Chapter 8: Hunt for Blue September
"So, what's it gonna be?" Sol calmly asked as he aimed his revolver at them. There was fear in their eyes. The Sapphire was clever at hiding it since she was made to be always calm and collected even in times of distress. But the Ruby, she showed it too well despite her attempts at hiding it. The fire in her eyes slowly faded away as she stared at the barrel of his gun.
"Stay away from her!" the Ruby threatened them as the Sapphire went behind her.
"Listen, runt." Morgan barged in. "You've done your job well, maybe too well. Why don't you just hand over the Sapphire and we'll just leave. Consider yourself grateful that you're low priority in Blue Diamond's eyes."
"If you want her," the Ruby slammed her hands, summoning a red gauntlet. "You have to pass through me!"
Morgan sighed, "You really don't know when to call it quits do you?" He dashed forward, knocking the Ruby away and grabbing the Sapphire by the arm. "Sorry little Gem, but you've been reassigned from guard duty." Just as he tried pulling the Sapphire away, he noticed that the Gem had encased the bottom half of herself in ice. "You're really making this more difficult."
Suddenly, Ruby pounced on his back, grabbing hold of his head. "Stay away from her!"
Sol quickly aimed his revolver at the Ruby and waited to get a clean shot. The window of opportunity came and he fired, hitting the small red Gem by the arm. She fell down as her left arm crumbled.
"I had enough of this!" Sol exclaimed. "Morgan, kill the Ruby and grab the Sapphire before—"
"Ruby, Sapphire!" A voice called out from nearby. Three figures appeared, a slender Gem between two bulky ones.
"Pe-Pearl, h-help!" Ruby pleaded to the slender Gem before she fell unconscious from the pain.
"Ruby!" Pearl gasped in horror before she turned her eyes towards the two intruders and drew her swords. "We won't let you take them!"
Diamonds take me, why did it have to be her out of all Gems? The infamous renegade Pearl was the last rebel Sol wanted to fight. She was, after all, Orthoclase's former student. The thought of his grieving brother still plagues his mind, and killing her would make it even more worse. And that wasn't all he feared. Orthoclase had also taught her some of his swordfighting techniques, the same techniques she used to kill the countless Homeworld soldiers that fell by her blade. Facing her would be like facing his brother. He turned to Morgan, looking for some kind of response. But the Beryl had that look on his face, the look of vengeance.
"Ah, so you're the defective renegade Pearl that serves as Rose Quartz's second-in-command." He said before summoning his two hatchets. a menacing grin revealed his almost perfect looking teeth. "Killing you would be half as satisfying as killing that pink chubby traitor herself!"
The two clashed, axes met swords as the forest echoed. Clang and clang they went before Pearl tried to lunge forward, only for Morgan to sidestep, disarming her and kicking her away. He chuckled at the sight of the easily defeated Gem that had been the end for many Homeworld soldiers. Even Sol was surprised. Morgan is barely a master swordfighter and yet he manages to disarm her that quick. Has Pearl gone rusty? He remembered how delighted Orthoclase was at training her under his wing. It was one of the few moments he actually saw him being happy. If he saw her now, he would've been ashamed.
"Wow, you're miserable, even for a Pearl." Morgan taunted before kicking the swords back to his opponent. "C'mon, this fight is far from over."
Angered by the insult, Pearl grabbed her swords and charged at the Beryl with full force.
Sol and the other two rebels had been too busy watching the two combatants fight until they had forgotten about themselves. When their eyes met, a new fight erupted.
He was outnumbered two-to-one, but he was never outmanned. One of the rebels, a Prasiolite summoned a mace and tried to smash him with it. Sol rolled to the right and stabbed her in the left leg. The Prasiolite gave ground, hissing in pain before she stared up at the gleaming orange tip of the Sunstone's dagger.
Before he could plunge it down, the other rebel rushed at him, spear in hand. Sol sidestepped left, shifting his focus on his new enemy. She had a better reach over him. Her spear could get him before he could even get to her. But he didn't even need to get close to her.
Sol baited her to move left before casting a wave of fire at her, leaving her dazed and scarred. As she regained her sights, she saw the black-and-orange barrel of a gun and met her end in a blazing orange light. Sol crushed her gemstone for good measure before moving on to the Prasiolite.
The green Quartz was back on her feet, though she was limping on one leg. She slowly swung her mace in a wide descending arc, missing her target and smashing the ground. Seeing how weak she was, Sol decided to end her quick, shooting her crippled leg, sending her screaming as she collapsed. The Prasiolite looked up, breathing heavily as she waited for her end.
"Sorry, but you chose the wrong side." Sol solemnly said before pulling the trigger. A puff of smoke exploded around him and dissipated a few seconds later.
He looked to where Morgan and Pearl were fighting and he could still here the clang of steel meeting steel. They're still fighting? He moved closer and saw the fight that unfolded.
Morgan seemed to be at an advantage over a furious and near exhausted Pearl. He had a few cuts on his arms, but they were just minor compared to the rebel's. The grin on his face was constantly mocking her. Pearl raised both her swords to attack, but the pink Beryl moved to the right, easily dodging it and kicked her down.
"Seriously, is this the best that Rose Quartz's second-in-command has to offer?" Morgan spat at the ground. He was enjoying this moment, toying with Rose Quartz's prized 'pet', picturing her as the rebel leader herself. If Morganite could buy time, he would spend all his credits just to rewind this day over and over again. "Tell me, what makes you so special that she chose you out of all Gems as her second-in-command?"
"Be-because," A tear ran down her cheeks before she snapped her head forwards, eyes burning with fury. "Because she believed in me!"
Pearl attacked with a flurry of slashes. It came fast and wild, often missing Morgan by a few inches. He retaliated by bring down his hatchets on her. The pale Gem blocked it by crossing her swords, blades grinding against each other. While she blocked the attack, Pearl had failed to realize that she had left an opening for him.
Morgan pulled his hatchets, yanking her swords away from her hands. He then grabbed hold of Pearl's left shoulder and kneed her stomach, driving the air out of her. She collapsed down into the ground, coughing as she held her stomach in pain. Morgan circled around her with eyes burning of hatred.
"That's a lie!" He shouted at her face. "She just said that just so you could feel special about yourself. You think just because you could wield a sword, that makes you a better warrior than a Quartz? You're nothing but a Pearl!"
"Morganite, that's enough!" Sol tried to intervene but it was too late. His friend was already caught up in his emotions to be even heard.
"But you know what's the good part about this is?" Morgan asked Pearl in a sinister tone. "Once I'm done with you, Rose will have to find another Pearl to take your place."
"Noo!" Pearl suddenly tackled Morganite's leg, bringing him down to the same level as she was and grabbed one of her swords. She then stabbed him in the lower right side of his body before raising her other sword above his head. "This is for Rose!"
Morgan would have met his end if not for a blast of orange light that shot through the Pearl's chest. Her eyes were twitching as she moved her hand at the gaping hole in her chest before poofing back into her gemstone.
Sol stared blankly at the white gemstone as his hands started shaking, causing his gun to drop. I'm sorry, Orthoclase. I had no choice.
Morganite approached him, his hand clenching on the wound the Pearl had made. "Sol, you okay?" He waved a hand in front of his face.
Sol finally snapped out from his trance "Y-yeah, I'm okay." Then, he was hit with a sudden burst of realization. "The Sapphire! Where is she?"
"Gone," Morgan revealed with a frown, pointing at a chunk of shattered ice nearby. "She took the Ruby with her too. But on the bright side, we have Rose Quartz's second-in-command's—"
"There over here!" More voices shouted from the distance, their footsteps stomping through the forest, getting louder and louder for every passing second. By the sound of it, there were at least a dozen of them.
"Great, more of them." Morgan tried to summon his weapons, but his wound made it difficult for him to concentrate. He knelt down on the ground after he was hit by a surge of pain.
"You're in no condition to fight," Sol informed him. "And there's too many of them for me to handle alone. Our best option is a tactical retreat."
"Retreating's for cowards!"
Pyrite's stones, now he's talking like Janae. "Better to live and fight another day than die today."
Morgan groaned. "By my dead Diamond, I hate it when you're right."
Sol slid one of Morgan's arms around his shoulders and lifted him up. The shouts were getting louder by now. As much as he wanted to retrieve Pearl's gemstone, there was no time. He took a small canister from Morgan's vest and threw it on the ground. It violently exploded, releasing a screen of smoke that provided them enough time to retreat into the forest without leaving trace.
Morgan sat on a rock as Sol inspected his wound. The Sunstone knew only basic medical procedures. Luckily, his wound counts as 'basic'.
Sol had been quiet for a while. Usually, that was a good thing since it means his focused on the mission. But after what had happened recently, he wasn't quite sure.
"How much… longer… is this gonna take?" He asked him as minor jolts of pain attacked him.
"Just have to make sure there's nothing left in your wound before it regenerates." There was a cold chill in his voice, like he didn't care much about his injury.
"Damn, that Pearl sure knows how to bite huh?" Morgan suddenly yelped when Sol pressed his wound. "What the heck did you that for?"
"What the heck is wrong with you!?" Sol countered angrily. "We had one job, and that was to bring the Sapphire back to Blue Diamond. Instead, you botched it up by engaging the Pearl, completely ignoring our main target. It would be fine if you had just finished her off there, but no, you decided to 'toy' with her until the Sapphire managed to escape under our noses."
Morgan lowered his head in shame. He had never seen Sol this angry at him before. It was like a miniature volcano suddenly exploded. "I'm… sorry." Those were the only words he could come out with. "But you don't understand…"
"Then help me understand." Sol then stopped and took a seat on another rock opposite to Morgan's. "Look, I'm your friend, and friends help each other out. I can't help you if you won't help yourself."
"Alright," Morgan breathe deeply before he began. "A few decades ago before we met, I was assigned by… the late Pink Diamond to serve as Rose Quartz's second-in-command. For a Beryl like myself, being a right-hand gem to a Quartz leader was considered a great honor. We fought in many battles together, had each other's backs and I provided her counsel when needed."
"You, providing counsel?" Sol let out a half-suppressed laugh much to Morgan's chagrin.
"Mind you that I wasn't the same Morganite as I was now. Anyways, as years go by, we became friends, much like you and I are now. Before I was transferred to the Joint Expedition Force, she told me that she believed that I was the greatest second-in-command that ever served her." Morgan found himself frowning after he said those bitter words. "I guess that was a lie seeing as how a Pearl managed to become her second-in-command. A Pearl, out of all Gems, do you know how ridiculous that sounds? She's mocking me you know. Rose is mocking me by having a house item serve her. When I find her, I'll wipe that mocking grin off her face before I rip her gemstone out."
Morgan found himself feeling more relaxed than before. "Wow, that felt good, letting these things off your chest, you know? I should've done this years ago." As he tried to stand up, the pain suddenly came back to him, forcing him to stay down. "Could you…uh, finish up with my wound?"
Sol, who was caught in Morgan's story, spurred up instantly. "Oh right, almost forgot about that."
Once he was done, Morgan's wound slowly regenerated by itself. There was still the slight feeling of pain coming from it, but it would disappear eventually. The two made an equipment check before continuing their search for the Sapphire.
By now, the rebels have increased their patrols and they were armed. The Sapphire was still out there, wandering aimlessly in the dense forest. A forest is no place for a civilian Gem to wander into, let alone an aristocrat. She had the Ruby, but given how Sol had shot her arm off, she wouldn't that much of use for her for a while. Sooner or later, those two would stumble into them or the rebels. Morgan was putting high hopes that it was the former. They stopped by a small ditch. The ground was damp. A campfire had been made here, the branches still burning of embers.
"They were here." Morgan claimed, examining the ground. "I think this is a good place to start launching the drone."
Sol agreed and opened his backpack. He pulled out a black rod and a small green orb, courtesy of the R&D Department. He tossed the orb up into the air and stretched the black rod, revealing a holographic screen.
The orb hovered around, scanning the area for the whereabouts of their targets. A few minutes later, it started making a low beeping noise, indicating it has found something. Sol flicked his fingers across the orange neon screen, his eyes widened upon seeing the results.
"The orb picked up some heat signatures just a few meters from here. It's coming from something small."
"The Ruby," Morgan surmised. "And when there's her…"
"There's the Sapphire." Sol finished his sentence, grinning. He collapsed the screen back into its cylindrical form and called the orb back before they head off.
The forest was filled with all sorts of noises. Howls, chirps and hoots; all of them weren't as imposing as the footsteps of Gems that patrolled the dense wooded area. Their heavy stomps quickly silenced the rest when they approached.
Morgan and Sol hid behind the trees, waiting for the patrol to pass through. Three gems of different size and color walked through the dark woods, their gemstones shone beams of light that cut through the darkness. Morgan could hear them talking about something, but their voices were too soft for him to get the full story.
"…find those intruders… and the Ruby and Sapphire…" The lead Gem said.
"I hear Pearl got injured…" A second voice added. This one was coarse and slightly louder than the first's. "She's back at base, recovering…"
"Just wait… my hands of those…" The third Gem tried to say something but by the time she spoke, her voice was already a whisper as the patrol disappeared into the black forested night.
Morgan and Sol emerged out from their cover, slowly watching the beams of light fade away. They made note of the mentioning of a 'base' thanks to the patrol. It wasn't enough information but at least they knew that the rebel's base was near… and the Pearl somehow survived. I should've killed her there and then. Morgan cursed himself as he touched his healed wound, a 'gift' from the defective house item. I'll make sure to return it to her if I ever find her again.
After more evading and trekking, they finally reached their objective but there was no sign of the Ruby or the Sapphire. "Nothing," Sol sighed. "But there's no way they could've disappeared that quick. Maybe I should—" He was suddenly cut off by a raise of a hand from Morgan who had a suspicious look on his face. "Something wrong, Morgan?"
"How long would it take for a Ruby to regenerate an arm?" He asked him.
"Around 4 hours, if they're well rested." Sol answered before he retaliated with his own question. "Why are you asking me this?"
"If you were the Ruby, you would definitely try and find some place to hide while you recover right?"
"Right…" Sol quickly caught on with what Morgan was trying to imply. They slowly readied their weapons and began searching.
There still here… but where? Morgan wondered as his eyes surveyed the area. His ears suddenly picked up movement from the trees and he reacted by throwing a hatchet at one of them.
"Ahh!" A voice shouted. It was deep, very different than the Ruby's.
"Show yourself or we'll burn you out!" Morgan declared.
"Do we really have to burn them out?" Sol whispered to him.
"Not really. I just want to see if they would fall for it or not."
A figure slowly emerged from the shadowy trees and revealed herself. It was Gem unlike anything the two had ever seen. Her 'dress' was a messy color of pink and blue along with her puffy cube-shaped head. She had three eyes, which was quite an uncommon feature for any Gem to have.
"Don't hurt u—me!" The Gem pleaded.
"She's not our target, Morgan." Sol remarked, slightly lowering his revolver. But the Beryl wasn't swayed by the notion. There was something odd about the Gem. Her eyes were of different colors, each one of them and when she revealed herself, her hands were clutched together… as if she was hiding something.
"Show me your hands." Morgan ordered, frightening the Gem. "I said show me your hands!"
"Do as he says, for your own safety." Sol urged.
The Gem reluctantly opened her hands, showing a gemstone on each of them. Morgan was puzzled at the reveal but when he turned to Sol, he had that look of disbelief in his face. "The mixed fusion…" He heard him mutter. "Morgan, this Gem is actually a fusion! It's the Ruby and Sapphire."
"What!?" Before he could say anything else, Morgan turned around and saw the fusion escaping. Great, now we're chasing a fusion!?
They chased after the fusion. Despite her appearance, she moved fast, but they were gaining. Sol fired a shot at a tree in front of her. It came toppling down, blocking the fusion's path but she jumped across.
"You're making this hard on yourself!" Morgan called out before he threw his hatchets at two more trees. They tumbled down, trapping her. He had no idea what would happen if they attempted to poof her. This wasn't a normal fusion, it was a mixed fusion. It was something out of the ordinary, so they had to be careful. "Just give up, you have nowhere to go."
"Please no!" The fusion pleaded as she slowly backed herself against the fallen trees. "Don't take us back to Cloud Arena."
"Whatever beef you had with Blue Diamond is not my problem. I'm just doing my job." He then re-summoned his hatchets and said; "Now, either you come with us peaceful, or are we going have to settle this like 'uncivilized' Gems?"
"Ugh, Morganite..." Sol abruptly interrupted them. "I don't think we're the only ones here."
Morgan saw him slowly pointing his finger at the bushes. Realizing that the rebels have surrounded them, they quickly change positions, putting their backs against each other. Sol kept watch on the bushes to see how many of them were there while Morgan still had his eyes and axes on the fusion.
"I say around six of them, probably" Sol estimated, his voice lowered to a whisper. "Two are Quartzes."
"How can you tell?"
"Because I could see their beefy muscles sticking out like a sore thumb."
"So we got two Quartzes and four non-Quartz Gems." Morgan chuckled. "Looks like the odds are against us once again."
"As always," Sol replied.
The forest went silent as the two waited to see who would make the first move. The fusion just stood there, unable to move because of Morgan's deadlock eyes fixated on her. One wrong step and she would be turned to a puff of smoke. The leaves sighed when a breeze of wind passed through. Then, it began.
The two Quartzes leaped out from the bushes, pulling out their weapons. One had a maul while another had a greatsword. Both of them were wearing breastplates. They charged at the two, bringing out their warcries. Sol charged a fireball on his left hand and threw it at the Quartzes. It exploded in a blinding light. Morgan switched positions with the Sunstone and attacked the two stunned Gems. The fusion still couldn't able to move as Sol's revolver was aimed at her.
Morgan relentlessly attacked the Quartzes, giving them no time to recover. Hit hard and fast. He told himself. Never show mercy for the enemy will give none. Despite the two towering above him, he moved below them, using his speed to outmatch their brute strength. He hacked away at the maul-wielding Quartz's legs, bringing her down to his level. Morgan climbed up her back and jumped down, plunging his hatchets into the back of her head.
Then, the bushes came alive with arrows. Instead of finding cover, Morgan charged at the last Quartz who raised her greatsword above her head. The blade came down but the pink Beryl slide underneath her legs, slashing them as he passed through. He then danced around the Quartz, infuriating her even more as she tried to slice him. The situation was made even more entertaining as arrows flew pass their heads, some hit the Quartz by the shoulders and arms while a few flinched off her breastplate.
Morgan could do this all day, but he can't. I mustn't make the same mistake again. As the great cleaving blade came down at him once again, he jumped back, paying attention to the arrows that came at him as he did. The Quartz tried to pull her greatsword out from the ground but Morgan used it as a platform to rush at the rebel and kicked her in the face. He then sank his hatchets into the rebel's collar, sending both of them crashing down. As the Quartz poofed, Morgan grabbed her discarded armor and used it as a shield to block the incoming arrows.
"A little help here would be nice!" He shouted at Sol as the arrows deflected off the heavy thick breastplate.
The Sunstone threw a fireball at the bushes with his eyes still fixated on the captured fusion. It exploded, lighting the bushes on fire as the archers ran out, screaming in pain as the flames engulfed their bodies. Morgan quickened their end with his hatchets, but it wasn't over yet.
"You said there were six of them."
"I did say probably."
"Probably?"
"Well, what matters is that we have the—" Sol was interrupted by the fusion giggling. "Is there something funny?" He asked her in an annoyed tone.
The fusion only smirked. "You'll see…"
Suddenly, two canisters popped out from nowhere and filled the whole area in smoke. The two Homeworld soldiers went tensed when they saw two shadowy figures appeared in front of them. They were Beryls. One was an Aquamarine while the other one was an Emerald.
"Cousins of yours?" Sol asked whimsically.
"Hardly," Morgan curled his lips before engaging the two Beryls. The Emerald summoned a double-edge sword and their blades met. They exchanged blows. Sparks flew from their blades as they moved back and forth. Morgan's aggressive fighting style put the Emerald under constant pressure, forcing her to stay on the defensive.
He glanced to his right and saw Sol effortlessly dodging the Aquamarine's attacks. Her weapon was a three-pronged spear but it was proven useless against the Sunstone's agility. He tried to look for the fusion, but the smokescreen was too thick. Something's wrong… Morgan thought. Eventually, he shifted his focus back to the Emerald when he saw her lunging at him. He managed to parry the attack and countered by slamming his forearm at her face. "Sol, there's something wrong here!"
"You don't say?" The Sunstone replied as he drove his dagger into the Aquamarine's gemstone which was embedded on her belly. The smokescreen soon dissipated with the fusion gone.
"Dammit, we've lost her again!" Morgan was fuming with frustration. How hard is it just to capture a damn Sapphire!?
Sol could only sigh. "I'll go deploy the drone."
"No need to," Morgan dismissed. He looked at the downed Emerald and grinned. "I have a better idea."
Author's Note:
Hurray! Looks like this story has now reached 1000 views. Thanks for those who read and are currently reading this story.
So it seems I had to extend the 'Search for Sapphire Arc' by two more chapters. There was a lot of combat scenes in here and I tried to put a bit of detail in every one of them. Note that in my stories, Gem take much more longer time to regenerate their wounds and more longer if they lose their limbs.
Anyways, reviews are always welcome since I wanna know if you're liking this story so far.
