Alright, chapter uploaded on the 21st.
Black Tourmaline could proudly say that she had no idea what she was doing.
Something about the tractor malfunctioned or broke or something and now she was the one that had to pull the "plow" thing to make the rows of "crops" for their new army.
Peridot had gone to great lengths of how this whole "farming" thing would work. She'd really just tuned most of it out which really didn't help when she was the only one currently working.
Lapis was relaxing on the top of the barn while Peridot was working on whatever she was working on in the barn.
While she made sure that all of the rows in the soil were perfectly aligned with the others that she'd done prior, she kept on trying to block out the insane amount of noise that was being made from the inside of the barn.
This noise had been going on for most of the morning, accompanied by small breaks of quiet where Peridot could be seen moving equipment from a salvage pile that Peridot had Lapis fish from somewhere and going back into the barn for another round of noise. This process really didn't start until Black Tourmaline and Lapis had been outside the barn for their respective tasks. Usually Peridot would have accompanied them to check off tasks and make sure things were going smoothly. Sure the two of them were thankful that they were spared from the nagging and bossing that morning, but they'd rather have the smaller Gem telling them something than the nonsensical noise that had replaced her.
Black Tourmaline took one of the small breaks of quite to remember why she was making herself so interested in this project. If it was so easy to grow an army for their personal use then she'd might as well use this as a prototype for a possible army that she could make. She could selectively make each of her soldiers capable of handling those of this army, and them move on to taking care of the Crystal Gems.
As for Steven she still had no idea of what to do to the human. If she left him out of her plans then she'd just end up with a variable that could end up burning her later on. She really hoped that she could just have her forces take him out and just leave it as that.
Her planning was cut off as Peridot started up with the noise again. So she was back to trying to ignore it and work on her lines. What was the big thing about this "corn" that made them required to be planted this way? Why was it so important that they had to be this certain spacing apart? That and the seeds. How big were these things gonna be if they had to start out so small? Black Tourmaline had seen the "trees" and "grass" that grew near the barn and really didn't know what separated the two from having to grow that way. And those trees. What was their purpose anyway? Were they supposed to be sections of an organic wall that could be grown? Or did they only serve the purpose of being harvestable, because it seemed like the same materials that the trees were made up from were the same that the barn was made from.
The speculating Gem was so into her inner monologue that she missed Lapis getting fed up from the noise and going into the barn to confront the tinkering Gem.
It wasn't until a few minutes later that Black Tourmaline was ripped from her thoughts as a column of water rose from the pond outside the barn and shot at something inside.
Black Tourmaline dropped the plow and jumped out of the fields to see what happened to make Lapis do that. Was there another ship of Homeworld Gems that somehow snuck their way in there and Peridot was just building something for them as a captive? Or did all that stress cause Peridot to become corrupted? These thoughts flashed their way through Black Tourmaline's head as she ran to the barn, but the worst one cleared through as she was about to walk near the opening of the barn.
What if there really were some Homeworld Gems there? She'd have to make a decision. If she chose to go with the Homeworld Gems she'd ruin all the work that she'd done to gain their trust. If she chose to side with Lapis and Peridot she'd essentially have to destroy all of her plans of avenging Pink Diamond. She'd have to hope that her action of snuffing out the final light of the rebellion would be enough for the Diamond Authority to forgive her betrayal.
What she was greeted with was not something she'd have to worry about. As she walked in she was greeted with Lapis doing her best to walk out the barn without crashing through the dark Gem.
Was she blushing?
Black Tourmaline turned a bit to watch the retreating Gem walk away before taking off, somewhere.
The newest addition to the barn's inhabitants looked into the now soaked interior and was met with the smallest of the trio scrambling in a puddle.
"Uh. What was that?" Black Tourmaline asked.
"I was just showing Lapis the repairs that I had done to my limb enhancers along with the minor upgrades that I had done to my form." Peridot responded, "For some unexplained explanation she doused my new form with an aquatic blast and told me to "stay small", as if my form without my limb enhancers was more preferable to her."
Black Tourmaline, seeing the perfect opportunity, used this to her advantage.
"Well I'm sure it wasn't anything personal." Black Tourmaline explained to her, "Though what I'm guessing is that she had a whole lot of bad memories from when you were wearing those and she just didn't want to deal with those at the moment."
"What?"Peridot questioned, "Why would that be such a problem? Sure there were a whole lot of problems that we were dealing with back then but surely she's past that. Right?"
Black Tourmaline turned to the now discarded limb enhancers, picking one of them up and turning away from Peridot to inspect them in the light.
"Well I'm sure that you've moved past those memories," She began, "But think about her. She was her most vulnerable during those moments, so much so that she was willing to fuse with that Jasper, and there you were; limb enhancers and all."
She didn't need to turn around to know that Peridot was slowly becoming interested in what was being said.
"You can trust me when I say that having something that would remind you of a bad memory that it really does things to the Gem." She started again, "I'm sure that Lapis would be a whole lot more accepting of your limb enhancers in time, but right now would be too soon. We have more important things to worry about than this little side-project and I'm certain that since you made it this far without them you could easily go a bit longer without them."
"And I'm supposed to take all this advice from the Gem that can't look into a shadow without shutting down?"
"Hey that was one time and I've improved a lot because of all the help that you two did for me." The partially annoyed and embarrassed gem responded, "Just see this as me paying my debt to you. You two helped me so much getting to where I am today, so it would only be fair if I help in some way."
"So what do you think I should do about these then?" Peridot asked, "If she really doesn't think too well of me when I had my limb enhancers then the best solution would be just to dispose of them right here and now."
Black Tourmaline spun around at such a fast pace that it caused Peridot to drop the collected limb enhancers, the look of disapproval quickly replacing the shock in her eyes before Peridot could see it.
"Well let's not move too fast." Black Tourmaline said in a voice that barely contained the panicked tone she let escape, "Why don't I just take these off your hands and we all just put this behind us. I could hold onto them until Lapis decides that she's ready to see you with them."
Peridot was wary of the offer, still holding onto the parts with an uncomfortable grip.
"C'mon Peridot." The dark Gem coaxed, "You know you can trust me, and you know that this is for the best for all of us."
Peridot still was reluctant, so Black Tourmaline decided to hit her where it hurt.
"Didn't Steven say that he liked you like this? And I'm sure that the rest of the Crystal Gems would trust you a whole lot more if you shed off all the stuff that you used to attack them with." She said smoothly, circling the Gem as she processed what she was saying, "Holding onto a part of you that was a villain to them would only serve as proving that while you tell them with your words and your actions that your with them that a small and selfish part of you still wants to go back to it all."
The sound of metal meeting wood was music to her ears.
Peridot snapped out of her thoughts and picked up the limb enhancers before shoving them to the taller Gem.
Black Tourmaline smiled as she accepted the parts
"Thank you Peridot." She said, "This just shows how much you've changed from what you used to be. All of that just shows how dedicated you are to the cause, the willingness to cast off the last part of you that was still tying you to Homeworld is really something to admire. You really are a Crystal Gem, so own it and let's get back to work."
She walked out of the barn with the limb enhancers in her arms as Peridot grabbed some farming equipment from the back of the barn.
"I'm sure that when Lapis is ready she'll tell you." She told the shorter Gem, "But that's going to have to be her decision to make, so let's agree to only talk about it if Lapis brings it up first. Just tell her that you're fine and we should all just put that behind us until we're done with the crops. We wouldn't want to rush her. Would we?"
The small nod she got from Peridot was all she needed as she walked away to her small pile of "meep morps" that she used to cover her little light spot.
It was the one thing that would make her through the nights, a small space that was built into the back of the barn. A series of mirrors were angled perfectly so that every light that was in the barn would be directed to the room. What neither of the other occupants of the barn knew was that the planks that had made up the floor of the addition had been turned into a small hatch that led to a compartment that Black tourmaline had been using to store some of the things that she was hoarding for her plans.
A few components from the hand vessel that definitely wouldn't be missed. Some scrap from some old gem weaponry that had been in the many scrap piles that Lapis had fished from the ocean nearby, and some pieces of the mechs that Peridot had told her about. All of these pieces had a purpose for her plan, just of how they could be used was yet to be found.
A little digging, another piece of wood to keep things together and her space was back to the way it was, hidden. A sheet of colored plastic covered the initial hatch and a few boxes atop it allowed it to just be seen as a spot to rest on. Just in case either was removed the hatch handle was carved out by a small knife she found to be flush with the floor. All it took was a small magnet that would hook onto a nail that had been placed into the underside of the magnet to draw the handle up and unlock the hatch, but with the floor already having several nails and knots it would be hard for someone to notice the one that looked different or the nail that wasn't in a usual spot.
"Those limb enhancers were a real score." The dark Gem thought to herself, "Now back to work."
She was greeted by Peridot planting seeds and Lapis watering the plots behind her, the two already being friendly again and forgetting what had just happened in the barn.
"Yeah." She thought to herself.
This will work nicely.
I saw this comic about Peridot and Lapis' time in the barn and I really wanted to make a reference to that in this story. I have no idea of what the procedure is for something like this but I just want to say that all of the references that are made in this chapter are from a comic made by TanoSan96, or Tano's Art Blog on Tumblr. Again I have no idea if this is the correct way to do this since I'm just referencing it, but I think this is alright, if it's not then please tell me.