Wulfenite, Facet-9T1I Cut-6ZB.
That was the number the curt Peridot gave her. Or at least, that was what she was to believe; never did she really believe in it, not with her Gem. Not with her mind. Not with her pulse.
No, she lived and breathed Earth, the planet she was born on. Sure, she could rise from the ground, she had no parents, but born sounded so much better than formed or risen or uprooted. Gulping, she stood alongside the other Wulfenites and among other Gems, other Peridots and other Rubies and other Quartzes...
Oh, how much better Earth sounded than Homeworld.
How much better Heart sounded than Pulse.
How much better Human sounded than Gem.
Many times she watched as the Peridots scorned the much larger, bulkier, clumsier Wulfenites. Soon, Peridots might replace them altogether, or even a new Gem... she had heard that there was experimentation going on for that from an older Gem, a Beryl there to teach them all what they were to do.
After all, instinct could only go so far... but couldn't the same be said of teaching?
The Gems around her did not approve of this idea. Like somehow it was important that the ideas were separate, like how one must be better than another. She didn't like this idea, but from then on she kept it to herself.
She didn't really feel like a 'she'. Sure, it was the neutral for Gems, since Gems didn't have genders... but as she looked down at herself, at her form and her flat chest and her strong body, she considered the idea that if she were human, she'd definitely be male.
Streching her arms out, she got to work on her first assignment, to rebuild a chariot's wheel. She studied it for a few moments, carefully looking over the bolts that kept it together, at the round surface, at the materials. Gulping, she turned to a pile of materials in a storage room not far off.
She walked over to it, careful to keep her muscles loose and her posture peaceful. She was quite certain that if she wanted to, she could fall on a Peridot and shatter it. Her feet were large and clunky, however, which did not help. If only her feet were a little bit daintier, or even just easier for her to dodge little Rubies with.
And then it happened. Her feet were a bit smaller, more stable, easier to walk with. There was a residual glow, but it died down before anyone could notice. Glancing around, she moved on, her task much easier than normal.
Lifting the materials, she turned back and went to the wheel again, carefully applying pressure where needed and slowly welding it in with her thumb. She frowned. It was incredibly inefficient, how it was all done, really; she could just make holes and some round, grooved objects, then smack it in with a hammer...
The very moment she considered the hammer, a small one appeared in her hand, and she jumped back in surprise. The Wulfenite to one side of her growled deeply, frowning at her in disapproval.
"Don't even think about it, new Gem," she hissed, going back to slowly welding the wheel together. She let the hammer disintegrate and continued her work slowly. Very, very slowly...
She was alone. It was so rare to be alone, to not have anyone to watch for, to not have to comply to the norms. She stretched out, feeling the wind in her hair, breathing the air with a deep breath.
It was a secret how closely she'd imitated the human body with her hard-light one. She wanted very much to feel how humans felt when they ate and breathed, and so she made herself lungs and a stomach. Of course, it took her some time to figure out how to make use of the energy the food gave her, but she eventually got it down pat. It made her very proud that she could do it; if she ever got stuck, she would not perish. Even if her photosynthesis failed, she would still remain strong and able.
She stretched a bit, feeling her body tingle at the movement. She rolled her shoulders and pulled on her toes, snapped her fingers and tilted her neck. How refreshing it was to stretch, to let her body relax and work out the knots.
Then she paused when she heard a slight ruffling noise, her head snapping around and catching sight of something in a dark corner. She shifted, so her body faced it, but her head was pointed slightly away, though her eyes adjusted to look directly at the spot she thought it had been.
There, she realized, the... whatever it was was shifting again. She began walking at an angle, not directly to the creature but getting closer with each step. She stopped beyond sight and began creeping back, watching the creature closely as a dainty toe stepped out.
And out stepped a Pearl.
Her body flowed with strength and grace, her thin frame lined with streaks of black and grey, twirling down to her gloved hands. Her hair was braided, a distasteful and completely unique hairstyle that Wulfenite thought only Diamonds, Golds and occasionally high-ranking Sapphires would be allowed to have. The only personalized Pearls she knew of were those that belonged to the Diamonds, and she was fairly certain that there wasn't a Black Diamond. There were four... Yellow Diamond, Pink Diamond, Blue Diamond and White Diamond. This Pearl did not look like any of those colours.
She stalked closer as the Pearl gulped, pausing for only a moment. With a snap, her hand reached out and gripped the vocal area, preventing the Pearl's speech.
"Hush!" Wulfenite hissed. "When I let go of your mouth, I will have you answer my questions. If you try and cry out, know that there are plenty of Wulfenites here who would gladly shatter you." She paused, allowing the Pearl a moment so that the fact sunk in, until she finally let go of the Pearl's mouth. The Pearl, much to Wulfenite's surprise, had been very soft; she wasn't sure why Pearls were soft, but she was glad she knew that now.
"What will happen once I answer your questions?" The Pearl inquired, shivering delicately. Wulfenite frowned.
"I didn't plan for that, admittedly... so now it depends on your honesty and what you tell me." She grinned. "I suggest being honest."
The Pearl nodded and awaited questions.
"First, what are you doing here?" Wulfenite inquired, still gripping the Pearl by the shoulder.
"I am here on a scouting mission," the Pearl reported.
"Who do you serve?" She inquired next, beating herself up for not asking that first.
The Pearl froze with fear. Then, with a shiver, she stated, "I have no master."
Wulfenite paused.
"What? Wait, no, give me a moment..." Wulfenite assimilated this new information and took a deep breath.
"Surely... surely you have some sort of purpose that you work towards? Or, or like... if you're on a mission, who gave it to you?" Wulfenite asked quickly. This Pearl was so strange!
She shook off the desperate need to know more about this Gem. All you need to know is why she's here.
"Pink- Pink Diamond," The Pearl stuttered. "She's worried about something going on here. That's all you need to know."
"Directly from Pink Diamond?" Wulfenite inquired, shocked. Wouldn't Pink Diamond's Pearl be pink, like her?
"No, through a superior," Pearl explained, getting a bit more confident. "She wanted someone small to help for the mission, but there aren't any gems that specialize in espionage."
Wulfenite paused, wondering why the Diamonds would need to spy on each other. Was there something here she was missing? Would it be bad for the Homeworld? Wait, why did she even care what happened to Homeworld?
Wulfenite huffed. "Am I in any danger?"
Pearl stiffened. "You... are a common worker, yes?"
"Yes, but I'm asking the questions." Wulfenite rumbled.
"And I'm answering them. You'll be fine." the Pearl amended.
Wulfenite nodded, satisfied... enough. But maybe...
For some reason, this Pearl was special to her. There was just something about the independent streak the Pearl displayed, the sassiness which leaked from her voice with each successive answer she gave. Wulfenite admired that, perhaps a bit more than she should - after all, she was just a Pearl.
Though, they were effectively alone. She could afford to do this.
"Will you be okay?" She asked, her grip going a bit loose. The Pearl froze in shock.
"I... yes, but I have to go soon if I want to get away unseen..." she murmured, glancing towards a small vehicle nearby. Wulfenite reluctantly let go of her shoulder, watching closely as the Pearl walked away.
There was a pause, and she turned back. "Can I ask a favour of you?"
Wulfenite found herself nodding before she could say no.
"Please... d-don't tell anyone I was here," she requested shakily. "Can you do that? For me?"
"Yeah," Wulfenite agreed, her mind going blank. "I... I can do that."
She watched numbly as the Pearl ran off, her short, frilly skirt waving in the air as she sped up, hopping into the vehicle and driving away.
Wulfenite grabbed her forehead and groaned. Hopefully, she thought, work will let me think about this and clear my head.
She walked off to fix another chariot.
Wulfenite froze when she came to. What had she been doing? Why did her eyes feel heavy? Why did she feel... refreshed?
She heard the sound of steps around her, paces and rushing around and other sounds of unrest. Standing at attention, she glanced around, assessing the situation.
The Wulfenites were in complete turmoil. A Peridot stormed in at that very moment, her eyes wide in fear as she shrieked, "The Rebels are coming!" Glancing around, her brow creased with worry beneath her helmet, she hissed and ran off again.
Typical Peridots. Never the fighting kind, they would hide behind a soldier until any scuffle was over. They were generally good survivors, oddly enough, although most of them were too polite to be insulted by such a thought - think of it, a Peridot surviving instead of their superiors! They may have purely been first aid kits for the machines of Homeworld and the Gems, but they were low enough on the ladder that they weren't allowed to feel insulted - and if they did, they didn't show it.
She turned her mind to what the Peridot had said. The rebels... she wasn't sure who they were, but as the image of a small, sassy Pearl flashed through her mind, she shook herself and left the repair room.
There was no point in remaining there.
Looking around, she saw hundreds - no, thousands - of Quartzes, all rushing for the western sky. What was there that needed so many Gems? She looked down at herself, at her burly stature and powerful hands.
She could help.
Her fists tightened and she burst into the crowd, going fast enough that any Quartzes who had a problem with her presence wouldn't have anyone to complain at. She burst into a crowd of orange-tinted Quartzes and followed them, making sure to remain at the back. No one would recognize her. She would melt away into the mass of soldiers...
They were apparently running to the beach. Upon the sands were a trio of Gems, backed by thousands of mismatched Gems - Peridots, Pearls, Rubies and even a Quartz or two. Topazes, Jaspers, even Wulfenites like herself. What was happening? What was up with this mismatched group of Gems?
"REBELS!" Cried the leader of the Gems among her. "We will fight to return power to Homeworld! You will all be harvested for what you've done!"
The leader of the rebels, as far as Wulfenite knew, stepped forward. Her entire form was radiating power mixed with grace, beauty mixed with the horrors of war and shatterings, confidence mixed with pity.
She was a Quartz, a Rose Quartz, the highest ranking of Pink Diamond's court. Her form was billowing in the wind, glorious and unscathed, her scabbard empty as her intricate sword was held in one hand, her glorious shield in the other. Her hair was in a beautiful set of curls, her face set in an observant and unwavering expression of confidence.
She was graceful and burly. She was strong, yet stood as an equal to the Pearl and the tall, pastel Gem beside her. Her every inch was nothing less than perfection.
"I am Rose Quartz!" proclaimed the Quartz, her Pearl and the strange Gem standing at either side of her. "We, the Rebellion, ask only that you spare this planet of your plans! If you do not comply, we will be forced to battle for the beauty of this planet!"
There was a rising cheer for war among the battalions of Gems around him. Frowning, she wondered what was so important about this planet, for both sides; one that wished to use it, and the other to protect it. What on this planet was so desperately important that it warranted war?
"TO BATTLE!" Cried their leader before she could even question it further. She ran forth, part of the herd, the group, the crowd, taking a deep breath, then quietly shuffling towards the edge.
She was no battle Gem. She would not fight for Homeworld.
Thankfully, she was ignored as she sped through the waves of Gems, all colour-coordinated and made to fit in, all exactly the same. How she managed to get through she didn't know, but thankfully the land strip was narrow, and she was able to climb up to safer ground. She turned around and stared as the battle began.
The explosions of colour that occurred at their connecting point was deafening and blinding. The Rebels were a rainbow, blues and oranges and reds and yellows, greens and purples and blacks and whites.
Her eyes caught onto a small figure in the distance, cowering on the ground with her hands over her head protectively. She leaned forward to peer in at the little creature. Perhaps a reformed ruby with a new colour? Maybe an odd Sapphire, even?
She briefly forgot about gravity and fell forward, landing with a thump on the ground in the middle of the battle. She winced as someone used her as a platform and jumped to her feet, shaking herself off and dashing through to try and get away from the crossfire. She hopped over a few small Gems and pushed aside a particularly large Jasper, covering ground quickly. Her eyes once more focused on the small, shivering creature, still ignored by the Gems around it.
Then, a Gem grabbed it by the collar and suddenly threw it out of the way, landing it in front of her.
Rage. Fear. Shock. Those were the things she felt as she found herself picking up the small creature - a human girl - with a powerful swoop and then dashing headlong into the rebel forces, aiming for the next human home she saw.
Her eyes focused on a brown box, and with a firm nod to herself she sped up, focused solely on the shed. Her mind thought in split-second commands as she weaved her way through the rebels.
Jump over a Quartz's sword.
Dive under a Pearl's spear.
Speed up and avoid the Ruby's hammer.
Then she felt a burst of air behind her as some sort of bomb went off, speeding up even more, because she knew what came after an explosion like that.
Zappers.
The twisty, high-speed strength slashed forward, whipping through both sides and making every Gem inside its radius burst. Some of the fusions on the rebel side poofed into two gems, or sometimes even three. Wulfenite made the most of it and dove into the shed, falling to her knees and letting go of the child to slam the door shut. She turned back to see two brown orbs of pure worship.
The human began talking rapidly in a language Wulfenite didn't recognise. She blinked, raising an eyebrow, and eventually the human stopped trying, instead just settling for snuggling up in Wulfenite's chest. She smiled sadly and held the human close.
She would keep it safe.
A few minutes later, she turned rapidly as she heard a tapping noise on the door. Her eyes followed the noise, her ears picking up the tail ends of conversation.
"Go in," a gruff voice said firmly. "There's definitely a Homeworld Gem in there. Be careful." She heard a quick 'yep' from a light-sounding voice, and the tapping of the other Gem walking away.
The door creaked open slowly, and she laid her eyes upon a small Sunstone who glared at her.
"You're the informant D-bomb was talking about! The Wulfenite!" she cried, pointing at Wulfenite dramatically. The Sunstone quickly summoned a set of daggers that sprouted from her wrists, creeping forward.
"I swear, she never cleans up her messes!" She grumbled, getting closer. "What's so special about you, anyway? 'The Wulfenite was nice', said D-Bomb. 'She won't hurt us', said D-Bomb. Just look at this now!" The Sunstone threw her hands in the air. "I've had enough!"
Wulfenite accepted her fate gladly, ever gripping the human to her chest as the two glowing blades sliced through her and the world went black.
A/N: SIGH. Another one... Enjoy, R&R, and all that. Updates will only happen if people show interest in the reviews because I've got way too much to do.