129/From distant worlds...

From distant worlds...
Date of Scene:	21 July 2023
Location:	Obsidian Tower
Synopsis:	Catra and Hinoiri meet and commiserate over how friends are useless and why new worlds are weird.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Catra

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Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara almost had it figured out, maybe. Hopefully. At least, judging by the gaping hole in the computer screen and Ted's frantic objections. "You broke my monitor!"

"Well, then maybe your monitor shouldn't have been so easily broken," Hinoiri snapped. "Shut up, Ted, nobody cares."

She, of course, was annoyed. Not that she broke the monitor, gosh no. She was annoyed that she hadn't perfected *everything* yet. She couldn't even henshin yet! HENSHIN! Why was it giving her so much trouble?

She had a small chocolate muffin that she was picking at, though more of it had ended up getting picked at and dropped on the ground than ended up in her mouth. At least they HAD vegetarian options here.

She grabbed another one of the books, flipping through it and then sighing. "That is so *creepy*. How have these people survived this long? Ugh. Just one species? How do they manage anything?"

Catra has posed:
"Yeah, shut up Ted, or I'll break something you'll care about."

Catra arrives on the scene, the tan-skinned feline stalking into the room just like how a tiger walks in the forest; like she completely owns the place, and with the assumptiong that absolutely nobody is going to challenge her. And if they do, well, she's got claws for that, and a whole lot of really crappy attitude.

"Actually maybe I will anyway," she adds, applying her claws to the back of Ted's chair in passing. "I guess we'll see. Depends on your behavior."

Catra stops, standing totally in Ted's space as she regards Hinoiri, and quirks an eyebrow upwards. "Aaaaaaand who're you supposed to be, then? New arrival I'm guessing?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara glanced up. "Hmmm?" she asked, looking at her... and she looked... odd. Arms over the table, fists kind of hanging there as she read, moving the knuckles down the page sometimes.

Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the girl. "Wait, so you weren't changed? You're a--" She stopped in med sentence, looking her over before... looking disappointed. "No. No, far too tall. You're certainly not from my world. Perhaps a common ancestor, at least. I am Hinoiri Kirara. Temporary mage of Obsidian. And who are you?" she asked before glancing back towards her books.

"The fact you are apparently not human must either mean there are a select few non-humans on this planet, or the magics you used to arrive on this world were different than the portal I used."

It was a testament to how much Ted did not want to piss off Catra that he kept his mouth shut. Ted knew better. Ted learned to keep his head down.

Catra has posed:
Catra notes the submission from Ted with a certain note of satisfaction. Not one that's openly displayed, of course, she maintains the angry demeanor at all costs -- afterall, people don't mess with you when they know you're angry, and they know you can beat them.

"Yes, I'm a cat," she answers, with the air of someone who's become resigned to answering the same question over and over again. "I got here through a portal as well, except it wasn't my portal and I don't know how to get back, so I'm stuck here until further notice. Probably forever."

The cat shrugs her shoulders. "Whatever. Could be worse, at least there's people here and I'm not stuck talking to rocks and sticks." She pauses, resting her arm on the back of Ted's chair. "I'm Catra."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara rolled her eyes. "Of course you're a cat. The eyes make that obvious. Along with... other features. But I thought you might be Abyssian, which--" She stopped herself before lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Right. Right. I look human now, too, don't I?" she asked.

"I'm not, though. I'm actually a unicorn. Unfortunately, the magical portal I took to get here also turned me into... this," she said, gesturing to herself. With a fist, not a palm."So trust me, it definitely could be worse. The fact you look... strikingly similiar to one of the species from my world took me by surprise and I was... curious if there was magic to allow me to come through the portal as, well, myself. Fingers are still... very disorienting."

She then paused and glanced at her again. "Your... is this your actual form or are you supposed to be a quadrupedal feline? If the latter, my condolences on the shift. Which world were you from? In my world, traveling across dimensions is not entirely unheard of, perhaps I'll be able to locate your world eventually... Once I return and take my rightful place as a sovereign."

Could she? Maybe? She didn't know. But well... she got to THIS world... how hard could finding others be? Maybe? Okay, probably not. But Catra didn't need to know that. And this Catra might be useful... she had style. Some authority, judging by Ted's cowering. And, as it was... Hinoiri could use more allies if possible. Making good on any agreement they made... well... that was future Hinoiri's problem.

Catra has posed:
Catra makes... a face. "What's an Abyssian?" She shakes her head, "No, I'm a cat." She shrugs. "Also, I'm an Etherian. I'm from Etheria. And this is exactly what I'm supposed to look like, but because this planet sucks I have to wear something to look different when I go outside, or apparently bad things will happen, and supposedly we don't want that."

Catra leans against Ted's chair, forcing the chair back forwards and certainly making it increasingly uncomfortable for Ted. Is she doing this on purpose? Well... likely.

"So... wait a sec. You're a unicorn? But you don't normally look like that? ...Must be rough." She folds her arms, which just results on her resting more of her mass against the back of the chair. "If you can find my world, that might be worth my time. Have to see if it's still in a state where I can take over the Horde and crush the rebellion." She sighs, "It was so close."

Catra regards this person who says she's a unicorn with a critical gaze. Would she make a good friend? No. Catra is entirely done with friends. Having friends is a good way to keep someone around who'll just stab you in the back. Friends cause pain and Catra has had more than enough pain already. But, having someone around to help in a fight or possibly open portals to other dimensions, might just be useful.

"So what do I call you? Other than 'unicorn', since I'm assuming that's not your name."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"You may call me Hinoiri or... Sunbreaker, once I figure out how this... henshin spell works," she muttered before holding up her hand. Black flame crept into it for a few moments before sputtering out. "Etheria. Not a world I'm familiar with, but perhaps Sovereign Sora hid that information from me. Considering everything else she tried to hide from me, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising at this point," Hinoiri muttered.

Meanwhile, poor Ted gave a squeak when he was driven into the table.

"It has been... difficult. But I will adapt, figure out how these... oversized primates move and do their magic, and fulfil my destiny. It is merely a matter of time."

"The creatures of this world are... blind, in many ways. Apparently magic is hidden from most of them. I imagine they will panic at the sight of a non-human. In some ways, I suppose I am fortunate I came through the portal as a human. If I had come through a unicorn, but still lost much of my power? There is no telling what would have happened to me. Still, I do miss being able to just open doors with my magic." She pinched off a piece of her muffin and popped it into her mouth before glancing over.

"So then, what are your goals? Or are you currently just hoping for a way to return to your home and crush this... rebellion? Are you a sovereign in your world, then? Or perhaps a queen?"

Catra has posed:
"Force Captain," Catra replies, "Second in command to Hordak, but if I'd had a bit more time before getting pulled here? Was definitely working on a promotion." And when you're already second in command, there's really only one more promotion available.

"I already got rid of Shadow Weaver, I beat She-Ra, I got rid of Entrapta, and it's not like Sparkles was going to stop me." She glances over the back of the chair at the noise Ted made, ears perking to it in a very predatory fashion; but apparently Ted is not a mouse worth killing. Either that, or Catra is simply too lazy, right at the moment.

"Goals? ...Goals... I'm not sure if getting back even *is* a goal. There's someone here I need to do something about. Or at least, I think she's here..." She trails off, scratching the back of her head, behind one ear.

"If these 'oversized primates' are like they are on my homeworld, don't underestimate them. Especially not the magical ones. They're tough, annoying, they talk too much, they think they're better than everyone else, and they don't know when to quit. If I end up staying here? I'm gonna have to move up the ladder."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara nodded. "I see. Force captain. That... sounds impressive. I guess we had the royal guard back home, but I don't think they actually did much. When most of them are stuck at basic teleportation and the person they are guarding is practically an immortal goddess, not like they can be expected to rise very high," she muttered before flipping through the pages. She smiled as well, though. "So, second in command, huh? Looking for a promotion? You and I might have that in common then, Catra."

Shadow weaver, She-ra, Entrapta and Sparkles. She made sure to keep all those names in line. Not that she could imagine someone named 'Sparkles' ever being a threat. Please. Who'd lose to a 'Sparkles'?

"Ah, I see. Pleasure before business, I take it? Duly noted. Were we on my world... I'm sure they wouldn't pose much of a threat. Few beyond Sovereign Sora could even think to challenge me. Unfortunately..." She snapped her fingers and, to her annoyance, only a small spark of dark energy appeared. "A few days of practice can't really compare with a lifetime of talent, hard work and dedication. Not to mention the... systems of this world's magic are entirely different. It will likely take me days to properly understand it. Weeks or even months to perfect it. Until then, I imagine I'll have to treat these... creatures with proper respect."

She then paused and glanced towards Catra. "Then again... the people I've met here have seemed... capable. You're obviously exceptional yourself. The strange man, Riventon, who brought me here also seemed capable. The magic in this world is... different from my own. But I imagine we'll all be quite useful to each other in the end."

"If you play your cards right, I'm sure you'll raise far in the rankings, given the proper maneuvering. I, on the other hand... well... I don't care what happens to this world. I have my own world to return to... to conquer. Who knows? Perhaps in the future we can even... help each other. As colleagues, of course."

Catra has posed:
Catra most certainly does not do friends. Friends are a weakness. ...Or rather, what she won't admit, friendsa are a source of pain when the inevitably realize that someone else would make a better friend, and leave, no matter what they'd promised.

Colleagues might be different, though, so perhaps she can work with that.

"This world is annoying," Catra grumbles. "Everyone just... looks the same. I have to wear an illusion whenever I go outside or apparently all the wannabe tough girls in the world will be onto me, and I've been told I can't fight them all at the same time." She holds out one hand, claws extended, and regards her fingertips the way a more mundane girl might look at her fingernails. "Bad strategy anyway, I'd much rather pick them off and deal with them one at a time. Start with the weak ones, small triumphs build up to large victories."

Catra folds her arms once again, and shrugs. "I know what I'm doing. In a fight, anyway, still gotta learn how this world works. Seems more like most people have their heads shoved in the sand, like I'm in the Crimson Wastes all over again except it's full of even bigger idiots." She sighs, and shakes her head. "Whatever. I'm sure we can help each other out, when it comes down to it."

The part about having a lot in common goes unanswered; and from Catra's view, deliberately so. Having things in common with other people just never ends well.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara nodded quickly. "Exactly! I swear. Back home? You had dragons, unicorns, pegasi, griffons. And we came in all different colors. Red, blue, yellow, green, purple, just, instead we have this. Back home we didn't even HAVE humans. Now it's nothing BUT them. A whole planet of them, so boring," she muttered.

She nodded to Catra's statement. "Exactly. As Kuroba the Knowledgeable said, 'A kingdom is not created in a day, it is built upon small victories, stone by stone.' Trying to take on a tried and true union would be... difficult. But study them, find out their weaknesses... then hit them where it hurts, leaving such destruction in your wake that nobody every thinks to challenge you again. Then just take what is rightfully yours."

She sighed and was quickly finding this Catra to be far, far more intelligent than most creatures she'd met on this planet. "Tell me about it. Back in school I used to think the other fillies and colts were fools for their constant wasting of time on things like celebrations and parties. But these people can't even identify a simple three stage binding ritual if you place the salt right under their hoov-- feet," she said with distaste. "Still... it does at least seem to be magical in nature in its own right. It will likely be another type of magic I'll need to identify. If it covers the entire planet, the source of it must be immensly powerful."

Catra has posed:
There's a bit of a thing, from Catra's perspective; she doesn't have any magic. Not anything obviously definable as such, anyway, though she does have claws and is much stronger than she's got any right to be for her size.

Something else she isn't right about to admit to, at least not right now.

"There's all kinds of stuff where I'm from," she agrees. "Giant monsters, ancient technology, a bunch of Princesses -- they're the enemy, they're terrible people who steal your friends, steal magic, and act all giggly and bubbly until you're not on their side, and I kicked them in the teeth whenever I could -- and..." she pauses, rubbing her chin. "No stars at night, though, so that's kind of new. Looking up at night is kinda taking some getting used to."

The feline nods, "Sounds like magic works differently on one world or another just... because. We didn't have three stage binding rituals either." She pauses, and shrugs, "At least if we did, nobody ever taught me one. Shadow Weaver would've known about that, but she's not here. Which I find immeasurably preferable."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara nodded. "Yeah, we got a lot of those. Hydras, dragons, cockatrices, all kinds of giant monsters. Not a lot of princesses, though. Or ancient technology. Sovereign Sora didn't steal magic... but she DID block you off from achieving your full potential," she muttered.

The stars at night made her glance up. "Huh. That's... strange. A world without stars... granted... I'll admit, our stars were different. While apparently the stars and sun in this world are giant balls of burning gas and fuel, in our world the stars and sun were placed and moved thanks to Sovereign Sora. If there were no stars, it would likely be a sign that she was incredibly ill."

"I'd offer to teach you a proper binding ritual, but it wouldn't be much use here. The magic is different. Powerful in some ways, pathetically weak in others. Still..." She snapped her fingers and made a small spout of black flame for a moment. "I'll figure it out before long. It can't be any harder than trying to create a closed time loop."

Catra has posed:
"Matter of time," Catra mumbles, "I'm sure you'll get there." She puts her claws out again, "For now, I'm just relying on this." She leans over and scratches five deep, parallel lines in the metal surface of Ted's desk, right about where he'd normally use his mouse. The accompanying sound is horrible of course, like fingernails on a chalkboard dialed up to eleven; and Catra's ears fold flat against the side of her head as she does it.

"Like to see one of the girls here -- still dunno what I'm supposed to call them, except magical girl or something, I'm used to calling them Princesses -- try something. Anything. Go right ahead, She-Ra had magic and I still dumped her and her sword at Hordak's feet when I needed to."

She's very proud of that one, it seems; or at least it's something she's willing to borrow on quite heavily. "I'm sure we'll put them all entirely in their place. Honestly, how hard could it be? I've dealt with their type before, they're nothing without their friends. Just get them alone and they'll collapse."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara cringed at the sound. Ohhh, she wished she could make her ears go flat on her head at that. "A-an effective method, I'm sure. I've met very few mages who can properly cast while being slashed up." Poor, poor Ted needed a break.

"Magical girls, idiots, clods, minor bumps in the path of my destiny," she muttered once the assault of her ear drums was complete. "Scratching posts, I suppose."

She made another small spark in her hand. "Our world's most powerful spellcaster, Sovereign Sora, had no friends. Just servants, minions. A student... because all friends do is get in your way. If these girls depend on them, if they believe that mere numbers can make up for a severe difference in talent, skill and power? Then they'll just need to learn that lesson the hard way. If they're smart, they'll scamper off to where ever it is they come through and stay out of the way. If not, they'll just have to be retaught the lesson until it sticks."

This time, when she snapped her fingers her entire arm was wreathed in black flames for a moment, before disipating. "Better. Not good. But better. Catra, was it?" she asked before glancing back towards her. "I need to go gather some new reading material. It has been a pleasant conversation, so I wish you the best. Please let me know how your next excursion goes, I'm quite interested to find out how effective your claws do work against their magics. And who knows? Perhaps one of them is the key to getting you back where ever it is you wish to go."

Catra has posed:
"I'm not in the habit of losing." That's a bold faced lie, really, but Catra tells it well. She's been telling it long enough she can almost believe it herself.

Almost.

How many times did She-Ra foil her plans?

"Scratching post? I like that." She pushes off from the back of Ted's chair, finally giving the poor man some peace, as she watches Hinoiri summon the black flames. "You'll get there. Looks like you're compatible with the magic of this world." She shrugs her shoulders lightly, "Enjoy your reading. I'll be practicing so when I finally get into a fight around here I'll be in good shape."

Catra turns to head off, much to Ted's final sigh of relief, not having the mean feline hanging around literally on top of him. She lifts a hand to wave without looking over her shoulder. "Good luck with your reading."