Kyle's head was ringing.

He had treated the cut on his head with butterfly stitches, having long being accustomed to sorting out his injuries.

It was the next day and the pain had gone down but not completely. He, once again, was covered in bruises and struggling to find the motivation to eat his lunch or eat anything at all. Lonnie and the others were leaving him alone but that was almost worse andhe made the decision to not go down at all. It made Kyle over think all the possibilities that could happen. A violent beating, a princess invasion, letting himself fall from the highest point of the Fright Zone where he could finally be free of everything... His usual everyday thoughts.

The bandages were now off his wrist and alone in the barracks he stared at the marks crisscrossing his thin wrists. Some were faint, year old scars from when this was a rarity. Others were scabbed over. All in all there were countless marks marring his pale flesh to the point there was barely any untouched skin remaining. No one knew. No one could know. It would just be another thing to mock him for, another thing they could use to try to tear him apart for. The last thing he needed was to give them yet more ammunition to use. When he heard footsteps approaching he quickly pulled his sleeve down, ignoring the slight sting of the fabric rubbing against the marks.

He sat up straight when he saw it was Catra. She demanded absolute respect and if you didn't give it...
"Kyle, get ready to leave in twenty minutes," she barked at him. "We are going to have another attack on Thaymor." The scary look came across her face and the intense gleam when she was going to do so something violent filled her eyes. "I don't care if we burn the whole place to the ground or if it ends up under our control. I want it gone." Kyle swallowed the lump in his throat. He had used to believe their attacks were to stop the violent instigator princesses but so many places they had attacked hadn't even fought back. Not to mention Thaymor rang a bell.

"Thaymor?" he repeated, dully. Maybe he would get lucky and a stray tank would blast him. Quick and effective.
"A heavily fortified rebel fortress," Catra sneered. That was... oh great. An attack that wouldn't even benefit the Horde. This was probably another part of her continuous obsession and need to control everyone and everything.
"What good will it do?" he questioned quietly then bit his tongue so hard that he could taste the metallic taste of blood. He needed to sleep more; he had slipped up too many times with his brain not stopping the thoughts he had just staying there.

Catra growled, grabbing Kyle by the collar and shoving him back. He bit back a yelp of pain as her claws dug into his arms. It wasn't enough to draw blood but it would definitely leave deep scratches.
"You want to be careful with comments like that, Kyle," she said in an incredibly mocking tone, an almost gentleness in it. It was that same eerie one Shadow Weaver used to use when talking to Adora but it was much more evidently clear. Her claw ran down his cheek and then as her expression hardened she pressed harder, scratching his cheek bone. "We don't want you betraying us again. One toe out of line, one action that makes me think you'll betray us, you'll be right back in that cell. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Second in Command Catra," he said, breaking eye contact with her. He saw her smirk, probably smug to have another victory over someone even if it was someone as pathetic as him.

As much as he hated the missions, especially the incredibly morally ambiguous ones, it was nice to be outside of the Fright Zone. The moment the sky went from the darkened red and the ground from barren nothingness to blue skies and grass was always wonderful bit. The air lost the musty, metallic feel and had an almost sweetness. Around his fifth time out of the Fright Zone he realised the smell was flowers. He liked flowers. The others realised and several of them crushed or burnt them just to spite him. Still, he knew that all the cadets at least liked the blue skies. They talked about it when they thought he wasn't listening...

In the Skiff he busied himself with sorting his supplies so he didn't have to make eye contact with them. There were at least thirty ships and forty tanks heading towards Thaymor. If the princesses weren't there the place would be obliterated. People would die. He swallowed the bile, hoping he didn't look as sick as he felt.

"If Adora shows up she's mine," Catra snarled, eyes blazing with unrestrained hatred. "If you have a clear shot at any other princess take it." Her gaze landed on Kyle. "Don't blow this." He nodded in understanding but he didn't like it.

They arrived and it only took a few moments for the screaming to begin, for the grass to be completely scorched away in some places, trees were on fire and homes were destroyed. And Kyle understood. He understood why Adora had left.

This was wrong.

They went into battle and there was at least one princess there. He didn't know their names but it was the plant one. Vines held some of the bots in place and knocked some tanks off balance but it wasn't going to be enough. The lack of enough of a fight was a sure fire way to tell that Adora wasn't there. He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. Relieved because that meant Catra couldn't do anything to her. Disappointed because that meant that Thaymor was likely going to fall.

He fought... or tried to when a vine looped around his foot and sent him flying into a tree. Bark scrapped his cheek, chest and arm and he hit the ground with a groan of pain.
"Seriously, Kyle?!" he heard Lonnie yell before she engaged in intercepting some escaping civilians. He propped himself up on one elbow as his blurry vision somewhat subsided.

There was a sound, somewhere between a scream of pain and a sob. Kyle scanned for the source of the sound and froze, conflicted. The fawn who had screamed was a child, maybe five or six years old. A bot was alerted by the sound, moving closer, a blast of energy at the ready...

He ran without thinking, grabbing the child and pulling them behind him just in time. The scanner thankfully registered him as a Horde solider and moved on. Unfortunately the child did too, cowering from him and sobbing either in pain or fear. Maybe both. Kyle swallowed, scanning the small form. Foot at an odd angle. Foot or ankle likely broken.

"Um...It's okay," he said timidly, crouching by her so he wasn't towering over her. He knew that was scary, eventually when hurt or vulnerable. "I'm not going to hurt you." To show that he threw his weapon a few feet away and raised his hands to show he didn't have anything else. If anyone saw that he would pay for it later but he wasn't going to hurt a child. That was wrong. Completely wrong.

The child looked at him warily, still sobbing.
"Um...okay..." Kyle said, folding and unfolding his hands continuously. He didn't know what to do. How do you comfort an upset child? "Let's...get you somewhere safe." Um...Safe during an invasion... Plant princess? This couldn't end well for him... "So... Can you walk?" She tried to get to her feet and yelped, falling forward. Kyle caught her before she could hit the floor. "Um... If you lean against me and hop? Kind of? I'll support your weight. Is that okay?" She nodded.

The two made progress avoiding the bots, Kyle thankfully knowing the layout the Horde had planned. Multiple times he found himself questioning what he was doing. He didn't want to be locked in the cell again. Not the horrible one, not Shadow Weavers. If anyone saw... The child yelped in pain as they shifted some weight onto their foot and any doubt faded. If he was going to have such a horrible life then he could do at least one small thing right.

They finally found the princess who had gotten away from the bots along with the icy one.
"Horde solider!" the icy one yelled. Her gaze landed on the small figure by him. "And he has a hostage!"
"N-no," Kyle quietly protested, hoping the noise hadn't been detected. He could hear footsteps and bots approaching. So much for that hope...or any hope at all. "Not hostage. Um...They're hurt." They both looked ready to attack him but neither did. Didn't want to hurt an innocent, he supposed. "I...um I am not going to hurt them. They can't walk though."
"Is this some kind of trick?" the icy one demanded. "I remember you! You helped ruin Princess Ball!"
"I...yes," he mumbled, gently getting the child to sit down so if they did attack him then a child wouldn't get hurt. He then took three steps to the left to make himself an easier target.

The Horde soldiers were now closer. If it was Catra or Lonnie...
"Can you hurry up and please attack me?" he asked with an almost note of hysteria.
"Um...I would rather not," the plant one said. "You did just help a child...plus you don't have a weapon. That would not be exercising kindness."
"Um...Please?" No, he was crying...Not again... "Even restraining or something? The Horde won't be happy with me for doing this."

It made him jump when ice knocked into him, freezing his arms and legs in place. The look the princess gave him was almost apologetic but at least when he turned the corner they didn't seem to suspect that he had been betraying them again.

The princesses escaped...Thaymor had fallen. Kyle wasn't sure what to think of his role in it. Hopefully in the loss of another rebel place the princesses forgot about his role in it. He didn't need the information going to the wrong people or any people.

---------------------------------

When they got back Catra barked an order at Lonnie and Rogelio to block the door. They did and all three were glaring at him. Unease twisted his stomach. This could not be good.

"The video feed showed something interesting, Kyle," she said in a mocking tone, taking a threatening step forward. He struggled to not take a step back. "You. Stopping a bot. Care to explain?" Kyle was tongue tied, scrambling for some kind of excuse.
"I just moved a child away from a blast," Kyle said voice surprisingly steady. "There's nothing wrong with that. Not really."
"And you were still with that child when we came across you again..." Catra mused. Then she held up the most incriminating pieces of evidence, his discarded weapon. She pressed the button, bringing the electricity crackling and pressed it against his side.

Pain. Continuous pain. He was burning, cold, dizzy... The darkness rushed up to engulf him and he became unaware of everything around him.