It's 2:45 in the morning here, so I'm just gonna leave this here.
It rained the next morning, the wind sending stinging gusts of water at the group actively working to protect the materials from the storm, the metal materials in particular. No one wanted those to corrode. The waves made working on the pier itself impractical. As it was, Rose suggested they help William and Buddy build their houses and plan their town. He looked nervously at Garnet who stood impassively next to her wife. He still blushed whenever he saw her but the lofty glares her shorter partner sent him scared him. He liked to think she was beginning to warm up to him. He saw her leaning up out of the corner of his eye, her arm stretching to reach something above the statuesque woman. When her hand pulled back, she had a strange purple mouse sitting in her palm.
The way her lips moved as though speaking still confused him. She rarely uttered a sound yet all of her friends appeared to understand her clearly, whether it was lip-reading, sign language, or the strange way the stone in her forehead lit up to show pictures in the eerie blue light. The mouse said something in return to which Pearl raised an eyebrow. They both looked to Rose's smiling face before Pearl sighed and nodded.
"Do you wonder if we'll ever understand any of this?" Buddy asked.
Will thought about it for a moment. "Yes, I do. We won't know if we don't try, though." Buddy gave him an admiring grin. His captain's perseverance was what led him to follow the man despite his many failures. "For now, let's help them build the pier. Then we can start on building Beach City."
"Will," his first mate started, "How are people going to know about this place? We're the only two here."
"They'll know," answered a baritone voice. Garnet smiled enigmatically at the two men. "Rose, Amethyst, and Pearl will help."
"Not you or Celestite?" She didn't answer that question.
"Pearl, we have a mission." The pink-haired dancer grinned moving quickly to the warp pad.
Rose stopped the fusion as she went to join her mate. "Be careful."
"We will," she promised.
The warp pad hummed as it glowed. Pearl and Garnet stepped off the dais; the latter's hands moved in rapid succession. Her mysterious partner followed her to the temple door holding strange translucent bubbles over her palms. Will couldn't be certain, but he thought he saw crystals inside them. He shook his head and went back to carefully laying out the wooden planks that made up the walkway of Pearl's Pier as he called it. He hammered the boards into place, the metal ringing each the nails deeper into the wood. A shadow fell across his work space and he looked up.
Pearl held his canteen out. He took it surprised to find cool water inside instead of the tepid liquid he filled it with last. She smiled, kneeling next to him to inspect the work he'd done. It took him all morning to do it alone and he'd still gotten halfway finished before they returned. He didn't know where Rose Quartz and Amethyst went, and knew only that Celestite left using the strange platform. Buddy wanted to go fishing, and Will wasn't going to stop his friend from enjoying his favorite hobby. "Thank you, Miss Pearl."
She gestured around them, raising an eyebrow. He furrowed his brow for a minute before her meaning became clear. "They're all gone except for you, me, and Miss Garnet. The other Gems left on the glowing stone and Buddy's gone fishing."
A finger pointed it him, and then to the finished portion of the pier. He chuckled nervously. "Yes, I did. Did I…do it right?"
She nodded, resuming her inspection and finding nothing out of place. The human had done a surprisingly good job despite his blunders in all other areas. She had no complaints about his work. It appeared he didn't know his own skill, if the way he sweated heavily waiting for her response. That could also be the heat, she mused remembering humans felt the Earth's temperatures more than Gems. She smiled wider at him, nodding her approval.
Holding out her hand, Pearl nodded in the direction of the temple entryway. He accepted, standing easily and following her to the shaded area. Will nearly fell when he realized her understood her hand signs this time. He did trip when the realization that she'd only used simple signs for his sake. "Miss Pearl? Not that I mind, but shouldn't we be working on your pier?"
A series of quick tugs pulled him onto the dais. "Miss Pearl?"
With nary a word, she activated the warp. Will yelped as they were surrounded by blue light. His body felt lighter. The weightless feeling shocked him, and he struggled to feel the ground beneath his feet. When that failed, he panicked. Pearl rolled her eyes and put a restraining hand on his shoulder with a firm look. Her lips moved slowly to give the human time to read them. Calm down. You'll hurt yourself. He gulped, his eyes darting all around. He could trust her. He had to trust she'd keep him from trouble. Slowly his breath evened out, allowing him to think rationally. Pearl had brought him along. She calmed him when he freaked out. Now she was maintaining contact despite her own discomfort.
Will took another deep breath. He relaxed and let her know he felt better. His mute companion gave him a grin. She squeezed his arm, and then his feet touched solid ground. "What was that? Where are we?" The landscape looked totally unfamiliar to him. Tall thickets of reed-like plant with long narrow leaves towered over them, some as wide as his hand. They were so dense he couldn't see past them. Fallen leaves muted his steps as he walked around the clearing in wonder. Pearl sat on the warp pad and watched him while keeping an eye out for danger, aware that pandas were only pleasant from a distance. The territorial beings did not like threats to their food source and her fragile human acquaintance would definitely be seen as a threat.
Soon after, she led him to a town nearby. Will felt a little envious of the way Pearl interacted with the people here. She had even changed her clothes to match the style here. She waved at him and beckoned him over, offering him a bowl with a spoon. His eyebrows shot upwards. Everything he'd learned about her told him she didn't like eating at all. In fact, most of the time food was mentioned she looked disgusted. He brought a spoonful to his lips and saw Pearl do the same. She looked graceful all of the time so it shouldn't have been new to him that she would eat elegantly as well.
The moment he took his first sip he understood why she brought him to this foreign place. "How do you say 'thank you'?" He asked the knight. She set aside her empty bowl and raised her hands interlocks at the tips. He copied the way she did it, moving his fingers in a circle. The townsfolk around them smiled and nodded. Pearl talked with many of them as if she knew them well. It wasn't long before she realized she should take Will back to the beach, saying her farewells quickly with promises to return with Garnet, and led him back to the warp pad.
"Where are we?" Will asked again, this time more out of curiosity than worry.
"Ch…na…" Pearl managed.
Will froze. They were in China. Pearl knew people in China and like them. Taking a few long strides to catch up with her, he realized how important it was that she had shared this with him. He grinned. Catching her attention by calling her name, Will brought his hands up exactly as she showed him and signed, Thank you.