Emerald

The moon tonight is so beautiful, the waves crash on the sand rather gently and create a lullaby that even the quietest of nights would envy. However, I can barely hear it over the sound of raucous laughter. The fire crackles with life as everyone cackles with delight after Lapis told a rather embarrassing story of me. Amber looks to my sister, "I did not think the Praetor was capable of such blunders!"

Lapis snorted, "Course he is, you just don't know him like I do."

"Oh really?" I smile as my shadow looms over my little sister.

"Eep!" is all she manages before I put her into a headlock.

I give her what Steven calls a noogie, "C'mon, just say uncle."

"Uncle, Uncle!" she says with laughter. I release her and she chuckles, "Sheesh, you've gotten stronger than when we were little."

"Well," Pietersite, the fusion between Citrine and Aquamarine, said, "He has had time to develop. That and he may have been going easy on you; you were but a gemling, correct?"

Lapis shrugged, "Yeah, but that doesn't mean he went any easier on me back then."

"Yes, Praetor Emerald undergoes an odd sort of phenomenon when sparring and fighting." Quartz chimed in, "He never takes it easy on anyone even it is just a playful tussle; on the rare occasion he does it should be taken as an insult."

Jasper groans, "If we are going to talk about fighting then let's all start, if not then can we please get back to stories?"

Amethyst gave Jasper a look, "Wow sis, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were actually interested."

"W-What? That's impossible, I-I just feel if we aren't going to fight that nobody should talk about it. And don't call me your sister, runt."

"Sure sis, whatever you say." Amethyst says sarcastically, causing Jasper to angrily blush. We all had a good laugh from the exchange.

"What's so funny, huh!" Jasper roared. Guess that's my cue.

"Alright Jasper, take your seat, we're sorry." I say to placate the big buff cheezo puff. Thankfully it works and she sits back down, "Ok, so no more possible quarrels? No? Ok, good. Anyhow, I guess it's my turn to tell a story. This one is about a certain warrior who, to this day, is still considered one of the most powerful Gems in existence, at least among those who know about them."

Ocasio looked at me wistfully, probably thinking she knew what story I was about to tell and wishing she had just stayed inside, "Dad, please, we've all heard the story about Star Quartz"

"Ocasio, do not interrupt your father." Pearl says as she, without remorse, strikes Ocasio on top of her head, sending our daughter straight into the sand; more laughter.

"No Ocasio, it isn't Star Quartz that I'm referring to." I explain with a light chuckle, "His name is Rainbow Tourmaline. Technically his chosen name is Kun-gohdy, but why split hairs?"

Peridot scratcher her chin, "I've encountered many Rainbow Tourmalines in my line of work, they are used to aid in colonization attempts, they serve to create and maintain power sources for the seeders, among other technologies, and are often used as botanists for the categorizing of plant life for future colonization attempts." she took a moment to think about my words, "Yet you said he was one of the most powerful gems in existence, but that makes no sense given their roles."

"Shush," Garnet said with an excited smile, "This is the best part."

"Thanks old friend." I clear my throat before continuing, "Here is the story of Rainbow Tourmaline, it starts exactly five-thousand seven-hundred and fifty years ago. I will tell it word for word how he described it to me… well with some paraphrasing at least."

"So you'll be saying it through his point of view?" Obsidian asked. I nodded and she replied with, "Weird, that might get a bit confusing."

I shrugged, "Oh well."

Rainbow Tourmaline

I have to resist the urge to vomit each time I look at my fellow passengers, all but two are your typical type of Noble Class gem: decadent and personalities of horrid filth. If I had a credit for each time I saw one of them mistreat a Pearl, well I'd probably be able to buy myself into any of the Nobles' inner circle.

I decide I might as well try to get some rest before we reach the new colony. Terra Primus I believe was it's name, though it was cutely referred to as Earth by the sole sentient native species. However, before even a minute has passed, a contingent of rather hardy looking Amethyst guards walk into our area. The usual fanfare of voices begin to erupt, and I can understand why. The guards were carrying a Crystal Box, in it were two Gemstones. The Crystal Box was a type of cell that allowed for easier transport of criminals, though it was a rather painful one.

I wouldn't have paid it any further heed if not for the name of the unlucky prisoner reached me, "Emerald Sageson? Really? Are you sure?"

I turned my head to the passenger to my left, "Did you say Emerald Sageson? As in: Oceanus Lazuli and Amoura Bundus's child, the Emerald Sageson?"

The lumpy-faced Tanzanite nodded her head, "Who else would we be speaking of plant-boy?" I resist the urge to deck her and fall back into my seat. My patience is tested again when she loudly whispered to her friend, "These conditions are almost unbearable, whoever thought it would be a marvelous idea to put us nobles in with the common workers needs to be put to death."

Sometimes it is just grand to work for a Diamond.

I take my first step onto the sky arena and put on my most polite face and try not to make eye contact with any of the Nobles who have now taken notice of me. I just quickly set to my assigned duty: working on the power module for the palanquin that belonged to Blue Diamond, of whom I belonged to. I'd eventually be sent to the planet below so I could categorize each little bit of plant life so that if we were to run into any planet that was extremely similar to, or exactly like, Terra Primus it would be easier to colonize than this one. But for now, I had a power module to adjust.

A few hours pass and I am "graciously" gifted a break from my Diamond. I sat in the stands, away from the direct view of the Nobles, and conversed with my fellow workers. It was a normal day for all of us, the Peridots messed around with their technology, we Rainbow Tourmalines checked around on any of the power modules that kept anything on this place running, and the only two Bismuths here worked on maintaining the structural integrity of the sky arena. However, with no warning, a transport ship landed and from its insides came three Ruby Guards who were followed by none other than a Sapphire. All heads turned to the convoy, the Nobles even bowed before the Sapphire.

All of us had to suppress our laughter at the scene, I even leaned over to another Rainbow Tourmaline, "I guess what they say is true, the bigger they are the harder it is for them to bow." The snickers became harder to suppress. However, they stopped when Blue Diamond's Palanquin lowered itself; it became apparent that this was no unscheduled Sapphire tattle mission. I didn't pay it any mind after the Sapphire had disappeared behind the curtains, but I wish I would have. I probably would have been able to read the situation a tad bit better.

Everything went down the drain after the Sapphire had left that curtain, the Sky Arena was besieged. The Renegade Pearl and the Diamond Shatterer Rose Quartz appeared on a column. I wish I could remember what the Pearl had said, but all I remember is feeling fear. No matter how many soldiers were thrown at either of them, they could not be even touched. The Renegade moved with grace that put even a Sage to shame, Rose Quartz was even more terrifying, she didn't even appear to move when she attacked. The Pearl was just about to strike the Sapphire, but since Sapphires have an almost nihilistic view when it comes to their own death, she just stood there. However, the last remaining Ruby Guard did something that even to this day I still can't fully comprehend the reasoning behind. The Ruby ran full speed and fulfilled her duty as the Sapphire's personal guard by tackling her out of The Renegade's path. A dazzling light blinded everyone, whenever it had finally dimmed down I could hear gasps of surprise all throughout the arena.

She stood there, pink and blue like some sort of confectionery. She was no longer some Ruby and a Sapphire, she was what I would come to know as Garnet, though at that moment she was just a fusion between two different Gems. The Renegade and Rose Quartz, seeing the opportunity, swiftly made their departure thereafter. The crowd of Nobles turned back to Garnet after the enemy escaped, encircling them like a pack of Deldied Wyrms does any unsuspecting victim. It was a crime for any Gem, other than those among the first four clans, to fuse with any other Gem that wasn't the same as they; though I have heard of rumors suggesting that Pearls would be losing that right. Blue Diamond, at the sight of such a being, grew furious, calling for the Ruby to be shattered for thinking it could fuse with someone of her court.

I felt a pit of anger root itself inside of me, I stood to defend the Ruby but soon found the two Bismuths blocking my way. I stared at them incredulously, how could they just stand there and let this happen, is what I thought to myself at the time. But now that I'm looking back, they were keeping me from the same fate; if I had tried to intervene I would have surely been shattered and labeled as a conspirator. It also didn't help that the Sapphire and the Ruby had escaped moments later by running directly off of the Sky Arena down to the hard earth that, even if you were to jump off of the lowest point of the arena, was kilometers below us, I probably would have done more damage than I would have averted by stepping in.

There wasn't much effort to search for them after, only about two Quartz patrols. That in itself was a bit much, but wasn't really overkill when compared to the norm of sending about six or seven Jasper and/or Amethyst search parties.

It's been about three months since the Sky Arena incident, I'm happy to have found myself relocated to a settlement so I can do the next part of my job: identifying plants and categorizing them. It isn't a flashy job, nor is it a fun one, but I'm just happy to be as far away from any talks of war and rebellion. That and I often find the soothing lullabies that only secluded forests can bring very therapeutic.

I finished creating a log for the final plant for my day, something called a Rose bush, and was about to pack up when I heard a thump. Now I would normally take the logical route and quickly get home after hearing mysterious noises, but for some reason I felt drawn to the sound. I pushed aside the thorny brush and found myself in a secluded grove; along with the new sunlight I also had found I had guests in the small area. They were two humans, needless to say I was a bit wary of them since every Gem knew that the humans were savages that were capable of taking down even the hardiest of soldiers.

One of them was bigger and more muscular, obviously male, and behind him lay a very pale human, it's lean figure and wider hips helped me identify it as a female. The male looked at me with the same wariness that I had for them, however when the female cried out in pain his expression softened and he fell to her side. As he spoke to her in their odd language I took notice of the female's leg, no wonder her condition looked so terrible; she had a rather large gash that ran across the better part of her leg and, from the grimy looking substance that was most definitely not blood, oozing from it told me it was infected.

I bit my lip in contemplation. Should I help her, it was the right thing to do; but what if they were escapees? I could get in serious trouble for aiding them. The female screamed in pain again, the male tried to console her but other than that he couldn't really do anything else. She was going to die, I could tell. Apparently the man knew she would too because he began to cry; that confused me, I thought they were savages, cold-hearted and incapable of experiencing any emotions other than anger and the most basic of feelings.

As she screamed out for the fifth time I decided I had enough, I couldn't just leave her to die here, consequences be damned. I immediately ripped my pack off of my back and rummaged through the container to take out the proper items. I kneeled next to the male who immediately took aggression towards me, but a look from the female made him stop. "I don't know if you can understand me, but if you do, know that I am only here to help. I don't care if you are escaping, I don't care what you've done, and I honestly could care less about you. I just can't stand here while someone screams in pain…" I say without looking at the male.

He lowered his head, "Thank you."

I tensed for a second before resuming my treatment, "You're welcome." It takes at least an hour before I have the infection cured and another before she can properly move. I wipe the sweat from my brow and take a breath, I didn't realize I was holding it in, "There, it will take a bit before you are capable of moving like the others of your species, but at least you won't have to worry about another infection setting in any time soon."

The woman gave a relieved laugh and the man grabbed me in a hug, "Thank you stone creature, we are in debt to you."

I patted his head, "Yes, yes, that is quite fine."

"Well what do we have here?" no, please no. I turned around to see the Amethyst guards, "Do we have a rebel helping two escaped slaves.?"

I couldn't say anything, my mouth wouldn't move. My muteness only worsened when I felt the knife press against my throat, the human male's voice hitting my ear, "Do not think we won't kill him." that gave the guards a pause, I saw as they questioned their original assumption. While they were preoccupied with getting me out of this situation without having my physical form broken I could hear the female rest her back against mine.

She gave a sad smile before whispering to me, "Thank you, we may not have known you for long… but you gave us a second chance at life, even if it was only a short lived experience, if they hadn't shown up then we would have lived."

The male whispered to me as well, "Maybe in another life… maybe we could have been friends."

"What are you doing?" I ask aloud.

The Amethyst guards think I'm speaking to them and the leader pulls out their weapon, "We're thinking of a plan, just sit tight."

The humans, both of whom I barely knew, ran to attack the guards. Against one they had a chance, two was pushing it with the female's leg, three was the final switch that lead to their deaths. They lasted barely a minute before being slaughtered. The lead guard walked towards me and helped me off, as I stared at their face I could see it was covered in the blood of the humans, "You're alright now sir, for the future please try to avoid secluded areas without a partner."

My eyes filled with tears as I stared at the corpses, I should have looked away, but I couldn't. I barely knew them, I didn't even have any reason to care about them, but my heart was still shattered because of their deaths. I shoved the Amethyst away from me and quickly returned to my assigned home, I made it as the moon began rising. The tears had yet to stop, even as I lay in my bed I could not stop the water from leaking. It was my fault they were dead, maybe if I had been faster at fixing her leg they could have escaped, maybe if I had sacrificed myself instead they could have ran.

As I kicked myself further for not doing more, I became resolute in one thing, in one purpose: I would do all in my power to prevent the same thing from happening to any other human. I may not be able to join the Rebels since I would end up betraying my Homeworld, my Diamond I would not care about, but I would be able to do something else.

It's been exactly five years since I had let those humans die in my stead, the Rebellion has gained more traction as of now. There were rumors of innumerous victories by them against the army. What's worse is that since the bulk of the Rebels, who referred to themselves as the Crystal Gems, was made up of almost entirely worker class Gems that many of us have been rounded up for questioning and interrogation. I myself have been rather lucky to have avoided that and the war altogether. I could handle being caught in both of those, however, the ten hungry mouths to feed back in a secret basement under my home had no chance of surviving either. Speaking of which, I should probably get back to them, the sun was setting and I had to smuggle in the wild fruit before the Guards came back.

The smoke was the first to hit me, the second was the stampede of animals running around me, both predator and prey leaving in a mass exodus, certainly from whatever was causing the smoke. The final thing that I saw nearly broke me, the settlement was lit ablaze, craters that were surely created by artillery pocketed the area. 'No, no, no, please, please be safe. Let at least that be intact.' I prayed. I ran through the bones of what I remembered to be a storage facility, and hopped over the occasional crater just to reach my home, to see that they were hopefully still alive.

'No…' I fell to my knees, the small impact causing a few rocks to break free from the wall and roll to the center of the still smoking crater that my home had once stood above. In my head I saw each of the ten humans that I had saved the past five years, they were all once children and many of them would have been around eighteen years of age by tomorrow's light. But now they wouldn't even see the sunrise, the more that I thought about the more that numb I became. It soon became so bad that I felt as if I had disconnected from myself. Tears began to flow out of my eyes and I could hear someone begin laughing, it was unhinged and filled with insanity. When I realized it was me I could only laugh harder.

That's when the sounds of war grew louder, I heard four Gems land behind me, "You, stand up and tell us your allegiance." I raised myself off the ground and continued my manic laughter. It scared the soldiers too, "W-What's so funny! Allegiance now!"

"Death." I answer as I turn around slowly, looking upon the faces of the three Amethyst Guards from that incident five years ago.

The leader looked at me with fear lurking behind her eyes, "E-Excuse me, I do not remember that being an option."

Half of my vision is darkened as I bury half of my face in my hand, I begin laughing even harder at their naivety, "Death, death for you, you, and..." I lower my hand, "death for all." out of the corner of my eye I see a bright light shine, seconds later I feel my hand become weighted with a weapon, it's curved blade forming something akin to the letter C, "What a perfect tool." I stare at my weapon and back at the guards who are now trembling. I waste no time in attacking, just as they wasted no time in killing those two humans but unlike those two humans, they begged for mercy, they screamed in pain. I made sure they knew neither would make me stop.

After they were gone I became aware of the still raging battle, I became furious that either side could do this. My anger swelled and I could once again see the bright light shine, I felt energy course throughout my feet. Gravity lost its sway on me as I began to float into the air, my view filled with the scenes of war; it only increased my fury. I instinctively raised my weapon and felt my energy course upwards through my body and arc around my sword, a second bright light gathered in the circular part of the blade. The sounds of war stopped, heads swiveled towards the sky to see a second sun, good, they will get to see their last moments brightly, "You, all of you, are demons! A plague, a festering pit of disgusting filth! I will end your pitiful existences right here and right now!" I lean back and swing my sword in a downward arc, the ball of pure energy flies down to the ground and only grows in size until it eventually covers the entire village.

I begin to close my eyes, maybe with this those who I have failed will be able to rest, who knows, maybe I will see them in whatever resides in the afterlife. However, I hear what sounds like the very earth opening as if it had a mouth; my eyes shoot open and I watch as the nearby forest is uprooted at the foundation. It, without hesitation, is tossed directly under my blazing missile. I fall to the ground as both objects collide and explode, too weak from my massive energy expenditure to continue floating. By coincidence I was going to fall into the crater where my home had been, I guess the gods too were fond of a joke. I fall unconscious immediately after crashing face first into the stone.

My eyes open to the inside of a white tent, "Hello? Anybody there?"

"Tourmey!" a flood of children rush through the tent flap and immediately swarm me with embraces. I stare in disbelief at each of the children, why weren't they dead? There was no way they could have escaped the village before the battle had started

"How, how are you guys…"

The youngest one, who insisted her name was Tama, smiled brightly, "Alive? It's obvious isn't it? I saved everyone single-handedly, I was amazing, there were like a million Amethysts and I was all like 'you ain't gonna stop us ya purple clods!' and they were all like 'please Tama the amazing warrior of Earth, don't attack us!' I couldn't attack such wimps so I naturally let them off with a warning."

I shook my head in mock disbelief, "You let a million Amethyst Guards off with a warning, a million?" She nodded earnestly.

Light flooded in as another person entered the tent, "That's not how I remember it going Tama."

Tama crossed her arms and stuck the tongue out at one of the few people in the entirety of the universe that she shouldn't, "Oh you're no fun Mr. Emerald."

I stared in fear as Emerald glared at Tama, obviously telling her to stop, but she still didn't. I sat up to try and diffuse the situation, "Emerald sir, I'm s-"

"I'm super fun Tama!" He… he stuck out his tongue and… and pulled his eyelid down… like… like a Gemling, "Nyahhh"

I stared in confusion, this was the same Emerald that I was thinking of right? Emerald Sageson, child of Oceanus and Amoura Bundus? He let loose a laugh that caused the children to do so as well, meanwhile I was still confused beyond the point of return, "Can… can somebody explain to me what's going on?"

Emerald stopped laughing and put on an expression that was somewhere between a neutral frown and a serious smile, "Of course Kun-gohdy, or Rainbow Tourmaline depending on which you prefer." He looked at the children, "Tinoz, please take the others to the mess hall." Tinoz, the eldest of the group, nodded and began herding the others out.

Now it was only me and the Sage, were were alone in this tent, "So, about-"

"Hold on," he commanded, "Tinoz, Tama is hiding on the left side, please collect her as well." I heard the sound of Tama groaning, it made me laugh. It was a good laugh, it helped me relax, told me everything was fine. Emerald turned back to me, "Lively children ya got there."

I gave a sad smile, "Yes, they can be quite a problem."

"Yet you took care of them."

The way he said that seemed more like a question, like he was testing me. I nodded slowly, "Y-Yes."

He made a makeshift chair out of the soil below us and sat next to me, "Why? Was it an act of defiance, or, was there something else you wanted out of it?" The way he asked that made me certain that he was testing me, it kind of irked me, what gave him the right it be suspicious? As if he read my mind, Emerald told me in a serious tone, "I am not suspicious of where your allegiance lies, you do not have to side with Crystal Gems, but you can't return to Homeworld because of that attack you did." He looked at the flap of the tent, "You can take your children and run, but then what? You could steal a ship, if you're lucky enough to find one big enough, and escape this war. But, once again, what then?"

I squint, "I don't follow."

He shook his head and sighed, "Look Kun-gohdy, that attack you used back in that village has almost certainly landed you on Homeworld's hit list. Not many Gems are capable of using such an attack, especially not to the magnitude to which you created." his focus turned on me, "I have no suspicion that you only wanted to protect those human children, I have no doubt in where your heart lies, but what I do have is concern. I am concerned about what will happen to them if you don't choose your steps carefully, I am concerned to think what could happen to you if the Diamonds get their grimy mitts on you, and I'm terrified to think that if I had not managed to smuggle those children out before the fight had begun and get back before your giant karkin ball of imminent destruction hit dirt. You're mighty lucky that I was able to step in there."

Wait, he helped the children escape and he was responsible for that giant swath of forest that had impossibly jumped in the way of my attack? "I-I don't know what to say…"

"I don't want to hear you say anything, don't want an apology and I don't want a thank you." He said with anger, but his soft expression told me he was genuinely worried, "I told you, I just want you to make the right choice. I'm not gonna say that joining the rebellion is the ideal choice, but I'm not going to advocate returning to Homeworld or trying to do this on your own."

His words sunk deeply into my heart, my mood soured as I began to realize he was right. If I tried to protect the children myself then they would all surely die. However, with this realization came something else, something that made me know that all of my failures were necessary. I clenched tightly to my sheets, "Can you defend them?"

He nodded, "Of course."

"Then," I raised my head and looked towards the tent flap. The light still seeped through, reminding me that the future has yet to happen, "Well, I want them to have a future. Where do I sign up?"

Emerald stood up without warning and began marching to the flap, "You don't."

"Excuse me? What on earth was that whole conversation for then?" I, for lack of a better word, furious.

He opened the flap and I became blinded by the sudden light, the only thing I could see was his figure and his face as he turned back to me, "There is no place to sign up, you fight or you don't." he turned back around, "If you fight, make your allegiance known and you will always have family."

"After that he fought in my legion, as far as I know those kids lived full lives and only expired long after the war was over." I finished. Pearl confirmed my assumption with a nod. "So yeah, that's Rainbow Tourmaline, one of the strongest warriors I have known."

Ocasio's gaze is fixated on the flame, "Woah…"

Jasper nodded in agreement and looked at me, "Where is he now?"

"I don't know." I answer as I shrug my shoulders, "I sent the him and two others on a mission and they never returned. I spent months personally searching for them but could not find a trace, nothing substantial at least."

Four faces gaze at the fire in a knowing manner, Quartz spoke for the group, "Do… do you think they might have been shattered, Emerald sir?"

I shook my head, "Nope, if his gem didn't tear itself apart from that attack, then I'm certain that if Homeworld shattered him they would not have let us live it down. It's possible he and the others were trapped somewhere and became corrupted at the time of the final melody."

Lapis blew a strand of hair out of her face, "Wow Emerald, way to dampen the mood." I gave her a sly smile, "What, why are you… wait… Emerald I swe-

I cut her off with, "Sure, make me out to be the wet blanket. Don't let your anger cloud your judgement, you might just storm out of the area."

"Emerald," Lapis growls, "I swear, one more pun."

I wave an arm in dismissal, "Oh I'm sorry, I'll stop raining on your parade. Sheesh, don't have to be such a beach." everyone groans.

Lapis looks to the person located at my right, "You got that arm?"

I internally scream as Pearl nods, she then proceeds to grip my right arm and Lapis grabs my other. Both of them look to my daughter and she nods, maliciously smiling and cracking her knuckles. I manage to slip free of my shackles and begin running for the hills, all the while with the dogs of war on my heels.