2302/Where's the instruction manual

Where's the instruction manual
Date of Scene:	06 February 2025
Location:	Plot Room 4
Synopsis:	Catra bursts into Glimmer's room in Obsidian Tower, demanding immediate help with a very immediate problem: She has a Runestone now, and has absolutely no idea how to use it. (Turns out you can sum up the overall instructions with 'Think firey thoughts'.)
Cast of Characters:	Catra, Glimmer Brightmoon

---

Catra has posed:
It's the middle of the afternoon.

Everything is quiet.

or at least it was, as suddenly the door to Glimmer's bedroom is thrown open from the outside, without anyone so much as knocking, and Catra stalks into the place as if it's not Glimmer's room but her own, "GLIMMER!!" She shouts, "Sparkles! Where are you?! Are you in here? I need to talk to you RIGHT NOW and it's important and it can't wait."

Standing just inside, Catra's ears perk up as she scans the place not with vision but with hearing; not like she's likely to need it. If Glimmer is inside she couldn't possibly have missed Catra's yelling even if she was asleep. Maybe if she was rendered unconscious with a two by four. Maybe then.

No guarantees.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon hadn't actually played many games lately. After what Bow had said, how she was always 'delegating', how she was lazy, wasn't trying, wasn't putting in any effort... She'd been working to prove him wrong. Riventon liked it, since it meant she was helping him more.

She'd been practicing her magic, using dark energy to form the Etherian magical symbols that her dad and Shadow Weaver used, the kind of magic Catra was likely most familiar with...

As she still hadn't managed to reconnect with the Moonstone. However, when Catra came running in like an explosion, Glimmer shrieked and her magic circle shattered. She whipped around, her eyes wide, a hand over her chest. "Catra, you almost gave me a heart attack! You know, you could... knock." She almost said 'text me', but well... she had... a poor history of that. "What's got you all riled up?" She started towards her, lightly patting her chest to make sure her heart wasn't going to fail after that shock.

"... Is it Horde Prime? Did he give you grief?"

Catra has posed:
"...'Knock?'" Catra squints, yellow and turquiose eyes narrowing to slits. "'Knock', you say. 'Knock', says the girl who only a week after getting here, doesn't merely come through the door into my room but teleports in, yells something along the lines of OhMyGodCatraWe'reGoingShopping and then grabs me and teleports to the mall, where I barely avoid losing my lunch?" The feline folds her arms over her chest, and perks an eyebrow. "Alright, next time I'll 'knock'. Duely noted."

With all of that said, Catra looks at where Glimmer was sitting, and observes her acting like she's trying to make sure she isn't about to faint. "No, it's not Horde Prime, and honestly so far he doesn't seem like he's that bad compared to the other directors. I'm not saying he's great mind you, he's just... whatever." She shrugs her shoulders, and finally walks over to where Glimmer has her table (or whatever passes for such in her room."

"Anyway. I need you to tell me..." She pauses, fishing out a small, fiery red stone that she plops down in the middle of the table.

"How on Etheria does this work?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon opened her mouth to object, but well... Catra made a good point. "Okay, fair. That one's on me, you don't need to knock. And... yeah. You're right. Horde Prime has been... silent. It can't be good. He's up to something, he's really not the 'do nothing' type. If he's appearing quiet, it's because he doesn't want us to know how much he's doing."

Glimmer got to her feet and walked over to the table, cocking an eye at the stone. "Hmmm? What is it?" she asked, reaching out to pick it up. And holding it up.

And then her eyes almost bulged out and she SHRIEKED, dropping it on the desk, staring. "IS THAT THE SPIRIT EMBER?! IT'S REAL?! I thought it was a legend! It's actually REAL?! Why do you have it?!!!"

Catra has posed:
Catra's hand snaps out to catch the stone before it lands. Which, actually, was rather fast. But then, she is a cat, afterall.

Still, her ears flatten at the shriek, and she leans back from Glimmer as she's shrieking.

"Sparkles. Focus. Come on, get a grip." The feline snaps her fingers a couple of times. "Yes, it's the Spirit Ember. Yes, it's real. ...I've been having dreams about stuff for a while, lots of... fires and burning and a weird burney person talking to me, and then these fire people showed up when I was awake and did stuff claiming that they were testing me, and then at the end of it..." She tosses the stone up in the air and catches it again, "Apparently it's mine. And always has been. Except I dunno how that's supposed to make sense or why me of all people or..."

Catra sighs, and tilts her gaze off towards the side. "Anyway just... how does it work? What am I supposed to do with it?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon stared at the stone, her mouth open. "That... that's not *possible*. The Spirit ember was a MYTH! A STORY! It's not real, it never... oh... ohhhh wow... does this mena... back home, it IS real?" Glimmer asked, pacing back and forth. "Does this mean you're... but you were NEVER the holder of it there! You had Melog and those like, invisibility powers, and you were certainly the princess of being a pain in the ass! But you're an ELEMENTAL princess! You're a bona fide elemental princess. Holy... Adora and Bow are going to freak. I'm going to need to bake you a cake." Pause. "I'm going to need to buy you a cake." Baking, not her forte. "Ohhhh my aunt is going to demand to throw the biggest party in like, a generation. A NEW elemental princess? This is huge. Holy..."

She was pacing, before pausing. "Right. Right, sorry. Right. Well... it's yours. You can feel the connection to it, right? So... there's this magic in it, you just... use it. Like... it's like having a... muscle, I guess. One that has always been there, but you just never realized it? And like... does it feel like its always been there, but you never knew, but now that you DO know you can't believe you never noticed back?"

Catra has posed:
"Yeah, about that. Adora already knows." Catra folds her arms, still holding the Spirit Ember clenched tightly in her fist. "And she was salty about it. Like, I dunno, she couldn't handle not being the center of attention for like five minutes, and while I was busy feeling like I was getting burnt all the way down to my bones when I first picked it up, she just turned around and left me like she always does."

The feline abruptly realizes that in addition to her tail lashing behind her back and her teeth grinding between peeled lips, her right hand -- holding the stone -- is actually on fire. Not a fire that hurts her -- is that a thing now? Fire doesn't hurt anymore? -- just... a fire. Not a big one. And more or less the moment she realizes it, it goes out again.

"That's not the first time that's happened either," she admits. "Anyway, like... what you're talking about is way different from how Sunbreaker taught me how to do dark magic. And, yeah, I can sorta... feel it." She opens her hand and looks down at the stone resting on her palm. "So, I just... think firey thoughts? ...And how come your Moonstone looks like a jumbo jet laid an egg, while this stone is like the size of a piece of sushi?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon stopped when she heard how Adora had... reacted. She considered defending her friend.... saying something like, no, that didn't sound like her...

But dark energy was a heck of a drug and all she could remember was Bow getting mad at her for not doing enough. For 'delegating'. Excuse her for trying to save her mother. Or the time when she'd fought with Adora and none of them would even DISCUSS it with her, how they just ran her over and decided how to do things, even though HER people were suffering. Even though Horde Prime was right there.

"Yeah, she does have a tendency to do that, doesn't she? Get annoyed if everyone isn't just... bowing over her?" she asked, hmphing.

"... Speaking of leaving. Next time you go on an extended like... leave like that, can you let me know? I about gave Riventon a heart attack when I came into his office and yelled that you were missing and Horde Prime had probably taken you. He guaranteed that Horde Prime didn't have you but, honestly? I was trying to figure out this scrying spell so I could spy on him."

"... Sun... breaker? Well... that's... a name. So, how did she teach you? Cause... hmmmm... So, I was born with mine. It was always split between... my mother and I. You... won't... have that. Since ummmm... well.... the full power will be there for you. As an aside, just because your fire doesn't burn doesn't mean other fire won't. I mean, it might not. But it also might. Anyway, it'll take time to learn. The best way is to just kind of... throw it at things. That's what I did. I used to *suck* at teleporting, believe it or not. And it took me a long time to get it right. Then... once... my mother... was gone... it was..." Her arms wrapped around herself and she looked... definitely uncomfortable. "Different. It was... like there was an infinite reserve of power I could call on at any time. Like... an ocean of magic, and I was the tap it filtered through. Sure, it wasn't really infinite, but it felt like it at times."

"So your power is... likely kind of like that. It's a pool, a pond, a lake, an ocean. Whatever works best. And you're its focus. You just need to decide where you want the power to come out. Mine is light, so like... I can become light to teleport, or shoot light. Frosta's was ice, so she could control ice and make it. Mermista controlled water and had the whole... mermaid thing. Uhhhh... I don't think Perfuma's would apply... And Scorpia was still learning hers."

"So... to start... let's play a game. Hold on." She then ran off!

A few minutes later, she'd appear with... A bunch of... cans. And began stacking them up on the desk. 3:2:1. "Just focus and try and knock over as many as you can in one swing. As for why my Moonstone is... this? I just... I think... it didn't come over right. I arrived in the dusk zone, after all. Not exactly a place people like me could survive, normally. So... maybe it did it to protect me."

To protect her mother. "And now it's stuck. So... I wouldn't worry about it. Scorpia's did the same thing."

Catra has posed:
Catra arches an eyebrow, noting the first time she's ever complained about Adora to Glimmer and not have the sparkly teleporting princess leap to her defense. Well, that's interesting; but like the bit about Melog, Catra doesn't outwardly acknowledge it or comment on it.

"So, doing dark magic like Sunbreaker taught me... it's all based on emotion. You don't have a connection to a runestone or a big ocean full of magic, like," she gestures towards Glimmer, "I'm sure you've noticed by now, yeah? It's fueld by your emotions. Specifically your 'bad' emotions, like anger and jealousy or fear. The stronger your emotions, the stronger your magic will be, but you have to sieze control of it while you're doing it and make sure you remain in control of it, not the other way around, or it'll... ruin you, basically." She shrugs her shoulders.

"So, I dunno, maybe that's why I'm not having any success so far, I'm trying too hard to do Runestone magic the same way? Also, we are NOT going to be calling me a princess, I am definitely not ready for that." She looks down at the stone in her hand again, and clentches her fingers back into a fist around it. "I wasn't even gonna claim it at first, I figured I'd just do the damn tests so the fire-guardians or whatever they were would just leave me alone, but I guess it doesn't work like that. And connected is connected, I guess."

And then Glimmer has the cans all set up, and Glimmer is telling Catra to knock over as many as she can with one swing, so she pretty much automatically snaps one hand out and sends literally all of the cans flying and tumbling across the floor.

"...I mean, that was..." she stops, about to say 'easy'. "...Not... what you meant, you meant with magic."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon was actually taking this seriously, a hand on her chin, listening to what Catra said, how she described it. And it was likely weird. Seeing the hyper sparkle princess actually just... calm. And thinking. In an oddly similiar way to how Shadow Weaver likely had when she did magic.

And when Catra knocked over the cans? If she had been Shadow Weaver, she likely would have yelled at her. Or slapped her. Glimmer?

Glimmer had to cover her mouth and stop from keeling over laughing. "Yes, yes I did but that was still *amazing*. Hee hee hee. I think that was the most 'Catra' way to approach it I could have imagined. Hee hee. Right, okay, yes. Emotions do play into it. Like, the more... I care about it? The stronger I can get. When Horde Prime took over my father, I was... able to take even him down. And when my friends were in danger... well... sigh... figures. The points I was the most bad ass and you can't remember any of it. Laaaaame."

"... But you're right. I'm using dark energy to channel etherian magic, but it's not the same. And it's so... so different than the elemental magic. I... Oh. OH! I know how to show you!" she said, her eyes lighting up. "I need you to trust me." She ran off, rummaging through the random... junk she'd been acquiring. Seriously. Why did she have all this random stuff?

AND THEN SHE PULLED OUT A SWORD! It was non magical. Probably a knockoff. But... SWORD! And ran over, pausing only to setup two more cans. "Okay, here, grip the hilt with me." And then she motioned to the cans. One of Glimmer's hands on the sword, Catra's on it if she followed through... Seriously, it was a really big sword, who let her buy this thing? ... Did she steal this from someone? Was someone in the office going to ask about their lost sword? Was it even a real sword? "So, dark energy is like... this. Try to knock the can off the desk with the sword, with both of us holding it."

And the whole time? Glimmer would be *fighting* with her on it. She'd move around awkwardly, step in her way, try to move the sword to the left when she tried to go right, so on and so forth. A frustrating, aggravating process. She'd be able to do it, though.

"And... this is like the runestone."

She moved around, letting the sword go, before moving around to the outside of Catra's sword arm, one hand gently wrapped over her hand, around the sword, the other arm around her waist. It was kind of like a dance, this time Glimmer wasn't in the way. She was moving with her, not against her. Much easier. Then she'd let her go. The sword was dull as could be, too. More of a stick to be honest. Definitely not fit for battle, even if it was shiny and pretty.

"If the ember is yours then it's *yours*, Catra. There's nothing anyone can do or say to take it away from you. It's your birthright and nobody else has any say in the matter. Not even you. The fact you did claim it means that nobody else *could*. And it has been waiting for you. It's not some violent, angry monster. And it's certainly *not* dark energy. It's *your* power. The same as your ears, or your eyes, or even your claws. Dark energy is always fighting with you because it's... not. It's a constant fight for control. Even... dusk... teleporting... feels... *wrong*. But the spirit ember is a part of *you*. So, just like you'd learn anything else that's an extension of yourself, like crawling, walking, heck, even biting or clawing, you'll just need to practice. The only one who can determine the progress you'll make is... well... you."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
And then... a playful grin formed on her lips. "Your highness~" she said in a playful tone. "But seriously, trying to force it out like dark energy will probably just hurt you. When I was younger, what mom would... do is..." And there it was again, playful side gone, arms crossed, sad look on her face. "She'd... make me meditate with her. In the light of the Moonstone. We'd sit out there and just... let me feel the magic flow through me. Make little sparkles in my hand. In a place where I felt... safe... and..." She reached up a hand and wiped her eyes, catching one tear before it could fall. "I hated it, of course. I wanted to just... shoot... lasers and stuff. But... well... you don't... start running the day you get legs, right? If you do, you'll hurt yourself. So... maybe that. Sit on the desk or something and just... let yourself exist. Let the magic move through you, rather than... trying to beat it into submission. It's already yours, after all."

Catra has posed:
The first thing that becomes immediately apparent to Glimmer as Catra takes hold of the sword and Glimmer works to mess up her swing is that the feline is strong. It certainly isn't that she looks weak, her muscles are clearly toned and well defined, but the strength one might guess she'd have from appearance alone doesn't quite do it justice. ...But, maybe it's not surprising, she did go hand to hand with She-Ra on more than one occasion, and while she certainly wasn't going to pick up any tanks like the Princess of Power, she wasn't entirely outclassed, either.

That said Glimmer is more than able to frustrate her swing; strength isn't the only factor. Leverage counts for quite a bit, too.

When Glimmer moves to Catra's other side, she hasn't quite... un-tensed, yet. Of course when Glimmer moved in close she had to resist an immediate urge to get defensive, and visibly so. But she allowed it, and she's still allowing it, even if it's going against all her instincts. And when the sword glides effortlessly through the air, going exactly where Catra wants it to go; until Glimmer steps back again, and Catra puts the blunt (probably fake) weapon down on the table.

"OKay that was the best explanation of this anyone's given me," she acknowledges. "And I think I understand why I can't make so much as a puff of smoke appear on my fingertips most of the time, because I've been trying to do it like dark magic. ...Which I can't do right now, either," she mutters, "I think the stone burned it all out when I got it, but I'm pretty sure I can still do it. But... I could only do fire stuff by accident."

Catra regards Glimmer with an unreadable expression, and folds her arms once again. She recalls everything Glimmer had said before about her mother, and where she was... and she'd seen Angela when she'd, ahem, messed up Glimmer's attempt to move the Moonstone. She opens her mouth to say something, then closes it again. Some words just can't make it past her lips.

"If you ever feel like you know enough to go looking for your mother, let me know, and I'll help," she mumbles.

"And none of this 'your highness' stuff either," she snaps, but the usual Catra spite and anger isn't entirely there. Mostly not. Maybe a little bit. "Alright. I'm gonna try this." She holds out her hand with the Spirit Ember resting in her upturned palm, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and as she lets it out slowly she--

"Alright actually let's not, I'll try it some other time but right now today I don't think I feel like accidentally burning Obsidian Tower to the ground and getting us both fired."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
"Of course. If there's one thing you and I both know, it's fighting." Glimmer, at least, was... well. She was built like she could punch out a horde soldier. Which she did, often. But she also wasn't trying to actually stop Catra, just make it hard. A challenge. And she was proud to hear she explained it better than anyone else. She KNEW stabbing things and violence was the answer! Not dancing this time!

"Eh, if it burned it all out? Probably for the best. It's..." She pulled her hands back and looked down at them. "It's... strong. But it feels... wrong. The Moonstone was mine. My power. My strength. This... feels like a monster. Something I am barely controlling. That if I slip up, it'll swallow me whole. Every time I go to the dusk zone, or dusk port, it feels like... a part of me is being eaten. Just a little bit. And... I... don't know. Sometimes I wonder if... when... I get the Moonstone back, if I put this magic away... will I even be the same person?"

"... But then I shrug and shove those thoughts away. That's future Glimmer's problem. Once Horde Prime is gone." She walked to the Moonstone and put a palm on it. "And once I can... reconnect. Having another elemental princess here may help. And sorry, but that's the official term for you now. Ohhhhhh. We could have a celebration! A princess coming out party! We can get you a battle dress! Perfect for elegant jogs through the forest or fighting off a swarm of hor--" Pause. "Well, whatever we fight now!"

She then dashed by, grabbing Catra's arm and pulling her along. "Let's go to the roof! I wanna see what you can DO now! Melog, watch the stone!" she called back, fully intending to tug Catra out to the roof. "I've heard so many stories about the spirit ember, it was so cool! I never thought it was real! Ohhhhh, I wonder what other magic this means you can use! Once you get it figured out, I bet we can find out if there's any other powers it gives you, too! Lots of the stones have little side powers, like. Perfuma can talk to plants! Maybe you can like... make lava or something! This is going to be so cool! I wonder if we need to change your name. How about... Cinder? Or... Fira? Or Sizzler?"

Catra has posed:
"Well it's burned out," Catra agrees, slowly, "But not permanently, I think... I'm pretty sure I can still do it, if I want to, but..." She trails off, shrugging her shoulders as she just kind of runs out of words.

"You'll get the Moonstone back. I don't think I've ever known you to be without it. ...Much as I might've wanted you to be without it, when I was Force Captain and you were leading the Rebellion, you teleporting all over the place like a cricket hopped up on lightning was kind of annoying half the time, no offense." She looks down at her own runestone, sitting there in her palm. "You'll get it back," she asserts.

Glimmer almost slips the notion of addressing her as 'princess' past her without notice. Almost. "Hunh? Wha? NO. Not princess! I'm not okay with that. I spent my whole childhood getting trained on how to beat princesses up! And DEFINITELY no parties, especially not anything Adora's invited too---!!!"

Catra might be strong, but sometimes there's just no arguing with enthusiasm, as she finds herself being dragged off into the hall and off towards an elevator.

"Wait, Perfuma can talk to plants? ...That makes sense actually, she was always kinda spaced-- WAIT A DARN MINUTE, Perfuma talks to PLANTS? I thought she was a vegetarian! How does she eat? Do the carrots beg her to let them live before she chops them up into bits? Do the onions in her vegetable garden know what they're in for?! How does she explain to the potatoes where the parsnips went?"

The feline's eyes snap wide, "Okay look, we are not changing my name, Catra is perfect and I'm still a damn CAT."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon grinned as she dragged the other girl with her. Though.... "Well... actually... when we were with Horde Prime... I didn't have it then, either. It was kiiiiind of why you had to save me. Well, until I got a stick. Then I got to have fun. Let me tell you, nothing makes you as willing to beat a man to unconsciousness with a stick like having dinner with his arrogant, jerky self." Pause. "This is in relation to Horde Prime."

And well, the princess comment... that just made her grin again. They were SO going to have a party. And when they were dragged into the elevator, and it closed, and Glimmer pushed the top floor elevator button... And Catra was good and locked in there with her?

"Actually, Perfuma explained it to me once. You see, plants spread by being eaten, and then their seeds spread. So it's more like... wooing the onions out on a hot date when you cook them up."

Catra was stuck in the elevator when she said that.

"Oh, and the carrots? They're apparently wild. But... after that... I could never eat pineapple again. Pineapple are evil. Apparently they're like 'Oh?! YOu wanna GO? Fine, IF YOU SURVIVE YOU CAN SPAWN MY YOUNG!' And don't even get me STARTED on apples."

And then she turned around, eyes sparkling. TOTAL! PRINCESS! EXCITEMENT! "Oh my gosh! FIRECATRA! Scorpia called you Firecat and you could be Firecatra! It'd be AMAZING!"

... And she was trapped. In an elevator. With HER.