20. Mara's Ship

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Harley was sat at the fire in the centre of the new campsite, crammed between Scorpia's spiky exoskeleton and Emily's cold, metallic finish and listening to the rest of the Princesses' planning. The girl had her chin propped up against her palm, her eyes glazed over as she studied the roaring fire before her, smouldering with an intense yellow-orange flame. The fire's jaws licked at the tinder and dirt around it, scorching embers flitting through the air with every whip of its tendrils. Harley wondered how warm it would be as her mind compared it to the intensity of Catra's burning gaze.

'Would it be as warm as her?'

She had ignored the Princesses when Harley heard her name mentioned and later when they'd all gotten to their feet around her. Scorpia patted her shoulder amicably before leaving Harley and Emily beeped at her. The girl had glanced at the bot for a split-second before turning her attention back to the blazing flames. Reaching into her satchel, Harley produced the runestone she'd tried to shove out of her mind but for some reason, she could never bear to part with it. There was some magnetic pull it had wrapped around her like fishing line and she was blinded to the bait.

Harley delicately turned it around in her hands, rubbing her thumb along the smooth, marbled texture of the stone's face. Her eyes skated along the violet veins that seemed to pulse inside the indigo resin like a web of purple thread, waiting to be weaved and spun into a glorious tapestry that imparted ancient, hidden knowledge unto the world.

"What's that?" A voice blurted out from her right and Harley whirled around to find Bow's kind eyes staring down at her.

She hadn't spoken to the boy much aside from when he'd properly introduced himself at mealtime two nights ago, but Entrapta had told Harley that he was Bright Moon's loveable 'techmaster' with a heart of gold. She had also mentioned that he refused to wear 'real' shirts and only crop tops, despite their impracticality in battle.

"It's uh... Hordak said it was a precious piece of First Ones tech that the Rebels were after during the war. I got it that evening when I met Frosta, Netossa and Spinnerella," Harley confessed, shrugging her shoulders and turning back to her magical artefact, running a finger along one of the purple spines again.

"Wait-- So Hordak doesn't have the stone? Meaning Horde Prime doesn't have the stone? Meaning you have it? Meaning the Rebellion has it? Meaning--"

"Yes, Bow, I have it, it's what I'm holding in my hands right now," Harley chuckled, cutting him off and he gasped, his hands clapping his cheeks as if he was Macaulay Culkin and all home alone.

"Do have any idea what this stone is?" He shrieked, firm hands finding her shoulders and shaking her harshly. She shook her head and shrugged off his grip. "Harley, this is called the Firestone! It's virtually indestructible and a permanent source of magical energy! This is the last piece we need to get Mara's ship up and running! Oh, Harley you beautiful genius!" Bow's lips collided with Harley's cheek and she groaned, squirming from his grip as he offered his hands out to her like a bucket, his eyes sparkling. "May I touch it? Please?"

"Sure," Harley smiled at him, delicately placing the Firestone into his palm and he let out a choked squeal. "So what makes this Firestone so important?"

"I told you, it's a permanent source of magical energy!"

"Yeah but... Why? How? What does it do?"

Bow scrunched up his lips and raised a brow, the gears in his brain basically visible. "Well, the Firestone existed way before the First Ones and was kinda like a symbol of royalty. But ever since they disappeared, it had been mostly forgotten by history and buried, until it showed up on my tracker pad during the invasion of Salineas. My dads had told me a lot about how the Firestone forges a bond with a human kind of like a runestone does with a Princess, only the Firestone is way more than just a runestone! Where runestones are like magical conduits for the Heart of Etheria, the Firestone is a separate source of Etheria's Heart; a second Heart, if you will. There are rumours that the Firestone can even tear through the fabric of space and time!"

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