Disclaimer; I own neither Homestuck nor Steven Universe. The SUstuck AU belongs to Ikimaru on Tumblr.

"Hey, you ready John?" Rubellite asked John as she came into the kitchen. "You're strifing with me today." John had been strifing with Topaz and Emerald for the past few days, but he still hadn't had a chance to strife with Rubellite. "Are we going to use weapons today?" John asked excitedly, looking up from his breakfast. The past few days had been fists only; Rubellite had all jokingly dubbed them as 'Fistkind', what ever that meant. Rubellite shook her head.
"I don't think so."
"aww..."
"Heeey, don't worry kiddo, I'm sure you'll get to use weapons soon. Maybe even your mother's Trident." This last part was said quietly, as Rubellite left the room to head outside. John finished his breakfast and set the bowl in the sink, quickly rinsing it out. He headed outside to where the Gems were waiting. Frigglish slipped out the door as John closed it, meowing. He sat down on the stoop, tail high in the air. The cat's pants still hadn't been found, so he was still wandering around in only a suit jacket. "Ready John?" Rubellite asked. "Yeah!" John shouted, running off the stoop into the yard. "Don't harm him." Topaz told Rubellite before turning to Emerald. "Pfft, I won't."

"Alright, you two can stop." Topaz called out as John deflected another blow from Rubellite. Strifing with Rubellite was far different than it was with Emerald and Topaz; They fought with Swords and guns, while Rubellite fought with her fists. More often John was blocking her than dishing out his own blows. John rubbed his arm gently; Rubellite had been more than a little enthusiastic at first, but she had eased up as the strife progressed.
"I didn't get you too hard, did I?" Rubellite asked.
"Nah, I'm fine." John said, shaking his head. It wasn't much more than a bruise.
"Alright John, why don't you go grab a jacket?" Emerald said. "Huh? But... it's summer" "We're going somewhere that's a bit more chilly." Emerald explained as Topaz turned about to head to the gazebo. "Go grab your jacket, and meet us on the warp!" Emerald enthused as he turned to follow Topaz. John nodded and slipped back into the house, letting Frigglish back in as well. He grabbed his jacket and ran out of the house, slowing down once he entered the gazebo. The gems were waiting there for him, up on top of the Home Warp. John jumped up on it, wondering where they were headed to.

The warp stream faded out to reveal what looked like a long, smooth slab of rock. As the stream completely dissipated, John looked around, taking in his surroundings. Wait; were those clouds over there? Old, dilapidated pillars rose up from the ground, some of them fallen down, some intact with minimal weathering. John stepped off the warp as the gems did the same. His foot landed on unyielding, yellowed stone. He looked up as something tapped his shoulder. Topaz was standing behind him, one hand held out, holding a hammer.
"Here." He said as John took it. "See if you can knock down one of the pillars." He instructed, pointing to one of the more intact ones. "But..." Before he could ask why, Rubellite rushed forward, summoning her gauntlet, smashing into a pillar. The rock groaned, hairline cracks worming their way through before expanding; The pillar toppled over with a harsh CRACK! Before landing on the ground in chunks.
"And that's how it's done." Rubellite said, making a show of brushing her hands off. Topaz was silent for a moment before pointing to a different one.
"Try aiming for the base." He said. John looked down at the hammer. When Topaz had handed it to him, he had set it down, as it was pretty heavy. He lifted it up off the ground an inch or so, then tried to walk it over to the pillar Topaz pointed at. Topaz watched as the boy made his way to the pillar and raise the hammer a little more.
John struggled to lift it higher than his waist, but after a minute he managed to raise it high enough to take a swing at the base.
It landed on the yellow stone with a dull thunk, and one or two cracks wormed their way through the impact site. John let out a breath, and tried again, this time bringing the hammer up like a golf club and letting it fall back down. Good, he was letting the hammer do the brunt of the work. A few more whacks and John was breathing heavily, the pillar still standing. John set the hammer down, looking up at the pillar.
"A few more hits should do it..." He took a deep breath and tried to raise the hammer again. "John." He lowered the hammer again and looked up at Topaz. "Hold it like this." He instructed, moving John's hands. "You won't have to swing as hard." John raised the hammer again, letting it swing back into the pillar. Topaz watched as John hit it again, while in the background Rubellite was sitting at the top of one of them, waving her arms and looking down at Emerald.
"Hey, Why's John using a hammer? Why not a trident?" She shouted.. "Because I do not have a trident." Topaz told her.
"But I do happen to have a hammer, and that is a lot safer than a sword."
Rubellite lept off the pillar, landing lightly on the ground. "Guess we'll have to make one for you to use until you can summon yours, John." Topaz leaned over and pushed on the pillar after John hit it again. It shifted slightly, creaking loudly. "One good hard hit here should do it." Topaz said, crouching down a little to point to the center of the dent. "Got it" John panted. He waited for Topaz to move, but Topaz only shifted to the side, one hand resting on the pillar. "You won't hit me." He said, the faintest of smiles on his face. John nodded slightly before turning his attention back to the hammer. He raised it as high as it would go, then let it slam back down with a resounding THWACK. It toppled backwards, crashing to the ground. "Alright John! you show that thing who's boss!" Rubellite enthused. "We'll have you taking down baddies in no time!" John smiled at the praise, and set the hammer down. "You want to see if you can take down another one?" Emerald shouted from across the platform. John shook his head. "Not yet! This hammer's heavy!" He yelled back.
"I'll see if I can find a lighter one." Topaz said. John shook his head.
"All I need to do is get stronger." He said with a smile. "That's the spirit John!"

Alright, so for the next couple weeks, I'll be posting shorter chapters.
This way, I'll be able to spend more time on each chapter, instead of a rush to finish it on Wednesday :3
After a couple weeks, hopefully they'll be nice, long, 5k+ word chapters :D

Thanks for reading!
*A3C Ollies Outie*

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