Catara; Princess of the Hybrids

I'm Afraid of Myself

I'm afraid of myself.

"I'm afraid of myself," I say. It hurts when I say it out loud. Catara was right. It is scary. "I'm afraid of every horrible, cruel, evil, terrible, inhumane thing I've ever done. I'm afraid that I was able to do that. I'm afraid that I was okay with it. I'm afraid that I'll do it again. I'm afraid of my capabilities. I am afraid of me, Catra." Now that I say it, I just know that it's true. I can't help but gasp a little.

The diamond on Catara's jumpsuit shines. It glows brighter than I've ever seen anything before.

The quick image of Catara touching my head plays in my mind as I touch my own head. 

I feel my hair get the slightest bit longer. My nails change red. The front strands of my hair are now red. My head piece looks different. More diamonds. Red metal clamps around my arm. I can feel my clothes shred off of me, being replaced with a red jumpsuit. With a diamond near the neckline. My tail tingles. The only things I don't think changed is my face. 

"Catara," a voice echos in my head.

I start panting. What is this?

"Live on for me."

Oh no. No no no no. This isn't happening.

I accidentally touch the diamond and I return back to normal.

"NO!" I scream. "I AM NOT CATARA!" There's silence, which, for some reason I didn't expect. "I AM NOT CATARA!"

"Catara," a voice says.

"My name is Catra," I say.

"Catara. You've awakened."

"What are you talking about?"

"Catara has been dead for centuries. Now she is back."

"WHO IS CATARA?!?!?"

For a moment, the world seems to go silent. But just for a moment.

"Catara is a princess. Princess of the hybrids. She wasn't supposed to be a princess. She was a hated species. Her highness made all right for the animal hybrids while she ruled, though. Then the Horde formed. They took out all animal hybrids. You are one of the last of your kind. It is up to you to save the animal hybrids."

This is all so much to take in. "Who are you?"

A person drops down from the sky. Well, an animal hybrid that is. It's quite clear that she's part bird; a blue jay specifically.

"The name's Jay. And you're...Catara?" she seems confused.

"The name's Catra. I'm not Catara. You're mistaking me for the wrong hybrid, I guess."

She looks to the statue. The diamond that once glowed is not there anymore. She smiles.

"It must be overwhelming, huh? One second you're a hybrid, now you're a princess. Crazy, right?"

"I am not a princess," I growl. "I will never be a princess."

She gives me a sympathetic look. "You'll need a friend if you're gonna get through this. I'm happy to volunteer."

I roll my eyes. She puts out her hand for me to shake. I hesitate for a second, and then I paw at it. She smirks.

"You've got a lot to learn, new princess."

"Stop that."

"Catara-"

"Catra," I correct.

"Catra, why don't you like princesses?"

I open my mouth to answer, but close it. I'm not ready to talk about that yet.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me."

It's nice to have someone who says they'll stay. Even if they change their mind later. At least they liked me at some point.

"Thanks for helping me, but I don't think I'll play princess any longer. The most I'll do is make our situation worse," I say truthfully.

"Well you know what they say; sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better."

I smile. Jay reminds me of Scorpia a little bit. Always so positive and helpful.

"I think you should give Catara a chance. Get to know your powers a bit before you give up." I don't say anything. She puts a hand on my shoulder. "The hybrids need you. Our kind is crumbling. Who knows how many other hybrids are out there. We could be the only ones. You were chosen by the original Catara. It had to be for a reason."

I think about it for a minute and sigh. "You're right. I can't quit just because of fear. It's not for me, it's for the hybrids."

She laughs a little. "You are a hybrid, dummy."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Fine I'm doing it for me now, too."

"Me too?"

I put on a fake thinking face and then huff a fake sigh. "I guess."

She laughs. "I'm beginning to like this new Catara."

I smile. "Where can I learn more about Catara?" If I'm going to be her, I need to know her.

"Well," Jay begins, her blue-black beak moving with her words. "I can tell you all that I know about the original Catara. After that, we'll need to find her kingdom and the First One's Hybrid Temple. The second one shouldn't be too hard. The only setback is that it's underground. But the kingdom won't be quite as simple."

I tilt my head. "How so?"

"Weeeeeeell..." Jay starts. "Catara was sort of...amazing at hiding things. She hid her castle from everyone. Her magic was so strong, not even the Horde could find it. The hybrids couldn't see it unless Catara granted them the access of seeing it. Us hybrids are such a hated type that she had to do that for the good of the kingdom. It worked until the Horde first spotted her. Everything went downhill from there."

I look down. "So what do you know about Catara?"

She sits down on the grass and pats in front of her for me to sit down. I do as asked, or, implied I guess.

"Catara wasn't supposed to be a princess. That's why she doesn't have a rune stone. (sorry if I spelled that wrong lol) Her highness is a hybrid, as you know. Part cat. Her husband was also part cat. She had blue eyes he had yellow eyes. That's why your eyes are two different colors. She ruled the hybrids for a long, long time. She made sure we were safe. Then the Horde saw her and kept hunting her down. They thought all of the hybrids were extinct because they were all in her hidden kingdom. Then they made sure they were all extinct, but they took you in. They saw great value in having the last one. To remind themselves of the horror they caused." Her mood changes. I put a hand on her shoulder.

I don't know why I say it, but I say, "I promise I won't let that happen again."

She looks me in the eyes. "Are you sure?"

I can't bring myself to say anything, so I just nod. She smiles.

What did I get myself into?

"When do we leave for the temple?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Whoa, whoa, easy fuzzball! You need to train first. There's no way any of that will help without training first."

"Alright, let's start training!"

She sighs. "You need your rest first!"

I roll my eyes. "Ugh! So many rules!"

"Being a princess-"

I stand abruptly. "DON'T CALL ME A PRINCESS! I'M NOT A PRINCESS, SO STOP IT!" I yell out of nowhere. She looks stunned. We're both quiet for a minute or two. "Sorry."

She stands up too and starts walking, waving a hand for me to follow. Somehow, we got out of the area. We're still in the Whispering Woods, though.

The next thing I know, we're at a beautiful pond with stones all around it.

"Well," Jay says. "Hop in."