This is my first fic! I've had practice doing literate RP and I think I've got a really good idea, so don't go easy on me in the reviews or anything. Although this is up to date with the canon, I wanted to characterize Steven more like he was in Season 1. I'll let the story do the rest of the talking...
"He will be ready for it when the time comes." "He will be our king." "He will lead us." "Trust in him. Trust in him. Trust—"
Chapter One: An Empty Battlefield
"Amethyst! What do you think you're doing, lazing around on that couch so late in the day? We have a mission!" Amethyst woke up on the couch to see Garnet and Pearl standing on the Warp Pad. "Wow, P, I just had the weirdest dream!" "We can talk about that later. Now where is Steven?" Garnet pointed wordlessly towards Steven's bed, where he was packing some snacks for the way. "Be there in a second, guys!" he called, and soon enough he was on the pad right next to Amethyst.
"Hey, I remember this place!" Steven took out his backpack and fished out a flyswatter. "The butterflies better watch out, I'm armed and dangerous! Right, Garnet?" Garnet gave Steven a little grin as they stepped off the pad and into the Strawberry Battlefield. "As I was saying earlier, there were some gem weapons left behind here that need to be collected. They may serve us well if Homeworld presents a threat in the future." Amethyst winced. "If"? "Future"? She knew Pearl wasn't stupid. She was probably just trying to keep everyone from thinking about it all too much, but Amethyst couldn't keep her mind off of it anyway. At least Pearl and Garnet actually fought in the war; what did she know? The hardest thing she ever did was fuse with Steven and fight Jasper—a single Quartz soldier stranded on the planet with nothing, and it still took Amethyst so many tries and Steven's help to beat her. How could she fight Homeworld?
"As far as battlefields go, it's pretty neat. A dozen large weapons, hardly any small ones, not even one shard..." "Do NOT talk about that sort of thing so FLIPPANTLY, Amethyst!" snapped Pearl. "...whoa, dude. Sorry." "I fought here, you know. It was the most terrifying thing I've ever done, and none of the survivors would ever be the same gems we were before. I don't like hearing that kind of talk from you." Garnet was quiet for a moment, then added, "She's right, you know. You should have more respect." Amethyst kicked a strawberry.
The seven swords, three axes and one light cannon (a pale green cannon, obviously of different make than Rose's, and unresponsive to any hot dog-based aphorisms) that they brought home were changing Amethyst's mood from mildly grumpy to excited. "Pearl, please! They're only swords. It's not like we can't find other ones. All I'm asking for is one, just one itty-bitty little sword for my traaaash piles!" Pearl sighed as she stepped off the warp pad and towards the Temple door. "Fine. You get one sword. This one looks kind of tacky, so you can do whatever with it as long as I don't have to see it." Amethyst grinned as she took the sword off of Pearl's hands and swung it around with, uh, utmost grace. "Lookit me, Steven! I'm the fifth Musketeer! Hyah, hyah!" Steven giggled a bit, and then went to the fridge. "Want anything, Amethyst?" "Nah, I got stuff in my room. Later, Ste-man!"
No, that didn't make any sense at all. It wasn't particularly worrying, but it certainly didn't make any sense. Maybe it was a prank? She wasn't sure why, or how. The sword didn't seem like it was meant to be a sword at all. In fact, under light pressure, Amethyst could snap it in half like polystyrene foam. She stared at that broken sword for a little while.
Boom, chapter one! Reviews highly encouraged. I should be able to get to chapter two within the week. Peace, y'all!