The Weave is Torn
Trees moved beside her as a blur. She could barely tell that they were trees due to the purple bark and green leaves gracing the tops of purple.
She could hear the faint rapid breathing coming from what or whoever was carrying her. She could feel the wind whipping at her, blowing her hair all over the place.
"We're almost there, kitten." A soft voice spoke to her. Tigra could not place it, but she felt like she could trust that voice. Trust that they weren't trying to do anything bad to her.
A noise suddenly seemed to appear out of no where before Tigra felt all of the momentum stop.
"Vi'ra! Stop this nonsense! Return with us and no harm will come to you."
'Vi'ra' growled as she hugged Tigra to her chest.
"Don't try to lie, Nari. I know why you followed me out here. You and your companions."
"I am giving you this chance for the sake of Queen Selina. If you continue to resist...we will do what we must."
Tigra's view shifted from a black shirt until she was staring at Vi'ra's face.
Her dark orange fur made her golden eyes seem to shine brighter, made even more prominent by her long red hair. She had two small black lines underneath her eyes but beside her nose.
"Mama loves you, little Py'ra." She whispered as her eyes shined lightly. "Grow strong and live happily. No matter how you turn out, I will be watching and giving what ever kind of support Suran will allow me."
Tigra noticed that Vi'ra placed a claw onto her chest lightly before a faint purple energy started to glow.
"Stop her!"
Tigra looked over and caught sight of the perpetrator.
She couldn't make out a face, but they had gray fur/skin, golden eyes, and short white hair. She rushed forward with a long blade and made to attack once she got close enough.
"Find your family and love them. Goodbye, Py'ra."
Tigra's surroundings changed until she found herself in an alley way.
She felt the hair all over her slowly start to stand on end. She could feel her body itself start to shake.
Where was the one she trusted? Who split them apart?
When...when will she be safe?
She heard a rustle and shrunk herself into her body and prepared for anything to appear.
Only to be met by a large mane of brown hair on top of a small body with blue and yellow heterochromatic sclera eyes.
______________________
Tigra woke up with a groan.
"Been awhile since I had that dream." She muttered, getting up. "Whatever. I have a plan to start today. First step: Getting outside the Fright Zone."
...
Tigra stood outside the Fright Zone before suddenly glowing yellow and yellow lightning sparking to life around her. She crouched down before she dashed.
The surroundings blurred as she looked at her DEX since she was using Haste, Lightning Armor powered with the equivalent of 572 MP - giving a 1.8x boost to DEX, and dashing. It increased her DEX to 1201, making her move just about 167 MPH.
'If I keep moving for about three minutes, I should max out dash and see how I can proceed from there.' Tigra thought. 'If it prestiges like with H2H, I best focus on increasing it now and rebuilding it. If so, I need to run for the next few days to rebuild it back up to an acceptable level. Don't know when the next battle will take place.'
"Glad I didn't reach LV 100 in it before yesterday. I know I wouldn't have survived those encounters without that speed."
She continued to run around the outskirts of the Fright Zone before a message popped up.
Dash has maxed out!
CON increased by 2 and DEX increased by 1
…
Special Prestige available due to [Huntress] class being chosen.
Dash - Dash's effect is doubled but EXP requirement only increases by 1.75x. DEX increments change from 1 every 10 levels to 2 every 10 levels.
Prestige now?
[ Y /N]
…
Prestige finished!
[Dash LV (1)01 (0/175) - Increases DEX by 50+2% per level]
…
Tigra immediately felt the change in her speed. She knew it would happen, but hadn't taken into account just how much it would affect her.
She glanced at her DEX to see the damage.
DEX: 1226 → 742
Speed: 170 → 103 MPH
…
"Alright, with dash taking 12 SP per minute, I should be able to dash for 2 hours straight. With those two hours, I should be able to get quite a good amount of EXP and hopefully get it back above run." Tigra spoke aloud as she continued dashing.
With her MP regenerating 20 MP/m while using spells and Haste using 17 MP/m, she could use Haste indefinitely at this point. With Lighting Armor being unable to damage her, she could use her Max HP as fuel and keep it going indefinitely as well.
"Right now, I could travel 197 miles before I need to stop for 5 minutes to be able to run 197 miles again. Not taking into account how much it will increase my speed during this, I should gain just over 59,000 EXP for dash when I'm done."
With that, she dashed.
*2 hours later*
Dash gained 4033 EXP
Dash leveled up!
[Dash LV (1)34 (2331/5950) - Increases DEX by (50+ 68 )%]
Due to massive increase in Dash's level, DEX increased by 6 and CON have increased by 12.
Lightning Armor gained 152,640 EXP total!
Lightning Armor leveled up!
[Lightning Armor LV 56 (640/11200) - Multiplies DEX by Amount_Used/638]
Tigra Age: 18
HP: 3180 HPR: 318
MP: 1430 MPR: 400
SP: 1590 SPR: 319
STR: 45 DEX: 193
CON: 159 INT: 143
WIS: 100 CHA: 44
Attr. Points: 0
Skill Points: 4
Trait Points: 1
Trait Upgrade points: 0
…
Happy Birthday! Due to reaching 18 years of age, two potential gifts are available for choosing.
You can have 30 Attribute points and 10 Skill points, or 2 free trait points and a trait upgrade!
Would you like option 1 or option 2?
[1/ 2 ]
…
Option 2 selected! Hope you make it another year!
…
2 trait points and a trait upgrade have been awarded!
…
Trait [Improved Regen] purchased.
[Improved Regen - Multiplies your HP Regeneration by 2]
…
All Regens have been acquired. Auto-Fusion activating.
…
[Enhanced Regen], [Improved Regen], and [Healthy as a Horse] have been combined into new a trait.
[Omni-Regen - All regens are multiplied by 2]
…
Trait [One with Lighting] purchased.
[One with Lightning - All electricity spells take 25% less MP than they would normally]
…
Tigra took that last trait with hesitance before putting her, hopeful, idea to the test.
…
Once her Stamina Points regenerated.
*5 minutes later*
"Okay, now to test it." She thought aloud.
She started pouring all of her MP into Lightning Armor and looked at its multiplier.
"3.989." She had a large grin on her face. "It worked. It was at 3.241 before I purchased that trait. With a base of 193 DEX, that increases it by about 150 when only using it."
Tigra held her chin as she looked through her abilities before landing on the skills that boost her DEX.
Haste - Multiplies DEX by 1.44
You are speed - Multiplies DEX by 3
Dash - Multiplies DEX by 2.18
Run - Multiplies DEX by 1.93
Lightning Armor - Multiplies DEX by 2.329 with MAX HP and 3.989 with MAX MP
…
(HP) Multipliers for Run: 1.44 * 3 * 1.93 * 2.329
Multiplier: 19.42
(MP) Multipliers for Run: 1.44 * 3 * 1.93 * 3.989
Multiplier: 33.26
(HP) Multipliers for Dash: 1.44 * 3 * 2.18 * 2.329
Multiplier: 21.93
(MP) Multipliers for Dash: 1.44 * 3 * 2.18 * 3.989
Multiplier: 37.57
…
"That's not taking into account [Phoenix], which would multiply those by an additional 1.25. If it did, it would bring run to about 40 and dash to 45. While they are close, the difference is about 1000 DEX when it is all done and said." She concluded.
"I should probably level up dash a little more before focusing on run , so I can keep a high DEX multiplier in combat while increasing another form of speed. In the long run, run would likely be best used for long distances in the future, considering it can let me continue for 50% longer than dash would."
She started moving when she received a message on her tablet.
She powered down Lightning Armor before pulling the tablet out and looking at the message.
'Come to my lab!' - Entrapta
Tigra put the tablet back in her pocket before running back to the 'laboratory' that Entrapta had taken over.
_____________________
It took about 5 minutes for her to reach the room where Entrapta stayed, dismissing a message about gaining 1300 EXP for run.
It wasn't enough for a level up so she could continue to focus on right now.
She opened the door and found Catra giving a small smile at Entrapta.
"Tigra!" Entrapta exclaimed before getting right in her face. "How were you able to keep moving at speeds around 270 kilometers, roughly 170 miles, per hour consistently for about 2 hours!?"
Everyone's eyes widened while Catra whistled at that.
"Dang, find another way to get faster?" Catra asked.
"No, I've been letting myself go when it comes to running. So, I simply ran to get myself back into shape." Tigra answered.
"That's just it though." Entrapta jumped in. "You weren't improving before hitting a wall. You didn't slow down until you stopped roughly 5 minutes and 32 seconds ago. You kept getting faster. How?"
Tigra took a step back at seeing a crazed look enter Entrapta's eyes.
"I…uh…"
"Nevermind." As quickly as the crazed look appeared, Entrapta shook her head. "That's not why I called you guys down here."
Entrapta's hair brought her over to a console with the data crystal they found yesterday in it.
"Look at the data!"
Tigra looked at the screen - that hadn't been there when Entrapta had been put into the room - and saw several models of the crystal.
"Look at these readings! It's incredible. This seems to confirm my theories about the techno-organic nature of First Ones machinery resulting in thaumaturlogical compatibility between magic and science!"
"I'm going to need you to repeat that, but this time, talk as a normal person." Catra informed.
"Basically, it confirmed for her how the First Ones must have combined technology with organics - nature - in ways to let magic and science work together to create things that could only be called miracles." Tigra explained getting looks of surprise from Catra and Entrapta and a slightly confused one from Scorpia.
"You understand how I talk? Usually I would have to explain it in a manner that takes so much longer to get to my point."
"I listened and deconstructed your sentence." Tigra shrugged. "Techno-organic means a combination of the two, thaumaturgy - the root of thaumaturlogical - means performing miracles, and compatibility between magic and science means the First Ones must have found a way to combine them, thus why no one could understand their tech, because it was tech and magic."
Silence echoed around them before Catra laughed.
"When did you learn to speak like that?"
"When I had to read several materials and accidentally checked out a major paper on science. I had to look up several words multiple times. Thaumaturgy came up a few times, surprisingly enough." Tigra answered before looking back at Entrapta.
"Would you mind continuing? While I can understand what you're saying, it doesn't mean that I can come to the same conclusions as you from looking at this…vast amount of data."
Relationship with Entrapta improved! 47→62 [Friendly]
"Right! There's just so much I can do with this!"
"Like upgrading our weapons?" Catra asked.
"Weapons? This is so much bigger than weapons. This could change everything ."
A 3d model of Etheria appeared through a hologram with lines running throughout the planet.
"Etheria's not just a planet. Whatever the First Ones did to it, it went deep. The First Ones didn't just settle on the surface of Etheria, their technology runs throughout the planet's core. This whole planet…it's all First Ones' tech! "
Catra points to a circle on the surface.
"And what are these supposed to represent?"
"Runestones. From the data I extracted, they regulate the planet through the princesses. They're directly connected to each other and to the planet's power grid in a delicate balance."
Tigra noticed that two spots seemed to have gone dark while 5 other dots were lit.
"Which mean?"
"Which means they are our best access point to hack the planet ."
"Hack the planet? " Catra and Tigra asked in unison.
"Hypothetically, but it is not so simple. There's only a handful of Runestones in the whole world."
"Runestone?" Scorpia spoke up. "You mean like the Black Garnet? 'Cause, we have the Black Garnet."
"The Black Garnet? You have a Runestone ? The Fright Zone has a Runestone?"
"Yeah." Tigra confirmed. "The Black Garnet has been in the Horde as far back as I know."
"At least since we were seven." Catra muttered.
Entrapta was in front of Tigra again, practically holding her in place with her hair.
"Where is it?! Can I see it?! Can I touch it?!"
Catra did not look surprised when Tigra looked for help.
Tigra couldn't keep up with such boundless energy since Adora and Catra stopped running everywhere when she wasn't looking.
"Okay, calm down. What exactly are you planning on doing with the Black Garnet?"
Entrapta let Tigra go and took a step back.
"If we hack the Runestone grid, we could boost the Garnet's power and use it for…well, anything. A power source, a-"
"A weapon?" Catra asked.
"Potentially! But if it's like my other experiments, the results will be explosive."
"I don't think Shadow Weaver will like that." Scorpia brought up.
"She won't." Tigra agreed before she and Catra looked at each other, each wearing a smirk.
"So we'll get you to the Black Garnet." Catra continued. "Leave it to us."
Tigra heard something moving through the vents before internally wincing.
'Hordak's Imp was here before I even showed up. He will likely hear all of this in the next few minutes.' Tigra thought.
Imp was a strange creature that could record audio through their strange biology. He practically acts as Hordak's pet and informant.
"Are we sure this isn't a mistake?" Scorpia asked.
"It isn't." Tigra denied fiercely, taking the trio back. "It…it isn't. Entrapta's idea could change the tides of the war. It could end this within a year if everything goes in our favor."
"There's nothing wrong with-" Entrapta started before Catra placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.
"You're right. It isn't a mistake. We just need to be careful since the Black Garnet technically belongs to Lord Hordak."
Tigra nodded as she stood back, watching as Entrapta started to list off what devices she would need to attach if they were wanting to do this.
After five minutes though, Tigra's tablet pinged.
It drew her attention to it and opened it up to see…a message from who she had been expecting to call.
Under my order as Horde Lord, I am giving Force Captain Catra, Force Captain Scorpia, Force Captain Tigra, and Princess Entrapta my allowance to attempt to use the Black Garnet Runestone in the pursuit of helping the Horde against the Rebellion.
Should anyone attempt to dissuade you or stop you, you have permission to inform me and I will set them straight.
No matter who it is.
If the matter turns violent, the four of you have the right to defend yourself and, if necessary, capture the one who tries to defy my orders.
- Horde Lord Hordak
Tigra stared at the message in slight shock. She had been expecting a call from Hordak or someone under his command and would have to try and convince him to allow them to attempt to hack the planet .
She's glad that she didn't have to, seeing as she had no idea how to convince him to let them try something that sounds insane.
"Hey girls." Tigra called out, catching all of their attention. She waved the tablet to the side of her. "We've got orders from Lord Hordak himself."
She saw how Catra and Scorpia tensed lightly.
"We are to help Princess Entrapta set up her machines with the Black Garnet and determine how it can help the Horde. Be it a weapon or potentially a power source for something powerful."
"What about-"
"And anyone who attempts to stop us will have Lord Hordak himself wanting an explanation on why they are impeding us." Tigra finished.
"So Weaver…"
"Weaver can't do anything about this." She nodded. "Also, in the case of it turning violent, we are allowed to defend ourselves and take whoever is trying to stop us as a prisoner."
Catra laughed.
"Alright! Let's get everything to the Garnet Chamber."
_____________
It would take about an hour to move everything into the Garnet Chamber.
Tigra couldn't help much, seeing as her Strength allowed her to lift about 1.5-2 times her Strength in pounds, meaning the heaviest thing she could lift would be about 65-90 pounds.
Entrapta let her sit to the side and do whatever since she was too focused on being able to mess around with the Runestone.
Having an hour to do whatever let her come up with some ideas for spells and managed to create a few.
[Fire Dagger LV 1 (0/200) - Deals (BASE_DEX*1.8+STR*1.5+INT*2) * Blade_Bonus in fire damage. Cost: 10 MP/m]
Blades skill developed!
[Blades LV 1 (0/100) - Increases damage done with blades by 1%]
[Fire Arrow LV 1 (0/200) - Shoots a flaming arrow that does BASE_DEX+INT*1.5 damage in fire. Every 10 levels, you can fire an additional arrow. Cost: 20 MP]
…
Tigra stood to the side of the room thinking that she may start using those spells more than her claws if she can, considering that Dagger will likely increase Blades through damage.
While it had taken too long to learn Blades, late is better than never.
'Not like I ever used any other weapons than my hands and feet.' She thought.
She looked at the three and came to an idea that may be fun soon.
'I should probably check how the squad does in combat since I haven't seen them fight in almost a year.'
"Alright, let's hurry this up." Catra said, walking forward. "These machines aren't going to hook up themselves."
" They won't be hooked up at all ."
Shadow Weaver floated into the room, her hair floating in the air with her rage.
"Shadow Weaver!" Scorpia spoke in slight surprise. "We just…uh…"
"Silence! " Her shout echoed all around the room, causing Tigra to stand up a tad bit straighter and walked in between them and Shadow Weaver. "Did you really think you could invade my sanctum without my notice? I never thought you two would be so bold to openly rebel like this, but it will be my pleasure to put you back in your place!"
Tigra could hear Scorpia and Entrapta make a noise similar to a whimper, which only got on Tigra's nerves more.
"Oh, Shadow Weaver." Catra shook her head mockingly. "We can do whatever we want with this hunk of rock."
Shadow Weaver chuckled. "Really? By whose authority?"
"By mine."
Lord Hordak appeared on one of the various screens on the walls before he appeared on every screen in the room.
"Lord Hordak!" Shadow Weaver seemed to be taken off guard. "I don't understand."
"Tigra, Catra, and Entrapta have been working on a way to meld the strange First Ones' tech with our machines to weaponize it. I found out," Hordak scratched Imp's chin. "And became intrigued. I gave the three of them my blessing to go ahead with this little experiment. So understand this, Shadow Weaver. I am displeased with your interruption."
Tigra and Catra couldn't keep their smirks off of their faces.
"My Lord, you're really going to let this princess tinker with my Runestone!?"
Tigra withheld a wince at her possession of the Runestone.
'He may have lent it to you, but it has always belonged to the Horde Lord.' She thought.
Afterall, Lord Hordak would never give away something as powerful as a Runestone, something most princesses drew their elemental magic from, to anyone.
"Her tinkering has increased the firepower of every weapon she's touched."
'I didn't know that she's already messed with some of our weapons.'
"So, yes, she gets to tinker with whatever she wants. Including the Black Garnet, which is mine to give or take, as I see fit."
"You can't…You can't do this! I alone have learned how to draw power from it, a feat no sorceress has done before! I have unlocked its potential!"
"And you have wasted it on parlor tricks ." Hordak coldly dismissed. "Force Captains Tigra and Catra, proceed. The Garnet is all yours."
"Yes, Lord Hordak." Both of them said in unison.
Shadow Weaver magic grew massively, just as Tigra felt her fur begin to stand.
"NO!"
Tigra and Catra easily jumped out of the way while her magic destroyed all of the screens.
"Don't let her touch-"
Tigra activated Haste the instant she touched the ground and then poured all of her MP into Lightning Armor.
It was a millisecond too late as Shadow Weaver had touched the Black Garnet and red lightning filled half of the room.
'Her method is touch based due to having a shard of the Black Garnet embedded in her mask.' She analyzed, doing nothing to avoid the stray bolts of lightning that connected with her.
Runestone or not, lightning magic was still lightning magic.
Tigra did move however, when Shadow Weaver started targeting her and Catra through metal spikes being thrown at them.
"That's right, run away! It's the only thing you two have ever been good at!"
Tigra zipped across the room, only to jump back as a metal wall appeared in her path.
"You have always been one simple thing! You two have always been strays! "
Tigra growled before seeing her aim a hand at the place Catra would land.
"And two creatures that will always be mistakes! "
The word almost stopped her from moving.
It would have, if it wasn't for seeing a massive beam of lightning shooting towards a wide eyed Catra, who had landed slightly wrong due to the floor being warped.
Tigra instantly appeared in the way and let the beam hit her straight in the chest.
"Mask!" Tigra told Catra, walking forward through the beam with ease.
"Shadow Weaver! You say that we're strays, yet you've simply forgotten one simple thing about strays!"
"What's that?" Weaver sounded confused on why she wasn't on the ground in pain or dead.
Tigra saw Catra ready herself to jump at Weaver and nodded at her.
"We have claws!"
Tigra dashed forward and grabbed Weaver's wrists, just as Catra jumped at her and slashed at her mask, aiming for a small piece of the Runestone embedded in her mask.
The Runestone piece is destroyed the same time Weaver yells out in horror.
The large amount of magic from Shadow Weaver dissipates, turning the room back to normal and revealing broken screens.
Tigra kneed her in the chest, causing her to fold over.
While she was on the ground, she decided to look at her.
...
Shadow Weaver Age: 61
Level: 31* (95) REP: Disliked [-55]
*Cursed - Either through a botched spell or a deal, [Shadow Weaver] has been cursed. This curse reduces her CON, STR, DEX, and CHA to a fifth of their true stats when not powered with magic to offset it. All of her Magic will be used to combat the curse, thus not letting her use more magic than an apprentice alone.
___________________________
Hidden Quest Completed!
Tearing the Weave
You have successfully defeated Shadow Weaver - with the help of Catra - and taken away her power source. She is no longer a threat to you as long as she is still cursed.
Rewards: 50,000 EXP due to Weaver being 50+ levels above you, Location of Shadow Weaver's magic book
___________________________
Leveled up! LV 39 → 45
60 Attribute points and 10 skill points awarded
…
DEX increased by 30. 193→236
INT increased by 20. 143→166
WIS increased by 10. 100→110
…
10 skill points used for trait [Raiju] and trait [Wise]
...
[Raiju - With this trait, you can turn yourself completely into lightning. While using this form, you can move 3x faster than the speed you had when you changed. Water damage is tripled against you but lightning attacks do 100% more damage in this form. Can be used for up to 90 minutes throughout a 24 hour period.]
...
[Wise - Multiplies final WIS by 1.15]
WIS: 110→127
…
Tigra Age: 18
Level: 45 (1580/8900)
.....
HP: 3180...HPR: 636
MP: 1660.....MPR: 506
SP: 1590...SPR: 636
...
STR: 45 DEX: 236
CON: 159 INT: 166
WIS: 127 CHA: 44
...
Attr. Points: 0
Skill Points: 4
Trait Points: 1
Trait Upgrades: 1
Movement speed: 34 MPH
…
[Shadow Weaver's magic book is in the top drawer of her desk protected by a high leveled electrical spell to defend against intruders. Expected damage: 50,000. Expected damage to you: 0]
…
"We don't have to worry about her anymore. Entrapta, if you would." Catra suggested, walking over to her.
Tigra however leaned down to Shadow Weaver's masked face and made her look her in the eye.
"You always loved to say that we were only good at running." Tigra whispered. "Now, I'll make sure that you will never be able to outrun us."
"What? What are you-"
*Crack*
No sooner did she slam her Lightning Armor powered leg into her knee, did Tigra knock her out with a non-lethal attack to her head.
Tigra let a smirk with a hint of bloodthirst in it grace her face as she looked down at the very shattered knee Shadow Weaver now sported.
Even if it were to be healed by magic, it would never allow her to move faster than a jog at best.
'Now we're even for all the stray comments.' She thought before watching as anything with energy in the room started flickering before a large amount of energy went through the roof and into the sky.
"Wow…What do you think it's doing?" Scorpia asked.
"I don't know." Catra spoke before smirking at Tigra, who had moved to stand next to her. "But we can work with this."
..................
The hologram of Etheria left behind in the old room showed several dots started flickering while the one in the Fright Zone seemed to glow red.
The other inactive dot on Etheria near the edge of the Crimson Waste and the end of the Kingdom of Snow's territory seemed to start blinking faintly in a slow consistent manner.