This is the story of Pearl in her first fight as a knight for Rose Quartz. All characters belong to Rebecca Sugar, not me. One-shot.
Dueling For Her
The Sky Arena seats were packed with Gems. Rose stood in the middle of the dueling field. Pearl watched anxiously from the sidelines.
The video monitor lit up, and the face of Yellow Diamond appeared, beamed from off-planet. She spoke in a cold, proud voice.
"Rose Quartz, current and soon to be former Pink Diamond, you are accused of disrupting the experiments at Pyramid Temple, interfering with the tests of intelligence and durability of the life forms on this planet that call themselves 'humans.' You attacked Blue Diamond and freed all of the life forms from the testing grounds."
"I admit it," said Rose. "The experiments were cruel and I had to stop them."
"Testing of captured human rebels was authorized by myself and White Diamond. You and Blue Diamond are novices. You will not have full authority until the planet is fully under Gem control. Lapis Lazuli was carrying out our orders at the Pyramid. She is still regenerating from your attack."
"I have asked for a trial by combat to settle this matter," said Rose.
"Your high rank gives you the right to request the form of your trial," said Yellow Diamond. "It should be amusing, so it is granted. However did you come up with such an idea?"
"I know a Sapphire with a great talent for future vision," said Rose. "She saw a possible future for this world, thousands of years from now, in which there are armored warriors called knights. A person accused of a crime could have a knight fight a duel for them, and if their champion won they would be released from all charges. The idea is that the Deity would only allow the right side to prevail."
"It is in line with my own philosophy that might makes right," said Yellow Diamond. "But that is a highly unlikely future, given that the Gems are here and soon all other life forms will be eradicated from the planet."
"I did not say that it is a likely future," said Rose. "Just a possible one."
"The court has picked a Jasper to be your challenger. But who will be your champion? Will anyone dare to fight a Jasper? Will anyone dare to risk the displeasure of the Diamond Authority?"
There was silence in the arena.
"You are of too exalted a rank to battle for yourself," said Yellow Diamond. "If you have no knight, you will forfeit the match, be demoted from Pink Diamond rank, and be sent back to Homeworld for imprisonment."
"I will be her knight!" called Pearl, stepping forward.
The air filled with laughter and jeers as the Gem in the area saw who had spoken. Pearl looked at the ground, but continued to move forward until she was by Rose's side.
"You will allow your servant, a common Pearl, to fight for you?" asked Yellow Diamond.
"I accept Pearl as my knight," said Rose.
Pearl held her head high and smiled at Rose.
"You bring shame on yourself, but so be it. The combat will be to first fracture. I don't expect it will last long."
"Remember your training, dear one," Rose whispered to Pearl.
"Don't worry, Mistress," Pearl whispered back. "I will."
"Here is your sword," Rose said, handing Pearl a lighter version of her own weapon, easier for the smaller Gem to wield.
Pearl had never been in this Arena before, but she had trained in secret in an exact replica created by Rose in her Cloud Chamber. She knew every centimeter of it, every obelisk decorated with the statues of Gem heroes and their famous sayings. It was time to be a hero herself.
"Bow to your opponent, and let the combat begin!" said Yellow Diamond.
Jasper barely nodded as Pearl gave a bow, then rushed at her. There was a gasp from the audience as Pearl evaded the charge with a graceful leap.
"So, you've trained," Jasper snarled at her. "It won't help you. You're just making me angry. I'll smash you beyond repair."
Jasper had far greater strength, but Pearl had superior grace and strategy. Again and again she evaded the charges of her large opponent.
"Hold still and fight me, you coward!" Jasper demanded.
Pearl stood her ground for an instant, parrying the blow with expert skill. When a blow came that was too strong for her, she went with it, using the strength of her opponent to fling her further away.
The audience had gone from jeering at her to gasping in amazement, and then to cheering her on. Rose was cheering the loudest of all.
Pearl could not afford to let that distract her. She was concentrating as never before, repeating to herself all the things Rose had told her in training, "Keep your stance wide. Keep your body lowered. As you're moving forward balance is the key."
Jasper made a sweeping horizontal slash toward her feet. Pearl leaped up over it, aiming her own counter strike while her enemy was momentarily off-balance.
At the last moment she remembered that Rose would prefer this duel not end too soon. She diverted her strike, nicking the projected body of Jasper instead of fracturing her gem.
"You missed!" Jasper yelled, and swung her sword again as Pearl landed just slightly off-balance from her redirected strike.
Pearl evaded the head strike to her gem, but took enough of a body blow to be popped.
When Pearl recovered her body she saw Rose standing over her.
"You did well, dear Pearl," said Rose.
"Did I lose?" Pearl asked.
"No," said Rose. "The duel is to the first fracture, and your gem was undamaged. Now that you are regenerated it will continue."
"I'm ready for more dueling, any time she is," said Pearl bravely.
"Jasper is demanding a change of weapons, which is her right. She'll pick something larger and heavier, I'm sure."
"May I continue using the sword?" asked Pearl. "I know that best. Or a spear. I've been working on generating my own weapon quickly in case I'm disarmed."
"You may," said Rose. "But there is a greater risk you will be damaged."
"I don't care," said Rose. "I'll keep from being fractured and come back as many times as necessary until I win."
"Pearl, this is a wonderful thing you're doing for me, and for our cause. You're buying me time to gather followers, and more weapons. You've seen my weapon cache. There's no one else I trust with that secret."
"Thank you, Rose," said Pearl. "It is an honor."
"The others don't realize it yet, but a war for the survival of this planet has begun. These duels will be remembered in our history as the first battles of the war."
"I'll just think of the life we'll have together after the war," thought Pearl. "I'll do it for you."
THE END