YOOOOOO! Welcome back. I have a bit of a message(more like some questions) but I'll wait till after the chapter to ask you guys, i hope you enjoyed last chapter and the extension of the chapters(speaking of which, I hope you read the last chapter, i replaced the message with a chapter... so if you didn't see it, go see it), cause here is another one. This chapter is going to be a little bit farther into the future, so we're finally moving along!

~Change of plans~

Steven heard a sound to his left, a twig breaking, then to his right, a rock being kicked, his eyes followed the noises he heard, his ears tracked the movement of his foe. He stood like a frog, his legs bent with his knees in front of him with his hands balancing him in the front. He leapt into the air, doing a flip to dodge a flashing dagger. He landed back on the ground, a drop of sweat ran down his forehead. He twitched his eyes to the left and leapt again, he used a nearby tree to propel him to the attacker hiding in the bushes and tackled his foe. Onyx-Agate was pressed against the ground with a thud, Steven had her pinned with his hands on her wrists, pushing them into the ground, he was sitting on her stomach to lock the rest of her into place. She struggled for a second in attempt to get away, then relaxed, smiling up at the grinning boy.

"You're getting much better Steven." Onyx-Agate said, Steven's smile widened. "You took me down faster than yesterday." She said. Steven hopped up, doing a cheer with his fists pumping in the air. It had only been one year, but he had changed quite significantly. He had gone from being five feet three inches tall, to being five feet nine inches. His shoulders had broadened a bit, his chest was fairly muscular and his stomach was flat, his face had gone from being cute to being handsome. His hair was the only thing that stayed the same. His voice had only slightly deepened, it was still cracking which meant he had had a couple more years before it stopped.

Steven was still celebrating, running around as he always did when he was happy. He was wearing an official Homeworld training outfit, a black thermal suit that changed his body temperature based on the environment. Right now, it was keeping him nice and cool in the hot, stuffy forest they had moved to to train. Onyx-Agate was wearing the same suit, but instead of being black, it was multiple shades of purple.

She stood up and dusted herself off, smiling as she watched the young man self-celebrating. As much as it pained her to say it, she had actually grown quite fond of Steven. She was still using him as a tool, he was still just a pawn in her plan, but he had become close to her in a way that bacteria becomes close to a wet object. She hated to love him, yet at the same time, she loved to hate him.

"How long did it take me today?" Steven asked. Onyx-Agate clicked a part of the wrist of the suit and a digital clock appeared, it brought up a bunch of foreign symbols that translated into earth numbers.

"It took you twenty minutes and thirty-one seconds. It may sound impressive, but considering you had gone feral for most of that time, it's pretty disappointing. You need to be faster." Onyx-Agate said. Steven slouched a bit.

"I would be faster, but these suits weigh a ton." Steven said, he udjusted the collar of the suit as he spoke.

"The suit doesn't weigh a 'ton', Steven, it's only five-hundred and fifty pounds, you're lucky we started with a lower weight and built up to this point.. Trust me though, it's going to be worth it." Onyx-Agate said.

"Yeah yeah, "it's building my strength and speed with every move I make." I've heard it before." Steven said, his spirits had been harshly mellowed. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and let out a soft 'harumph'. Onyx-Agate, who had been watching him, put her hands on her hips and transferred her weight on one leg, standing in a slightly annoyed, slightly sympathetic stance. She sighed.

"We'll celebrate you exceeding your personal record, alright?" She said. Steven didn't alter his form, but she saw a tiny smile on his face. She beckoned him to follow her, and they made their way back to their camp. The camp they made wasn't too impressive, it was just a makeshift place to take shelter in until the training was done.

"So, Onyx. When are we going back to the cave?" Steven asked his mentor, he enjoyed the hut they were in now, but the old cave was much better. Compared to the itchy grass that made up the floor, the solid, rocky floor was much more comfortable.

"We're just about finished up here, but we're not returning to the cave. We're going to go somewhere with water next so we can get some training there. After that, we'll return to the cave." Onyx-Agate said.

"Alright, what kind of training are we doing at the next place?" Steven asked, he hopped over a fallen log and continued walking.

"First, you're going to learn how to be able to hold your breath for days, then you're going to learn how to see clearly through the water and learn to use the underwater environments as camouflage. From then on, it's going to be the same as what we were doing here. Under the water, your movements will be slow, so it's going to help your stamina, your speed, and your strength." She replied. The hut was coming into view, it looked extra shabby from the outside: the roof was barely a roof, the walls were barely standing, and the color looked dirty and faded.

"That's gonna be so cool!" Steven said doing a light jump. They reached the doorway of the hut, the inside of it looked even worse than the outside. It was small, the rooms were separated by walls of poorly strewn sticks, all that was in there was made of what was outside; chairs made of rocks, tables made of the trees, the beds made of grass, etc.

"I guess you could call it 'cool'." Onyx-Agate said. She was fixing a snack for Steven made out of a tree frog and bugs. She hated Steven's human genes, she only saw it as a weakness. If he was one hundred percent gem, he wouldn't need petty things like food or water.

She finished the snack and handed it to Steven, who was sitting down on a rock carved in the shape of a chair. He happily took it, he started eating right away. The first time they had come there was eight months previous to that date, when he had first gotten a cooked tree frog and some dead bugs, he had complained to no end, it had been one long hour of him wanting normal food. It had taken quite the amount of convincing, but he eventually tried it.

"So, how're we celebrating?" Steven asked, his mouth was full of food. Onyx-Agate nodded toward the plate.

"I made sure not to give you the poisonous bugs. Congratulations on beating your record." Onyx-Agate said. Steven wasn't phased, non-poisonous bugs were a pretty big deal. Onyx-Agate usually had him eat the poisonous ones to try and make his immune system stronger.

"Thanks." He said, stuffing his face with more frog. Onyx-Agate walked over to her traveling cloak and wrapped it around herself, tying a knot in front to keep it up.

"I'm going to be gone for a couple of hours, consider this time of rest a gift." Onyx-Agate said, she walked out of the door and jumped into the air, traveling north. She was heading back to the cave to check the monitor. She was going to check on the Gems, and more importantly, Connie.

*Meanwhile*

"Yes, mother, I'm on my way home... Yes, I spent my four hours of study time in the Library... Yes, I returned the book you checked out." Connie was talking on her phone with her mother. She was walking back home from the library, the sun was just starting to go down, each step she took was routine. She went to the library daily, she studied for school even when it wasn't necessary, and she gotten top grades in her classes, but she was doing it all alone.

All of the kids at her school were threatened by her intelligence, and without Steven to help her through it, she was by herself. She'd tried searching for Steven, but after a while, she gave up. She couldn't devote all of her time and energy looking for someone who's disappeared off of the face of the Earth.

Like Steven, Connie had grown a bit. She was a few inches taller, her face had started changing, nothing too major, but as mentioned, her intelligence was what grew the highest.

She was halfway to her house, her mother was still yammering away in her ear, but she wasn't really listening, so she hung up without saying goodbye. She knew it was disrespectful and she would hear about it when she got home, but right now, she was wrapped up in her thoughts. She would receive hell when she got home, but who cares? She didn't. As she walked, her mind stayed fixed on Steven, as it always had, and nothing could deter her from her mindset.

This behavior was quite normal for her though, it wasn't the first time she had paid no attention to one of her parents, or the first time she had hung up on them in the middle of a sentence. Her parents had asked her countless times why she was acting the way she was, and every answer was the same, "I don't want to talk about it".

She sighed, she could see her house coming into view. She hated being home, after the unfortunate event at the gem house, she had distanced herself away from the gems and eventually fell into somewhat of a depression. It was because of her angst that her parents occasionally fought, her mother would blame her father, saying that it was because he never tried to spend time with her, and her father would blame her mother and say it was because she was working all the time, and never paid much attention to her. It was dreadful... but did Connie have a say in the matter? Nope... it was simply the way it was, nothing could make it different.

She opened the front door, she could feel the icy stare of her mother and father as she stepped over the threshold. It was at that moment, that Hell had been unleashed, both of her parents' words came pouring out, stopping her in her tracks. As she had before, she listened without really paying attention. She could see them standing there, her mother with her hands on her hips, her father waving his arms arms around, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. She passed them as they were yelling, her face was pointed straight forward, it was almost as if she were ignoring the presence of the two people in the room. She walked up the stairs to her room, and slammed the door. The slam rang throughout the house, silencing the two at once. They shot glares at each other, and walked separate ways, her mother went upstairs to lay down, and her father went to make a snack in the kitchen, something he often did when he was angry.

Connie hopped into her bed, laying on her back. She was staring up at the ceiling, her eyes fixed on the blank surface. It wasn't very exciting, but it was how she passed the time.

*Meanwhile*

Onyx-Agate had seen what had just transgressed. In her mind, a plan was already formulating, and Connie had just been kicked up from being an obstacle, to being a major part of it. If she could make Connie join her, she could have a power even greater than if she only had Steven. She already had some potential, being an intermediate swordsman with an I.Q that challenged her own. It was a good idea, but could she pull it off?

She tapped her chin, thinking for a way to overcome the annoying question of whether it was possible or not. She decided it was, all that was needed was to erase the memory of her attack from her mind, that way there would be no defiance, and with Steven on her side, it would only be that much easier. She nodded and smiled, the plan was already finished. She headed toward the entrance of her cave, heading out to Connie's home to put her plan into motion. The sun was still fairly high in the sky, it was starting to lower toward the horizon, but her intents should only take up mere minutes. Then, it was on to phase two.

*Meanwhile*

Steven was petting Erendus, scratching him under the chin, the spot he knew was the most pleasurable. He stood, receiving a small noise from the animal. He giggled and gave him one more pat on the head before going outside. He breathed in the air, it came in warm and wet due to the atmosphere. He exhaled and started his daily dose of tai-chi, using quicker movements. It wasn't something suggested by Onyx-Agate, but it took up time, trained his defense, and helped him develope his own fighting style. He enjoyed it as well, he liked the calming affect it had on him, it kept him feeling refreshed.

He looked up at the sky, the sun was setting fast. He stopped his exercise to watch as the sky turned a bright crimson. He decided that he could skip a day if tai-chi, and he laid down and watched the sunset. He yawned, he didn't realize until then how tired he was, the day's training was catching up to him. His eyelids started to droop, and in time, he found himself dozing off.

*Meanwhile*

Onyx-Agate was at Connie's home, she was staring at the window of her room, waiting patiently for her to fall asleep. The sun had completely dipped under the horizon, the moon was rising in its place.

She was in a meditative state, her body was relaxed, and her eyes were closed. She cracked one of them open, using her feral ability to see through the night and into the room, Connie had finally fallen asleep. She set herself up to jump, leaping through the air with a silent face, landing without a sound outside of the window, holding the ledge for support. She slipped some hallucination gas underneath, it slipped slowly over to Connie. It went into her nose and through her body until it reached her brain, it's purpose was to erase the memory of the attack, and it would stay in her head, forever clouding the experience.

Her job was done, so Onyx-Agate dropped from the window, landing without a sound on the ground and fled toward the hut. She smiled to herself, phase one was complete. It was time, now, for phase two, getting Steven to convince her to join them. It should be easy, with Steven saying positive things, there's no way she would decline.

The hut was coming into view, she could see the boy sleeping on front of it. She rolled her eyes and groaned, knowing she would be the one to have to carry him in. She landed by him softly, she didn't want to wake him. She bent down, grabbing his arms and yanking him up and over her shoulder. It was a lot easier when he was little, that's for sure. His weight, combined with the weight of his training suit, was almost enough to take her down.

She carried him inside and set him down on his bed with a thud. With the first snore, she agreed it was time to call it a night. Even though she didn't need to sleep, she enjoyed it. It was one of those simple pleasures, it felt nice to dream. She collapsed in her bed and turned over, smiling at her own genius plan. Tomorrow, it continues.

Well, there you have it. Onyx-Agate is plotting something. Now, for the questions.

1. Did I make a good move making Connie like that? be honest.

2. As you may have noticed, I've changed my writing style quite a bit to keep up with the chapter extension, do you like it?

3. I've noticed that a lot of the chapters focus more on narration or internal monologue, would you like to see more dialogue and interactions between characters? Or do you think it's fine the way it is.

that's all for now, tips are helpful. see ya