The Sunshine Experiment
Chapter One
Escape and Electricity
"Stop those gems!"
Aura looked back, an entire squadron of rubies was bearing after her and Red. Tugging her friend's hand, they skidded around the corner, barreling through another group of guards.
"Fire!"
Aura screamed as the volley of bullets flew over her head. In a flash, Red grabbed the smaller gem and tucked her under her arms, blocking the spray of fire with her body.
"Shoot to maim not kill! Yellow Diamond wants that one alive!"
Aura cried out as she was suddenly thrown into the next chamber. The crystal on Red's shoulder glowed a brilliant white and the doorway was suddenly blocked by a thick wall of chalky white and red streaked stone. The taller gem turned swiftly to her small companion, "You okay kid?"
Aura slowly got to her feet, wincing as she examined the core cuff covering her now cracked gem, "Am I okay?!" She panted, looking over at her friend, "Who cares about me, I'm not the one who got flame-sprayed by those jerks. What about you?"
"I'm good," She smirked, threading her fingers through her spiky white bangs, "I'm not a some dainty pearl, it's takes a lot more than a little fire to bring me down."
Aura shivered, she could hear the guards chipping their way through the blockade. She looked up fearfully at her fellow escapee, "What are we gonna do?! That isn't gonna hold back the rubies for very long and the escape pods take at least five minutes to start up!"
Red looked at the control system and then back at the doorway, "You're right," She murmured, frowning . The bigger gem jumped into the wheelie chair, "Computer," Red called, her hands flying over the controls, "Initiate override sequence E-29793, Code- Stratus."
The machine began to hum, "Accepted." A smooth metallic voice announced, "Initiating link start, estimated time till departure- seven minutes, thirty seven seconds."
Red stated down at the computer keys, her hands trembling. She slowly got out of the chair and stared down at the young gem standing next to her. The milky white gem let out a heavy sigh, "Sorry Aura." In a flash the she grabbed the gem by the torso and heaved her over her shoulder.
"What are you doing!" Aura yelped, frightened by the moonstone's sudden aggressiveness. Red carried Aura over to the pod and bodily threw her into the seat.
"This is for your own good," She grounded out through clenched teeth, quickly and efficiently pulling Aura's arms through the harness straps,
Aura's blood ran cold, "What are you talking about?!" She tried to stand up but the older gem forced her back down.
"Listen," Red spoke grimly, "Someone has to stay here to make sure the pod gets off the ground, that barrier won't last forever."
Aura's eyes widened in realization, "But we're supposed to leave together!" She cried out, shoving back against her. Red grunted and firmly held the young gem down as she tightened the buckles.
"I can help you!" Aura reasoned, trying to fight off Red's invasive hands, "We can fight-"
"No." Aura flinched at the hard edge of her tone. "You are leaving, END of story." Red growled. She wrenched Aura's arms away and exposed the rest of the straps she had been trying to cover.
"You can't do this!" Aura protested, her eyes wide with disbelief and anger as she wildly kicked at the moonstone.
"Oh yes I can!" Red firmly asserted, "Now hold still!" She grabbed the smaller gem's legs and lifted her up, thrusting her upper body back against the restrictive seat
"No! No! NO!" Aura squealed, thrashing in her tight grip."Stop it Red!"
"This would be a lot easier if you would stop fighting me!" Red rebuked, expertly looping the straps behind Aura and through the back of her squirming legs. Aura scowled and fidgeted as the older gem secured and tightened the crotch strap, locking her in place.
"See? That wasn't so hard was it?" Red muttered, walking over to the control board. She sat down at the chair and typed in a series of codes the Aura couldn't see, "I promised Sun that I'd protect you and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
"I refuse!" She declared, pulling against the restriants, "You can't just decide these things for yourself! I'll stay and fight! I'm not just gonna leave you behind!" Aura let out a cry of frustration, "You are the only family I have left!"
Muffled shouts rang out from behind the cracking barrier and the pounding only gre louder with each minute. Glancing fervently between Aura and the barrier, Red let out a hurried breath and a muted white light englufed her. Stepping back, Red expertly held a smoky, double bladed naginata that had materialized from her gem.
Red turned away and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry, but in four minutes you are leaving; with or without me." The sharp weapon sliced through the air, gleams of light reflected off of the its surface, bathing the room in moonlight "You are to inexperienced to fight off an entire squadron of trained rubies as it is let alone with a core cuff on, not even mentioning the fact that summoning your weapon is spotty at most! I don't know what I would do if you got hurt..."
Aura shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her lip quivered, "But-"
"Don't worry about me, I'm gonna be just fine, I can handle the heat!" Red twirled her silvery weapon, pointing it at the horde of gems about to break through, "Go, go and don't look back! I'll catch up!"
The pod roared to life and the passenger gasped as the shell began to slowly close up around her. "Promise me!" The young gem demanded, her voice thick with emotion, "Promise me that you'll be okay!"
Red froze for a second before turning around, "Like I said," she winked, running up along side the pod, "I'll catch up!" She smiled and swiftly slipped her hand between the closing shell to ruffle Aura's hair, "Keep practicing your singing while I'm gone, maybe when I get there we could start up that band we always talked about!" Red snorted and lightly traced the sparkling golden shard hanging around her neck, "Sun would of-"
"Capture the prisoners! They must not escape!" A deep baritone voice echoed across the chamber. The barrier burst apart and gems came flying through the open gap, weapons raised.
Red swore and dodged a multitude of shrapnel. By then the shell had completely closed up leaving Aura completely cut off from her friend.
"Don't even think about it!" Red snarled, slashing the rubies who had went for the control pad. Aura pounded against the glass in vain as she watched the lone gem face off against the innumerable army.
"Feldspar Hecatolite Facet-6L2E Cut-10X, A yellow jasper spoke, pushing her way through the crowd of gems, "In the name of the Great Diamond Authority, put away your weapon and surrender immediately! You are out numbered and completely-"
"Red." The feldspar interrupted smoothly, glaring coldly at the gem who had spoken, "My name is Red." She declared, standing proudly before the gems, "I have a name, not a serial number and I expect you to use it. Unlike you lot," Red rose a brow and gestured vaguely to the rest of the gems before her, "I want more out of life than kissing some Diamond's ass." Reds snapped, narrowing her eyes at the warrior gem before her.
"You would do well not to disrespect the Diamond Authority in front of me, you filthy traitor." The jasper growled, laying a hand over her chest. In a burst of light a wicked looking sickle was pulled from her gem. "Frankly, I don't care what you call yourself. All I want is the weapon." She spat, jerking her head toward the pod. "Give it to me."
"I'll never let you have her!" Red promised, spinning her naginata as she poised herself for a fight. The room dropped ten degrees. The guards back away in horror as the moonstone's shimmering skin cracked and turned an deep crimson. The warm beams of light faded to a dark, bloody red. "Have you ever wondered what was in the dark side of the moon?" Red asked, lifting her soulless gaze to meet the slew of gems,"Have you ever wondered why gems fear it?"
The yellow gem sneered, the sickle gleaned and crackled with the foreboding sound of electricity, "If you think that you scare me don't flatter yourself." The warrior gem swung her weapon out and faced the enemy up, "You may be a Feldspar but you're only one gem." She sneered and sized Red up, "And a nasty defective one at that, I'll smash you to pieces!" She turned toward the troops behind her, "Get the weapon." The jasper commanded, taking a threatening step toward the renegade, "I'll take care of this one!"
Red's gem glowed a deep scarlet and dark mist began to seep into the room. As if it had a mind of its own, the cloud converged on the guards. Left and right gems poofed as the mist choked them in its poisonous body.
"Hah! You think that'll stop me?!" A bellow cut across the room. With frightening speed, the jasper burst through the mist, aiming a blow towards Red's chest. Skidding back, the feldspar thrust her own weapon up and caught the edge of the blade with her own. Both gems shoved against each other in a brief show of strength. Red grunted and flipped back to gain some distance. I'm a Quartz!" The jasper declared proudly, "You can't beat me!" Red said nothing, shifting her stance, She lowered her body and positioned herself in front of the pod. Neither of the gems moved for a moment. "You're weak and pathetic! You and I both know how this is going to end." The jasper sneered, "You were fated to lose the moment you came out wrong!"
Red blinked, the world seemed to come to a stop for a brief moment. She glanced around, the room was filled with to the brim with enemies. Red's eyes narrowed and her mouth firmed with a grim determination, the jasper wasn't wrong, she knew exactly how this was going to end.
'You're just gonna have to accept a nickname. I can't keep calling you Feldspar Hecolite whatever the rest of that is. That is WAY to much of a mouth full!'
The dark gem grazed the tip of her finger of the sparkling shard that contrasted brightly against her skin, if only she was here...
"Hmm...What about Mooney?"
"No!" The gemstone exclaimed in horror, looking up at the tangerine colored sunstone sitting next to her.
"Hmm..." The golden feldspar ran her fingers through her own shimmering white locks and frowned, "You're right, how silly of me!" She tipped her head back and let out a laugh, "It wouldn't fit your personality at all."
The young moonstone crossed her arms and scowled up at the taller gem, "I don't want a nickname!" She huffed, her face burning with anger, "It is derogatory to my mission, my purpose and my diamond! I am prefer being addressed as Feldspar Hecatolite Facet-6L2E Cut-10X. If you absolutely must, you may call me Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X.'
"Mmm... Is that right?" The sunstone looked down at the little gem sitting next to her. "Is it the name that is derogatory or is it the stigma of being different?" She asked kindly, flashing a sad smile.
The small gem quieted at that, reflexively touching her fingers to the gem on her shoulder. She stared out into the distance, her gaze lost in the vast deep ocean. Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X trembled as she felt along the rough duvets that marred her gem.
"Oh I've got it!" Sun exclaimed, snapping the young gem out of her thoughts, "What about Red?"
The feldspar sputtered, whipping her head to face the older gem, "Red?!" She hissed, scrambling away like she had been burned, "You're kidding right." She strained, her voice choked with anger. Her gem glowed a bloody red and her light colored body deepened to a dark crimson. The gem stared down at her glowing skin as the red muation spread across her skin like a disease. "I-I j-just... I-I h-hate..." Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X grit her teeth in frustration, her body trembled with humiliation.
She wouldn't ever escape it, would she? The gem let out a haggard breath. But how could she?! She couldn't escape her own faults, her own skin. It didn't matter how many times she regenerated, she always managed to turn herself that damned color. "Red huh." Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X spoke slowly, testing out the name on her tongue as she closed her fingers painfully around the base of her gem. Throwing her head back, the feldspar let out a bitter laugh, "It's fitting, in a way. 'Red' is a perfect name." She spat out harshly, "It represent exactly what I'm good for. Nothing."
"That is not true." Sun disagreed, her voice raising slightly in volume, "You are good for something."
There was a long pause.
"You're right." Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X spoke complacently, her voice taking on a flat tone, "I am good for one thing, shattering!" Closing her palm around her gem, she began to crush her hand into her gem.
In one swift movement the taller gem firmly grabbed the moonstone's fist. "Don't touch me!" The feldspar yelped, thrashing against her iron grip. "Someone like me should never be-"
"Not another word!" The sunstone commanded, her usually soft tone contained an edge of steel , "Not. Another. Word." Her intense voice silenced the feldspar. The milky white moonstone abruptly stopped struggling and tensed as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her middle. She closed her eyes and braced herself for a blow or a sharp tongue lashing from her superior officer but to her confusion one never came. Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X choked up when she felt herself being pulled into a tight hug.
The smaller gem slowly opened her eyes. She looked down at her disgustingly crimson body and back up at the glimmering gem snugly holding her. A lump grew in her throat, "W-Why?" Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X finally spoke, glaring down at the ground listlessly.
The sunstone slowly pulled away, "Why what?" She asked softly, looking down at the
"Why do you care?"
"Why huh?" The shimmering gem hummed to herself and squeezed the small gem close. "Well why not?"
The small reddish gem clenched her fists in frustration, "You are a perfect feldspar!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air, "High ranking, flawless, efficient in work, experienced and respected on many different fields. Everything a gem would aspire to be and more..." She sniffed, wiping her nose in her arm, "-and I'm nothing. To someone of your level I'm WORSE than nothing. You don't have any obligation to me, you shouldn't even be NEAR a defective gem of my low stature..."
"That's not how I see it." The shimmering yellow gem replied, running her fingers through the smaller gem's scalp.
"Not see?!" The moonshine grounded out, swatting the offending hand away, "How COULDN'T you see! LOOK AT ME!" The gem bellowed, whipping her body around, "I AM RED! Not white not green not yellow or brown or any other color but RED! The one color I'm not supposed to be, a mistake." She whispered out the tale end of her rant and pulled her knees up into her chest. "A waste of space, good for nothing at all."
"No," Sun spoke, her calm voice filled with confidence, "You are definitely good for something."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" She shot back.
"Being yourself." Sun beamed at her confused features, "And what's wrong with the color red anyways?! Red is actually one my favorite colors."
Sun had brought her out of that dark and into the sunshine. That crazy, life loving gem showed her how to be the best that she could be. Red turned her head back toward the pod and drank in the features of the budding young gem she had grown to cherish. She only wished she could have done the same for her little protege...
"Whats wrong? Diamond got your tongue?" The jasper taunted, bearing her teeth, "Or have you given up?"
Red said nothing, she was perfectly content in letting her talk away. The corner of her mouth twitched, a chatty jasper... That wasn't something you saw everyday.
Electricity crackled and the yellow gem growled, "What's so funny?!" She spat, tightening the grip on her weapon.
Red chuckled and trained her eyes on the hulking form of the quartz. A few rubies were beginning to reform and the mist was slowly diluting, making the barrier around her weaker and weaker. "I'm not trying to escape." Red replied smugly, bearing her teeth. "I'm stalling. And you've done an absolutely wonderful job helping me." She beamed and gave a mocking bow.
"Systems complete, initiating launch sequence." A modulated voice announced before a low hum filled the air as the pod came to life.
Confusion quickly dawned into furious realization. "No!" The jasper bellowed, anger rolling off her in waves. "Useless rubies!" She growled, electricity spilling from her figure, "I'll stop this myself!"
The ground rumbled and in a shower of red light, the jasper was constricted by a wall of chalky white stone. "I don't think so!" Red declared, narrowing her eyes. She grunted and let out a ragged breath as the jasper strained against the the stone. It wasn't going to last long.
Red closed her eyes and turned, "Aura." She spoke, her deep voice commanding attention. The gem in question was staring at her with a pleading expression. Aura was pressed up against the glass and was furiously saying something though Red had no idea what. Sparking blue met her crimson eyes and a pang of regret passed through Red's core. It hurt, to know that she wasn't going to be there. It hurt to know that she wasn't going to see Aura grow up, to see her become the wonderful gem that she always believed that little runt of a quartz could be. After all, Sun's legacy was bound to be something great.
"I know you can't hear me," Red began, locking eyes with Aura, "And there is so much I want to tell you but..." She choked and squeezed her eyes shut before stepping forward to lay her hands against the vibrating glass of the ship. "-You're gonna be great kid." Red promised, trying to convey as much feeling as she could in her eyes. Aura had her hand overlapped with her own on the other side of the glass, she could see the tears running down the Quart's face and her heart clenched.
"I'm going to kill you defect! Your gem will be powder when I'm done with you!" The jasper raged, banging her head against the stone.
"-I just know it." Red finished, flashing her usual dazzling smile, stepping back away from the ship as it sounded out its final warning. She watched as Aura began to plead with the hologram inside the ship, still banging her fists against the glass. They caught eyes one last time, Red lifted her hands and formed a heart, "I love you." She whispered, and with that she swung her oversized weapon and slashed down into the control pad, destroying all the other pods and any way of stopping Aura's escape.
A sickening crack echoed across the room Red turned just in time to dodge the furious form of the jasper. "You're dead!" The quartz bellowed, pieces of gravel flew from her hair as she lunged for the moonstone.
Aura gaped in horror as the horde of gems broke free of their constraints and converged on her friend. Red turned and charged the calvary, piercing her weapon through a ruby. Lifting into the air, the escape pod blasted off, leaving the last of her family behind. Aura stared back at the planet that was slowly fading out of view "Red..." She choked out, her body shaking with sobs. The young gem clutched the shard on her necklace, squeezing it so tight her body was shaking.
Steven pressed his face against the window and let out a long sigh.
"Is everything all right Steven?" Pearl asked, walking into the living room.
"It's still raining!" He groaned, frowning at the droplets of water running down the glass, "Dad and I were planning to do a huge water war this afternoon!"
Pearl glanced out the window, "Well I don't see why you can't have your 'water war', it's only a little rain. You're going to be wet anyways."
"But it's not the same!" Steven exclaimed, "The rain would destroy any chances of there being a winner or loser!"
Pearl rose her brow, "Winner or loser?"
"Exactly!" Steven nodded his head in thought, "A game of this caliber is measured by the amount of wetness one receives. The rain equalises the battle field making all strategy, sneak attacks and maneuvers invalid. One hit knock outs are meaningless!" Steven let out another long suffering sigh and fell back onto the floor.
Pearl chuckled at his dramatics, "Well I'm sure you can still-"
BOOM!
Lighting streaked across the sky and a great crack of thunder echoed across the beach. Steven stared mournfully out the window, "Everything is ruined!"
"Whoa, what's with the doom and gloom?" Amethyst asked, watching the show with interest.
Steven ignored her question and instead let out another groan and rolled over into his side.
"I believe he was really looking forward to having a 'water war' with Greg. " Pearl answered, keeping her voice low, "But his plans were cancelled because of the storm, he seems pretty upset."
"Eh, Steven'll be fine!" Amethyst stated nonchalantly, "It's not like he's dying or anything. Can't he just do it tomorrow-"
"My life is over!" He remarked loudly from his position on the floor, "Just leave me be as I waste away~"
"What a shame, all washed up at age twelve. You have a disappointing life ahead of you, Steven." A new voice called out from the temple doorway.
Amethyst snorted with laughter, "Nice timing Garnet, are we ready to go?!"
"Yes, I tracked the signal to an offshore island. If we go fast, we might be able to find a clue about where the weird signals are coming from." Garnet announced, adjusting the shades over her eyes.
Steven perked up, "Wait, signals? Weird islands?! Can I come!"
"I thought you wanted us to leave you alone?" Amethyst laughed, her gem glowed and she shapeshifted into a copy of Steven, "To waste away~" She mocked, throwing her hand dramatically over her Steve-like forehead, imitating a damsel in distress.
"Amethyst!" Pearl admonished, putting her hands on her hips, "That's not particularly nice."
"Who cares?" Amethyst rolled her eyes and changed back to her normal state, "It's not like I'm 'particularly nice' in the first place."
"Well you can't just be rude, you really shouldn't-"
"Oh I REALLY shouldn't?" Amethyst interrupted, butting heads with Pearl, "Who are you to say what I should and shouldn't do? It's not like you're the picture of perfection miss-"
Steven ignored the bickering and latched onto Garnet's legs, "You gotta let me go with you guys! I'm a Crystal Gem too!" Steven looked up at Garnet and gave her the very best puppy dog look he could manage.
"Hmm, no. Sorry Steven, but I don't really know what is out there, it might be really dangerous."
"Or it could be so totally awesome..." Steven pouted, keeping his spot on Garnet's feet.
"Tell you what," Steven looked up as he found himself lifted to his feet, "I'll bring you back something nice and I promise, next time you can come with us."
"Something nice huh?" Steven borrowed at his reflection in Garnet's but turned his head away with a reluctant nod, "Okay, I guess I can stay here."
"Good, I'm glad you understand." Garnet turned to the other two, "Amethyst get Pearl's arm out of your mouth, you don't know where it's been."
Amethyst spit out the appendage and laughed, "Whatever you say Garnet, I'm ready when you are." With a leap, she jumped up onto the warp pad.
"My arm is NOT as dirty as you are insinuating!" Pearl huffed, sticking her nose in the air, "In fact, I think that if we were to compare arms mine would be-"
"Blah, Blah, Blah! Could you like do me a favor and like take a chill pill or something?" Amethyst interrupted, rolling her eyes.
"Looks who's talking!" Pearl exclaimed, wiping slobber off her arm in disgust as she stepped into the warp pad with the other two, "You can't have a normal, civilized conversation without-"
"Bye Steven!" Garnet waved, "We won't take long."
He sighed as they warped away, now what was he supposed to do?
The smell of smoke hung heavily in the air and a low off key hum echoed through the hull. "System levels- offline, Mixture control- offline, Loss of pressure- partial, Fuel Selector Valves- offline-"
Aura's head pounded, she let out a groan and clutched her head, her ears were ringing. It was so noisy! What were the gems outside of her cell doing? She blearily sat up and rubbed her eyes, it was better to be up before the guards came on their rounds. She had learned that one the hard-
Darkness, that's all she could see. Aura's breath quickened and she jerked her head around in an attempt to make heads or tails of where she was. The gem let out a yelp as the area around her lit up in one belief, terrible flash. Her body was dangling precariously against the straps as the planet's gravity pulled her toward the cracked and burning hot metal plating that was directly below her. The sharp pieces of debris jutting from the ground around the crash sight steamed as the rain pelleted the cracked shell. Her ship seemed to have been flipped during its rough landing through the atmosphere.
The young gem hissed in pain, her body was aching all over. Thunder shook the sky and Aura violently pulled against the straps in a panic to escape the ferocious sound. The ship creaked and groaned with the effort.
"-incubation connectors- fourteen percent and failing, flight gear control- offline-"
'Remember your training.' A sounded suspiciously like Red's pounded through her panicked mind.
A soft whine pierced the darkness and the strobe lights running along the inside of the cracked panels flickered. "Alternator output detected," A smooth metallic voice started, it's disembodied voice rising and falling in tone as it tried and failed to project it's usual hologram. "A112: twelve percent. Alternator output detected, A115: thirty eight percent. Alternator output detected, A116: twenty seven perc-"
Aura took a few deep gulping breaths and focused her thoughts on the voice that was echoing through the crash sight. Shaking her head, she fumbled with the numerous buckles until they clicked off. Dropping off the seat, Aura back flipped off the head rest and landed right side up on all fours. She let out a wince as rain seeped through the twisted metal and pooled at her hands and feet, sizzling as the droplets evaporated into the atmosphere.
The sleek control board was now in shambles, wires and panels swung haphazardly from a few sheets of gleaming electroplate. Liquid streamed down into the cracks and billows of steam rose from the overheated tech.
Aura's gaze lifted until she locked eyes with the dark mass that was situated on the outskirts of the shattered glass that parked the perimeter of the crash sight. Wrapping her arms around herself, she scootched back away from the howling winds that came with the torrential down pour. Without the tinted glass shielding the outside away, it was a lot easier to see the new world. It was a much louder and frankly she didn't really want to see anymore of the scary place. It was a strange land and it was nothing like Sun had spoken of, it was dark and wet and lonely, she missed Red.
A red light began to flash slowly and systematically on the wall above her head. It was weak and barley had enough light to display the emergency signal inside the cracked glass beside it. "Disengaging gear landing procedures." The warbling voice continued, "One, Three and Five- offline. Recommending immediate evacuation, Alternator Fuel pressue- unstable. Recommending immediate-"
Another crack of lighting streaked across the horizon. Aura yelped and jumped in fright, her back slammed back against the dead machinery. She winced and slowly got back up to her knees, gasping as a stabbing pain went through her upper arm. Aura scratched at the cuff that was blocking access to her cracked gem. She needed figure out how to get it off so she could retreat back into her gem.
"Not here though" Aura muttered, glaring through the cracked metal and into the unknown. Regeneration was a nasty business and there was no way in this or any other world that she was going to go about it in a compromised location. She had no idea what form of species if any at all resided here and Aura couldn't afford being caught unawares. The quartz tugged against the lock surrounding her arm and held back a barley contained snarl. She needed to leave, no matter how scary it looked out there. Staying here would probably get her shattered.
"Recommending immediate evacuation," The disembodied voice continued to echo in a flat drone, "Alternator fuel pressure- unstable."
"Get out there, Quartz!" Aura coached as she bounced up and down in an attempt to hype herself up, "You can do it!" Aura took a few steps back and took a few shuddering breaths in a fruitless attempt to still her quivering legs. Taking a running start, she slid through the entrance and stumbled across the beach before landing face first in a sticky wet mound of sand.
Spitting the mess from her mouth, she rolled up onto her feet and stared frozen at the scenery around her. The rain fell in heavy sheets and soaked her to the bone. The wind was whipping her crazy, already uncontainable hair everywhere. It felt terrifyingly wonderful! The things Sun and Red had told her about Earth didn't compare to the real thing. The power of the waves, the grittiness of the sand and the wide expanse of the ocean. They always said that they were gonna give her the grand tour of the planet...
Aura's heart ached at the thought, shebit down on her lip in an attempt to keep a lid on her emotions. Aura gripped the golden shard that fell heavily against her chest. Red had made a promise and she was going to have to just believe that she would keep it. Red never lied, She never broke her promises.
Aura's heart swelled, lightly tracing the golden shard on her necklace. Even if it took a thousand years, Aura would find a way to them. And that was a promise that she was going to make.
Lighting cracked and the rain dumped from the sky, soaking her completely through. Pushing off the still steaming pod, She began to trudge ahead in an effort to find a secure location. In innate feeling took over and Aura couldn't help but sway slightly with the beat of the waves lapping on the shore. Aura closed her eyes and hummed to the drumming of the rain.
No one, not even the quartz herself seemed to notice the brilliant glow that began to seep out from her gem.
Steven banged his fist against the side of the television, no signal. The stupid storm was even ruining TV! Throwing the remote in defeat, Steven stomped angrily downstairs and into the kitchen for a snack.
"No water wars, no Gems and no TV..." He grumbled pulling a cookie cat ice cream sandwich out of freezer. "Could it get any worse?!"
BOOM!
Lighting cracked and the rattling door flew open with a bang, the lamp blew off the coffee table and shattered. Steven threw his hands up as lights blew out, "I just had to ask didn't I?" Fumbling around the kitchen he finally found a flashlight in one of the drawers. Flicking it on he grabbed another ice cream, "I guess watching reruns of Crying Breakfast Friends is no longer an option..." He sighed, making his way to the front door.
Steven put the two ice creams in his mouth and grabbed the door handle, "Come on!" He grumbled between the wrappers as he pushed against the door, "Why won't you close-"
Steven paused, he could hear something... singing? Turning his head toward the beach, he closed his eyes and listened. It was faint but there was definitely someone there, singing out in the storm. He pulled the two ice creams out of his mouth and stared back into the dark, empty house, "You know, these would taste a lot better if I had someone to share with." Steven grinned and ran upstairs to grab his rain gear, maybe this afternoon wouldn't be so boring after all.
Authors note: This is my first story I would love any and all thoughts you have, comments are love. Just to let you know, updates will be pretty slow so I'm not making any promises.
Also, all rights to Steven Universe belong to Rebecca Sugar.
Updated: 8/6/16