EPISODE 1: Humble Beginnings. The Star-Crossed encounter
'Ah can't believe how much of a moron Ah am...'
A golden gem held her head from behind a rock. They'd seen her. She knew they had. And it was all her fault. Peek out, why don't you? It'll be fine.
"Larimar, I think I saw something." a slightly nasally voice said.
"Is it a hooman?" a slightly child-like one replied. Amber shuddered. She knew who that was. Even if she was trying to sound innocent. Sick.
"I don't think so..."
"Okay." Amber said, breathing heavily. "On the count of three, run."
She heard footsteps on the desert sands, approaching. "Ah, hell, forget it." Amber scrambled out from behind the rock, her long ponytail occasionally whacking her in the middle of her back. She was beginning to wonder why she hadn't regenned that out yet.
"H-hey!" The nasally voice called out from behind her.
"Aaah, you would!" Amber yelled back, with a thick southern accent. She turned her head back forward, as she heard the green one's footsteps following after her. Eventually, she heard another set of footsteps. A fusion's. Larimar's. Amber panicked, before turning her head back. "A-ah wasn't spyin' on you, I swear! Ah just came by yer ship!"
The nasally voice sounded exasperated. "W-wait, I don't even know who you are!" Amber faltered a bit, before continuing her sprint. "Yeah, and neither do Ah!" "Then why are you running? I just wanna talk!"
Amber stopped in her tracks. It's...it's fine. If Larimar wanted her dead, she would be. And she could take her. Probably. So, might as well talk. "Alright. Fine. Ya know what, talkin' sounds good." Amber said, turning around. The green one stopped running, walking up to Amber. She was wearing some weird sort of black bodysuit, with what could only be described as rainbow veins running across it. Amber didn't get it, but she was clearly homeworld, or at least ex-homeworld, and she never got their fashion in the first place.
Amber saw Larimar walking up, and tried to hold back terror. "Spyin'?" Larimar asked, looking genuinely confused. Speaking of confusing, her outfit. Some weird cover-up top, and some sleeveless leotard? Really, homeworld? Amber shook her head. Shirt. Jeans. Not looking like a moron. That was far better for everyone, and yet she was the only one that noticed, apparently.
Larimar walked up to the weird, golden gem. "Spyin'?" She asked, confused. The golden gem shook her head. "Yeah. Ya know. Lookin' atcha fer some ulterior motice. W-which Ah wasn't doin'! Unless curiosity at the random gem ship in the middle of the friggin' desert counts as an ulterior motive."
Heliotrope looked at the golden gem, slightly confused. "I crashed here." She said, matter-of-factly. The golden gem buried her hands in her face. "Smooth, Amber..." Amber. That was her name. Larimar supposed that perhaps should have been obvious. Heliotrope realized how she sounded, before stammering slightly. "If you wanted to know that, then that's fine. I basically live out here." Larimar nodded. "I woke up among ship debris, too." She said, raising a hand.
"Oh, guess that'd explain it, huh?" Amber said, chuckling awkwardly. Larimar wasn't sure to which explanation she was responding. Amber made some weird sort of scratchy sound with her mouth. "Ah, so, mah name's Amber," She said, extending a hand towards Heliotrope. Heliotrope smiled, shaking her hand gently. "Heliotrope. It's nice to meet you, Amber."
Amber sighed in relief. "Ain't everyone out here to getcha." she turned her head towards Larimar. "Anyway, whaddaya mean you 'woke up' here?" She asked, seeming slightly awkard. "Yeah," Larimar said, looking cheerful. "I woke up." "Juss', like...one day? Ya go ta sleep somewhere and then poof? Yer here?"
Larimar shrugged. "I guess?" Amber shrugged. "Fair 'nuff, ah guess. Not all that much weirder than mah situation." She still sounded somewhat like she was hiding something, but Larimar didn't worry about it. "I...can't remember much before I woke up." Larimar said, somewhat sadly. Amber walked over to Larimar and put a hand on her shoulder. "Honestly, Ah know tha feelin'. Or at least got an idea."
Larimar sighed, before cheering up slightly. "I felt lost before I met Heliotrope." She could see Heli smile, walking over and hugging Larimar. Amber took her hand off Larimar's shoulder, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "So, you're a gem?" Larimar said, sounding curious. Amber looked confused. "Yeah. You ain't?" Larimar shrugged. "According to Heliotrope, I am." Amber blinked. "Girl, yer a fusion." Heliotrope sighed. "Welp, that cat's out of the bag."
Amber looked at Heliotrope. "What, you been hiding it from her?" Heliotrope shrugged. "I was waiting for the right time to bring it up." Meanwhile, Larimar was putting some pieces together. She may have amnesia, but she knew what words meant. So if she was a fusion, she had to have components, right? "I don't know who my components are..." She said, looking at Amber and Heliotrope's reactions. Heli hugged tighter, while Amber moved her hand toward a gold-ish, opaque gem on her left hip. She muttered something Lari couldn't quite hear. Heliotrope hrmed, before looking at Amber.
Amber made that odd, scratchy noise again. "A-anyways, either 'a you two knew where the ship is?" "The home-ship?" Larimar asked, tilting her head. Amber looked at her, slightly confused. "If that's whatcha call it." Heliotrope let go of Larimar, turned towards Amber. "I can lead the way." She said, happily, turning around and Leading Larimar by the hand back towards the ship. Larimar herself, however, was lost in thought. Confusion, worry, curiosity, and a tiny bit of sadness ran through her, as she tried to remember anything about her past. Eventually, she was snapped out by the sound of Amber's odd voice. "So, uhm...you guys didn't hear that, didja?" Heliotrope frowned, as she turned back towards Amber. "Hear what?" "N-nothing." Amber said, turning her head and blushing a deep orange. "If you didn't hear it, it don't matter."
Heliotrope turned back, still kinda confused about what was going on with Amber. "Shoulda just not said nothin', Amber..." She muttered.
Eventually, the group reached a crashed gem ship, where Larimar and Heliotrope stopped. Heliotrope opened a door, which Amber walked into. Larimar walked in after her, and Heliotrope came in last. Larimar noticed Amber beginning to hold her forehead.
"Is something wrong, Amber?" Heliotrope asked, from behind Larimar. Amber looked back at Heliotrope, worried. "O-oh, yeah, Ah'm fine." Heliotrope hrmed. "Maybe you should sit down." Larimar did first, flopping down into a beanbag. "Yeah..." Amber said, glancing around for somewhere to sit. "Maybe ah should." after a second, she pulled some sort of weird weapon out of her gem. Larimar's eyes widened. "WOOOOAH!" She said, rising up slightly. "That was cool! How did you do that!?" Amber looked at her. "What? You can't?" Larimar blinked. "Maybe?"
Meanwhile, Heliotrope was pulling a beanbag out of a makeshift bed Larimar had made, putting one next to Amber. Amber nodded, sitting in it. "Thanks." Heliotrope nodded, sitting in another beanbag across from her. Amber turned back to Larimar. "Anyway, 'ss just my weapon. You oughta have one too." Larimar hrmed. "I wonder if I do. And what it is?"
Amber shrugged. "It's prob'ly pretty cool, what with bein' a fusion and all." "How do you do it?" Larimar asked, stars in her eyes. Amber shrugged. "Iunno, Ah just...want it. And it's there." "Ooh, ohh!" Larimar said, clapping her hands. "What if it's a hooman, or a rock, or one of those guns-" Wait, how did she even know what they were called? She didn't worry about that for too long. "OR AN ALLIGATOR!" Amber chuckled. "Don't think it's nothin' livin'. And a rock would be pretty dang redundant." After a while, Amber's eyes widened slightly. "Wait, 'hoo man?'" She said, laughing. "Hooman." Larimar said, furrowing her brow. "The small things." Amber shook her head. "HYOO-man. There's a 'yuh' in there." Larimar turned to Heliotrope, who looked confused. "Hyuhman?"
Amber shook her head. "No, HYOO-ah,whatever, it ain't 'at important." Heliotrope shrugged. "Hoo man!~" Larimar said, giggling. Amber sighed. "You got somethin' to shoot at? All this talkin' is getting' me kinda antsy." Heliotrope thought. "There's a lot of rocks around here. Or cacti." She said, shrugging. Amber snickered. "World could do with a couple less'a those stupid things." She sighed. "Ya know what? Nah. Ah think Ah feel much better juss' sittin' here. Action's fer people who ain't tired." Amber reclined in her beanbag, closing her eyes.
Amber reclined in her beanbag, closing her eyes. "Prolly gonna get plenty 'a that later, anyways." She knew Larimar had to drop the act at some point. She was doing pretty good for now, but...someone like that didn't change. It would slip. "Oooooooh~" Amber heard Larimar say."SEE!" Larimar yelled. "I DID IT!"
"NEH!" Amber bolted up, seeing Larimar clutching some sort of crossbow. "Amber!" Larimar said, excitedly. "Look! Look!" Larimar showed off her weapon, looking far more excited than Amber expected her to be. "Uh...cool. 'At looks neat." Amber wiped at her eyes. "Kinda wish you didn't find out about it while Ah was tryin' ta sleep, but..." Larimar tilted her head. "You do the sleep thing too?" She asked, inspecting her weapon. Amber shrugged. "Sometimes. If'n Ah feel like it."
"Oooh, what if I press this thingie?" Amber instinctively ducked. She could only think of one 'thingie' she would press, and she'd rather not be in the line of fire when she did. As expected, a crossbow bolt jutted out of the wall, not too far from her. "Aaaand that's a hole in my wall." Heliotrope said, slightly annoyed. Amber looked at Larimar, incredibly mad. Was she just trying to set her off? Play the innocent? "Ah coulda toldja that without you shootin' the damn thing!" Amber yelled.
"Sorry!" Larimar said, looking genuinely guilty. "Hey, it's okay." Heliotrope said gently. Amber sighed, reclining back and holding her forehead. "Man, it's weird tryin' to talk with a gem who don't even know how gems work. Er, not that it's yer fault or nothin'" Amber said, quickly. "Ah prolly didn't know how they worked at first either." Amber seized up, looking at how Larimar and Heliotrope would react. Thankfully, they just came closer, hugging each other. Amber turned away forlornly, blushing. "Do you want a hug too, Amber?" Larimar said. Amber froze up slightly. "No. It...it'd probably make things worse." She sighed, holding her head. Holy shit, was she getting a headache? Did gems get headaches? Amber hrmed. "Hey, have either of you seen any other gems on Earth?" "I have." Heliotrope piped up, raising a hand. Amber looked at her. "None of 'em happened to have a circular gem in'er chest, did she? " Amber motioned slightly below her neck area. "May or may not've had spikes juttin' out of it, dependin' on her mood?" Heliotrope looked confused. "Whaddya mean?" Amber shook her head. "You'd know what Ah meant if'n ya'd seen 'er. She's mah...mom. Kinda. Closest thing a gem can have to one, anyways." Heliotrope looked confused, but reclined back into her beanbag. "Look, it's a long story." Amber said, upset. "But basically, she's raised me since Ah was first created. She got ran out because she was 'involved with the rebellion' or some shit. Ah came to get her. Kinda hope Ah can find her at some point." Heliotrope sighed. "Fair enough, I suppose. But...let's just relax now."
"Sounds great to me." Amber said, sounding somewhat bitter. She reclined in her beanbag and turned over onto her chest. "C'mon, Larimar, let's cuddle." She heard Heliotrope say cheerily. Amber made an almost inadubile sigh. 'Juss' don't think about it. Don't think about it and it can't getcha sad.'
She heard Heliotrope whisper something. "Amber?" She eventually said. "Would you like to come over here with us?" Amber turned her head up slightly, just as shocked as the last time the idea was brought up. "Yeah...yeah." Amber got up and layed down between Heliotrope and Larimar, tapping her gem. Heliotrope brought her into the little hug party, and Amber sighed, closing her eyes and falling asleep.