No matter how many they cut down, they just kept coming, wave after merciless wave.
She tore like a streaking comet through the hordes. Keening screeches echoed across the plain as dozens fell in Jasper's path, but hundreds more sprung up to replace the fallen. Sticky black guts covered her from head to toe and had her hair all but plastered against her body. The acrid stench of the fallen arachnids was foul on the wind. Everything was chaos - and they were losing.
"Got a big one coming up on your left flank there!" the warrior shouted to her companion over the din. She barreled her way towards the pale Gem, sending twitching legs and broken mandibles flying in her path. Still her partner did not seem to hear the warning, and dread pressed down like a lead weight in her belly. "Pearl, guard up! Pearl!"
"I've got this! Just worry about yourse- Oh my goodness!" Pearl looked up just in time to see the car-sized spider be hit square in the mandibles by a fiery orange blur. The impact was enough to disorient the beast, and the attendant was quick enough to jab her spear through the gem on the beast's thorax. When she hit the ground again she was back-to-back with Jasper, the two of them both gasping for breath as the monsters began circling them again.
"At this rate, we're going to be bugfood before sundown," the bigger Gem growled, fists clenched and eyes narrowed. "Got to find their queen and shatter her core."
"Yes, but how? Even if -" Pausing a moment to send a volley of spears through a dozen monsters sneaking up on their peripheral, Pearl glanced anxiously from side to side. "Even if we manage to get through the horde to their leader, this is a corrupted Corundum we're dealing with. Shattering its gem will require more firepower than either of us have alone- On your left!"
"You calling me weak, you little-? Ow! Eat this, slag-face!" Jasper through a punch straight into the mandibles of another spider. Another sprang up in its place, and the warrior swore she could see the pest multiplying right in front of her. Whatever dent the two Gems had made in their numbers was gone in a heartbeat as the horde took up another hissing, raging song.
Shit shit shit, the orange Gem cursed inwardly. Even her bravado was failing in the face of such numbers. And they would not have a snowball's chance in hell if they stuck around much longer.
Quickly Jasper turned to the spear-wielding Gem. She swept her partner up and leapt away just as the throng of bugs threatened to swallow them up. Ignoring Pearl's indignant squawks, the warrior rammed her way through the nearest and weakest portion of the enemy's defense. Pussy blood and dark-violet gem shard flew up in their wake as they escaped. She all but sprinted for upward for higher ground with the other fighter in tow.
She did not stop running until they reached the crest of a hill overlooking the surrounding lands. The horde was a black smudge on the horizon, growing larger and growing fast as the vermin pursued them. Glaring in the direction they had come from, Jasper pushed the sweat-drenched locks of hair out of her face as she let Pearl down.
"We've got maybe five minutes before they're on top of us again," she grunted. "If you've got a plan, Pearl, right now would be a good time to fill me in."
"Well, as I was saying," Pearl sniffed, dusting off her clothes as she turned to her companion, "neither of us are strong enough to take the queen out on our own. Together, though, we could -"
"No."
"What do you mean 'no?'" Propping her hands on her hips, Pearl fixed the other Gem with a glare. "Don't be so quick to dismiss my ideas. I was only going to suggest that we -"
"I already know what you're going to say." Jasper cut her off, biting her words out between clenched teeth. "We're not doing it." Her sudden snarl startled her companion. The warrior's fists curled seemingly of their own will, ready to pummel some unseen opponent into silence and submission.
Tilting her head to one side, confusion clouded Pearl's expression before it dawned on her. A little "oh" escaping her, she cast her glance to the side. Crossing her arms and clutching herself, she had the good grace to blush for her thoughtlessness. She knew Jasper was still rather sensitive on the subject, though she had clearly not gauged just how sensitive. Oh dear. Pearl bit her lip and clasped her hands in front of her before looking up to speak again.
"I… Jasper, please don't think I'm not considering your… feelings in all of this." Glancing away, Pearl sighed. Oh, how to word what she meant… "I know your experiences with fusion thus far have been less than enjoyable. You hate having to rely on the rest of us and I know you still don't trust me or the others completely."
When she dared to look up at the warrior again, her eyes were at once both apologetic and pleading. Stepping forward she hesitantly placed a placating hand on the black-spattered and scarlet-streaked arm. Jasper did not immediately recoil at the contact, and Pearl was hopeful enough to take that a sign that she was at least listening.
"You're still trying to figure out where you stand with us, and I know that can't be easy. And if even you were on the best of terms with everyone on the team, you would probably still find fusion repulsive." Reaching up, she brought a hand to Jasper's cheek and gently nudged. When those golden eyes finally met hers, Pearl had to bite back a sob at the uneasiness – and fear – she saw there.
"Please understand that I don't want to hurt or force you in any way. That I wouldn't even think of suggesting this if I really thought we had other options."
Silence yawned between them for several moment. There was no reading the thoughts in Jasper's pensive, fang-bared expression. When she did not speak, Pearl knew she had lost the argument. She sighed as she turned away to face the oncoming horde. The Corundum spiders would reach them presently, and they had no more time to waste. She stepped forward, already reaching up to summon a spear from her gem when a heavy touch on her shoulder stayed her.
"… You're going to have to lead," Jasper said, voice gruff and resigned. "I'm no good with this stuff."
There was a sudden burning at the corner of her eyes, and the smaller Gem silently admonished her own sentimental tendencies. Pearl was quick to scrub away the pooling tears, though there was no pain or sadness in them. This was no small favor she was asking of her partner, and she knew Jasper's consent was not given cheaply or easily. She was placing her trust in the servant Gem, and diamonds but what a tenuous and fragile trust it was. Pearl needed to be strong – for both their sakes.
"Just focus on me," she replied soothingly, taking the other's hand between her own. "And sync with me as best you can. We can do this; I know we can."
Attempting a fusion with an inexperienced partner for the first time did not prove to give either of them any confidence. And beneath the onslaught of monsters as they were, there was that much more pressure on their shoulders. If Pearl had a heart, it would have been beating out of her chest. Taking a few steps back, she took in a grounding breath as she brought her hands together. Finally centered, she gathered all her concentration, exhaled, and began.
To say that the warrior was apprehensive was putting the matter very lightly.
Jasper had always been alone. That was not to say she ever felt lonely or pined after the company of her fellows. If anything, the constant presence of any one person grated on her nerves. Lone wolf that she was, the Gem much preferred to dwell happily in her own silence and the solitude.
Fusion as a concept represented every weakness she despised in others: needless attachment, dependency, and instability. A warrior was worth nothing if she could not fight on her own. In the heat of battle, the only certainty was one's own strength and skill. To constantly rely on help or to wait for aid could give the enemy a deadly advantage. Such a weakness could ruin armies, turn the tides of war, and shatter entire empires. Jasper, in all her long millennia, knew it to be a certainty.
The one time she had resorted to such a double-edged sword of a tactic, she had been wounded and desperate. The soldier's sharper instincts had been dulled by anger and bloodlust. And she had paid dearly for that momentary lapse in judgement.
Nightmares of her hellish tenure as Malachite still haunted her in both sleeping and wakefulness. In that dark place, she had been stripped of her own will and mind, and every scrap of self had been lost to the hatred she shared with Lapis. Jasper swore that, if she was ever freed to be her own once more, she would stay that way. She refused to lose herself again.
As Pearl had said, however, their options were limited. There was no calling for backup, no route of escape. If they did not win now, it was game over for the both of them. Permanently.
Swallowing back her nerves – she absolutely refused to call it fear – she fixed her gaze on the slim dancer before her.
Ear listening intently to some music-less tune, Pearl twirled in the tall grass. Leaning forward on the tips of her toes, she let her weight lead her into each successive step. She moved in sweeping circles as she began to spiral towards her partner. Her movements were slow and purposeful, a balm to a lost and wild beast. Occasionally she would cast a half-lidded gaze towards Jasper in a wordless invitation.
Join me, her playful pirouettes called.
Let me guide you, her open arms beckoned.
I will chase away your fears, slay your demons, the swift turn of her heel promised.
Trust me, her pale blue eyes begged. Let me be your strength.
Let me show you what we can be together - just you and me.
Watching her dance – it was like nothing else the warrior had ever seen. Jasper found she was incapable of looking away. She was the canary caught in the stare of the cobra, and she could just feel herself being pulled in. Time stopped spinning and the world seemed to turn on its axis until she was sure she would fall into the blue sky above – the same color as the bright eyes that both beseeched and commanded her to follow.
She was not sure when the hesitation left her. Nor could she remember when her misgivings melted into certainty and promise. Looking back, however, the soldier knew she had surrendered in the very moment she dared to move and to reach back.
It started with the light, ginger of her fingers along her partner's body as Pearl flitted in and out arm's reach. A breeze flew up wherever the warrior managed to touch her, and her courage grew with each fleeting contact. Then she grew bolder, caressing the soft contours of the dancer's body. Pearl seemed to welcome her attention as she spun closer and closer still, lingering long enough to feel the slide of Jasper's palms.
Slowly but surely there was a change, a shift in energy and power. No longer timid, the warrior began to actively move with her partner. Her languid strides complimented and countered the smaller Gem's tight spins and fleeting contact with the ground. Jasper's arms came up to pull and herd the dancer's form into her embrace. Her hands slid along the small of Pearl's back, along the spindly curve of her arm.
Meanwhile Pearl began to spin a faster and tighter formation, her circling finally bringing her dance to converge on that singular point in the warrior's grasp. Her eyes had slid shut in as the air was drawn from her chest. Mouth slightly agape, she had thrown her head back to heavens with her arms crossed over her chest.
At long last her body ceased its spinning. On the tips of her toes she stopped in front of the warrior, eyes only a sleepy and glazed sliver in her face. It took Jasper breathless to gaze upon her, to see that complete and total surrender upon her partner's face. Exhaling a final time, Pearl began to fall back. Instinctively the warrior's arms came up to catch her. Jasper clutched the tiny from to her chest, breath hitching in her throat as their world was swallowed up by their light, everything disappearing in a dazzling sunset shimmer.
In that moment they both shattered-
And glory was forged from the broken pieces.
They emerged with the keening of hawksong, their birth cry echoing across the plain. The very air itself rattled with the shock waves as they burst into being like a supernova. Tiger claws raked the sky, and pale orange stripes of a similar kind girdled the joint arms of their athletic form. The tails of a golden ribbon fluttered behind them, the five-pointed star upon their chest surrounding the diamond within. Pale hair and unruly bangs whipped in the breeze. Infernal eyes shone like the sun as they shot open, terrifying and beautiful in their amazon's face.
"YES!" they roared together in all their might. They turned on their heel, quick as lightning, to face the black hordes. Sprinting forward, the smile that split their face was the stuff of dreams and nightmares alike. Their heart soared and beat against the inside of their chest, fit to burst and consume everything in their path.
They were a warrior's fury. They were the burning breath of fire. They were a living war cry to sing their enemy into the void. There was no fear or hesitation, there was only Agate. And as they screamed their new name, they were at last truly one.