Chapter One: Beach Reunion
Peridot didn't know how she got into this kind of mess. Sand blew by to cover her yellow visors as Jasper spun into her combat form, rampaging a circle that billowed sand to intimidate Lazuli who had surrounded herself with water.
It was simple at first, really. Steven warped that morning to check on the two newly befriended Homeworld gems in the barn. Peridot, proud and confident, and Lapis, bored and indifferent, had just fixed the hole the little green gem caused a long time ago.
Steven congratulated them and they hung out for a moment, until he had to go when he received a call from Connie. He left a message from Garnet soon after, before warping. She needed assistance from the two to help find and clean any debris from the warship that may have finally washed away to their part of the coast. It was sensitive work, and Peridot and Lapis agreed to it with nothing else to do. Funny, Peridot thought it, that she assumed this to be their first official mission as a Crystal Gem. And first missions are always easy.
The current situation now, however, proved that there were some... unique exceptions. Like being ambushed by an aggressive Quartz.
Peridot tackled the beach as the comet-like mass of the battle gem zipped above her. Her small hands covered her triangular gem on her forehead, uselessly shielding her being's core as her short body shivered.
"Guys! I don't think we should be fighting right about now!" Peridot shouted, her voice dotted with terrified stammers. A hoarse yell from a Jasper was there overwhelm whatever frightened sentence Peridot had to say. She peeked from her short green fingers the scene that unfolded in front of her visors.
Lapis dodged Jasper's speedy charge which bolted with such force that it broke the ocean gem's surrounding shield of water. The heavier gem crashed into a blasting cloud of sand that reached Peridot.
The water gem commanded the sea with only a slight gesture from her hands. Lazuli rose up from a pillar of gathering seawater and stopped when it was in line with the cliff-side that bordered the coast. She, the scared and defenseless gem in the middle of the crossfire, could not bear to watch any longer. "By the stars, we just had to find the most violent and least caring gem in this entire planet!"
Jasper darted up to the steep face of cliff-side and used it as a platform to hurtle for Lapis, shifting into a helmeted comet that rocketed up towards her. It was sure to hit this time, and at the right moment, Peridot glanced out of curiosity then immediately regretted it. The blue gem that had just begun to tolerate her for the first time stood no chance. That is, until a surging hand came up from the pillar and caught Jasper straight off the air. An abrupt quiet came but left just as quick when Jasper began to yell, this time, in pain.
Peridot stood silent mouth agape for a moment. She had to act. With what speed she could muster, she ran towards the base of the sea pillar. The lack of words, the grip of Lazuli's stare as strong and tightening as the hold of her water fist... Peridot saw them all past the clearing sand. She didn't have to guess what Lapis planned on doing.
Jasper grunted away suffocation, struggling as Lapis clenched her raised fist. Solid ice crept from the edges, clutching the Quartz into a hold so frozen and pulverizing. Just a bit more, Lazuli mumbled the only words that ran in her teardrop gem. Slowly, and slower, to hear every satisfying tear of her form's fiber...
"Lapis, stop!" Peridot shouted, her voice heard from below the pillar. "Stop!"
Hesitation halted the rage that held the power in her hand. Lapis glanced down to Peridot who looked up, her arms spread downwards. Blank, uncaring was what Lapis's look read. There sounded the water that surged along with Jasper's struggle. The Quartz pulled her eyes down to the gem that held her, her teeth gritting at her very sight.
"Her gem's cracked! We've... we've got to help her! We have to tell Steven! We have to tell the Crystal Gems!"
Lapis turned away from Peridot and to Jasper's gem, shaped almost roughly like hers. An uneven crack ran across its orange surface. Her grip slightly faltered. The wave of ice that took over the hand of water stopped. She knew what it felt like. The pupils of Jasper's eyes were dilated and awry, trembling and unstable as if something unspeakably animalistic had taken the once noble Quartz.
"She's confused, Lazuli! She wouldn't just attack us for no reason at all! Th-think about it!"
Jasper yelled once again, attempting wriggle her arms free, but only yelled louder when she could not. Lapis realized that she had not said a word since she attacked. She already had proper cause to shatter this fiend and yet her hand stilled itself. Lapis pushed out a heated sigh. She hardened the water fist's grip, the creeping ice returning. A suffering Quartz screamed. Her gem's manifestation retreated into bright orange light as her voice bellowed louder. Peridot covered her visors, not before letting out a gasp. And then,
Poof.
AN: Thought of this in my spare time. Just short-length updates. I don't really plan on this becoming quite lengthy, so yeah.
Anyways, thanks for reading this one! Fave, follow, or review if you wanna. Criticism is welcomed. See you on the next one!