[author's notes]

Hey there! I recently got into SU and so here I am with a Kingdoms!AU. Some elements from the canon story will be there. They're all still gems and stuff, but since I don't want to write any backstory without any canon, I'm gonna go with an AU lmao
anyways, this story will be primarily Pearl/Rose but other pairings will be included as well! Steven won't be included for obvious reasons and um yeah! enjoy!

ps. there'll probably be multiple mistakes (i mean with where the story was put) as I initially wrote this on a Chromebook and holy hell it's super easy to right click and fuck up everything. please PM me if you find any mistakes i'll fix them right away hahhh

"Rose… We should be leaving soon."

"Perhaps, but… Ah, how I love this planet's sunrise. The colours are so warm and… soft… Surely, this must excite you too?" The pinkette's hand gently extended towards the rising sun, a gentle smile resting on her lips. Pearl was about to to urge her on, but the other gem remained silent, staring at Rose. How happy she seemed to be. After a moment, Pearl decided to sit next to her.

"... Garnet is waiting at our target, and she'll be displeased when we're not there at the agreed time… But since you seem to like this so much, for… whatever reason, I suppose it'll be fine if we stay here for a while."

And so they did. Although, Pearl could be less than interested in the sun. Sure, the sunrise here was prettier than it was back on their home planet, but Rose would shine brighter than any sun… She sighed and shook her head. Her feelings didn't really matter, not when there was something much bigger at stake (however, three thousand and five hundred years into the future, she'd hate herself for keeping her feelings hidden). "We have to go now," the orange-haired gem decided suddenly.

"Must we? Well, alright then," Rose said, reluctantly pulling herself up to her feet, with the help of Pearl. "You know, the way the sun shines on you… I never noticed it before, but I like it."

Pearl turned around, hiding her warm face face from Rose. "W-Well… I thank you…" Curse her! She had no idea how to react when Rose said these kinds of things… She cleared her throat. "A-Anyways, Rose. Let's walk, I'll tell you the plan for today, since we're close." She pulled up a map of the country.

"First, we'll walk through the Forest of Causality—these humans have such odd names for places… Then, we pretend to be travelers passing through. You must stay by my side at all times, Rose. What you pulled yesterday wasn't funny, it scared me half to death…" Pearl could still remember the cold fear dripping down her back when she realized Rose wasn't with her.

Luckily, Rose had only been trying to scare her with an animal skull she found, instead of actually being lost. Of course, the older gem could probably take care of herself, but… Pearl always felt a little concern, which couldn't possibly be a bad thing, right? She gave a small sigh. "If we're lucky, the guard who should be standing at the gate will let us through. If he doesn't, or if we get jumped by humans along the way, I'll protect you."

Rose grimaced a little. Pearl noticed, and turned back around. She already knew why Rose seemed to be upset, but she asked anyways. "... What's the matter?"

"Must we kill the humans? Can't we just sedate them? Ohh, why don't they turn into gems when they're harmed? Then we can simply bubble them…"

"Rose. If we want to save these people… What is it if we kill the ones standing in our way? If we just let them get away, they'll tell others. Don't you remember when we were with Ruby and Sapphire, well… Garnet?" Pearl hated to remind Rose of this, but it was the only way to make her be quiet about the matter. "They wouldn't stop coming. They nearly broke Ruby and Sapphire's gems. Stabbing their swords into the cracks…"

The pink-haired gem remained silent for a few seconds. "The humans are charming, but they're so hostile… I want to help them."

Pearl remained silent and continued walking. "... We don't want to be late. We'll take a break when the sun reaches overhead."

The day went by generally peacefully. The air was crisp, and the atmosphere was almost calming, in a way. They didn't talk very much, and when they did, it was mostly Pearl asking if Rose was doing well. Which she was. In fact, Rose appeared to be more interested in the small butterfly that would flitter around her instead of their journey. Which admittedly, frustrated Pearl. Just the slightest bit.

"Well, we should be nearing our destination in a few more paces. From this point forward, we act like humans. If… If you don't know what to do, I'll think of something, alright?" Pearl looked back at the pinkette. Aside from the group of bandits that had jumped them the one time, they had done relatively well with the humans. But they hadn't studied them long enough… They were still evolving. So, Pearl made sure that she was ready to pull out her sword at any time. It's only for Rose's safety. I don't need to harm anything if it's not threatening. She didn't want to attack someone and somehow upset Rose. Pearl didn't get why Rose cared about those puny humans anyways. Pearl could outdo any one of those pathetic weaklings. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

Suddenly, the forest began to clear, and presented in front of them was the kingdom of Patria. "Garnet is in there…" Rose whispered. Pearl simply nodded and they proceeded. Oddly enough, there weren't many other travelers, despite Patria being the centre of all trade. The orange-haired gem figured that at the very least, there would be a lot of traders. She didn't quite know how to feel about that, actually. It was probably just a slow day.

"What is your business here?" A guard asked rather loudly as the duo approached the gates. Pearl thought carefully about her choice of words.

Pearl pointed to the bag she slung over her shoulder. "We're here to do some trading. We've decided that Patria is probably the best place for things like this, no?"

The guard studied the both of them for a moment. Rose smiled and waved politely. Suddenly, he leaned towards Pearl's face, and instinctively, she leaned away. "Well, today, there's a huge event. I heard they're executing a witch, and well, it must be brutal."

"Your point is?" Pearl asked, mildly disgusted and uncomfortable with how close the guard was.

"I wouldn't want two ladies such as yourselves to have to witness something like that, especially not you…" The guard grinned, and Pearl grimaced. However, not too soon after, she had an idea. After all, it didn't appear that dippy here wouldn't let them through without a little something else.

So instead, Pearl smiled widely. "Well, then~! Why don't we stay with you for a bit? What's your name?" She didn't really care much, but wasn't that what humans did? They asked for each other's names, right?

"Bill. Bill Dewey, miss. And your name?" Ugh, he did the leaning thing again. Pearl wanted to gag. His breath smelled horrible and he reeked of sweat. Nevertheless, she readied herself and made a quick signal to Rose. Get ready to run.

"Goodnight, Dewey." Pearl said, before sweeping her legs under Bill in a graceful arc. Before he even hit the ground, Pearl had grabbed Rose's hand and they ran into the kingdom.

End scene

ok next chapter I'll introduce Garnet, Amethyst and possibly Greg haahhhh. If you enjoyed the story, could you please drop by a review? It helps motivate me to keep writing, and if you have any criticism I'll take it. Anyways, that's it. :)