Outside of Beach City - Evening
Despite having some injuries since the incident last night, Onyx walked as far as his feet could let him. From what he could tell, he left the town that the rebels stood.
His mind hasn't fully processed what occurred, it all went too fast for him to follow.
He just returned from the stasis bubble, Home World sent a... Battle ship? To Earth for some reason.
The human had Rose's gem and shield. A fight broke out and then fusion was in it.
"Nothing makes sense... Worse for the matter, I still don't know how much time passed. Or if..! Wait, where is the little Peridot at!? She wasn't in the shipwreck as far as I could see." He thought to himself while continuing to walk.
He walked.. And walked.. And walked until evening came through. He though that maybe, she was able to escape, somehow, and now is away from harm.
"Hmm? What a strange organic life..." He observed once more in his mind. He discovered some sort of plant, that had a wheat color to it. From his eyesight, it looked like a field was made to house the plant.
"That's a lot of organic matter... It could be harmful to our kind, if we don't test it out first." He theorized while extending his hand to touch it. With much hesitation, he touched it, slightly tensed in case it tried to harm him. But nothing happened.
"I see. A docile organic life that seems to follow the star's rays, up above." He thought as he noticed that they followed it. Though something intrigued him greatly. From the very basic defensive system that was stationed next to the organism, a clear patch of the matter seemed to be obliterated.
As if, something crashed at high speed... And it's... glowing?
"I better check what is making it glow. It might be a human trying to scare of any other organic creatures that feast in this strange plant." He said in his mind before passing through the wheat colored field.
As he came closer, the brighter it became from the glow. When he finally passed through the wheat colored field, he saw a strange pod in the center of a hole.
"Must of crash landed here recently, if the glow is this bright.." He speculated. Slowly, he slid down the hole and inspected it. It was dented in some places, but it seemed fine otherwise.
Suddenly, the tinted glass opened and Peridot crashed on the ground. She seemed out cold.
"Little one!" He mentally screamed in his head. Giving a quick glance at her body, he saw that she was overall fine, just knocked out from the crash site. "Thank the stars..." He heaved a small sigh of relief.
Looking around, he was sure that it would only be some time before the rebels would try to find her.
He had some options now. Give the little Peridot to the rebel army for information, or keep her safe and let her trust him overtime to learn a few things.
"That first thought isn't an option." He looked at the side as he mentally disagreed with that awful thinking.
Taking the second option, he grabbed her by her torso and put her in his right shoulder. Slowly and steady, he left the field and made his way to the a more concentrated organic life oriented zone. One where visibility to them would be lower than in the open field.
A walk of three hours. That's how long it took him, by being cautious and avoiding being spotted by the many humans that reside in their buildings.
Setting her down near a tall solid organic life, trees if he learned a thing or two when he was stationed here, he made a small campfire in the middle for the night. He saw the humans long ago do this, to provide some visibility and a comfortable feeling for each other.
It was quite easy to make one even. Grab a couple of sticks from the vegetation around him, a couple of rocks to make sure the fire wouldn't spread and then use friction between two sticks and you've done it. Though it took him a couple of tries to actually make the fire.
All he needed to do now, was to wait for the gem Peridot to wake up.
As he let the gem rest, he would see the fire flicker and dance. It was hypnotizing for a moment, until he started looking at his right hand. It hadn't regenerated yet.
"This will be annoying, if it doesn't regenerate faster." He thought as he put his left hand over his severed wrist.
The only thing he can do, is just wait. He wasn't talented as a healer as other Onyx type gems. The best he could do was heal small scratches at best.
Speaking of scratches, he had a few of them, but since he's using his energy to regenerate a limb, they need to wait for a bit before being treated.
...
A couple of hours passed and finally, his hand regenerated, likewise with the wound he had on his left arm from Pearl's spear. It must've passed around two to three and yet, the little Peridot hasn't woken up yet.
"Is she actually fine?" He mentally asked himself as he drew closer to her. Not touching her, he inspected her once more. This time he was more observant and saw that she was actually fine, minus the headache that she will fill once she wakes up.
Stretching his legs for a bit, he looked around and saw nothing still. Night had taken the vegetation and the only light that they had were from the lit fire that was becoming dim and the stars up above.
Not wanting to let the fire die out, he grabbed a few more sticks and added it to the flame. It's weak spirit now having something else to burn and satisfied with the fuel it received.
Having no need to do anything else, he sat down next to a boulder and looked up. He could see Home World's shining brilliance from where he stood.
Did the other Home World gems tried to find him or did they abandoned him when they were retreating?
He remembers it all. The great wounds that he had, the desperation on their expressions, the sadness of the rebel gem from stabbing him. He saw her and before he actually returned into his gem, the little one whispered to him 'Forgive me' before the light came rushing down to all of them.
"Are you alright, little ones?" He thought once more as he stared into the distance.
"Ugh... My head." Peridot said as her mechanical fingers hold her head.
She slowly got her eyesight adjusted enough for her to make out Onyx's figure. "Gah! You're the Onyx from the ship!" She then jumped up and grabbed the tree for support while making her floating fingers point at him.
He swiftly stood up and gestured her to calm down, but since she didn't understood gesture language, she thought he was going to pounce at her.
"Stay back! I'm warning you!" She made four fingers centralize on a single one and a small energy ball formed, aiming at him.
"Calm down. I'm not here to harm you." His shadow had transformed into a smoke message, probably because he had enough time to gather more energy from his walking.
"Lies! You were with those clods, so you're a threat!" She frantically looked at him. Ready to fire at him whenever she needs to.
Thinking carefully, Onyx sat down on the ground, simply looking at her.
"W-what are you doing? Is this some kind of trick to lower my guard?" She asked while looking around.
"Calm down. If you look carefully, you aren't near the crash site of the ship or in the pod you were in." He explained once more with his smoky message.
She was silent while looking around, never letting her fingers drop.
"T-Then where are we? Answer me!" She demanded while being a bit more aggressive.
"We're some ways away from the pod and far away from the rebels base. For now, we're safe." He informed once more. This seemed to make her relax a little bit, letting her fingers slowly fall apart.
"Why did you help me?" She asked while looking at him oddly.
"Many reasons. But the main one, is that you needed help." He said while relaxing his expression. This seemed odd to her.
"Help? Why would I need help from a lower gem like you?" She asked while belittling him. It didn't affect him whatsoever.
"I might not look much, but I can protect you." He said once more while standing, this made her fingers move slightly towards each other.
"I can't fight as well without my spear, but I can give you enough time to escape if they try to get to you." He slowly made his way towards her, step by step.
"Don't come any closer!" She yelled while pointing her fingers at him again, but this time, he didn't stop.
"All I'm asking" He was right in front of her, his chest being an inch away from her fingers. "Is for you to trust me."
"How can I trust you, if you aren't making any sense?" She asked while having an inner turmoil about shooting him or not.
"Because, I trust you more than I can trust them." He used his real voice to her. It still sounded strained and painful, but the message was sent.
She thought for a bit, while dropping her fingers. Figuring that it would be better to have an escape goat than nothing.
"You're an odd Onyx, you know that?" She commented while he took a step back, for her personal space.
"I've been called that before." He messaged her once more with a chuckle, using his voice is painful and so he uses his gestures or this message system to communicate.
"Did you had to carry me to such a heavily infested organic life?" She asked while looking at it annoyed.
"It's the best place for hiding, for now. The humans, during this time, are resting and the rebel gems are probably looking around for you using the warp pads." He explained while taking a few glances around the bushes, making sure that unwanted guests don't appear out of nowhere.
"Those clods are looking for me?! Argh! This is going to complicate with my mission!" She yelled with annoyance with the problem that arose.
"Easy. Nothing will happen if we plan things carefully and take our actions swiftly." He informed her with a calming expression.
"And what is your mission with this planet?"
"That's classified information, restricted only to Yellow Diamond and her subjects." She informed while holding into her information.
"Little Yellow?" He thought for himself while giving her no argument in return. Though he was curious.
"I need to get to the Prime Kindergarten, can you accompany me there? Even though you're weak as you said, you should be able to do that."
"The Prime Kindergarten? I don't think I know where it is anymore. The world changed too much since I last stood here." He explained while holding his chin with his left hand.
"Hmm... We should follow the map that I have." She said while spreading her fingers and making a hologram appear.
"Right now, we are here. We need to follow this route towards the nearest warp pad." She pointed out while drawing a course towards the location she specified.
"We shouldn't take the warp pads." He informed while shaking his head.
"Why not? It's the fastest way to get there." She remarked back while a little annoyed.
"They are possibly counting on us using it to catch us right away." He explained with gestures to further increase his point.
"Then what do you suppose we should do? Walk until we reach it?" He asked, to which he nodded.
"You're joking, right?"
"It'll take longer, but at least we'll be safe from not getting caught by them." He continued with this line of thought. He sincerely wished her safety, even if it meant that their objective would take a longer route.
With a sigh, she looked at him with annoyance.
"You make a valid point. I'll just reroute the coordinates to go straight to the kindergarten and not the warp pad." With a small swipe, she configured the map and made the finger retract back into their normal form.
"What time should we move out? The sooner the better, for your information."
"At the crack of dawn. It should be illuminated enough for us to see and head straight to it." He informed as he sat down.
"Why not leave now? We should take this moment to gain ground!"
"You've just woken up from a crash landing. I'm sure you're well enough to walk, but for now try resting for a bit longer. You and I need it." He explained while considering her being.
"This isn't necessary. If I'm fine enough to walk I should-!" She then fell down, from overexerting herself.
"Don't push yourself. Try resting for a bit. When morning comes you'll feel much better." He reinforced his idea of resting as she tried to get back up.
Soon she gave in and sat down, with her back against the tree. She seemed annoyed as she had to actually listen to his opinion.
"A Peridot listening to an Onyx... This is a good laugh back home." She said with a huff. "Just don't get overconfident. You're below me through and through. Sure you are a valuable accent to the military might by being a healer, but besides that, you're below me."
"Whatever you say, little Peridot." He replied while grabbing a few pieces of sticks and adding them to the fire, just to keep it lit for it's light.
"And could you stop with that 'little'? It's not appropriate for you to call other gems little, since you're in the midway to everything." She asked while watching him tug the fire with a stick.
"I'll try, but I won't promise you anything, Peridot." He replied while spreading the ash and already burned out wood. "But can I ask you something important?"
"Depends on what you want to know and if I feel like sharing it with you." She replied back while trying to wait patiently for the star to show its rays to the Earth.
"How long..." His phrase was slowly being made but soon, sounds were being made a few ways away, making him stop his message.
"You sure you saw a guy carrying a corpse over here?" A male voice asked while coming closer to them. It was somewhat deep, suggesting that it was still in his teen years.
"I'm sure dude! He tried hard to make sure no one saw him and he went through here!" Another male voice, no doubt the one that saw Onyx carrying Peridot.
Reacting quick, Onyx kicked the dirt over the fire and successfully put it out.
"Change of plans. We go now." He used his voice a second time. He didn't had enough time to waste to make a smoke message.
"W-what? Are they here already!?" Peridot jumped up, but as soon as she did, she felt numb on her legs making her look fragile. "I can't walk! This is your fault isn't it!?" She yelled while pointing at him.
"We don't have time to argue! I'm carrying you until you're good to walk again. Just tell me where to go!" He said while grabbing her bride style.
"Fine! Head that way!" She pointed with her metal fingers towards the right. Quick on his feet, he dashed with the exhausted Peridot on his arms, fleeing the forest in a instant.
Just as they left, the two teenagers came by their camping site and saw nothing there.
"Pfft, I knew you were lying. No one ever comes to these woods at night." The first teenager said while looking at his friend.
"But I swear dude! I saw him! And you can't miss out on a guy dressed in black while looking like a hobo!"
"All I know is that this was a waste of both our time. Come on, Maria is waiting for us."
"Argh! I swear I didn't imagine it!"As the two of them left, the ashes that still had embers to them grew colder and colder, until they were gone.
Beach City - Beach house - Evening
Steven was out with Connie, since they needed some time to tell everyone what happened to him.
"Garnet, can we talk for a minute?" Pearl asked concernely while Amethyst was in the living room relaxing after a day taking pieces of the ship wreckage inside the temple and securing it.
"Is it about Peridot? If so, than that can wait." She replied while heaving a large piece of gem technology.
"No! Not about her! It's about that Onyx.." To this, the fusion stopped on her tracks. "You know who he is, don't you?"
Amethyst kept a close ear listening in the topic. She wanted to know too when they had an Onyx by their side.
"I do. You should too, even if you've only met him once." She replied back while facing Pearl.
"I've met him before?" She asked with a questionable look.
"Every gem before the war knows him. He's been there for the important events and spent the most time with the Diamonds than any other gem."
"He what? Who is he if he can just come up to a Diamond with no care at all?" Pearl asked doubting that there was a gem alive to actually done the feat.
"He is Big Brother. A gem that has met every gem that came before the war." She said in a neutral tone.
"So what's the deal with him? Is he some kind of super gem or what?" Amethyst asked while sitting up.
"You can call him that, if you want." She responded back to her before looking at the both of them. "As soon as we finish clearing the ships wreckage, we need to find those two. The sooner the better." With that, she entered the temple to store the large debris away.
"Garnet, wait!" Pearl said in vain. "I've never met him... Did I?" She questioned herself. She wasn't a gem to forget, much less than that horrible time.
"Hey Pearl, what did she mean about 'the sooner the better'? Does she mean, we have to fight him?" Amethyst asked, she didn't mind fighting him at all, though she was curious about him. Especially being what Jasper called him, a 'Defective' Onyx.
"I'm afraid so." She replied while Steven returned back home.
"Hey guys! I'm back!" He replied cheerfully to them.
"Welcome home, little man." Amethyst said while lying back on the couch.
