The sun was just peaking over the horizon when Pearl, who had no need for sleep, stepped outside onto the beach. Often, Pearl found herself stepping outside in the early hours of the morning to watch the sunrise. It was something she had done when Rose was still alive. Rose had loved Earth's sunrises and Pearl had found herself joining her, silently watching the colours of the Earth's sky transition from oranges and pinks to the bright day time blue.
On this morning, there were no clouds to be seen, and Pearl made her way to her favourite place to watch from, gracefully leaping up the stone figure of the temple to sit on its head. She sighed as the colours of the sunrise bled across the sky, reflecting in the ocean. She turned her gaze to the slowly waking town of Beach City, watching as the sunlight hit the sleepy buildings, dusting them in soft pink light. Rose would have loved this sunrise, Pearl thought to herself. She shook herself, berating herself for thinking of Rose during one of her precious moments to herself. Getting to her feet, she leaped from the head of the temple back onto the soft sand beach, making her way back to the beach house in order to begin her work for the day.
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Meanwhile, inside, Steven lay awake in bed. He had a feeling something was different this morning. His instinct was urging him to go outside and find out, but he had heard Pearl leave the house, so he stayed put until she returned. He waited until she had gone into her room in the temple before he got out of bed, tip toeing over to where Connie was. Connie was wide awake too.
"I think something's different this morning," he whispered as she sat up in bed, "I get the feeling something's outside."
"Well what are we waiting for?" she asked, slipping out of bed. They tiptoed down the stairs and Steven was opening the door as quietly as could, when Amethyst awoke on the floor behind them.
"Huh?" she grunted, sitting upright, "Steven, Connie, where the hell are you two going at this hour?" She yawned and stood as Steven and Connie exchanged guilty looks,
"Uhh…" Steven began, scrambling to find a reason. Amethyst narrowed her eyes,
"You gonna tell me?" she asked, "Or do I have to tag along to find out?" Steven gulped, turning and tugging Connie out the door, attempting to flee from Amethyst's curiosity. The purple gem shape-shifted her arms longer and grabbed Steven and Connie by the collars of their pyjamas, pulling them to a stop. She followed them outside, making sure the front door closed quietly before returning her arms to their normal lengths.
"So I guess I'm gonna have to tag along," she said, following them away from the beach house. Once they were far enough away, Amethyst stopped them,
"So why were you two sneaking out of the house at an hour like this?" she asked, hands on her hips. Steven and Connie looked at each other nervously,
"I - We had a feeling something's different this morning," Steven said, "Something's new, and it's here, on the beach, at this time of morning." Amethyst eyed him for a moment, before she spoke,
"So, where do your Spidey-senses tell you this thing is?" she asked, looking around the empty beach. Steven thought for a moment, before his gaze fell on the headland on which the temple sat,
"I have a feeling it's on the other side of the headland," he said. The three of them exchanged a look and wordlessly set off to walk around to the other beach.
As they rounded the corner, Steven made for where the tide had washed in overnight. There, on the white sand, lay a blue figure, her pale blue hair spread in a sandy halo around her and her arm stretched out, palm facing upwards, which revealed the pale blue gem that glittered in the centre of her palm.
"Well…" Amethyst said, "This is something new."
"What should we do with her?" Connie asked, as Steven approached the prone figure, kneeling and touching her face. The gem on the sand didn't respond to Steven's prodding, still lying limp on the sand. Steven turned to the others, his eyes wide,
"She won't wake up," he said, taking in the numerous scrapes covering her body and the deep wound on her wrist, "And she looks pretty battered."
"Shouldn't she have retreated to her gem by now?" Connie asked. Amethyst shrugged,
"I dunno," the purple gem said, "But I think we should take her back to the temple. She is a gem, and maybe we can help her." She stepped forward, crouching down to touch the blue gem's forehead before she scooped the unconscious gem into her arms and lifted her off the sand. They turned back, Amethyst cradling the blue gem, and started making their way back to the house as the sunrise colours faded away into the pale blue skies of early morning.
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Amethyst, Connie, and Steven stepped through the door of the house with the pale blue gem, who was still unconscious. As they came into the house, the temple door opened and Pearl and Garnet stepped out.
"Good morning, Steven, Connie, Amethyst," Pearl greeted, approaching them, "What were you three doing outside this early-" Pearl stopped speaking when she noticed the figure cradled in Amethyst's arms, "Who on Earth is that, Amethyst? And where did you get her from?"
"She was lying unconscious on the beach, so we brought her back here!" Steven announced, bouncing excitedly as Amethyst set the new gem on the lounge. As the purple gem set her down, her arm fell, revealing the gem on her palm. Pearl gasped,
"Another gem?" she exclaimed, suddenly very dizzy, "Why-? How-?" Garnet silently assisted Pearl in sitting down,
"She's not looking so good," Amethyst said, gazing down at the new gem, "Why hasn't she woken up yet?" Garnet turned to observe the gem on the lounge,
"It's this," Garnet said, tracing the metalwork of the cuff on the gem's wrist, "This stops her from using her gem powers, and also prevents her from regenerating and healing. I assume it's been designed to feed off her gem's energy, possibly in order to create a prison somewhere for her." The red fusion examined the cuff in closer detail, tracing the spot where one of the green stones had been broken off when the bracelet had been damaged,
"This cuff has kept her imprisoned using the energy from her gem and now, it's run out of its source. She is too weak to stay awake, but she will die if we cannot remove the cuff," Garnet explained, looking down at the blue gem and pushing the hair out of the unconscious gem's eyes.