Out in a snowy forest, Pearl, Spinel, Steven, and Connie appeared on a warp pad in front of a giant Wailing Stone.
"Here we are!" Pearl excitedly declared.
Connie held the straps of her backpack as she looked around, "Wow! The Great North is so beautiful in person!"
"Wait, wait!" Steven got out his phone, "We gotta take a picture!"
Spinel smiled, "Here, I've got it." She gently took the camera, and ran to a distance from them so she could get them all in the picture. "Aaaand smile!"
The three smiled happily and Spinel took a few pictures and looked at them, "Hm…"
Steven walked over to her and tried to stand up on his toes to take a peek, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, love." She said, "But why are we taking pictures during a mission?"
"It's Connie's first mission!" Steven explained cheerfully, "Her parents asked me to take some!"
The girl looked to Pearl and bowed, "Thank you so much for letting me come on this mission, Pearl! It's such an honor to work alongside you."
"Well, Connie," The pale Gem smiled, "your sword fighting skills have far exceeded my expectations. And, with my careful supervision, of course, I'm confident that you can handle a simple Gem recovery mission like this."
"Thank you so much!" Connie blushed, "I promise I won't let you down, ma'am!"
Spinel snapped another picture of their moment as Steven squealed, "Connie's first mission!"
The quartet of Pearl, Connie, Steven, and Spinel behind them traversed through the snowy forest.
"Recap the mission for us, Connie," said Pearl.
"Garnet sensed some corrupted Gem activity in these woods. It is our job to locate it, destabilize its form, and bubble it," replied Connie.
Pearl nodded, "Very good. Now, your human bodies aren't designed to last in this cold, so we'll have to be extra careful."
"That's okay," Connie gestured to her backpack, "I've got this backpack filled with everything we need to survive in the wilderness."
"Good," Spinel agreed, standing close to the children, "And Connie? Did you tell your parents about... me?"
"I haven't, Miss Spinel," The girl replied, "But I'll promise to tell them soon."
Steven bit his lip nervously, knowing what they were talking about.
"So," Connie began, "How will we know if this Corrupted Gem is nearby?"
Suddenly, they heard a loud roar and stopped.
"That's how! Here it comes!" yelled Pearl, preparing herself while Spinel stood close to the children.
From the trees, a giant wolf-like Gem covered in teal and pink spots, its jaws opened to let out another ferocious roar at them.
Spinel gasped and whispered quietly, "It can't be..."
Steven snapped a picture of the beast, summoning his shield and Connie began to unsheathe her sword.
"Remember! You work together!" Pearl yelled again.
"W-Wait!" Spinel ran in front of them, arms outstretched to block them. Then she turned to the monster, who snarled at her.
"I-Is... is that you, Ocean?" She murmured, reaching a hand out.
However, another beast roared and appeared from out of nowhere. This time, it was much different than the other, covered in brown stripes.
"And Biggs too?!" Spinel exclaimed in shock.
Pearl summoned her spear, "Spinel! Get back over here! Now!"
To their confusion, the two beasts growled to each-other. The one dubbed 'Ocean' shook its head.
"Bubble power!" said Steven as he summoned a bubble to protect himself and Connie.
"N-No! Wait! Stop!" The pink Gem tried to get their attention, but failed as they ran past her and hopped over the Gems, running in different directions.
Steven tilted his head, "They... ran away?"
"There weren't supposed to be two..." Pearl stared after them.
"You scared them away!" Spinel shouted at her, "I could've talked to them and poof them peacefully!"
Pearl shot a glare back at her, "They're corrupted. They won't listen to anything you say!"
Steven hopped between them, "Hey! Let's not fight! We gotta follow the monsters!"
The two Gems glanced at each-other and sighed, the pale Gem dissipating her spear, "Alright. But if there's two of them, I'm afraid this would be too risky for Connie."
"Well that's not true!" said Steven, "Connie defeated those Gem experiments at the hospital."
"... She did what?" Spinel stared at him, wide-eyed.
Connie laughed nervously, "I-It's a long story. A-Also, why don't we split up? You and Spinel could go after one of them, and Steven and I will go for the other one."
"Oh no, that is completely out of the question!" Spinel scolded, "The two of you are staying with us! You heard what Pearl just said!"
Steven crossed his arms and pouted, "Well, why not? Connie's an amazing sword-fighter and I could be her back-up!"
"Steven, you know we're just looking out for you two," Pearl told them, "And-"
"How about this?" Steven held up the walkie-talkies.
Spinel was also about to retort, but Connie brought out a book, "And I've read this book front to back, at least 20 times!"
Both Gems stared at them, slightly unsure about letting them go on their own. But from Spinel's point-of-view, she decided silently to trust Steven more with going off on his own. She knew he was growing up and might not need her as much anymore. Figured this might be the best time. Besides, Steven kept his word when he needed to do something... most of the time (cough cough Lunar Sea Spire cough cough)
Spinel finally sighed, "Alright you two."
Steven and Connie
"But please, do use the talkies when you see either Ocean or Biggs," She told them.
Steven nodded, "We promise!"
Pearl gave into as well, "And, as recount, what are you looking for?"
"A monster!" They both replied.
"... Her name's Ocean..." Spinel muttered under her breath.
"And what do you do if you find it?"
"Call you!"
Pearl then grinned, "And who's your favorite Gem?"
"Pearl!" Spinel playfully shoved her side. The three laughed from the comedic moment when Spinel spoke again, "Now, be very careful, sweethearts."
"Yes, ma'am!" The children saluted, before they headed off into a different direction, following the monster's trail. Spinel stared after them.
"They grow up so fast..."
Steven and Connie were residing in a tree, hiding from the blizzard until it would calm down. Steven kept talking to Connie if the Corrupted Gems could be switching from their normal form to their corrupted form, possibly not as corrupted as they think. They've found the tracks of the monster, but also found humanoid prints as well. However, they heard a feral roar close by.
Gathering up their stuff, the children ran through the forest, gasping when they saw it was Spinel standing near the teal and pink monster as it scratched on the wall.
"What's she-"
Suddenly, the walkie-talkie played, "Steven?! Connie?! Do you have any idea where Spinel could be?! She ran off on me!"
Freaking out, Steven tried to turn off the volume, but Spinel and the monster heard them. The pink Gem gasped, grabbed the talkie and smashed it into pieces.
"Spinel!" Connie shouted, rushing to her, "What were you thinking?!"
"Kids," Spinel held a hand back before Connie could pull the sword out, "Stay back. I'll handle this."
Connie was hesitant, "Are... are you sure?"
Spinel nodded and Connie, still nervous, placed the sword back, standing close to Steven as the pink Gem approached the monster. The monster stood still, continuing to snarl.
"Heeey Ocean..." Spinel spoke gently, making her movements slow, "It's uh… been a while, huh? If you can call a millennium a while, heh heh..."
The monster, apparently named 'Ocean', didn't move a muscle.
"And wow, we've both changed... a lot. I-I know I don't exactly look… cute anymore. But it's alright, I'm still the innocent, loving Spinel you knew from before. And I know, deep down, you're still the sweet Ocean Jasper from long ago, right?"
Steven and Connie were surprised as the corrupted Gem's muscles relaxed, the snarling ceasing.
"See?" Spinel stepped closer, holding a hand up, "It's all good. I'm not gonna hurt ya. They're not gonna hurt ya. We just want to help you. You can trust us. I promise."
When her hand came close, Spinel stopped moving. Everyone remained silent, the only sounds being the icy wind and trees rustling.
Ocean continued to stare at her hand... and moved its face over to her palm, making an odd 'purring' sound, if you could call it that. With a smile brimming, Spinel stroked the monster's mane, and both Steven and Connie relaxed.
"I knew you're still in there," Spinel whispered, "So... Let me just..." She scratched the mane, subtly moving her hand slowly over to the gemstone settled in its chest...
Suddenly, a giant orange shape slammed into the monster, knocking it back. Spinel, Steven, and Connie all gasped in horror as the familiar Quartz soldier stood over the corrupted Gem, grinning wide.
"JASPER!" Spinel's fear switched into fury, "NO! LET GO OF HER!"
"Spinel!" Steven shouted, but Spinel expanded her fist and punched Jasper to the side, the large Gem smashing into a pine tree, momentarily winded.
"Ocean! Run! NOW!" Spinel screamed. However, Ocean whimpered and nuzzled into the pink Gem, not wanting to leave her, "NO! GO! RUN! NOW!" She tried to push the monster away, to no avail.
Trying to plead with the tamed monster, Spinel was then knocked away, with Jasper hollering, "THIS MONSTER'S MINE!"
Spinel got up, slightly wounded, "No! Leave her alone!" She stumbled, falling to the snowy ground.
With a ferocious roar, Ocean brought her claws down on Jasper, but she caught it by its paw, somehow lifting it over her head and slamming it down into the snow. The monster panted weakly, Jasper climbing onto its chest and pulled out the gemstone, causing it to poof and retreat into its gem.
"NO!" Spinel screeched, fury giving her the strength to stand up and leap towards the orange Gem. The Gems began to fight, Steven and Connie taken refuge in a bubble and watching in horror.
Pearl jumped down from the cliffside, arriving way too late, "Steven! Connie! What's going-!" She gasped, "JASPER!"
Both Jasper and Spinel kept fighting, the pink Gem struggling to stand her ground, holding each-other back.
"Give... Her... Back!"
Jasper laughed, "As if!" She summoned her helmet, and before Spinel knew it, slammed into her head and she poofed, her gem falling to the ground.
Pearl immediately summoned her spear, Steven and Connie embraced in fear.
Heaving for breath, Jasper chuckled, "Hey Rose, look what I got." She held up the two gemstones of the corrupted Gems. Steven was too afraid to take his phone out to take a picture. Chuckling to herself, she turned and walked away, disappearing into the snowy wind.
As soon as she had left, Pearl ran and picked up Spinel's gem and quietly whispered, "Oh Spinel... you need to stop risking yourself..." But then she turned her attention back to the children, "Are you two alright?"
"Y-Yeah," Connie nodded shakily.
Pearl sighed to them, holding the heart-shaped gem to her chest, "Oh, I'm so glad. But I should've known Jasper was here, then I wouldn't have brought you two."
"Spinel was there to protect us!" said Connie.
"Yeah! She even tamed Ocean!" added Steven.
Pearl was shocked, "She... did?"
Connie nodded, "Yeah, she even kept talking to it as if she knew it years ago."
"She was one of Spinel's old friends, along with many others..." She explained, staring at the pink gemstone in her hands.
Connie felt guilty, "Pearl, I'm sorry I didn't call you. Spinel smashed the walkie-talkie when you called."
"Oohh... I should've known," The pale Gem groaned, pinching her nose, "Well, I do think we should head home. But I will congratulate you, Connie, on your first mission."
"Yeah!" agreed Steven, "First mission!"
Connie laughed a bit, blushing, "R-Really?"
Steven took out his phone and pulled them both for a group picture, grinning and showed the picture to them, with Pearl having an awkward expression.
"Oh no, are your parents going to see this?" Pearl asked Connie as they began heading back.
"My parents see all of my photos, ma'am."
"Hmm…"
Steven remained still, staring at Jasper's remaining footprints in the snow. Gulping, he quickly ran after Pearl and Connie.
Oooooo, things are getting interesting...