Rainbow Gem
Author's Note: This story is a simple one-shot based on a dream I had. There's no other direction this will go and I kinda thought it fun to write. Also, the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole was a source of inspiration as well.
"Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means."
- Ronald Reagan
"Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue."
- Buddha
By: VampireQueenAkasha
~O~
"Camping trip!"
Steven made the announcement to the Gems, who sat around a campfire that evening in the wilderness.
"So...what do we do on this...camping trip?" Pearl questioned.
"Oh, I know!" Amethyst cried.
She transformed into a firefly; her head still partially visible on the tiny body. She giggled and buzzed around Pearl's head. Pearl swatted at her, annoyed. Amethyst rested on the crown of her head.
"My butt's a glowin'!" she sang, grinning with pride.
"Well, you actually catch fireflies," Steven explained, "My dad and I used to do that all the time. Here, I can show you."
He picked up a jar and laughed as he chased the fireflies in the air around them. Garnet took the jar from him and worked with the efficiency that she was famous for; capturing every single firefly within the campsite. She handed Steven the jar filled with them.
"I caught them." she said.
Steven looked surprised and awestruck. "WOW!"
"Anything else?" Garnet asked.
"Well..." Steven picked up a tiny ukulele. "We can sing campfire songs!"
He began to play a song, all the while they were being observed from the trees. A humanoid shape who seemed intrigued by Steven's singing.
While the Gems rested for the night, the shape moved closer to the campsite. Fingers reached out to take the ukulele that was lying close to a sleeping Steven. The hand took the instrument and moved back into the woods, but Steven awoke just as the shape departed.
"Hey, what...?" He looked down and noticed the item missing. "Hey!"
The shape rushed off into the woods and Steven gave chase.
"Hey, come back!" he called.
The figure fled toward a river and stopped, turning. In the moonlight, Steven could tell it was a young woman, wearing a poncho over her small, lithe form. There was also a colorful bracelet around her left wrist made of gems. Her body was silver and she had a pentagonal gem shape on her chin and her eyes were bright pink.
"You...You're a Gem!" he exclaimed.
"Please, I'm sorry..." she said, her voice soft and almost airy. "I just really liked your music."
She held out the instrument and Steven shook his head. "That's okay. You can keep it."
She smiled and cradled it close to her chest.
"I'm Steven." the boy said. "What's your name?"
"Tourmaline."
"So..." Steven pondered, "What are you doing out here?"
Tourmaline looked around, as if something could jump out at her at any moment. "I live out here." she said. "I had a human friend who came to see me, to play music. But she stopped coming. When I heard your music, I thought you were her."
"How long ago was that?" Steven asked.
"Four hundred years." Tourmaline replied.
Steven made a face. Tourmaline must not have been aware of human lifespan.
"Um, I don't think your friend is coming back," he told her, "See, humans can't live as long as Gems do."
"Oh. I see..." Tourmaline's body seemed to shimmer with color before she turned into a grayish color.
Steven smiled brightly. "Wow! You can change color! That's so cool!"
Tourmaline smiled a little. Her body changed into a deep pink.
"Hey, I had an idea," Steven said, "Let's take you to see the Crystal Gems. Maybe they can help."
"There are other Gems here?"
Tourmaline looked surprised when Steven took her hand and led her through the woods.
"Are you a Gem, too?" she asked.
"Yep!" Steven said.
Tourmaline still seemed confused. He was human...but a Gem as well?
O
Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl stared at Tourmaline in silence.
She blinked once. Twice.
"So...you lived in the woods?" Pearl broke the silence.
Tourmaline nodded.
"For how long?" Amethyst asked.
"Five hundred years." Tourmaline answered.
"What are your intentions?" Pearl asked, in a mildly suspicious tone.
"I-I don't know what you mean." Tourmaline's body changed color once again - becoming a bright yellow that shimmered.
"Why are you on Earth!" Pearl advanced on her and she backed away.
"Guys, wait!" Steven stepped between them. "Pearl, Tourmaline wasn't trying to hurt me. She just wanted my ukulele. She liked the music."
Tourmaline's body became bright pink again.
"We can discuss this back at the temple," Garnet said, with finality. "Tourmaline, you're coming with us."
Steven was happy to hear that, but Tourmaline looked troubled.
Once they returned to the Warp Pad, Steven spent a good deal of time leading Tourmaline around Beach City with Connie. They were watching people pass on the boardwalk and Tourmaline observed a family with a little baby.
"I understand humans make other humans differently than Gem-kind," she said, "How do they make those smaller ones?"
Connie blushed a little and whispered in Tourmaline's ear. The Gem's eyes widened and she changed to a bright pink once again.
"You know, my friend would have liked this human world," she finally said.
"Who was your friend anyway?" Steven asked.
"A farm girl. She played the ukulele for me all the time," Tourmaline explained, "I hid away in the woods so I wouldn't be seen. She told me it wasn't safe yet. But when it was, she would come find me. When humans came into the woods, she always said I should hide."
Connie and Steven looked uncomfortable.
Connie's eyes fell on the bracelet around Tourmaline's wrist and she reached out. "That's a pretty bracelet," she said, "Can I see it?"
Tourmaline made a frightened sound and jerked away from her. "No!"
The two humans watched her in surprise as she backed away from them, holding her wrist as if her life depended on it. She read the surprise on their faces before shaking her head sadly.
"I'm sorry. I just...it has to stay on my wrist." she told them. "I can't explain it any other way."
"O-kay..." Steven said, confused. He decided to change the air between the three of them. "Hey, what do you say we get some snacks and head down to the beach?"
"Snacks?" Tourmaline queried, relaxing. "What's 'snacks'?"
"Come on. We'll show you!"
O
Tourmaline watched the two humans from the beach. They were swimming in the water.
She tilted her head curiously at the sight.
Afterwards, the two humans began to build sand castles and Tourmaline helped after she learned the custom. It resulted in Steven being buried in the sand with a miniature castle on his belly.
While she bonded with the humans, the Crystal Gems were spending time trying to understand who she was. Though their history had very little in the way of specific Gems.
"In the battle, there was a Corrupt Gem by the name of Lepidolite." Garnet told them.
She brought up an image of a Gem creature hunched over, body covered in crystalline spikes. Its arms were massive and disproportionate to its smaller legs. Its jaws were huge and wide, filled with sharp teeth. Puddles of pink saliva dripped from them. It appeared to be blind given the crystals covering the top portion of its head.
"Supposedly, she was abandoned by her comrades when they believed she was destroyed." Garnet continued.
"But what does that have to do with Tourmaline?" Pearl wondered. "Do you think that...she is somehow this Gem?"
Garnet nodded. "We can't rule anything out. Did you notice the band on her wrist?"
"So?" Amethyst said.
"It's an inhibitor band. I've seen them used before the battle. But they don't always work."
Pearl and Amethyst looked worried now.
"Where's Steven?" Pearl demanded, turning to leave.
"He's with Tourmaline." Amethyst cried. "We need to go. NOW!"
Tourmaline sat on the beach with Steven and talked about his mother. Initially, she had been perplexed by the fact that he had her gem.
"She was a friend," Tourmaline told him. "I wanted to learn how to heal as she could. So she taught me what she could. She was a good Gem. She thought I was too."
Steven smiled, thinking about his mother.
"I only wish I could have said goodbye. I wonder if she knew that I missed her."
Steven was silent for a moment.
"I think she'd be proud." he said.
Tourmaline smiled a little. "Thank you."
"Steven!"
The two looked up as the Crystal Gems approached them. Steven waved at them.
"Hey, guys!" he said.
"Steven, step away from her." Pearl warned, producing her weapon from her gem.
Steven and Tourmaline rose from their spots. "What? Why?" Steven asked.
"Just do it." Garnet ordered, her voice hardening.
Steven looked at Tourmaline, but stepped back. The Gem was frightened when the others produced their weapons in quick flashes. Her body shimmered with yellow.
"What's going on?" she asked. "P-Please...don't hurt me."
"Tell us your intentions here...Lepidolite," Garnet said, "And it won't come to that."
Tourmaline's eyes widened and she backed away with a frightened sound. "I'm not a bad Gem." she pleaded.
"That's not what we asked," Garnet told her, a little harsh than what Steven was used to.
"Guys, stop!" Steven insisted, stepping in their way with his arms out, "What's going on?"
"It's not your fault," Garnet told Tourmaline, "It may not have been in your control, but you're still a danger to everyone and yourself. We have no choice. You won't be here anymore."
Tourmaline stared at her, terrified. "W-Where will I be?"
"In the temple," Garnet answered, "With the other Corrupted Gems. It's for your own good."
Tourmaline started to cry. "I didn't mean to do those things! That's not me! No. I'm not a bad Gem!" she cried. Her voice cracked and she clenched her fists. "I'm NOT!"
"You can't control it," Pearl told her, "Every day, you put everyone in danger."
Tourmaline's eyes widened and now, she looked angry. But her body rippled with yellow and red, like a kaleidoscope.
"I can't control it?" she screeched. "I can't CONTROL IT?!"
She reached for the bracelet.
"No!" Garnet shouted. "Don't do it!"
"I've had this on my wrist for four hundred years," Tourmaline told them, "I can control it!"
She yanked the bracelet from her wrist.
The Gems watched in shock as Tourmaline's body expelled hot, foul-smelling steam. Steven's eyes widened and they could only stare as she doubled over with a metallic cry. Her body seemed to burst and spikes of the hottest crystal shot up around her. The steam made it difficult to see what was going on.
"Steven, get back to the temple!" Pearl commanded.
But Steven was frozen, shocked by the sight before him. He had seen the after-effects of a Corrupted Gem, but not one in the process of corruption.
Once the steam cleared, the creature that Garnet had showed them other Gems was crouched before them, pinkish fluid dripping from its horrifying jaws.
It didn't look at them, given the crystals jutting from its head, but its large nostrils fluttered, catching the energy signature of the Gems before it.
The ground where it crouched steamed and cracked, forming a bed of crystals.
"Gems, now!" Garnet commanded.
They charged the creature, engaging it in a fight that Steven could only watch. Pearl was struck by its massive fists and it was clipped by Garnet's gauntleted punches. Then, when the Gems were momentarily stunned, the creature charged at Steven, letting out a roar.
"No, wait!" he cried, when it raised one clawed, crystalline arm for him.
The creature stopped, its claws hovering over him.
"You're a good Gem, remember?" Steven urged. "You don't do bad things."
The creature had no eyes, but it still seemed as though it was staring at him. Its jaws were dripping and seemed to move in an attempted word.
Finally, it gave a snarl and launched itself toward the temple. The Crystal Gems watched it go, horrified when it slammed through the walls of the temple. There was a sound of the Warp Pad activating.
"She's used the Warp Pad!" Pearl cried. "She could have gone anywhere!"
Steven looked at them now. "I might know where she went."
O
It was dark in the woods that night.
It began to rain.
Tourmaline stomped through the woods, her touch crystallizing everything in her wake. A bird chirped beside her ear, but she could only make out its energy. She reached out with one claw to touch the animal, but it froze the bird in crystal.
A haunting cry escaped Tourmaline's jaws.
Steven and the Gems made their way into the woods, following the path of crystallized trees, ground, and animals. Sitting at the river's edge was Tourmaline, she raised her massive arms and stared at herself in the water's reflection. It was so strange since she had no eyes in this form.
Steven rushed ahead.
"Steven wait!" Pearl whispered.
"She won't hurt me. I know it." Steven said. "Just let me try."
Garnet nodded to the boy and Steven crept up to the monstrosity with his ukulele in hand. Tourmaline sensed his presence and looked back with a snarl.
"Tourmaline, its me," Steven said, soothingly.
The creature rumbled deeply, dripping pink fluid in a horrible pool around her.
"You're not a bad Gem, remember?" Steven told her. "That's not who you are."
Tourmaline imagined Rose Quartz in Steven's place, telling her those exact same things while other Gems stood around them. She was in this horrible form all the same.
"You're a good Gem, Tourmaline." Rose told her, smiling gently.
The monstrosity rumbled and hissed.
"I have a gift for you," Rose told her.
She reached out to Tourmaline's massive claws, holding the bracelet in hand. It took shape and formed to the appropriate size for her massive arm. Once it attached itself to her, the creature's body erupted with steam, forcing a few Gems back from their spots.
Once the steam dissipated, Tourmaline was standing there in her normal form, smiling tearfully.
"Thank you."
Steven held out the ukulele and began to strum some of the strings. "How about some music?" he suggested.
Tourmaline grumbled deeply, but managed to nod.
"See? You're controlling it now!" Steven told her, smiling. "You're not a bad Gem."
He began to play a song to distract the creature, who began to sway a little back and forth in time with the music. Garnet approached with the bracelet. Steven was sweating nervously, continuing to play a song about Tourmaline while the Gems approached.
Tourmaline reached for Steven and Pearl panicked.
"Steven, no!" she shouted.
Tourmaline turned, noticing the Gems approach. The creature snarled and its body reflected with shimmering red. Steam filled the air from its joints and it dove at the Gems with fury.
"Tourmaline, stop!" Steven cried, "You don't have to fight!"
"She does!" Pearl spat, swinging her weapon and cleaving a chunk of crystal from the creature's back. "She's beyond our aid, Steven!"
"No! That's not true!"
Tourmaline gave a bellowing roar and snapped her jaws at Amethyst, spraying pink saliva about. Bits of it formed little crystals across trees and ground.
"Don't let her touch you!" Garnet shouted.
"Easier said than done!" Amethyst countered, ducking out of the path of Tourmaline's fists.
The creature took out a tree attempting to bring Pearl down, but paused long enough to lean on her massive arms, panting heavily. She turned to Steven and reached for him again, but Pearl leaped onto her back and drove her spear into her.
Steven's eyes widened and he watched Tourmaline stiffen, jaw slack. The colorful rainbow effect of her form went haywire for a few moments before she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Her gem fell to the ground in a heap and was immediately crystallized.
Garnet approached and bubbled the gem.
"It's for her own good, Steven." she told the distraught boy.
Steven took the bubbled gem and stared into it sadly. "I'm sorry, Tourmaline." he said. "I tried."
O
Steven carried the ukulele to the room where all bubbled Gems were sent. He stopped in front of Tourmaline's and smiled, taking a seat on a little pillow.
"Would you like to hear a song today?" he asked.
He didn't receive an answer, of course.
But he played anyway.