way up; and then she just... can't resist it any longer. There's a pot there, and she's got to stir it.

Rachel turns and unashamedly snaps a picture of Adora, Hinoiri, and Swiftwind, her phone making the tell-tale 'whirr-click' sound and everything, before she turns to face back over the road again, while she resumes mindlessly fiddling with music playlists on her phone. "Alright, good one for facebook," she mutters, just audible enough to be heard. "Blonde weirdo with two genetically modified mini-ponies with parot wings grafted onto them. Isn't that illegal? ...Okay, start a poll, call the police? Yes or Now... Okay... post? Post."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times and then just... looks up at Adora. She opened her mouth. Paused. Then sighed. "You... are *so* bad at this," she said in that soft, adorable, over the top sparkly voice of hers. "Like... wow."

She then glanced towards Rachel and urked. Oh. Oh CRUD. Rachel.

Catra.

The two of them had gotten food together, shakes, shared identities. Heck, Catra was one of the few people to know she was Hinoiri BEFORE she outed herself to... well... the world.

However, she was shaken from that worry by knife VERY close to her. "C-careful! Careful with that! A-and I tried to get myself out of it but, but magic and sparkles are useless against synthetic fibers!"

She did as she was told, though, a rarity for her. Pulling in her legs and wings to try and make it a little easier...

Then she squeaked when Rachel TOOK A PICTURE! "I swear to Sora, Rachel! Don't you DARE post that anywhere! I get enough trouble without the whole world knowing! Ugh, I KNEW I should have stayed home today! Why, why did I think this was smart?" she asked, whining to herself in the most, well, whiny of tones.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Swiftwind is completely unmoving. Until the picture is taken, at which point he poses majestically. Because of course he does. It's just an instant that he's like that too, before he's back in 'Plushy Mode'. Which kind of defeats the purpose of plushy mode. This is something Adora doesn't really notice or register until 'Rachel' starts talking.

"What? Hey no they're not genetically modified they're completely natural! Ish!" She glances towards Swiftwind. ... .... .... Does it count as natural if her sword magically turned a normal horse into a magical horse? Eh whatever it's fine. Probably. "...And they don't have parrot wings! ...I think." The police do not exist in her world so she honestly doesn't even know what that is but she's sure someone will explain it to her! ... ... But it sounds like a bad thing. Probably. It's fine she can always She-Ra and fly away on Swiftwind if she needs to, right?

"Yeah... yeah I'm bad at acting. I work on it occasionally." ... ... It's clearly not effective though. She continues those careful movements with the knife, still ensuring that the blade's blunt side is towards Hinoiri before... snap. Okay there's one of the worst net bits gone. "There, okay, let's see... aaaand..." She starts to carefully roll back the edges of the net, moving from the front of Hinoiri towards the back to gradually get her more and more free, pausing only briefly to make another deep cut in the roll to create more space for Hinoiri to slip out of (Thank goodness even as a pocket knife, the Sword of Power is very sharp, right?) the net. "There, you should be free now. It's probably not your fault, by the way."

"Some hunter probably left it out trying to catch some dinner or something."

Because that's a thing that people do on earth, Adora. Leave nets out on school grounds and also talk to talking alicorns.

Catra has posed:
"Oh I'm definitely posting this. Everywhere." 'Rachel' keeps fiddling with her phone. "Send it to everyone I know... send it to the Obsidian board of directors..." as if she had their numbers. "Send it to the Headmistress of that stupid school." Definitely doesn't have her number either. She pockets the phone, and then turns and ambles towards the pair, hands still in her pockets.

"You can stop pretending to be a stuffed animal," she comments, directed towards Swiftwind of course. "I mean it's not far off from your actual level of intelligence, but still. I saw you move. And you struck a pose when I took a picture of you, pretending to be a 'plushie' only works if you don't do that."

The disguised cat leans against tree Hinoiri was just stuck in. "So. Not from around here, are you?" she asks, folding her arms across her chest as she continues to just flat decline to tell Adora who she really is (though Hinoiri definitely knows). The question is, does Swiftwind? Is this the same Swiftwind or a different one? It's definitely a new Adora.

The one who was here up to a few days ago spent the whole time claiming she loved her, and then just up and left one day. By opening a portal, in the same manner that she once pleaded with Catra to stop.

So now, the hidden feline just... watches, standing just a few feet away from Adora, quietly gauging her reactions to some random girl being snotty on the streets.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"HEY! These are NOT parrot wings! These are majestic and powerful and amazing ALICORN wings! That's like, a griffon's wings, but better! More elegant, more breathtaking, twice, no, three times and beautiful!" She, of course, then did her own pose. Wings out, one hoof up like a 'fist' of elegance and grace and...

... Okay, did she even HAVE pony bones in that body?

She shook free of the ropes and... re-adopted the pose. "I may only be an alicorn for a few more days, but... wait, what?" Hinoiri asked, glancing back at the net. "Hunter. A... sure. Why not?" Hinoiri asked. "But I am NOONE'S dinner."

Then her gaze turned to Rachel. And her eyes narrowed. The board? No WAY Catra had the number of the board. SHE didn't even have the number of the board. And now Catra was being all snotty. And Adora was...

"Okay, what the buck is going on here? I am this close to sending you both to alicorn timeout and trust me, nopony wants that. There are *no* cookies in alicorn timeout."

She was trying so. So. So incredibly hard to seem somewhat tough, in control, intimidating or authoritative. But it was likely ineffective.

"And what do you mean you're 'not that Adora'? Oh by Sora... are there *two* of you? Did someone make an evil clone of you?" Pause. "A... more ignorant clone? Wait, pop quiz. Catra, kiss, marry or punch?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"That sounds like I should be concerned about it. Should I be concerned about that?" Adora asks, kind of directing the question to both Hinoiri and Swiftwind. Swiftwind is still trying to be a plushy, even after 'Rachel' claims that he should stop trying to be a stuffed animal. If one of them is good at acting, it's him! Maybe that's where all of Adora's acting ability went?

Heaven help her if that's where her acting ability went.

Because as Swiftwind is insulted, he suddenly flies up, "My intelligence is manificent and great! For I am the majestic /SWIFT~WIND/!"

...Yeah he's bad at being a plushy, just like Adora is bad at acting. Adora, meanwhile, is doing her best to more or less ignore this 'Rachel', though the heckling is strangely familiar feeling. "Hey leave Swiftwind alone, Cat-- errh, I mean... whoever you are!" She didn't see through the illusion.

It was just reflex at this point.

"...No, not really. Aaaaand I'm guessing from all the names you just dropped you also know about magic and stuff." Adora's ... mostly ... not an idiot! And she knows about Obsidian. ...Even if she still just thinks it's The Horde with a new name. Because really all descriptions she's been given point to the Evil Horde.

With Hinoiri free she does stand up though, brushing off her pants and adjusting that red horde jacket that she always wears. Old habits die hard, it seems.

Oh good Hinoiri is defending herself against being called a genetically modified pony. "Right, see? She's not genetically modified /or/ has parrot wings." She's still not entirely sure what a parrot is but that's fine. "Griffons are pretty great though, supposedly they make great mounts if you can train one." Oh of course she knows what a griffon is, but not a parrot. Freaking weird magical worlds. ...Wait she's only there for a few more days. Maybe she /was/ genetically modified then? Hm.

"Agreed, generally talking things don't make for a good dinner." Paaaause.

...Alicorn timeout? With /no cookies/? "What did I do??? I just got you out of that net." She says, just a bit pouty. Look she threatened the cookies. "Uhhh... I don't know some sort of something or other, but so far as I know I'm the only one here." Catra, Kiss, Marry or Punch. There's a pause, a bit of a conflicted look on her face. "..." She leans against the tree, crossing her arms in a vaguely hurt way. "She made her choice, punch." She says in the hardened tone of someone who is clearly forcing herself to harden her heart to someone she'd really rather not.

Catra has posed:
A lot of things get said. And 'Rachel' is paying attention through all of it, and making mental notes on what to say, what to do, how to be the most irritating... except then there's that question at the end. And that answer given afterwards.

"...Coward," she mutters, turning her gaze Hinoiri's direction. "The game is 'Kiss, Marry, Kill'. Not punch. Punching is lame and shows a lack of commitment. You should've asked the real question, but I think we all know how she'd have answered it, don't we?"

Catra releases her illusion; Rachel fades away, replaced by the cat. She's still dressing herself in the same Horde jumpsuit with bare feet, the jacket she got in the Crimson Wastes draped about her shoulders, and that crown (of sorts) holding back her overflowing hair. She still stands there with her arms crossed, wearing a thunderous scowl on her face, as her bicolored gaze shifts between those present.

"Well, now that we all know where everyone stands." She shrugs her shoulders. "I made a lot of choices, Adora. So did you. Don't act like I'm the only one who's ever made mistakes. But, y'know what? I don't really care about any of that. We're on a new planet now, in case you hadn't noticed. So."

Catra keeps standing there with her arms crossed, leaning against the tree. She shifts her gaze to Hinoiri, gazing at the pony for a long moment, as if there's something she particularly wants to say but can't manage to draw it up to the surface, so she just doesn't say it. She purses her lips and her eyes shift back to Adora. "Go on then. She asked 'Kiss, Marry, Punch'. You said punch, which means that kissing and marrying are off the table. So go on then. Do your thing."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara just gave Adora a flat look. "You should be concerned about a lot of things you're not concerned about."

Then glancing back to Swiftwind. Really? Come on, man! Show some dignity. You are an alicorn!

And then face hoofed. "Fine, you can have some cookies. But what the buck! Wait, WHAT?!"

And now? Now she looked genuinely *shocked.* "Oh my gosh. W-what happened? I mean, yes, of course Catra made her choice! But since when have YOU ever cared about THAT? You've NEVER listened to her choice before! You nearly killed me because I was like, telling you to see her for who she is, not because... well, that's not really relevant. Did... did you hit your head? Or... are you actually the clone? The... goofier... clone? Your hair poof does look bigger..."

She then glanced to Catra. "And no, I'm not a coward!" Of course, when the henshin drops, she rolls her eyes. "HOLD ON!" she shrieked/squeaked/yowled, flying up into the air. About eight inches.

"What is going on here?! YOU! Adora! Last I saw you, you were... well, okay, before last time you were whining about how Catra wasn't being your like, girlfriend. Now you want to punch her? And YOU!" she said, turning on Catra, pointing a hoof at her dramatically. "We need to have a *talk* later. I learned some *interesting news*. And I swear, Adora, if you try to punch her right now I am going to summon popcorn and watch Catra spank your flank because it'll be deserved. Just... what is going on here? I just... agh! Bad enough I get caught in a tennis net and... ohhh, I have a headache. Wait. Is this a mind game? Which of you is screwing with the other one right now?"

"... Adora, are you trying to play hard to get so Catra will get jealous and try and chase you around so you notice her?"

Then, glancing between the two of them... "Because it'd probably work."

The tiny mascot alicorn apparently had opinions.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora is staying in that arms crossed position, leaning against that tree even as Rachel talks, listening to her call Hinoiri a coward. "...Man that sounds like a dumb game, like. What if you just wanna be friends with one of them instead? I mean I don't really wanna kiss or marry Nettossa, but I definitely don't wanna kill her either." Not that any of them know who Nettossa is, probably. "And I wouldn't wanna kill --"

The illusion drops, and it's Catra there instead of that Rachel person. Huh. Her instincts were correct earlier. "..." Adora shifts instantly, her gaze moving away from Catra. That forced hardening almost instantly breaking as she pushes off of the tree. "Yeah, well, I didn't choose to open a portal that I knew might destroy the world. I didn't /choose/ to stay with the thing called the /Evil Horde/. I didn't /choose/ to repeatedly try to take over the world, even if it went poorly each time." Adora says, turning fully towards Catra. Her jaw set, anger on her face. But then Catra taunts her, telling her to do her thing.

"...No." Catra isn't /really/ doing anything wrong right now, and even though she's been fighting her this whole time, she can't bring herself to just... attack her. For no real reason.

Hinoiri's comment gets a look back towards her from Adora. "Well I know that /now/. Also apparently Catra can transform now." Paaaause. The question on if she hit her head, asking if she's a clone. "...Why do people ask me if I hit my head? Is that a thing that the other me did? Because I haven't hit my head. I'm /fine/, I just... you know what." She glowers, something seeming to snap, a bit of the turmoil, the pain that had been swirling in her head coming out as she points at Catra. "Apparently, from what I've been told, the past me. Because she was hurt that badly by /her/. The past me decided to try to go home. And apparently, she opened a portal! And now? Now I'm here. Now I'm in this messed up world where people know me but I don't know them."

"Where half my friends are saying things like I'm not their Adora, others I don't know what is going on, and others are just /not here/. I just watched ALL OF MY FRIENDS DISAPPEAR. *SHE* forced me to *KILL HER* once already." She points pointedly at Catra again. "And then I watched someone who I looked up to SACRIFICE HERSELF to fix /her/ mistake. AND THEN THAT FIX APPARENTLY FAILED. Because now I'm /here/. On this backwards, weird planet. Where nothing is right. And I've basically lost my friends all over again."

"So, yeah." Adora says, crossing her arms around her chest with tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "I'm a more ignorant clone. Let's go with that."

Adora apparently chose to go for an emotional punch instead.

"...But I still wouldn't choose 'kill' in that stupid game."

Catra has posed:
"I'm not your *puppy* Adora," Catra snaps, without pushing off from the tree or uncrossing her arms. She tilts her head to look at Hinoiri; and for a moment, she just looks the tiny alicorn up and down. (Not really much 'up' at the moment but still.) "You see what I have to deal with?" she asks, in a flat tone of voice. "I have no idea what she's talking about. Still. It's not like she explained this to me *before*, either. All I remember is pulling the switch, and poof, I was here and some weird lady made me eat a rice-ball that taught me to speak Japanese. And next thing you know I've gotta walk around this loud, smelly planet, having to hide my own face everywhere I go because the people here are oblivious idiots."

Catra turns her gaze back to Adora, and grits her teeth. "I heard about Angella. Sparkles told me all about it. But since you've so keen to pin my choices on me, perhaps you'd be so kind as to keep it to my *own* choices? I didn't make her do anything. If she sacrificed herself that was her decision and I never told her to do it."

Catra pushes off from the try, and slinks up to Adora, ears flat against her head and her tail seethes behind her. "Oh, so you were hurt by *me*, were you? Oh I'm sorry, but apparently you don't remember. How much was I hurting you when you tried to gut me with your sword? How much was I hurting you when you tried to rip my head off with your bare hands, and my neck was *Purple* for two weeks? How badly was I hurting you when you sliced my back open from hip to shoulder? You don't seem to remember, but since we got here You did *all of those things*.

The feline spins around, turning her back on Adora folding her arms once again. "But you know what, it's fine. Maybe I'm not part of the *Horde*, which is what it's called, here, but I'm so much stronger than I've ever been. Thanks, but the way," she adds, looking towards Hinoiri. "The magic is great." She flashes a grin, showing off her very predatory teeth and exagerated canines, that she holds for a long moment -- almost too long -- before rounding on Adora one more time.

"Let's not forget that you left me, and you always leave me, just like you did a week ago, after trying to kill me -- twice -- and then? Somehow it's my fault."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times, her mouth falling open. "I... what? Oh... oh no. You're... just as bad, aren't you?" Hinoiri asked. Looking at Adora. Then lifting a hoof to her forehead. Her head just... hurt...

And she looked between them. Ugh. They both couldn't see it, could they? They were just... hurting each other.

She sided with Catra, admittedly. But that was because they'd known each other longer. Been friends longer. And she opened her mouth to say something, only to pause. And, slowly, her gaze softened. She looked between the two of them again, a small frown on her face.

And, in that moment, she looked... kind of sad. Looking between the two of them.

They were both... just bundles of hurt, weren't they? Adora was hurt, Catra was hurt. Neither of them knew how to stop hurting. Neither of them could make it... stop... and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Was there? Adora would extend a hand, then Catra wouldn't know how to take it and slash at it. Catra would extend a hand, and Adora wouldn't realize it was that and smack it away.

And they'd just... hurt each other. And she was stuck in the middle, watching it.

"Yeah... your welcome," Hinoiri said to Catra, looking back between the two of them. "Thanks for alerting the sparkles that the board wanted me dead, so they'd be able to stop you. I understand why you tried, I wouldn't have been able to go against the board either. Last time I tried, I ended up imprisoned in ice for days."

"... Is this... how I behaved about Sora?" she finally asked, looking between the two of them with sad, worried eyes. "... Neither of you deserve this. You two... you two really do bring out the worst in each other, don't you?" she asked.

She wondered if either of them could see the way they were behaving, the way they were acting... and she had the overpowering, if impossible desire... to just... put them both to sleep with a bottle of warm milk and some cookies.

"... We should get ice cream," she finally said. Because what else COULD she say?

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
     "You want to know what happened after you pulled the switch?! ... Everything was perfect, at first. But wrong. Everything felt wrong no matter how wonderful it was. Shadow Weaver was /nice/. Shadow Weaver /praised both of us/ instead of for /some/ reason not even looking at you no matter how hard you tried. But people started disappearing. The area started breaking away. Everyone disappeared, Catra. You disappeared. Lonny disappeared. Kevin, Scorpia, Bow, Glimmer. And they all stayed gone except... except this horrible corrupt version of you." Adora says, shaking her head. "That kept attacking, that wouldn't even try to listen. I watched you /burn to ash/ as the world cracked and disappeared around us, Catra. That's what you don't remember. That's what /nobody/ seemed to remember in the portal."

Adora's arms are crossed around her again, as Catra stocks up to her. She's not reaching for her sword, she's just holding herself tighter as Catra speaks. Talking about how Catra was gutted with her sword. Talking about how she tried to rip her head off. Those tears well up even more in the corners of her eyes. "Well... well maybe it's better that the other me is gone then! Because frankly that all sounds AWFUL and frankly I'm sorry you went through that!" She's... she's still yelling like she's angry while trying to apologize. Emotions are confusing.

And Catra turns her back on her. "I never /left/ you. I left /the Horde/. I asked you to come with me, remember?! ... I never wanted to leave you, but what the horde was doing... I couldn't..."

Hinoiri talking about how she's just as bad. She drops her arms, turning towards Hinoiri, "Just as bad?! I... I can't even... I can't even imagine doing what Catra just described to her. No matter whatever she did." Adora says, her hands gripping into tight balls, the knuckles and fingers turning white. "I... I can't believe that I would do that... I don't care about the circumstances..."

And then Hinoiri says it. That thank you to Catra for warning the 'sparkles' that she was wanted dead. "I..."

She wanted to believe her. That her beloved childhood friend still had some good in her.
But she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"... I'm." She gives a soft exhale, trying to calm down. Trying to shove down those emotions that were not even directly Catra's fault. Maybe most of the stuff in the portal wasn't even /real/? ... Then again maybe they were still in the portal, for all she knew.

She doesn't even respond to the talk of going to get ice cream for a while, just kind of standing there awkwardly, hands at her side, still gripped into those emotionally-confused fists.

...Luckily she keeps her nails short, or she might be bleeding right now.

Catra has posed:
"I'm the villain, remember?" Catra's voice turns taciturn, as she turns to face away from Adora once more. Well, Adora and Hinoiri and even Swiftwind. Maybe she just doesn't want them to see her own welling up of tears, mirroring Adora's. "If the Horde didn't want me, what makes you think the Rebellion would? Especially after Shadow Weaver left to go join you. You think she'd magically be nicer to me because she joined 'the good guys'? No. No she wouldn't. She's a horrible person."

The feline's shoulders sag just a little bit. Just enough that it's noticeable. "And I'm just like her, and it's her fault because she made me this way, and so did you, and I will never change."

The feline's claws are out; she notices it when she, herself, has little points of red welling up from both palms. She looks down at her hands, then lets them hang back at her sides.

Catra glances sideways, towars Hinoiri, without quite looking fully in her direction. "You should lecture Rashmi, Bow, and whatever Blueberry's name is about fighting," she mutters. "They weren't trying nearly hard enough. I could have killed you four times over. If they're going to face me again I'm going to cut the three of them in half if they don't learn how to *fight*, not just prance around like morons with magic." She sucks in her breath, and lets it out slowly, having given as close to a 'you're welcome' as she's going to give.

"You two go have ice cream, I'm not hungry," she mutters. She takes a step, and restores the visage of Rachel Miller, covering her face and hiding herself from the world. And she starts to walk, carrying herself away; but she stops, hands in her pockets, without turning around. "You know, I didn't pull the switch to destroy the world," she mumbles. "I just... wanted it to be different."

She lets that hang in the air for a moment, but only briefly. Her hands pull her hood up over her head, and she turns up the volume on her music as she resumes putting one foot before another, gaze cast down on the sidewalk before her.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara glanced between the two of them. There was... so much pain here. So much damage. So much... so much they needed to unpack. She didn't know about this 'lever'. About this... other dimension. She only knew what Catra had told her. About the world she wanted to stop and...

She then sighed and glanced to Adora. "Adora? Girl? You asked Catra to leave the Horde. If that's *all* you think you asked of her, you've still got a long, long way to go. The other... you did too. All she saw was a Catra who didn't exist. And if the only Catra you see is the one who refused to follow you blindly... you're going to end up just as nasty to each other again. Talk to Rashmi, she'll... she'll probably be better at explaining it than me. Swiftwind, keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble?"

She then turned and she galloped after Catra... Only to disappear and teleport directly ONTO Rachel's shoulder. "Don't shove me off or I'll tell Adora your deepest, darkest secret!" she warned.

"... But yeah. The sparkles... are a lot nicer than we are, aren't they? It's... annoying. Makes fighting them hard, if you don't want to hurt them," she mumbled softly, to her. "Also, look at me."

And when/if Catra turned... she gave her... the adorable puppy pony eyes. "You want... to not be alone right now... and I'm not her. I get it... I understand what she was asking you, Catra..."

"... And... I do understand what risk you took. Not... following orders like that. So..." And then, she gave her an affectionate nuzzle on the cheek. "I just want to say thank you."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"I... she didn't get any better, no. She's a prisoner there, too." Adora says softly. If the horde didn't want her... she bites her lip. "Catra, they... they probably would have accepted you too..." It's something she believes, but just. She knows that it's not that easy. She remembers how they treated HER when she first arrived in Bright Moon. Sure that was partially HER fault but still.

She made Catra this way? Those words possibly hurt the worst out of everything else. "I'm..." She'd seen it all growing up. She tried to do what she could to comfort her friend all those years.

"...I did too, Catra... I did too." She says quietly her hand lifted up towards Catra. She wants to call out to her. To tell her to come back, to follow her, but she just. Can't find the voice to get it out. She can't get her feet to move.

It wouldn't help if she went. She's the one who did it to Catra, apparently. Sure, she was lacking some details, but the thought... she looks down at the Sword of Power, which was still a knife that she'd just. Left in her belt at some point. "...I hate that I don't know most of this..."

You asked Catra to leave the Horde. If that's ALL you think you asked her, you've still got a long way to go. Talk to Rashmi. "...Right." Adora says softly. Pause. "...I'm glad you're okay, by the way." She pauses. Her voice raising a bit. "I'm glad BOTH of you are okay." ...

Even if she'd probably still choose punch.
Adora turns to leave, Swiftwind following after her.

...And a part of her, through all of that pain, all of that confusion, was ... somewhat glad. Because even if Hinoiri had apparently been part of Obsidian and such... and... the warnings.

Catra still has some good in her.
...Probably.