"You..." Steven blinked, "Can you understand us?" He stared out through the pink colored tint of the field that surrounded him and his gem comrades. On the other side, the planet's natives stood by and watched, some twitching their heads and others clutching their rock slings tighter. The clicking sounds they made quietly to each other ranged from passive and angry. Even through the field, Steven carefully studied them; they really had no face, just weird growths of tendrils that resembled fungus covering their heads entirely. They were dressed in very primitive apparel, which was mostly barks of wood and even plant-life stitched together.
Movement caught his eye, and Steven was reminded of the fact that gems were accompanying them. The large, burly Bloodstone stood among the natives, arms thick and massive enough that the knuckles were almost always dragging the ground. She wore a simple black tunic that barely contrasted with her dark red skin tone, with white hair that was as simple a flat top as one could be.
There was also the other gem that rode on Bloodstone's back and watched over her shoulders. This one was light blue in color, but wore the stitched clothing that the natives wore as well. She almost always wore a mischievous grin, which contrasted from Bloodstone's stern, frowning face. In fact, the two seemed to be complete opposites when it came to physical appearances.
Lastly, the third gem kept her eyes trained on the captive group the entire time as she slowly joined the natives. This gem held in her two hands a sort of cannon by two underside sticks, the open barrel trained on Steven and the group. She twitched this weapon up at the boy in response to his question, and Steven flinched with his palms up.
One of the natives leaned its head in close to the light pink gem, and appeared to communicate something to her. The language was completely unidentifiable, yet the gem seemed to understand completely. She took a step closer to the group.
"You... invaders, aren't you?" she asked.
"Well, no we-" Steven started.
"Quiet Steven," Citrine suddenly interrupted, "This situation calls for careful diplomacy..." Garnet gave a sound like she meant to add something, but held her tongue.
"My name is Citrine," the gold gem announced, "I am a representative of the Galactic Gem Society's Council..."
"The what?" the pale pink gem said, then gave a very short and dry humorless chuckle, "Really, is that the Authority is calling itself now?"
"Nonetheless," Citrine resisted the urge to clarify that meaning, "Urgent business required for us to come here, and-"
"Bad gems!" the small blue gem exclaimed, "You invade home! We cast you out!" Beneath her, Bloodstone clenched her fists and hardened her facial expression.
"Bloodstone! Druzy! I'll handle this..." the pink gem said, "Whatever 'business' you claim to have, I seriously doubt it will bode well, for anyone..."
"Argh! Release me this instant!" a nasal sounding voice caught everyone's attention. Off to the side, a few more natives entered the clearing, holding Peridot over their heads. They tossed her down to the ground, close to the ray field without her actually touching it, and rejoined the pink gem.
"Hmmm?" she said aloud as they communicated with her. Peridot rose to her feet.
"They dared to handle me like some inanimate object? Of all the..." she looked up at the pink gem, then down at the weapon she held, and widened her eyes in surprise, "Wait... That? 'That's the anomaly we've been tracking? A prototype mobile ray field projector? I haven't seen one of those in-"
"Peridot?" Citrine called out, "What happened? What's the status of the ship?"
"Citrine?" Peridot looked behind her, "The ship is perfectly fine, assuming, but these filthy natives actually stole me away and dragged me about! And what's more..." she pointed at the pink gem, "That 'gem' there is actually holding the 'anomaly' the scanner had identified!"
"Then this complicates things..." Citrine said, "As I was trying to say, we have not come here in the interest of conquest and colonization."
"Yeah, we only came to this garbage planet because of Malganon!" Jasper stepped up close to the the ray field, earning her glares from both the three gems and her own comrades.
"You'd best mind what you say," the pink gem said, "Considering where you stand..."
"Jasper! She has the right of it!" Citrine quietly admonished, "We stand in the center of ray fields-"
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that..." Jasper cut in, "These fields are put around us, right? So I could just do this!" Without any further input, she bent both her knees and leaped into the air, well over the height of the ray fields. Everyone watched as she came back down the ground, the pink gem and Peridot quickly stepping back out of her way. Jasper rose off her knees with a triumphant smirk.
"Ha! You thought you held me, but I thought outside your little box!" she taunted, then looked over at Bloodstone and her charge. The pink gem said nothing, but tightened her grip on her two-handed contraption. She was quick to act when Jasper charged at them and rapidly fired twice at a section of ground between them. Almost instantly, another ray field wall formed that was about her height. Jasper was far too slow to react quick enough, and her body collided with the now solid field. Her entire body spasmed as if it was electrocuted, then fell backwards to the ground. At the sight of this, some of the natives began making a throaty clicking noise that could vaguely be heard as laughter.
"Urgh..." Jasper groaned as she rubbed her head.
"Ha ha!" the small blue gem laughed, "Bad Gem, you get wallop!"
"Hmph, your comrade is not too bright, is she?" the pink gem spoke rhetorically. She aimed her device at the field and it dissipated, allowing the two projectiles to fly back into it, "Now, I'll ask again: why have you come here?"
"Jasper..." Citrine pinched the bridge of her nose, "As I've been trying to say, it is the gravest of circumstances that bring us here. An ancient enemy of all gem-kind is coming here right now to this planet, presumably in search of something. We've come here to hopefully find it before it does..." The pink gem's eyes narrowed and her mouth pursed.
"Come on, it's all true," Steven spoke up, "And we really weren't trying to hurt anyone; we came here because Malganon is coming!"
"This 'ancient enemy' has a name?" the pink gem skeptically asked.
"Yeah it does, and..." Steven continued but stopped, "Wait, we haven't been introduced, have we? My name is Steven, this is Garnet, Citrine, that out there is Peridot, and that on the ground is Jasper." He pointed to everyone as he listed off their names. The pink gem studied the boy now.
"Why do you identify yourself so casually to someone you don't know?" she asked.
"Well, because..." Steven said, "I learned that the first thing to do when you wanna try to make friends is learn each other's names." The pink gem held her grip on her weapon for a moment, and to everyone's mild surprise, lowered it to her waist, "So, fellow gem; would you like to tell us your name? All your names?" She glanced back at the onlooking natives and her own gem comrades.
"Perhaps... Perhaps I will release you from that containment; am I to trust that you will not try anything?"
"You have our most sincere promise," Garnet said. At this, the pink gem aimed her weapon at the four boxes. The flat fields surrounding them dissipated as the small boxes shot back into the barrel of her weapon.
"In that case, you may call me... Morganite," she cautiously introduced, "My two partners there are Bloodstone and Druzy." She released her weapon to one hand down at her side, "And now that your introductions have been sated, I must ask that you all leave." Steven blinked in surprise.
"Wha- leave? Why?" he asked, walking forward with Garnet behind him. Citrine moved over to assist Peridot in raising Jasper to her feet.
"You are keeping your word of no hostilities, correct?" Morganite said, "Then in light of that, I'm allowing you the chance to depart from our world promptly." She looked over at the one native who had been injured, "Furthermore, your brute gem there injured our own, and must be treated."
"Bad gem, she hurt Golliak and Nyphur!" Druzy said. She flipped off of Bloodstone's back and rushed to the natives that clutched their midsections.
"Oh yeah, you two are the ones that got hurt..." Steven said as his eyes suddenly lit up, "Wait, you can leave it to me then! I could heal them!"
"Heal them? How do you propose...?" Morganite asked as Steven slowly walked forward. As he did though, Druzy apprehensively bared her teeth at the boy, to which Bloodstone growled as well.
"Steven-" Garnet reached a hand out.
"Wait you two..." Morganite said, "I'm... mildly curious; allow him space."
"But Morgie! They could hurt-"
"Just do it," Morganite sternly said. Begrudgingly, Druzy backed away from the two natives and rejoined the hulking Bloodstone.
"It's okay... Druzy, and Bloodstone, I promise what I'm gonna do will not hurt them," Steven licked both of his palms, "Okay you two, try not to be too grossed out..." He placed his palms against their exposed midsections, earning various tonal clicking sounds from them. He pulled his hands away and waited. After a few moments, the faintest of sparkles formed around the points of contact. The two felt around their bellies, then made clicking sounds of what sounded like joy and relief.
"Yes! It worked that time!" Steven smiled at his handiwork. He looked back at Morganite, whose curious expression turned to one of mild surprise.
"You... how did you...?" she asked. The two natives, named Golliak and Nyphur, rejoined her at her sides. They clicked to her, to which she casually listened, and understood, "You are? Completely?" She looked back at Steven, "What species are you, that possesses healing powers on par with that of a gem healer?"
"Me? Well, I'm just your average human," he said, then cast a glance at the gems behind him, "Who also has a little bit of my Mom's side in me..." To prove his point, he lifted the hem of his shirt to the natives and the other three gems. The creatures reacted with various clicking sounds ranging from inquisitive to excited.
"There, gem!" Druzy pointed out, "Look like... Quartzie!" Morganite's eyes widened.
"But, how is that possible? That's- between two species? It's..." she shook her head, "I don't want to think about this. So, Citrine was it? You claim that an ancient gem entity is coming here? Do you have some sort of evidence or proof to support your claim?"
"Proof?" Citrine asked, "What sort of- Oh! Peridot, do you not have Spodumene's recording?"
"Recording?" Peridot said, "Oh yes, I believe she did pass it to myself and other tech gems..." She held up one of her limb enhancers to allow its fingers to rotate in midair and form a transparent display. Her other hand's fingers pressed a few more buttons, and she then had the screen rotate to face Morganite. Appearing before her was the recording that had been taken on the surface of Crystarra when Malganon first appeared. Morganite's look of intrigue as Peridot initially presented gradually turned to once of concern as she watched the recording. Malganon's roar was heard and every native clicked nervously. The playback ended and Peridot's fingers dispelled the display between them and returned to their original form. For the first time since initial contact, Druzy's face held concern and even fear, rather than mischief.
"Big, scary monster! Worse than Bad Gem!" Druzy commented as she pointed to Jasper, earning her a growl.
"This is... dire, to say the least... And that thing is coming here?" Morganite said. She turned to one of the natives and spoke softly, "Send word to the others at the village, and let them know... I vouch for this claim." The native clicked in agreement and departed.
"So that's it then, you really do believe us?" Steven asked.
"Well, the evidence presented by the tech gem here seems genuine..."
"I am called Peridot, please," the olive gem quickly cut in.
"-Which means we need to be ready," Morganite continued, "I may trust that you yourselves have no hostile intentions, but I must still respectfully ask that you stay out of our way."
"B-But we're here now, we could defend your planet with you!" Steven said.
"Steven, our top priority is not the defense of this planet-" Citrine said.
"Oh come on!" Steven said, "Malganon could be here any second and you say we shouldn't help them out?"
"I am inclined to agree with Steven," Garnet seriously spoke up, "Morganite, Steven and myself understand implicitly the importance of defending what you hold dear. Our own leader fought for the preservation of life on her planet, as is evident that you do as well." A thoughtful expression graced Morganite's face this time.
"Morgie," Druzy softly said, "We... no turn them away. We let them help..." Below her, Bloodstone nodded in agreement.
"By all the stars..." Morganite said, "If you're so adamant on becoming more involved than you already are... I suppose a bolstering of defense might not hurt."
"Yes? Alright!" Steven said, "So just tell us what you need us to do!"
"Well, I'd first ask that you'd keep that gem under tighter control," Morganite pointed to Jasper. Rather than show irritation, Jasper crossed her arms with a scoff.
"What, you worried I smash you when you turned your back?" she said, "I just... don't see the point in it right now..."
"And, I suppose you'll need to be shown the village," Morganite said, "Simply follow us and-" A very loud and frantic clicking sound filled the air. The group of natives broke to allow a single one to rush forward and join with Morganite.
"What are you doing? Have you spread word to..." Morganite stopped when the native clicked more in between breaths. Gradually, her eyes widened. "Are... you certain?" The native nodded its head, and Morganite cast quick glances up at the sky before looking back down, "Bloodstone, Druzy, everyone! Head back to the village now!"
"Village? Danger? Let's go Bloodstone!" Druzy exclaimed, then held her grip on Bloodstone's back. The two and the other natives quickly turned to run into a deeper section of the forest. Morganite was about to herself, until she turned back to the otherworldly invaders.
"It's time to choose sides: are you ally or our foe?"
"Wha- ally of course!" Steven quickly said.
"Then follow us, your coming here may have not been for nothing..." Morganite said as she began to run to join the natives.
"Everyone, we must not lose sight of why we've come here!" Citrine insisted, "If Malganon has come here in search of something, we'll need to secure it before it can be allowed to!"
"But these peoples' planet is about to be under attack!" Steven said, "We need to help however we can! Can't that come later?"
"We might be able to do both," Garnet said to Steven and Citrine, "If we help the people of this planet, they'd be more willing to trust us, maybe even to divulge information..."
"Hmph, figures that rogue gems would want to help other rogue gems," Jasper offhandedly said.
"That will be quite enough, Jasper!" Citrine spun around to look straight up into the orange gem's face, "It's gotten to where you of all gems are being more impossible to work with than the 'rogue gems' you keep antagonizing! They've at least been contributing to this mission, and what have you done?! I'd say nearly everything you have done so far has jeopardized us completely!" Jasper opened her mouth to speak, but Citrine continued, "Now, we're getting this done, preferably without any further detraction! If you cannot even handle that, I will have you personally bubbled and made to wait on the ship! Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Slowly Jasper's lips pursed.
"Yes..." she quietly grumbled.
"What was that?" Citrine asked loudly.
"I said yes! I'll do whatever you want..." Jasper relented. At this, Citrine let out a small huff, then turned to Peridot.
"Now, I'm assuming you still know where the ship is, correct?"
"Well, I fairly certain I can-"
"I need you to quickly return to ship and prep it," Citrine said, "Maybe even move it closer to where we're going in the interest of possible escape routes..."
"R-right away, Citrine, I shall retrace the steps taken as best I can..." Peridot saluted one arm over her chest, then quickly departed in the opposite direction. Citrine then turned to Steven, Garnet, and Jasper.
"Alright you three, let's head out and catch up with them!" With that she led the way, dashing off in the direction that Morganite and the others had gone, the other three right behind her. Navigating a completely foreign landscape might have proven impossible at first, but luckily the natives and their gems had left a fairly easy trail to follow with disturbed brush and foot prints. Most notable were the footprints that clearly belonged to the burly Bloodstone.
"I still can't really believe it, Garnet," Steven said as they ran, "Actual gems who aren't us hiding on a different planet! Could they be this planet's Crystal Gems?"
"This does seem very real," Garnet agreed, "The parallels are there, at least."
"Did you know any of these gems? Did you meet any of them on Crystarra?" Steven asked.
"I'm afraid not, Steven," Garnet said, "At least not personally."
"But that Bloodstone..." Citrine spoke up, "A strong, yet simpleton brute... she actually reminds me of the early iterations of gem miners..."
"Gem miners?" Steven asked.
"Before technological efficiency came about," Citrine explained, "Some gems were conceived for the sole purpose of mining future gems from the ground of that planet. Progress was fruitful, but far too slow to meet demand."
"That's not exactly something you could blame the miners themselves for," Garnet pointed out.
"I never said that," Citrine said.
"So then... that's why the kindergartens were made?" Steven asked, to which Citrine nodded.
"Quick and efficient, and through many trials perfected nearly every gem to live up to its potential." Garnet was silent in thought as they continued their run. Suddenly before them, Morganite's form could be seen, apparently having slowed down from running. She was the last of her own to reach the apparent edge of the forest area, and was passing through the tall mushroom line.
The pink gem cast a brief glance over her shoulder at them as they joined her, then looked forward again. Steven and his gems now looked out at a new setting: a vast valley beside a large body of water. The water itself reflected the light green of the sky above, shimmering along with its waves. As for the mainland, a multitude of rustic clay buildings could be seen. Some were attached to the mushrooms themselves while others were littered all along the ground. They ranged in size from large to small, with older ones looking gray and newer ones a more tan color. Even more natives could be seen as blue specks, rushing between the buildings and into them.
"That's the village?" Steven asked, "Wow, there's so many of the natives there..."
"And where is it?" Morganite ignored Steven and asked the native. It clicked a few times then pointed its appendage toward the sky. She looked up with squinted eyes... "That's... really..." The others looked as well. It was difficult to see at first, until a small dark speck against the sky could be seen, very slowly growing in size. The larger it grew, the more could be seen of it: a dark body with something white surrounding it from the back, with two small eyes that glowed a vicious red.