An SU Spinoff series written by CZ [CorrieZodori] and VT [VT-Scribbles]. "The Harvester" is a multi-series, multi-chapter, weekly-updating series inspired by the world of Steven Universe that is set entirely from Homeworld's point of view!
Follow the Diamond Authority: White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, and Blue Diamond as they try to figure out how to work alongside White Diamond's newest creation, 'Hematite' gems. They're a set of 15 skilled harvesters with unique traits, one of them being the ability to drastically change size. But, these gems are unpredictable and strange, and their biology hides a dark secret. What will become of White Diamond taking on one of these gems as her personal bodyguard? Only time will tell...
The creators of this work of fiction claim no affiliation with Cartoon Network, Rebecca Sugar, the Crewniverse, or Steven Universe as a copyrighted franchise. World building and character depictions are based heavily on headcanon, Steven Universe canon as of November 2015, and original ideas.
[Contains intense scenes of non-graphic violence, mild swearing, and some frightening imagery. Contains no sexual tones/no smut whatsoever. Does not star any characters from Steven Universe exactly as they are in canon, except Rose Quartz. [Depicted as Pink Diamond]]
[This chapter marks the beginning of Arc 1.]
Summary: The Diamond Authority tests a new batch of skilled hunting gems to see if they have what it takes to do their jobs properly. One of the gems performs a bit differently from the rest.
The injector drills had been programmed to a halt, an eerie quietness spread throughout the stale air of the kindergarten. Word had been spread that there was a very important meeting today, and the workers had gathered what gems they could near the warp pad. There were smaller gems; some Peridots, some others, and a few much, much larger gems lined up behind the workers. About 80-100 feet tall, to be exact. They all stood in a perfect line in a professional stance. Each of them had a dark gray gem somewhere on their front, and each wore an identical visor similar to the Peridots over their eyes. The workers in front of the larger gems fidgeted with their gadgets, killing time until the others arrived for the meeting.
Not long now, right? They had to show up soon, these.. Diamonds.
A small rock cracked underfoot as Hematite shifted nervously in place, changing his weight from side to side ever so slightly. The smaller green gems, Peridots, if he wasn't mistaken, said the gems that were coming soon were their leaders. They were coming to look them over. Something about Harvester Qualifications, whatever that meant...
Though he was supposed to keep his eyes forward toward the 'warp', as the Peridots had called it, Hematite found himself glancing around curiously. There really wasn't much to see around here. Walls, holes, rocks, worker gems. Was there anything beyond the high cliff sides?
Quietly, Hematite's visor made a single 'chirp' sound in response to him staring quite intently at a hole in the wall. It was slightly bigger than the other ones around it. The visor's activation sound startled the huge gem slightly and made him stand a bit straighter. Now his view was slightly obscured by a small, white box with some sort of text. Hematite willed the box to go away, but had no such luck. Nervously, he looked sidelong at the other, arguably taller Hematites, that stood beside him. Were their visors being weird?
The gem's eyes landed on the largest and meanest looking of the bunch of them. A small note appeared next to the box on Hematite's screen, and his visor gave another chirp before shutting back off. Hematite wasn't sure what had just happened, but he was glad it was over, as the moment he stood straight again, the blue warp pad began to glow.
–
With the flash of light, three tall figures stood on the warp pad. The worker gems all stopped what they were doing immediately, regaining their stances in a straight line. They placed their hands over their chests, standing on point. The figures stood far taller than any of the gems that worked within the kindergarten, but nowhere near as tall as the other Hematites that stood behind them. The tallest was a white gem, a prim and proper form. The second tallest was a yellow gem, professional and with a presence that demanded respect. The shortest of the three was a blue gem, standing with a grin. She looked far less menacing than the other two.
One of the Peridots stepped forward slowly, and bowed.
"My diamonds, it is a pleasure to have you here. We have gathered the Hematites up for you. You may look to them at your leisure. We hope you find what we have to offer here acceptable." They spoke, averting their gaze towards the three. The tallest spoke first.
"Thank you, you may all leave back to your stations, but I would like you and these Hematites to stay."
The Peridot nodded, and the rest of the workers dismissed.
–
The hair on the back of Hematite's neck stood up when the three gems arrived, and he couldn't help but let his neutral expression falter. He looked at the three of them in turn with a quick glance, remembering what his visor had done not moments ago. He felt the Hematite to his left shift slightly, her fingers behind her back rubbing together idly. Was she nervous? The curious gem spared a glance at the much taller Hematite's face. He noticed that she was watching the Peridot, who was talking to the three Diamonds about something, very intently. It was hard to tell what her expression was, as it was obscured by rather messy, dark black hair.
Hematite forced his eyes forward again, trying his best to keep an expressionless face. He very nearly started staring at the Diamonds again when they dismissed the Kindergarten workers, but he kept his stance, and focused on a spot on the wall opposite of him.
The one thought that kept going through his mind that he couldn't ignore, however, was why these gems were so much smaller than he and the other Hematites. Were all gems that small? Hematite pushed aside the thought for now, trying not to get distracted.
–
The diamonds walked off the warp pad in an unsettling unison, their steps matching perfectly with one another. The Peridot stood aside, moving out of their path. She looked very nervously up at the yellow one in particular as she passed by. The taller gems stopped, each moving a little further apart from each other. The Blue one had placed her hands on her hips, and the Yellow one had crossed her arms. They looked idly around, but the tallest gem placed her fingertip to her lip inquisitively. Her monochromatic eyes narrowed, scanning the line of the larger gems standing before her. None of them dared to move, aside from the occasional shift in weight. No one had spoken a word.
–
The larger gem to Hematite's left was now standing perfectly still, aside from a mild breeze that brushed some of her hair from her face. Her fidgeting had stopped, and her breathing was so subtle that Hematite could have sworn she had frozen in place. He tried to mimic her perfect stance, but as soon as the Diamonds moved closer, he felt his expression twitch.
What were these Diamonds here for? They didn't move like any of the other gems he'd seen around... They almost seemed like one singular entity instead of three individuals. Though the yellow and white ones definitely unnerved him more than the third, blue one. As the three of them looked over the line of Hematites, he suddenly wondered if his slight lack of height would be pointed out. Swallowing nervously, he rubbed his thumb and index finger together behind his back. He certainly hoped it wouldn't.
–
The Blue Diamond had kept to a specific direction. She only really looked over at the Hematites to the left. The Yellow one had started pacing back and forth, without a word. She glanced occasionally to the right, but was more focused on the others. Her gaze soon moved towards the middle...and rested upon the ebony haired Hematite that stood next to the shortest. She stopped then, her arms still crossed. She seemed to look as though she were sizing up the Hematite with just her look, piercing canary eyes searching up and down. Her brows furrowed, followed by a quiet 'hmm', too quiet for any of them to hear. She looked away.
–
Well, if his nerves weren't fried before, they certainly were getting there. The nervous giant glanced at the three observing gems and silently prayed none of them would say anything to him. He'd already been teased by the Hematite to his left. He would have hated to suffer the same from these incredibly high ranked officials. The shorter gem glanced at the ebony-haired Hematite, who seemed to be getting looked over by the yellow Diamond. Or was he imagining things?
–
The White one, however, seemed to look evenly through them all, as if she was processing one thousand thoughts at once. Everything seemed fine, until she looked over the smallest of the Hematites. She froze and looked up at him. Her gaze met his, fierce and determined. She had not looked at any of the other Hematites like she had this one. She stared for a moment, transfixed. But it only lasted a few seconds, before she closed her eyes and placed her palm on her hip.
"Thank you, Peridot. This batch will be adequate. Have them sent to the Pink District within the next 7 rotations." She spoke, opening her eyes once more, this time fixed on the small, green technician. The Peridot nervously saluted the tallest gem. "Y-yes ma'am, as you request!"
The diamonds all nodded, and followed after the White one. They all promptly stepped onto the warp pad and blipped away without another word.
–
And then the white one made eye contact with him. If he had a heart, it would have stopped. He felt his breathing hitch. Had she looked at anyone else like that? Was she disappointed?
Within a few moments, she looked away, and Hematite could breathe again. An odd feeling settled into the pit of his stomach, and he couldn't help but stare as the three Diamonds walked back to the warp pad and vanished. He took a long look at the Hematite to his side, and was surprised to see her cold expression had shifted to something of faint panic before she shook it off and cleared her throat.
Hematite glanced down at the Peridot below, and quietly muttered 'Pink District?' under his breath.
–
Within 7 rotations, just as the diamond had declared, the Hematites were taken from their stations and lined up in another clean row, this time in an entirely new area. None of them had seen any area different from their Kindergarten home, so this was a new excitement to them. However, the area that they were lead to by a small handful of the workers left a lot to be desired. Rubble and decay littered the vast expanse where they stood, wildlife overgrowing marble stone pillars, crumbling away with age. They all stood near the city wall, which bore a humongous door and what looked to be a gem-made railing, built into the gigantic wall, which stood roughly 6 stories high. To the left of the door, there was another warp pad, but it looked as though it had been poorly taken care of. Still, as they had appeared to have used it themselves, it still functioned. After what seemed like hours of standing around, the warp pad gleamed brightly and there, once more, stood the three ominous figures that the Hematites had witnessed before. Except, this time, they all held small, rectangular devices in their hands, branded with a diamond insignia.
The White Diamond stepped forward.
"Greetings, Hematites. We have yet to properly meet, allow us to introduce ourselves to you. My name is White Diamond."
The yellow gem stepped forward, her hands behind her back. "I am Yellow Diamond."
The Blue one soon followed. "And I am Blue Diamond!"
The white one spoke again, placing her palm to her chest.
"We are the leaders of this world. Together we rule this planet, and all of gem-kind. You are a very special type of gem. You are Hematites, but you are not only Hematites- you are the Harvesters. You work under our rule and specialize in a very specific line of work. Heavy lifting, deconstruction, recon, crowd control, battle, and gem retrieval." She stopped briefly, closing her eyes.
"However... Not all of you will be cut out for your occupations. What you are about to participate in is a test to see who is the most capable of handling their jobs. This is not a "one winner take all" type of test. If you pass, you win. If you fail... You will be sent to do work accordingly, adjusted to your skills."
Yellow Diamond walked up behind the White Diamond, looking onto the crowd. She spoke up.
"You are all under the specific rule of White Diamond, here. But you all follow under our rule in general. You are Hematites of the White District. You will do your jobs and follow our rules, or we will take action. If you are unfamiliar with our standards, do not worry. You will all, regardless of performance, be given a lesson after this test."
–
Finally, a change of scenery! There was something oddly comforting about the Kindergarten and the little green gems that darted to and fro, doing their various tasks, but there was something incredibly exciting about finally seeing something beyond those huge walls of rock. Hematite was unable to keep himself from poking at some overgrown plants and some rubble with his foot when no-one was looking, and even when the Hematites were lined up again, facing the familiar sight of a warp pad, he couldn't stop himself from looking around.
To his slight displeasure, he had been placed next to the ebony-haired Hematite, who had fully taken to picking on him when no-one was supervising them. Her expression was slightly more expectant than the previous time the Hematites had awaited the Diamonds' arrival, and he wondered if she was looking to impress the yellow Diamond,
Hematite straightened up when he noticed the warp pad gleam to life, and the sight of the three Diamonds once again made the hair on his neck stand up. There was something about them that intimidated him, even at their small size. Curiously, the giant found himself focused on the little rectangles the three of them were holding.
As they spoke, he hung on every word, wanting to be sure he didn't miss anything. Taking note of what White Diamond had said, he found himself distracted by that word, 'Harvesters'. Gem retrieval, recon, destruction.. That last one he could understand, they were rather big, but what would they be destroying? From what he'd seen, everything was pretty wrecked as it was.
He then focused on Yellow Diamond, and gave the slightest of nods in response. Alright, so they were under White Diamond's rule? Great, the scariest of the three. Hematite kept his thoughts to himself and listened to her last comment. There was already a lot to process, tests, winning, losing? Jobs? And then a lesson afterward?
' You'd think they would have introduced us to all this slowly... ' Hematite couldn't help but wonder how the others next to him felt about all this. If they had any feelings on what the Diamonds said, they weren't showing any signs of it.
–
The Diamonds quickly picked up.
The Blue one stepped forward. Her smile had curved into an incredibly unsettling grin. Her eyes narrowed, looking up to the Hematites. "Now about the reason you are all here. We're gonna cut to the chase, because we all have pretty important things to attend to. You're all going to be hunting a handful of smaller gems. Here's the rules." She placed her palm to her forehead, where her azure gem was located. It glowed for a moment, and from it, she pulled a massive mace. She slammed it on the ground, the sound resonated throughout the vast, cold air. Everyone fell silent, and anyone not standing in proper unison was quickly straightened up.
She placed her palms over the massive weapon, standing in a proper position. The other Diamonds, unlike the rest of the gems, were completely unphased.
"Your goal is simple. Locate, hunt, and retrieve the gems we set loose into the pink district. There are 15 of you, and only 10 other gems. You are all instructed to use whatever means necessary to capture and relocate one of the gems to us within the span of 6 hours. Any gem caught leaving the pink district will face severe punishment. You may use whatever method you choose to get the job done, but just make sure you get it done and do it by any means necessary. We want progress, we want promise, we want to see what you are all capable of. Show us everything you've got."
Her words were loud, strong, and most importantly, it demanded respect.
"You will bring your captured gem back to the entrance of the pink district upon retrieval. After that, your task will be complete, and you may stand aside until the remaining gems are captured."
The other diamonds, standing perfectly once more adjacent to the Blue gem, drew their own weapons as well. The yellow one drew a long sword, gracefully swiping it to the ground and placing her own palms on it just as Blue did to hers. White drew out a pole arm, spinning it before thrusting the metallic spear into the soft dirt beside her.
"One last, very important rule. You are not to harm the gem itself in any way. Do not crack them, do not shatter them. You may poof them if necessary, but if any actual harm befalls the gem itself, you will be severely punished."
On this note, ten gems stepped forward from behind them, all with glowing white bracers on their arms. They looked noticeably nervous, some more-so than others. Some were very small, and some were taller, more well built.
"The gems you see here are who you will be capturing. Capture no more than one, but do your best to capture them."
The Yellow diamond held her sword to the sky valiantly, a fiercer look in her eyes.
"The Gems behind us will be given a five minute head start. Their goal is to evade you, to avoid capture by any means necessary. Remember that you all have 6 hours to retrieve a gem. Once this five minutes is up, you Hematites will be let loose to hunt down these gems!
Remember the rules, and do not disappoint us!"
With that, a massive, sudden bolt of bright lightning shot out from the diamond's sword and into the sky. The ten gems behind them made a run for it, all splitting up in different directions, some bumping into one another in a blind panic to get moving.
The game had begun.
–
Though he was slightly taken aback by Blue Diamond's sudden change in demeanor, Hematite did his best to listen to her every word as he had with the other two, and gave one or two quick, subtle nods. As the Diamonds revealed their weapons, and the smaller gems behind them were revealed, Hematite could feel his breathing hitch. Capture a gem. Bring it back. Simple. At least, Hematite hoped it'd be simple. A few rotations prior, the Peridots had held a mass lesson on how to work the visors that all the Hematites had, and while he wasn't exactly 'bad' at controlling his, Hematite found it difficult to focus long enough to make it work properly. He and the other gems had been instructed that during their 'test', they would need to put on their visors and put them to good use. He now understood why. Glancing to his side, he saw that the ebony haired Hematite's hand was twitching, and she was shifting her weight from leg to leg.
The moment the gems were sent out into the field for their head start, the line of Hematites, in near perfect unison, lifted their hands to their visors, swiping their fingers over the surface to activate them. A few of them had to swipe again to get it right, but Hematite sighed in relief that his decided to cooperate on the first try. The gem HUD blipped online with a few chirps and a soft whirring sound, and Hematite was surprised to see more words on it than he had before. There were notes on each of the Diamonds, a few little radars which he could only assume were the 'gem signatures' the Peridots had mentioned. The other Hematites muttered to themselves, also getting used to this new addition to the visor tech, which now Hematite assumed had only recently been activated if they were all seeing it for the first time. As he looked around, Hematite was surprised to see the ebony haired gem to his left was staring right at him with a cocky sort of smile on her face. Though, with the lack of visual on her eyes, he couldn't exactly tell what her expression was. Her smile cracked, and in a tone low enough not to be heard by the Diamonds, she muttered, "Have fun getting around in this place, pebble."
Hematite felt himself bristling, and nearly made a snide remark in response, but thought better of it when he saw that the Diamonds were watching the line of gems intently. Instead, for a moment, a faint target flickered on his screen, unseeable to his own eyes. Thankfully for him, the other Hematite had already looked away, and was impatiently waiting for the five minutes to be over. Disgruntled, the shorter Hematite drew his attention from the gem next to him, and looked around him intently. He'd seen where a few of the smaller gems went, but the real question was where would they hide. Setting his jaw, Hematite stood, tense, waiting for the time to be up.
–
Time ticked by ever so slowly, the Hematites all seemed to be on edge, ready to go. After a few minutes, Yellow flicked her sword again and pointed it in the general direction of the Hematites. "Alright, Harvesters! Your task begins now! Do not disappoint us! Now GO!" She shouted, and they were let loose to do their jobs. Blue and white both dissipated their weapons, standing bare now. Yellow soon followed.
–
Before he could so much as move, Hematite's hair was swiped into his face by the sheer speed that the ebony haired Hematite moved with. She dove behind a nearby pile of rubble, tossed over a pillar, and was already hot on the trail of a gem that decided to try and be slick by pretending to go further than they had. Before disappearing around a corner, she gave Hematite a dangerous look that warned him not to follow her. Around him, the other gems were already bolting off, in search of their targets. Hematite was left in the dust, and looked toward the three Diamonds standing near the warp panel. He swallowed, taking a look around before meekly asking,
"You said any non-harmful methods, right?" He paused, and looked up at the wall before quickly adding "O-oh, and are the boundaries of the district clear?"
–
The diamonds froze, staring in disbelief up at the Hematite. Blue looked curious, quickly looking behind her at the wall. Yellow looked fierce, almost offended...disgusted. But she said nothing, and glanced away. This was all White's. He was her gem, and every decision made here would be lead by her today. White stood, cocking an eyebrow. She looked up at the much taller gem, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes...but her face was more one of deep thought, than anger or frustration. "Yes, the boundaries to the Pink district are clear. You will find that the main Homeworld city is separated in four sections, which you will be informed of later. There are huge walls surrounding this area, you cannot miss them. As for your hunting methods... yes. Any. Just get the job done." Her voice became more strict at the end, though she kept her patience. "Now, get out there, you are wasting precious time, Hematite." She spoke firmly, turning her head a little but never averting her gaze.
–
As soon as she had answered his question, he was off, in the direction he noticed none of the other harvesters had gone. He had an idea, but he wasn't exactly confident about it working out... But he had six hours, that was plenty of time. He hoped.
Getting around the fallen buildings and debris, not to mention the grossly overgrown brambles and other plant-life was difficult, to say the least. Now and again, Hematite heard the scuffles of what he thought were footsteps, but then were revealed to be either a small gem creature or a frustrated Hematite making their way through the rubble. Any time Hematite found another of his kind, he stopped to watch for a moment.
Eventually, he caught one of them on the trail of a gem. His first instinct was to try and take the catch from the other huge gem, but once he saw how agitated they were, he thought better of it. He was considerably smaller than her, and unless his memory was terrible, he didn't remember any rules against the Hematites fighting each other.
So, instead of trying to sabotage the other hunter, he settled down to watch. They were rooting around in some overgrown plants, getting scratches on themselves every few times they thrust their hands into the brambles. His curiosity spiked, however, when the Hematite grabbed a large pillar and began pressing it down on the clump of brambles, crushing the thick wooden vines. within moments, a small red gem scurried out from the bush, and right into the clawed hands of their pursuer. The hunter grabbed up the small gem, which Hematite could only guess must have been a ruby. Their grip was so rough that a puff of pinkish smoke poofed from their clenched fist. Hematite's eyes widened slightly, and he ducked down behind the building he was using for cover. Well, there went one... and the one the ebony haired Hematite had made two.. Only eight more left, if nobody else had gotten lucky.
Eventually, Hematite moved on, deeper into the city, around the center.
' If any of them try to cut across the city... they'll have to come around here, right? '
The huge gem, on his way over, had encountered three more Hematites and watched their methods. One had cornered their catch, another chased it down with staggering speed, and another had tossed obstacles in the way of their target. The most recent one, Hematite thought, was very foolish. She could have easily missed and damaged the gem she was chasing more than she did. All three of the hunters Hematite had seen ended up poofing their catches, either by being too rough, or by accident, or even out of malice, in the case of the second hunter he watched. He wondered if any gems would be left to catch before the end of the third hour.
–
Hunted. Cowering...run. The small Agate gem's mind raced. Run... Run. Get away, hide, survive. They used the terrain to their advantage. Having been to the Pink district once or twice, they knew a little bit of the area. They knew what the best hiding spots were...but they knew better than to stick around in one spot for too long. They scurried into the underbrush, past a few broken pillars and ran into a rather large, abandoned, and crumbling building. Maybe they wouldn't be found here...at least, that's what they had hoped. Unfortunately, in their hurry to run, they failed to realize they likely weren't very quiet going into the foliage on their way in.
On the other side of things, the diamonds had taken turns running about the fields, following the actions of the Hematites. On their rectangular pads, they'd press into the screen a few times, as if they were writing something down. Then, they'd continue on, following their methods and movements. White in particular was on the field, somewhere out of sight, in the same area as the shortest hematite. She had watched some of the others, but this one intrigued her. Something about them piqued her interest. She wrote many notes on this one, quietly out of his vision. This Hematite did not act like the others. They were much more observant. They didn't seem to be the fastest, or the boldest, but they seemed to stop and think a lot more than the others. Would this be their downfall? Or could there be more to this one? She continued to watch and take notes. She could not make any judgment one way or the other as of yet.
–
Not ten minutes after he'd arrived at the center of the city, Hematite had taken to moving things around. To anyone watching, it would seem he was looking for a gem rather lazily, as he wasn't checking things thoroughly, but was instead was picking up pieces of wall, pillar, chunks of dense foliage, and placing them in odd positions when he was done 'searching' under them. He'd continued this for a good twenty minutes, until he finally stopped and wiped his face. Moving things around after such a long trek into the district was taxing him, and he idly wondered how the other Hematites hadn't seemed to slow. Pushing that thought away, he looked around at his work. At this point, a pile of rubble laid around a large, open clearing in the buildings. To someone giving it a passing glance, the area looked terrible for hiding places, but clear of any obstacles, should they be running from someone. But, in every alley, in every path that a gem could run, Hematite had carefully placed barriers. The clearing was a well-disguised deathtrap.
In all honesty, Hematite was grasping at straws. Of all the Hematites he'd seen up to this point, no-one was using traps. They were all resorting to completely direct methods of hunting, but with the luck he was having, he didn't know if that would work for him. He had a plan that probably would have made the other Hematites laugh at him, but it was just crazy enough to... This could work, right? He just needed a victim...
And that's when he heard the rustling. Just behind him, a few streets down, Hematite picked up on erratic rustling of some overgrown grass that had stopped growing at the edge of a decrepit building. As silently as he could, Hematite crept over to the grass, just in time to see the rustling die down. Something had just run into the building.
Trying to even his breathing, Hematite took a deep breath and crouched low to the ground, out of sight. His visor dimmed involuntarily in his attempt to keep hidden, and the giant took to peering into the windows and multiple large holes in the wall. There was a gem in there, somewhere... If he could just get some sort of read on them, his visor could do the rest. At least, that's how he thought it worked.
Slowly, the giant gem placed a piece of wall in front of the hole the gem had scurried into the building through, and continued to block off any exits he could find until there was one hole in the wall that lead to the '''clearing''' he'd just fashioned.
An idea nagged at the back of Hematite's mind, but he bit his tongue and kept looking through the building's visible rooms. If push came to shove, he'd try what he'd thought of whilst arranging the rubble earlier.
–
A good 10 minutes had passed, and the anxious gem lurking around inside the building knew they couldn't stay there much longer...so they bailed. Except, what was this? Everywhere they looked, the holes were sealed. Their heart sank. They began to panic, until they realized there was one opening. They quickly scurried to it, ducking under the small entrance and making their way through the path. It unsettled them, the walls were crooked and little light managed to creep in from the night sky above. But they couldn't stay in the building, so there was only one way to go. Their hands trembled as they walked in a hurry, looking frantically around, scanning the walls that seemed to twist and turn them in different directions. They had no idea where they were going, or where they would end up. But at least it was forward.
–
There they were. Hematite's visor hummed to life when he spotted Agate moving through the building, checking all the old exits, but he didn't move. Not yet. The target flickered around as the small gem in the ruins looked for an escape, and Hematite felt a small smirk cross his face when they snuck out the hole he'd left available. Right where he needed them.
Slowly, so as not to alert them, the huge gem moved through the ruins, never losing sight of their target. The pale moonlight didn't give him away just yet, but it would in the clearing. But by then, it would be too late.
Hematite settled on a rise near the trap he'd laid, and watched as Agate reached the huge, seemingly escapable clearing, and waited for them to make a move. Any moment now.
–
The Agate's heart would be racing if they had one, but they surely felt an ominous chill rise in their frame. Their pace quickened slightly, turning through the ever winding path. They were sure they'd find the exit soon, how big was this place? Then, they saw it, a larger opening, to which they bolted through. Their speed skidded to a halt, eyes widening in horror as they had realized they were now in a dead end. The stars flickered above them, the moon illuminating a small fraction of the contents of the 'room'. A small gasp escaped them, their vision darting from side to side, scanning abruptly for any chance of escape...but the only way to go was back. And back, the only way to go was forward. "No, this can't be right..." they chuckled quietly to themselves, before turning to go back through the path...and with a mighty shudder, they stopped...and looked up.
–
Silhouetted against the pale moonlight, crouched in waiting, his visor locked onto its target, Hematite was poised to pounce. His stance was something rather akin to a stalking feline's, and all his senses were strained onto the tiny gem in the clearing. Here went everything.
He still didn't move. It was obvious he was tensed, and ready to leap down from the rubble he was perched on, but he wasn't making any show he was going to move. Instead, he lifted his head just slightly, and in an even tone, he spoke down to the small gem.
"Gem located: Agate. Status: No gem faults detected. Mission Objective: Relocate."
Raising his chin, the Hematite narrowed his eyes.
"There is no-where to run." A pause. "If you come quietly, I promise your capture will be far less violent than the others."
As if to show he meant business, Hematite pushed down on the rubble below his hands, and the path the Agate had taken before was quickly blocked off by crushed rock. They were trapped.
–
The agate shook in horror, their jaw hung open as if they were going to speak...but nothing came out, except small, terrified whimpers. They backed up slowly, holding their hands in front of themselves, unable to look away from the figure that towered above them. They backed up into a piece of rubble, gasping at it. They looked back, then around, then back at the figure.
They were right.
They were trapped, cornered, and nowhere to run.
The voice sent shivers down their spine, making the hair on the back of their neck stand on end. They swallowed nervously, and took a deep breath.
"A...Ah, Are you...are you sure?... What are you gonna do?" They managed to squeak out, holding their palm over their chest, where their gem was located. They never took their eyes off of them.
–
As the tiny gem backed themselves into the wall Hematite had put up, the huge gem felt something odd in his chest. Almost on instinct, he slowly lowered himself closer to the ground, his eyes never leaving Agate. He'd caught his prey. There was no-where for them to go, and if he so wished, he could snatch them up at any moment. An odd feeling of... satisfaction was urging Hematite to go back on his word and leap at his target.
But something in the way the tiny thing put their hand over over their gem made him stop. They were terrified, and rightly so. But he was given orders not to damage whatever gem he caught, so why were they...
"I will not poof you. If you come over here and let me capture you, I will bring you back in one piece." He went silent.
The visor whirred quietly.
–
The gem cowered as the large figured hunkered down. But, to their surprise, they didn't lunge at them. Their free hand grasped at the rubble to which they were backed up into, and they nervously bit their tongue. Their eyes clenched shut, and for a few moments, they waited... Waited to see what would happen. Waited for the inevitable. Waited for the pain. Waited for the terror.
But nothing came.
What seemed like an eternity later, their eyes shot open suddenly, tears welling in them...staring right at the visor. But...
They had stopped shaking.
They felt an odd, unexplained calm rush over them. What was this? Why did this happen?
If the larger creature had wanted to harm them, they probably would have by now...easily.
The Agate stepped forward, starting to tremble a little more, but took a deep breath.
"I... I'll go peacefully... Just please don't hurt me."
–
He couldn't believe it. It actually worked. After all the violence he'd seen, his weird plan had actually succeeded.
Slowly, Hematite started to move down the rise which he was perched on. Rocks , plant life, pieces of fallen buildings, all cracked and were forfeit under the weight of the huge gem. He finally touched down in the clearing, about fifty feet from the terrified Agate. Crouched, knees bent, he beckoned the tiny gem closer with one 'clawed' finger, making no other move to go after them. The target on the hunter's visor still gleamed, focused intently on the gem before it.
–
The Agate closed their eyes again, cowering as the huge gem crumbled down towards them. More waiting, but again nothing happened. They peeked through their arms which they had used to cover their face, and noticed they were now on the ground completely, and still not pursuing them. They knew if they ran, there would be trouble...and probably little chance to escape. They knew that the building beyond the pathway was shut off, and there was nowhere to run here. Might as well get it over with.
Their legs felt like lead as they urged themselves forward, trying to keep their vision focused on the finger instead of the gleaming lens that displayed above them. Every instinct they had told them to run. To get away. And yet, they kept their focus...they knew better. They shuddered, now a few feet from the clawed finger of the giant, holding out their hand shakily.
What was their next move? They froze in place, too terrified to think of what would happen if they made any sudden movements. Their legs went from lead to jelly in an instant, collapsing onto the ground and shaking, quickly covering their head with their arms again, stifling a squeak of terror as their instincts kicked in.
–
As the gem drew closer, Hematite resisted every urge that rushed through him to snatch them up. Things were going smoothly, don't ruin it now...
Soon, the Agate was mere feet away, and Hematite stopped motioning for them to come closer. Instead, his hand turned over, and he slowly reached for the terrified thing, only hesitating slightly when they collapsed to their knees, shaking.
Carefully, he wrapped his fingers around the trembling gem's form and picked them up off the ground, their entire body now held in a loose fist. He'd seen how the other harvesters handled their catches. All of them he'd seen ended up poofed, as the other Hematites seemed to not know their own strength.
But he was careful. He did not squeeze Agate, he didn't pinch them between his fingers, and he made no move to hold them tighter than he was.
"Mission completed."
The target blipped from his screen.
–
The Agate gasped shallowly, but did not move an inch. They were, much to their surprise, gentle. Far more than they had expected. They still shook, but looked up in the darkness of the giant's palm, flecks of light streaming through where their fingers parted slightly. Not enough to escape, not that the Agate would dare try to at this point. So far they had kept their word, and they remained unharmed. They weren't dumb enough to try to risk throwing that chance away, so they stayed perfectly still, awaiting their fate.
On the other side of this, a tall figure stood in the shadows, far out of sight from the other two... but in a way that they could survey the entire ordeal. Piercing white eyes gleamed through the dark air, shifting from one figure to the other. The figure quietly mumbled something to themselves. They reached down to the rectangular pad that they held and wrote something on it.
"Strategic - Successful."
White Diamond couldn't help but give a small grin. A brow raised sharply as she watched the Hematite make their leave with the gem in hand, and to her knowledge, unharmed. She turned, jumping up over the wall, making her way back to base.
Meanwhile. the blue and yellow diamond stood at the warp pad along with a few other of the Hematites that had completed their mission. They idly chatted, waiting for the rest to return. Yellow looked as though she were muttering something a little irritably, but the Blue one shrugged often. They talked under their breath, whispering to one another.
"Where did she go? She's been gone a long time."
"It's only been an hour, Blue. Give her time."
"Aw come on, there are 9 Hematites back already... I'm ready for the results."
"Ugh, will you please be patient?"
Their conversation was interrupted when the larger white gem quickly trotted up to them, holding the pad to their side. "The final gem has been captured. Release the signal for everyone to return."
With that, the Yellow diamond nodded, drawing her sword from her gem once more, and placing it up to the air, which then struck a massive bolt of lightning just as they had before. A resounding clash of thunder ripped through the pink district. No one could miss it.
–
It didn't take long for him to get back, about an hour or so. He knew the way much better this time, but did have to move a tad slower with his catch in tow. He didn't want to risk tripping and hurting the Agate, or worse. He was quiet the whole way back, and had removed his visor for the time being. He didn't need it right now. The gem in his hand hadn't made to much as a peep, but he could feel them shaking just slightly. It quelled over time, and Hematite figured they had finally relaxed enough to believe he really wasn't going to hurt them.
Soon, he stepped into the clearing near the wall where the other Hematites were gathered by the warp pad. He wasn't surprised to see the ebony haired one there, but was surprised to see that the largest of the group looked visibly... nervous? The other gems seemed fine, but he was glancing around anxiously.
Regardless, he ignored the arguably bitter scowls he received from a few of the Hematites that looked down on him for his size, and made his way directly to the three Diamonds. He knelt and carefully placed Agate near the warp pad, and was surprised to note that he didn't see any of the other small gems waiting there. Had they all been poofed?
The ebony haired giant gave a distasteful snort at seeing the Agate, and silently wished Hematite hadn't caught anything. She didn't want to work with him.
–
The diamonds stood together, the blue and yellow both went wide eyed for a moment. The yellow one whispered something to the blue one, eyes narrowing and looking at the Agate, then back to the blue diamond. White stood perfectly still, scanning the line of Hematites.
"Excellent work. You all have managed to bring back a gem. You 10 are the successors of tonight's game. I shall see to it that you are all rewarded accordingly. However, until the other Hematites arrive, I cannot continue my speech. So please wait patiently for the others to arrive.
Thank you." She stated loudly, turning to the other diamonds. They all spoke to one another, but quiet enough to where no one else could hear. There was a guard nearby, a warrior gem, that held all of the gems that the harvesters had collected...and stood guard over the one that came back un-poofed, which cowered behind them, eyes widened, staring up at the hematite that had caught them.
–
Glad to finally be in the clear, Hematite's shoulders relaxed, and he walked over to join the other gems that stood against the wall. He made sure not to stand by the ones that were giving him dirty looks, and instead stood by two that seemed to at least be ignoring him. Hands clasping behind him, he listened to White Diamonds' mini-speech, and then looked out at the district when she was done. Now they just had to wait, huh? Well that was certainly a pleasing break from the last three hours or so. Hematite couldn't be sure how long it'd been.
Soon, the remaining Hematites gathered, and they all stood in their line, awaiting what was next.
–
At the moment the final Hematite had returned, the diamonds walked over in unison once more, standing side by side in a perfect line.
Yellow diamond stepped forward first, however, much to their surprise.
"To all of the Hematites who participated in this event, well done. Regardless if you had caught a gem or not, we will see to it that you are given jobs accordingly. All of you have performed up to expectations." She closed her eyes. The Hematites seemed to all gather a small grin, one or two even nodding in both thanks and approvement.
And then Yellow diamond's eyes opened abruptly, a stern, cold, merciless look plastered across their face. They turned to the largest Hematite and glared at them right in the eyes.
"Except one."
–
Much to Hematite's surprise, Yellow Diamond was the first to speak, though he had expected White Diamond to take the first step forward. As she doled out a congratulations, he couldn't help himself from smiling a little bit. There was a sense of satisfaction, admittedly mixed with apprehension, that he was the only one to bring back an unpoofed target. He spared the Agate, who was standing behind the warrior gem a little ways off, a quick glance.
His attention was quickly brought back to Yellow Diamond when her tone changed, and his blood ran cold. For a split moment, while he wasn't watching her, he thought she was looking at him. His shoulders lowered slightly, however, when he saw that Yellow Diamond was not looking at him, but the large, extremely anxious looking Hematite.
What did you do...
–
Yellow diamond took her sword and pointed it to the larger hematite, right at their gem. Then, she held out her free hand, clutched into a fist. Her fingers uncurled, revealing 7 glimmering shards of the same color.
"This gem has been shattered due to your careless action." She said, loud and coldly.
"I am Yellow diamond. The gem of truth... Honor... courage..." She narrowed her eyes, still fixated on the large Hematite. Her very form could have shaken them with ease, despite being significantly smaller than them.
"...and Justice."
At that last word, hundreds of warrior gems peered over the wall that towered above them, holding cross bow-like weapons with arrows that appeared to be mini-gem destabilizers.
Their sudden appearance caused many of the Hematites to gasp quietly, shifting their weight and staring up at them. Every single one of the warriors all had their weapons pointed towards the large hematite.
"You were given explicit instruction not to harm the gem in any way...and you have brought this one back dead ." She said coldly, her voice like venomous daggers sticking into the Hematite's nonexistent heart.
"Now you must pay the price."
–
The largest of the Hematites was tense, and stared helplessly at the furious Diamond in front of him. He could do nothing but clench his fists, flinching at her words. But honestly... did he truly regret it? No. It was fun while it lasted.
At the sight of the guards, Hematite felt his breath catch in his throat, and his eyes went wide. His body went rigid, and he suddenly felt very, very small. Sparing the larger Hematite a pitiful look, he couldn't help but close his eyes, turning his face away slightly. This wasn't going to be pretty... he didn't want to watch.
–
Yellow diamond flicked her sword to the side, followed by a yellow trail of glowing, hot sparks.
"FIRE."
In perfect unison, the hundreds of warrior gems shot out the destabilizing arrows, all piercing into the larger Hematite's body. A bright, fizzling flash glowed around them, then...
CRACK.
A loud snapping sound followed, fizzling and buzzing sounds fading in and out. Yellow, circuit-grid patterns spider-webbed out from the destabilizers, quickly growing. The other Hematites gasped in horror, moving away from the bigger Hematite.
Suddenly, there was a loud poff as a massive cloud of gray smoke enveloped everyone that stood near the larger hematite. There was a soft clink, and when the smoke cleared, the Hematite's gem lay in the grass, gleaming and formless. Yellow diamond stepped forward, her eyes fixated on the gem.
She lifted her foot and placed it over the gem. Then, she ominously lifted her head, facing the rest of the Hematites. With narrowed eyes, she shifted her weight... then...
Snap.
An eerie silence fell upon every one of them. Without averting her gaze from the rest, she lifted her boot, revealing the Hematite's gem; broken into pieces, lifeless on the ground below.
No one said a word.
–
Hematite couldn't stop himself from looking over at the loud poof, and waved the smoke away from his face. He stared down at Yellow Diamond, and the lone gem that laid in the grass. The moment that followed seemed to stretch forever.
Snap
A heavy shudder crept up Hematite's form, and he stared in disguised horror at the pieces of the once giant gem's gemstone. He swallowed nervously, and attempted to meet YD's, albeit general gaze, evenly.
If he wasn't scared of her before, he certainly was now.
–
Yellow diamond took her sword and placed it firmly in the ground in front of her, resting her palms upon the gem on it's hilt. Her words were loud, piercing, and carried well.
"Do you all see now? If you do not follow our orders, if you do not heed our word, if you do not mind the rules, you all can and will be brought to your knees. Just because you all have an advantage in size over us does not mean that you can overpower us. If you believe otherwise, we will be more than willing to correct you. Not only this, if you need any more reminders as to why we are the leaders here, we will be glad to show you. " She placed her sword back into her gem, reached down to pick up the pieces of the shattered Hematite, and fell back into line with the other two diamonds that stood behind her.
White diamond stepped forward at last.
"This being said. Follow our rules, mind our policies, and you will be just fine." She said calmly, but firmly. She took a deep breath, taking a look up at the Hematites.
"Do we make ourselves clear?"
–
In response to White Diamond's words, Hematite gave a shaken nod, and attempted to resume standing at attention, as the other gems around him had begun to do. Soon, they all stood in a neat, albeit unnerved, line. The ebony haired Hematite fidgeted behind her back, clearly bothered by the events that transpired. This could happen to any of them.
But that was it, he just had to follow the rules, and he'd be fine, like they said, right? Swallowing again, the giant gem watched the Diamonds before him, and silently wondered what came next...
–
The white Diamond's hands clasped together, a warm grin transpired over her face, night and day from what she had seemed before. It was an eerie calm.
"Now that that is taken care of, and we are at an understanding. The remainder of you Hematites shall be issued your jobs. The five Hematites that did not catch a gem, please stand back. The 9 of you who did, please step forward."
–
Reluctantly, the Hematites that had not passed the test all took a few steps back, leaving the remaining gems to take one step forward. With a smirk on her face, the ebony-haired Hematite lifted her chin just slightly, clearly proud she was among the 9 to pass the test. Not to mention, the first.
The shortest of the group was not as proud, however. He had no idea if what he had chosen to do was right, or if there would be repercussions. The Diamonds had said 'any' means, but did they still expect him to poof his catch? Was that an unspoken expectation? Would he be seen as weak, or worse, unable to poof a gem, even at his size?
A thousand thoughts whirled through the gem's mind, but he remained as stoic and professional as he could, watching White Diamond intently.
–
White Diamond crossed her arms and took a look up at the Hematites before her.
"The Hematites standing within this line have all performed to expectations tonight. You will all be given more opportunities and better ranking jobs."
She stopped, tapping a single finger on her arm, scanning the larger gems.
"All except one."
–
There it was. Each of those three words sent a cold shiver down Hematite's spine, and he forced himself to look away, toward the wall behind the Diamonds. Maybe if he didn't make eye contact, he could keep his composure. To the discerning eye, however, he was not masking his rising anxiety well.
–
"One of you... has exceeded all expectations."
She spoke, the grin widening a little. She closed her eyes and continued. The diamonds behind her crossed their arms as well and looked up to the crowd.
"One of you has performed different than all the rest. One of you thought intelligently. One of you used the terrain to their advantage, used their wits...used strategy. This chosen gem will be given a special opportunity to work directly under me, White Diamond, as my bodyguard, among other higher ranked jobs. This gem will be given a new life under special protection and order under the direct Diamond Authority, if they so choose." Her eyes scanned the line of Hematites before finally resting on the shortest one.
The diamonds held their breath behind the White Diamond, as if they too were waiting in anticipation for the choice.
–
The shorter gem's eyes widened considerably, and, despite trying to keep his face neutral, he felt a dark gray, almost purple tint rising to his cheeks. Exceeded? But he hadn't even poofed his target, he was ineffective as a hunter! A bodyguard, too? He was the smallest out of the gems standing to his sides!
The gems who, understandably, were either shooting him dirty looks or muttering to themselves. If he wasn't mistaken, Hematite heard one of them flat-out growl at him. This was a group of edgy hunters, and he was just given what he assumed to be a huge opportunity...
Hematite drew his eyes back to the three expectant Diamonds, and after a long, flabbergasted moment, he managed to swallow and nod.
"I accept, White Diamond."
–
White diamond smiled, looking intently up at the smaller hematite. The two diamonds behind him stared on in almost disbelief. The blue one's face morphed over to one of curiosity, drifting into a steady grin. The yellow one, however, had a face of appalment and distrust.
White Diamond looked over to the agate, still cowering behind the warrior gem.
"You were the only Hematite to bring back a completely unharmed gem."
She looked back up to the rest. "You have shown me that you have much potential, Hematite. Do not disappoint me."
Yellow diamond stepped forward and placed a palm on White's arm.
"Are you sure about this, White? Just look at them, they're...much smaller than the rest..." She whispered, unable to look away from the hematite as she spoke.
White raised a brow, her smile fading.
"It does not matter how big or small they are, you of all gems should know this."
Taken aback, Yellow frowned and muttered something under her breath, but said no more.
"Blue, please take the remainder of the Hematites to the briefing hall and report to the White Diamond tower as soon as you are done. Yellow, you will follow me." She turned and looked up at the smallest, chosen Hematite.
"You will follow as well. We have much to talk about."
–
He was dumbfounded. This gem, this powerful leader, saw his mercy as 'potential'? Though he couldn't catch what Yellow Diamond said to White, Hematite could tell it wasn't a word of approval. Standing a little straighter, he tried to look professional. If he was chosen for this special position... he'd do his best to prove he was worth it!
As Blue took the other Hematites aside, the shorter gem was left alone with the remaining two Diamonds, and shifted his weight from side to side until White Diamond ordered him to follow. He nodded and did as he was told, trailing after the two with measured steps, so as not to overtake their pace.
–
A few hours passed by, and the Diamonds had met up on the rooftop of the White Diamond sub-buildings. Blue had showed up far after everyone else, rushing to the three gems standing idly.
"Haha, sorry I'm late! Whats up?" She said, running her fingers through her fluffy hair. She looked up at the Hematite that stood tall and proud before them, beside the building so that they were almost head level with them. She gave him a smile, but was unsure if he'd notice. She too had a curious hope in this one. White turned to the other diamonds, holding the rectangular pad in hand. She began reciting what notes she gathered on this particular Hematite. The two Diamonds stood, listening to her words. Yellow looked more bored than anything, but remained professionally stood.
–
Though the gem kept a professional air about them, Hematite couldn't help but think about how this gem was following his every move when he put his plan into action, and yet he hadn't seen her a single time. He'd thought that he heard footsteps once or twice, but figured it was wildlife or a retreating target gem. To think that White Diamond was there, watching, completely unknown to him...
As she listed the notes she'd taken, Hematite couldn't keep a subtle tint of purple from his cheeks, but thankfully it was quick to fade, and he remained in his professional stance, keeping his head high. Right. He'd earned this. He took a risk at the expense of possibly failing the test, did something no-one else did, and it paid off. So why was there still a sense of foreboding in the pit of his stomach?
–
White turned to the hematite, there was no smile on her face, but she looked calm and collected.
"And now, hematite, I am going to ask you to shift down. We would like to speak to you closer, a little easier. Do you know how to do this?" She asked, holding her hand out high. The other diamonds backed up a little bit, Yellow's eyes fixated on the Hematite's, and Blue watched white intently, but with a semi-nervous smile, from what could be seen.
–
What was this about 'shifting'? Hematite could have sworn he heard the Peridots mention it once, but they hadn't gone into detail. At least, he didn't think they had, he was a bit distracted during that part of their speech. If he remembered right, the ebony haired hematite had been tugging on his hair to pester him.
As White Diamond held out her hand, Hematite blinked in surprised confusion, and after a moment of nervous hesitation, lifted his own hand and gently placed it on hers. He was acutely aware of Yellow Diamond's gaze, and noticed that Blue Diamond looked... well, a tad unsure of what was going on. To be honest, he didn't look very confident himself. Regardless, he tried his hardest to remember the bits of the lecture he'd caught... Something about visualization, picturing where your feet needed to be, and then using the same energy as when gems shape shifted. So, this was the same, but he just needed to be smaller?
Taking a deep breath, Hematite nodded.
"I think I know how." He glanced at the place on the roof in front of White Diamond, and focused intently on imagining himself in that spot. It took a few moments, but his gem began to glow, and his form gleamed brightly as he shifted down in size, his hand never leaving White Diamond's. At a certain point, Hematite naturally lost control over whatever size he was aiming for, and defaulted to about the height of a Pearl, his form still gleaming with light. A moment later, he was left standing in front of White Diamond, his small hand holding onto the tips of her fingers. Momentarily shaking off the odd feeling he'd just experienced, the smaller gem looked up at the three Diamonds towering in front of him.
Oh.
–
The three gems stood a good foot or two taller than the Hematite. White, with the Hematite's hand still in hers, let her hand away from them for the moment and nodded in approval.
"Thank you, Hematite. Now we may properly speak." She said poshly. Yellow Diamond stood tall, taking a deep inhale and narrowing her eyes at the smaller gem. Blue, however, placed her hands on her hips and kept smiling.
"Are you alright? How do you feel?" White asked, looking back down on the Hematite. They all seemed to inadvertently size them up.
–
Needless to say, he was... Well. Hematite had grown used to the other gems of his kind standing one or two, even three heads taller than him, so that was nothing new, but to see these gems at that size, when only moments ago he towered over them, well. It was intimidating to say the very least. At least at his taller size, he'd felt some level of security. But now? There was no security, he felt absolutely tiny next to these powerful gems.
Letting his hand fall to his side, he stared in unmasked awe at the three of them for a long moment before he gathered his thoughts and swallowed. Well, might as well try and make them smile.
"How am I feeling?" he echoed. Pretending to think it over, he glanced up and to the side, pursing his lips for a moment before smiling awkwardly at them. "Well, short, for one."
–
In an instant, Blue started to snicker behind them, but turned quickly away to hide her face. Yellow's eyes widened, and she let out a groan of exasperation, looking back at Blue. White simply raised a brow, but couldn't help but smirk.
"Not to worry. You will soon get used to your many sizes. We will teach you all that you need to know about what you can do, your job here, the rules, and any questions you may ask...provided we have an answer for you." She said simply. Blue, who was still stifling chuckles behind the white gem, turned back to him at last.
"Heeey and don't look so stressed out! A lot of gems get spooked by our presence. That's normal. As long as ya don't do anything against code, you'll be golden." She said cooly. Yellow rolled her eyes and grumbled, but looked out to the horizon away from everyone else.
White looked down at the Hematite with another grin.
"Anything you'd like to know before we begin?"
–
At the sight of White and Blue Diamond's response, Hematite couldn't help but smile in spite of himself, his shoulders raising slightly in an attempt to not snicker at Blue's reaction in particular. But when he glanced at Yellow, his shoulders and smile dropped, and he cleared his throat, resuming the professional stance he'd held when he was big moments ago. He squared his feet and listened to White Diamond, nodding silently.
When Blue spoke up, he gave a small, thankful smile at her reassurance, and nodded in reply. Though he didn't look at her, Hematite silently wondered if Yellow Diamond would say anything. However, that idea was dashed when she looked away. Honestly, he was disappointed.
The small gem looked up at White again and seemed to mull her question over. This time he gave a curt nod.
"Hm. Just one. What do you want me to do first?"
–
White smiled and held her arm out once more, taking the Hematite's hand. "I like your eagerness, Hematite. Come, you have much to learn first." She said, starting to walk to the door that stood on the roof. She gave a wave of her other hand to the other Diamonds, dismissing them promptly. Yellow said not a word, but Blue raised her hand up.
"Good luck, newbie!"
They all had no idea what kind of adventure they were in for...what sort of events were going to unfold. They could never have predicted the outcome of one single choice. In an instant, their lives would be changed forever. The dawn of a new day had risen.