Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had already been a really shitty day. Catra had finally gotten out of her evil mother’s house, back in Frightsville, but not without a fight. Her mother had managed to break her phone, so now Catra had neither GPS or a way to contact anyone. She was headed for Brightmoon, where the college she’d applied to was. All she knew was that she was going to have a roommate named Glimmer, but nobody could be as bad as her mom. 

She’d been driving for hours, now, and she was damn sure she was lost. She’d remembered she’d have to turn off of the highway she was on and onto another, but she wasn’t sure about which junction or which way to go from there. To make matters worse, she was low on gas. “Please, just please make it to the next gas station.” Catra pleaded. As if the stars were punishing her, the car decided that moment was the best to start sputtering to a stop. Catra groaned, and tears formed in her eyes. She hadn’t seen a gas station in a while, so she decided she was going to have to leave her car there, on the side of the road, and start walking until she saw something other than a crop field or a dirt path between them. The sun felt extremely hot, as she walked. As she was about to give up, she saw a building in the distance. As she neared closer, she realized exactly what it was. It was a truck stop. Several Semis were parked for refueling, and the whole thing reeked of alcohol and piss. She walked inside, and it was pretty empty. Then again, it would probably be a lot more full if it weren’t the middle of the day. There were a couple of truckers sitting at the bar, and one at a booth in the corner.

“You need some help, girl?” The bartender asked. Catra looked over at the man, and nodded. His hair was burgundy, and he had a mustache to match. “Figures, why else would you be all the way out here?”

“I ran out of gas, and I walked about 45 minutes from that direction.” Catra admitted. 

“I can take her.” One of the truckers offered. Catra looked over at the one who was sitting in the booth in the corner. She was a tall, muscly woman with a blonde, greasy ponytail that fell from the back of her red trucker hat. “I ain’t had none to drink yet. Sound like she’s on my land anyway.” 

Catra did everything in her power to keep her mouth from dropping open for how attractive that woman was. Who knew she had a thing for country girls? She turned to the bartender. “How much do I owe you for a couple gallons?” she asked. 

Before he could respond, the blonde chimed in. “Don’t worry bout it. I got a couple full handles of gas in the back of my truck.” she offered. She started walking outside and motioned for Catra to follow. Catra did. Around the side of the building, there was an older red pickup waiting for them. She opened the passenger door for Catra. 

“How chivalrous of you.” 

“Y’all city gals don’t open doors for each other? Out here we call that common sense.” the woman argued. “The name’s Adora by the way.”

“Catra.” Catra replied. Adora got in on her side and started the truck. It sputtered to life, and Catra could hear the stuff sliding around in the trunk as they pulled out onto the empty country highway.

“Now I gotta ask, what in tarnation are you doin out here?” Adora asked with a chuckle.

“On my way to Brightmoon for college. Got a little lost.” Catra admitted.

“No kidding. Ain’t no one pass through here unless they’re on their way out to the Wastes or back from there. Where were you coming from?” 

“Frightsville.”

“I see. You just went the wrong way on that highway junction, then. Keep headed North and you’ll see the signs for Brightmoon soon enough.” 

“I didn’t see this place on the map. Where am I now?” Catra asked. 

“Nearest cities are Plumeria, bout 20 miles East, and Thaymor, to the Northwest. We don’t really have a community big enough to call it a town.”

“You keep to yourself out here?” 

“Didn’t say that.” Adora replied. “That truck stop is where I go when I’m not tending to the crops or my house. Sea Hawk keeps the place lively enough.”

“His name is Sea Hawk?”

“His handle. Truckers got radio handles, and his stuck more than his other name.”

“You got a handle, Adora?” Catra asked. 

“Kinda? Some of them call me She-Ra ‘cause I can lift more than them when I’m loading my crops into thems trucks.” Adora looked over and noticed Catra staring at her muscles. “I could show you, if you’d like.” Catra’s face went beet red. Adora gave a hearty laugh. “That silver Prius over there you?” 

“Yeah, that’s mine.” 

“Shoulda known city girl was gon’ show up in a Prius.” Adora joked. 

“Guess we’re both stereotypes then.” Catra fired back, poking at the red flannel Adora was wearing. Adora blushed. She made a U-turn and pulled up right behind Catra’s car.

After Adora filled up Catra’s gas tank, she went back to her truck and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. She wrote a phone number down. “In case you ever get lost again.” Adora offered.

“Only if I get lost?” Catra asked. Adora blushed again. 

“Or anytime you like. I ain’t goin nowhere.” Adora offered.

Catra smiled at her as she got into the car. Adora walked over to the passenger side window and leaned down. Catra rolled the window down. Why did Adora look so hot leaning on the car like that? “You remember the directions?”

“If I keep going North I’ll see signs for Brightmoon.” 

“Anything else I can do for ya?”

“I think I’m good to go. Thanks, Adora.”

“Don’t be afraid to stop by.” Adora offered, before backing up to let Catra start driving. Catra noticed Adora waving in the rearview until she was out of sight. 

/////

Catra made it to Brightmoon at around 9:30pm. She walked over to the dorms, leaving all her luggage except the one bag with her pillow and toothbrush in it in the car to be dealt with tomorrow. She walked in and saw a booth sitting there in the hallway. It was late enough that it was unmanned, but the list of names was still there, and Catra found hers on the last sheet, and was not surprised that not many last names came after Weaver in the alphabet. She was in a room on the third floor. She ran up the stairs and found her room. She knocked on the door. A pink-haired girl opened it. “You must be Catra.” 

“Yep. You must be Glimmer.” Catra replied. Glimmer nodded sleepily, and then began walking to the bunk bed.

“I was sleeping in the top bunk, hope you don’t mind the bottom bunk.”

“That’s perfect.” Catra replied, setting her bag down and grabbing her pillow. She tossed it onto her bunk and then laid down. She wanted to sleep, but all she could think about was Adora.

The next morning, Glimmer was much more excited to learn about her roommate than the night before. Catra made a mental note that Glimmer was, in fact, a morning person. “I am not answering any questions until I have either a cup of coffee or an energy drink.” Catra hissed. Glimmer handed her a cup of coffee. “When did you…?”

“There’s a coffeemaker right there,” Glimmer announced, pointing to the small counter with a mini fridge underneath it. “I usually drink coffee too.”

“Perfect.” Catra murmured. She took a long sip of the coffee, which was brewed well enough. “What was the question again?”

“Where are you from? I assume you don’t live in Brightmoon, given how late you got in.”

“Frightsville. I’m never going back.” Catra growled.

“Noted. Next, do you mind if my boyfriend comes over and hangs out?” 

“I don’t wanna hear any bed creaking.” Catra teased.

“Not like that!” Glimmer retorted. Catra laughed a little. “Just like, playing cards, studying together, stuff like that.” 

“Yeah, I don’t care. My turn, where are you from?” Catra asked. 

“You… you don’t know who I am?” Glimmer asked.

“I mean… should I?”

“First of all, my dad is the mayor, and secondly I have like thousands of followers on TikTok.”

“TikTok?” Catra asked.

“Social media. You make videos.” Glimmer explained.

“Frightsville is kinda heavy with digital censorship.” Catra replied.

“Noted. Okay, then. My parents live in Brightmoon, over in the old castle district. I grew up here. I’m also bi so your pathetic lesbian ass isn’t going to have to hide that.” Catra’s mouth dropped open. 

“Okay now how the fuck did you put that one together?”

“My gaydar has never missed. Also, you talk in your sleep. Who’s Adora?” 

Catra blushed hard. “I got lost yesterday, ran out of gas, found myself at a truck stop and she helped me get gas in my car and then gave me directions. I didn’t say anything embarrassing, did I?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” 

Chapter Text

The first thing Catra did was go to the financial aid office. They handed her a stack of cash, supposedly 1000 dollars but Catra didn’t care to check. She used a small chunk of it to buy herself a flip phone. She had no care for a stupid smartphone and her claws were incompatible anyways. Then, she walked back to her dorm to get the phone number for Adora. Adora was all she could think about, after all. She walked in as quietly as possible to not disturb Glimmer, but Glimmer was already up and in the shower. Unfortunately for Catra’s ears, Glimmer was singing in the shower. Could she get any more obnoxious? Catra dug into her bag for the number and punched it in. It rang twice, and then Adora picked up.

“You’ve reached Greyskull Farm.” Adora greeted, in her most formal attitude. She was also trying to cover up her accent a little bit, but it leaked through regardless.

“Hey Adora.”

Adora immediately stopped hiding her accent. “Catra! Glad to hear from ya. You get to Brightmoon ok?”

“Yeah, I’m safe and sound in my dorm.” 

“Good to hear.” Adora replied. Then, a loud crash rang through the phone. “Goddamnit Swift Wind! Catra, I gotta go. Talk later.” Adora hung up. Catra didn’t know whether to laugh or worry. She sent a text asking who Swift Wind was, and shoved her phone in her pocket. 

Then, Glimmer came out of the shower. She marched out proudly. Her face went red when she saw Catra. “Hey, Catra, didn’t hear you come back.” she murmured, as she quickly reached for her clothes and darted back into the bathroom.

“So there is a part of you that isn’t overwhelmingly modest.” Catra teased.

“I just met you yesterday and you’re already the most infuriating person I’ve ever met.”

“Right back at ya, Sparkles.”

Glimmer re-emerged from the bathroom fully clothed. “Oh, by the way, I wanted to invite you to come with me; I found a lgbt center on campus that me and Bow are gonna check out later.” 

“No.”

“I’ll tell you what you said about Adora in your sleep.” Glimmer offered. Catra glared at Glimmer, hatred building in her eyes. 

“Fine.” Catra seethed.

An hour later, Catra was dragged into a small building. There was a table with a bunch of flyers for resources like school counselors and therapists, which was currently unmanned. There was a giant screen on the other end of the room, and a girl with long, purple pigtails was messing with the wires. Then, a lady with white, curly hair walked into the room. “Haven’t seen you three before. Welcome to the Equity center, I’m Dr. N. I’m the supervisor of this space.”

“Nice to meet you, Ma’am. I’m Glimmer, this is Bow and Catra. We’re freshmen.” 

“Hopefully, that means you’re bringing new ideas for events and such. Entrapta is also a freshman, and she’s working on setting up that monitor so we can do a movie night.”

“Hello!” Entrapta yelled from the other side of the room, before once again messing with some wires. Catra, Glimmer, and Bow looked at each other, and all shrugged. 

“I suppose we know who to go to when/if we have ideas.” Bow stated.

“Kitty!” A girl squealed, before running over and scooping Catra into a back crushing hug.

“Put me down!” Catra screeched.

“Sorry.” the large woman whispered, before setting Catra back on the floor. She also had white hair, but it was more of a mohawk. Catra also immediately made note of not being the only hybrid on campus. This large woman had pincers instead of hands and a very pointy-looking tail. “I’m Scorpia, by the way.”

“My name is Catra.” Catra hissed. She also unsheathed her claws. “And don’t even think about doing that again.” 

Then, Catra’s phone vibrated. She whipped it out of her pocket to see a photo of a large, white horse, in the middle of a house, and covered in dirt. This is Swift Wind  

/////

Catra flopped onto the bed. “Alright, what did I say?”

“When?” Glimmer asked.

“The deal was I go with you to the Equity Center, then you tell me what I said in my sleep.”

“Oh, it was something about strong muscles and pinning you against a wall.” 

“Could be worse.” Catra murmured. 

“Like how you also mumbled something about her pumping kittens into you?” Glimmer suggested. Catra’s pupils shrunk and her fur stood up.

“ I'll just shrivel up and die now, thanks." Catra seethed. Glimmer cackled.