"Who's ready for some training?"
Silver would probably be shouting it if she could, Blue thought with amusement.
"Ten minutes," Yellow insisted.
"Ten?" Silver dropped down to her knees, arms looping over Chroma's shoulders from behind as she frowned at Yellow. "Ten minutes before I can fight the Renegade?"
"Sil, I can't see what I'm doing or what you're saying if you project there," Chroma laughed, batting her gem hand away from her face. "Something about your crush on the Renegade?"
"I know you're trying to embarrass me, but you can't, this is the fourth best day of my life! I get to spar with her in ten minutes!"
"It doesn't sound nearly as impressive if you say fourth," she teased. "And have you even asked Pearl if she wants to?"
"If I want to what?" Pearl asked as the Crystal Gems came in to join them.
"Fight me!" Silver said earnestly, jumping to her feet again.
She looked rather taken aback.
"Oh, I mean spar with me. Training." Silver waved her hand, making her projections wobble for a second. "Sorry, the lack of tone gets problematic at times."
"No need to apologize," Pearl said quickly. "And I'd be happy to."
"Me too, I wanna see what you guys can do," Amethyst agreed.
"Pearl first," Garnet said with a smile. "Then the rest of us can take turns."
"Me too?" Steven asked hopefully.
"You too."
"Yay!"
"Garnet," Pearl began warningly.
"He'll be fine. They can learn a lot from each other."
"Is everybody coming?" Steven asked.
"Yeah, it's usually the whole base at once," Silver said. "Everybody set to go?"
"Yes, yes, we can go now," Chroma relented, Yellow reluctantly following suit as she stood up.
"Yes! Let's head over!"
The rest of the Pearls were already moving too, save Aura, who had been working near Chroma with a small screen in hand.
"Yo, Aura, you coming?" Amethyst asked, clapping a friendly hand on her shoulder.
Aura gasped and flinched away so quickly she nearly fell out of her chair.
"Oh, shoot, sorry. Are you okay?"
"N-No. I mean, yes. No to the original question. I'm sorry." She pressed her hand to her stomach. "Silver, it's fine." The other Pearl had immediately placed herself between Aura and Amethyst protectively.
"You sure?"
Aura nodded.
"Okay." Her posture relaxed as she moved aside, though she kept an eye on the two of them.
"Sorry," Aura said, eyes flicking back and forth nervously as she addressed Amethyst. "You surprised me."
"No, it's cool, I won't do it again."
"Thanks…" She made herself move a little closer. "I can't fight," she added quietly. "Or go to training or anything. I promise I'm not just slacking." A faint smile graced her lips.
"Oh, sorry."
Aura shook her head. "It's alright. And, yeah, if you could try not to surprise me, I'd really appreciate it. It's just going to take me a little while to get used to having a Quartz—um, two Quartzes—around. I promise it's nothing you've done though."
"Oh. Yeah, I hear you." Amethyst looked away, chastened.
"Maybe…we could do something after training?" Aura suggested. "You could show me some more food? Steven said you like it."
"Yeah, sounds cool."
She smiled brightly, all traces of fear evaporating into warmth and making Amethyst blush. "I can't wait!"
"I'm not sure Silver can either," Chroma said dryly. "Is it alright if we go now?"
"Yeah, of course! Have fun, be safe." Aura gave both her and Silver a hug.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Viri interrupted. "We should go to the forge first!"
"Viriiiiiii."
"Azalea might have some new weapons for us to try out, plus we promised them a tour," she pointed out.
"Fine," Silver said with a little sigh. "Forge, then training. I'll make sure everything's ready in the meantime."
"Okay! The forge is right over here!" Viri said cheerfully, leading the way back towards one end of the living halls, though she stopped at a door they hadn't seen yet. She knocked and then pressed once on the panel to make it swish open.
The group was immediately assaulted by a wave of heat which swept from the warmly lit room ahead of them. The temperature control systems immediately compensated for the change in the hallway, but there was still a steady warmth that escaped before it could be extinguished—not quite a comfortable temperature, but manageable for gems.
"Come in, come in," Viri urged everyone.
Pearl passed Steven a water bottle as they followed her, watching for a moment to make sure he drank some before directing her attention to the forge around them.
It hadn't originally been a forge, Blue could tell, but it was quickly becoming one. The room seemed much more full than other ones like the common room because of all the tools and metals and weapons gathered in different areas. A comfortable kind of messy.
There was an excess of scrap metal piled on one side of the room, pulled from all sorts of things the rebellion must have scavenged. Beside that, a neater shelving unit housed metal that had already been melted down and rested in blocks, ready to be used. Multiple benches and worktables—these clearly duplicated—were scattered about and held completed or near-completed swords of all lengths, and all suited to the hands of a Pearl—the long delicate fingers that would toughen with practice as Blue and Yellow's had begun to.
The only Pearl in the room, who Viri greeted with a happy "Azalea!", was pink in color but still managed to fit perfectly with her surroundings. Her skin was dusted with the sooty evidence of her work as she paused in her hammering and tiny embers danced in the ponytail gathered up on her head.
"Everybody, this is Azalea." Viri waited for the other Pearl to set her work aside and then pulled gently at her hand to get her to take a few steps forward to join her. "She's our blacksmith."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Pearl offered.
Azalea gave them a tiny nod. "Nice to meet you," she said softly.
Viri placed a steady hand on her back. "She makes all our swords for training. She's really great at it!"
"I'm…"
"Come see." Viri ran to one of the tables displaying the swords and picked up one, two, three. "This one's single edged, this one's double edged, and ooh, this one's neat, I haven't seen it yet! Can I try using it today?"
Azalea blushed deeply, nodding. "Yeah."
"Thank you!" She swung it around a little excitedly. "I love the weight, it's got good balance."
She smiled as she watched Viri, nervously readjusting her ponytail and then the straps on her apron.
"Oh, and you put my name on it!" Viri exclaimed, noticing the inscription.
"Yeah." Azalea's laugh was soft and melodic. "It was supposed to be a present…"
"Really?"
"Mmhm."
"Oh! So do you want to wait and give it to me on our date then?"
"No, you can take it now," she said shyly. "For training."
"Aww, you're the sweetest." Viri leaned down to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Mind if these guys take a look at your other creations?"
"O-Oh, sure…" Face bright pink, she turned her attention to the table. "Um, what are you looking for? If I don't have what you need, I can make that next. I'm sure you've all seen much better handiwork back in the day, but I'll do my best."
"Oh, no, you don't need to go out of your way for us," Blue said quickly. "We can all summon; we just wanted to take a look around."
"And your handiwork is lovely, actually. I'd be interested in commissioning a pair of swords from you sometime," Pearl said, running her finger down one of the finished ones. "It might just be nostalgia, but I'd like to have some for this rebellion."
"It would be an honor," Azalea said, eyes wide with surprise. "Just…you know, let me know what you'd like."
"Thank you."
"Can you show us your summoned weapons?" Viri asked, wrapping an arm around Azalea's shoulders and ignoring the soot that began to transfer to her skin instantly. "Az's been really excited to see."
"Certainly," Pearl said, pulling out her spear smoothly and laying it carefully across Azalea's work table.
"Oh," Azalea breathed softly. "It's beautiful. May I…?" She pointed, and Pearl nodded, so she picked it up in her hands to examine the twist near the blade.
As she was looking, the others summoned their weapons too, watching as she gave Pearl's spear a few experimental swipes through the air.
"Mine's similar," Blue said, offering her spear next.
"It's different," Azalea murmured, one in each hand. "O-Oh, um, I don't mean to be rude, just…they're made differently. Summoned differently? That." She looked it over once more curiously and then moved to take up Yellow's swords. Confusion immediately swept over her face.
"Are they supposed to be like that?" Viri asked, leaning over her shoulder.
"Yes," Yellow said defensively as Azalea poked at the curved ends.
"Really? Can I see how you use them later?"
"Uh, sure."
"Great!"
Yellow couldn't help but smile a bit at her enthusiasm.
Azalea hesitated as she reached Amethyst's whip, winding it carefully around her hand to see what it was like.
"Guess it's not really what you're into," Amethyst said lightly.
"N-No, it's…" She bit her lip. "It's nice. Seeing different kinds of weapons…"
Amethyst grinned.
She was telling the truth, because there was very little awkwardness as she handed the whip back and moved to take one of Garnet's hands so she could see her gauntlets.
"Cool," Azalea said finally, smiling as she let go.
"And mine!" Steven offered her his weapon. "Do you make shields too?"
"I'm…practicing, yeah. Not quite there yet."
"Yeah, I bet it would be different from swords," he said. "Do you let people come watch you make them?"
Azalea looked taken aback. "I guess if you want to."
He nodded eagerly.
"We'll all hang out together and watch," Viri decided, crouching down to look at Steven's shield as well. "It'll be really fun."
The group stuck around a little longer, admiring a few more pieces of Azalea's work, before making their way back to the training room with Viri leading the way, a small skip in her step.
"See you later, Azalea! Thanks for the sword!"
"No problem," she said, smiling softly. "See you."
"Can I please, please, please spar with you now?" Silver asked Pearl as soon as they'd all gathered back up to train.
"Well, I'd like to see what everyone can do first but…" Pearl reached up to her gem. "I suppose there's no harm in a one-on-one to warm up."
Silver was dazzled by the spear drawn from Pearl's gem and rocked up onto the balls of her feet briefly in anticipation. "Yes please."
"What rules do you usually go by?"
"No gem contact, and nothing that'll cause enough damage to dissipate anyone or take them out of practice."
"Good," Pearl said approvingly. "And weaponry?"
"Use whatever you've got."
"Really?"
"I mean, that's what a real fight would be like, right?"
"That's true," she admitted. "Well, since it's the first time, I'll only use my spear."
"Alright! I'm happy to take a handicap if it's with the Renegade." Silver clapped her hands together loudly to psych herself up, taking a few steps back to put some distance between them. "Ready to go?"
"Whenever you're ready."
"Okay!" She grinned. "Fair warning, I can't really project while I'm fighting. You can pretend I'm saying something witty."
Pearl laughed. "I'll do my best."
"Alright, here goes."
Blue had expected Silver to take a moment before initiating the start of the sparring match, but she ran right in without an ounce of hesitation, hair whisked back as she rushed forward and threw an easy right hook. Pearl blocked it effortlessly with one arm, but Silver was already grabbing for Pearl's spear, wrenching it outward and knocking the handle end into Pearl's stomach.
She couldn't keep ahold of it for long, Pearl leveraging it back into her control and stabbing out with it as it locked between the two of them, making Silver jump back to avoid the point. She ducked back under Pearl's arm smoothly, coming back up behind her and sweeping her leg out to knock her off balance. Pearl used her spear to guide her leap out of range, landing en pointe a few feet away before switching to more offensive tactics.
Pearl launched into a series of spear slashes that Silver had to dodge rapidly, ducking and darting in and out to try and land some kind of hit in the miniscule spaces between attacks. She was trying to go for the spear again too, but Pearl easily kept hold of her weapon, switching hands or twirling it away whenever Silver started to get near to grabbing it.
"You can do it, Silver!" Chroma called from the sidelines.
"Yeah, go Silver!" Steven cheered alongside her. "And Pearl! You're both doing great!"
The two of them were at a stalemate for nearly five more minutes, falling into steady but not repetitive attacks, dodges, and rebounds. Then, after dodging one strike, Silver whipped around to get behind Pearl and yanked on the ribbon around her waist. With a simultaneous blow to the legs to knock her off balance, Silver was able wrestle the spear out of her grip in the few seconds of confusion.
But Pearl was up again right away before she could fully hit the ground, rolling to her feet and neatly dodging her own spear a few times before lunging forward to retrieve it. She spun sideways, placing her hand on it for mere seconds and lighting it up with a hot charge that startled Silver out of holding it. Pearl immediately stopped the white light from coalescing at the tip of the spear as she danced out of reach again.
Silver's face was flushed with excitement as she ran for Pearl again, deftly avoiding the majority of the spear stabs. One sliced a cut into the side of her leotard—not deep, barely enough to nick her skin—and the fabric immediately shifted back into place unconsciously as she swung to try and catch Pearl in the stomach. She missed and went into a rapid-fire series of attacks, steady on her feet as she darted all around Pearl trying to find an opening.
She'd just gotten one hit in when suddenly Pearl snapped her spear out, the handle knocking Silver back and interrupting enough for Pearl to grab her and send her straight to the ground. Silver fell hard, straight onto her back, and Pearl spun her spear once before aiming it down and letting the tip rest lightly on Silver's chest.
"Good job," she said.
Silver grinned, clearly exhausted despite her lack of breathing which hid any more telling evidence. "Thanks," she projected, sliding out from under the spear as Pearl began to withdraw it.
"Do you usually spar without any weapons?"
"Nah, I use swords all the time in training. I just like this way better if I've got a choice."
"Well, your strength is quite remarkable. You're self-taught?"
Silver made a kind of so-so gesture in the air. "Yeah. Crimson and I learned together."
"Ah. In that case, I hope we can arrange a similar match in the future then," Pearl said to Crimson.
"It'd be a pleasure."
"Who's next?" Silver asked eagerly, looking at the rest of the Crystal Gems. "Can we see how you guys fight too?"
"Why don't we save that for later?" Crimson said, stretching and standing up. "They need to know where we're at first so we can figure out what to focus on. And make sparring a bit safer, since, well…I especially don't think any of us are going to be a match for a fusion."
"Maybe not right now," Garnet said, giving her a small smile. "But let's see what you've got." She picked up a sword from the corner and tossed it to Crimson, who snatched it out of the air just before it flew past her.
"You want to spar with me?" she asked, surprised. "And—wait, how did you know this was mine?"
"Future vision!" Steven chimed in.
"Yep." Garnet placed a hand on his head. "Are you up for it?"
"Sure."
"And Silver can spar with me!" Amethyst volunteered.
"Fantastic!"
Pearl sighed. "I suppose we can just call it sparring matches for this practice then."
"We'll get to regular training next time," Crimson said apologetically.
"Yes, that's fine, that's fine. I'll just observe for the time being to get an idea of your skill levels."
"Then I'll have the others start some basic sparring as well?" Silver suggested.
"Sounds good."
"Great! You guys can mingle with everyone if you want too," she added to Blue, Yellow, and Steven.
Blue nodded, looking around the room at all the unfamiliar Pearls.
"You have a spear, right?" Crimson asked lightly. "Viri might be a good match to start with, since you'll both have longer weapons."
"Oh, thank you," Blue said gratefully. "I'll do that."
"And I'm sorry, I don't know what you wield," she added, turning to Yellow.
"Swords," she answered quickly. "Hook swords."
"You'll fit right in then," Crimson said with a smile. "Maybe Chroma, since you two seem like you'll be working together?"
"Sure."
"And I have a shield," Steven offered.
"Oh, that'll be a nice change of pace. How about you and…Sky?" She waved for the other Pearl to come a bit closer. "That sound okay?"
"That sounds great," Sky said, smiling down at him warmly. "I'll do my best."
"Me too!"
They all split into their separate pairs, spreading out across the room while leaving a gap in the center where Garnet and Crimson and Amethyst and Silver could fight.
It was hard staying focused on Viri when there was so much to see all around them, but Blue did her best to pay attention. Viri's fighting style was different from Yellow's or Pearl's, relying more on strength than dexterity, though the latter certainly wasn't lacking. The large surface area of Viri's gem made Blue rather uncomfortable directing too many strikes towards her chest, so she aimed primarily for Viri's legs.
"You don't have to be so careful," the tall Pearl said as she dodged another strike.
"I don't trust my accuracy yet," Blue admitted. "It's not because I'm trying to go easy on you."
"Oh, okay! You do go for a lot more swishy stuff than stabby stuff."
Blue nodded, laughing.
"Hmm, let me think who's good at accuracy…" They both slowed to a halt as Viri considered it. "Oh, I know, Caddy! I think she left already but…Sky!" She waved wildly across the room to get Sky's attention.
The blue Pearl turned at the sound of her name, Steven's borrowed sword glancing off her arm when he couldn't change its course in time. Sky winced but kept her attention on Viri. "Yeah?" she called back.
"Is Caddy coming back today?"
"No, but she should be here again tomorrow!"
"Okay, thanks!" Viri paused, then got up on her tiptoes unnecessarily to call out again. "Can you come over here?"
"Sure!" Sky slipped between sparring matches until she got over to Viri. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized Blue was there too, then traveled over the summoned spear curiously.
"You should take a turn with Blue," Viri encouraged her. "I bet you can learn a lot from each other. Look how cool her spear is!"
"I…" She glanced up at Viri, then quickly back down again. "Yeah."
"We don't have to," Blue said hastily. "You already had a partner."
"It's—"
Sky was cut off by a sudden scream off to their left, and all activity in the room screeched to a halt as well.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, are you okay?" An orange Pearl with a large fluffy ponytail dropped her sword with a clatter, making her opponent—a yellow-orange Pearl sporting oddly heavy clothing—jump another step back. Her arms were clutched around her stomach.
"What's going on?" Silver asked, immediately out of her own sparring match and beside them. "Citrine, are you hurt?" Blue did a double take at the name—she'd chosen to call herself another gem type? "Let me see."
"Back off," she snarled. "She didn't hit me."
"I want to make sure." Silver reached out to try and get a look at the damage, but Citrine immediately smacked her hand away, hit glancing off her gem. Silver's eyes flashed angrily.
"I said leave me alone! And tell this—this nameless pebble to be more careful! She's a terrible training partner!"
"Well—"
"Citrine," Crimson intercepted smoothly, her hand falling lightly on Silver's wrist to signal her to stop projecting for a minute, "why don't you call it a day? Go by the infirmary if you need to."
"I don't need to. Yet." She shot another glare at the orange Pearl, then walked straight for the door.
"I-I really am sorry!" the Pearl called after her. Then, to Crimson, "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would scare her like that, she just—"
"It's okay," she reassured her. "It was just an accident."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Crimson repeated. "Let her cool off and then you can try to talk to her. Come on, I'll spar with you for a bit in the meantime."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah. Sorry, Garnet, can we finish up another time?"
"Yeah, no worries."
As Crimson and the other Pearl made their way to an open space, the rest of the Pearls in the room slowly began resuming their matches as well. Blue, likewise, turned back around, only to find that Sky had disappeared.
"She's always going back and forth between here and court," Viri reassured her when she saw the concern on Blue's face. "Honestly, it's weirder if she doesn't take off without warning at least once a day."
"Oh. Alright." It still felt like something was wrong, but Blue was fairly certain there wasn't anything she could do about it if it was. "Want a round two?" she asked Viri.
"I'd love that."
By the time Crimson had finished her unexpectedly intense sparring match with the Pearl without a name, she needed a breather. Taking a moment to sit down, she let her eyes wander around the training room to check on everyone. Silver and Blue were sparring now, and Viri and Yellow. Garnet and Amethyst both seemed to be working their way through different partners as well and, thankfully, tempering their attacks depending on each Pearl's skill.
Someone was missing though, after a second glance over the room, and Crimson quickly stood and made her way out to the hall. Maybe she was worrying too much, but it couldn't hurt to check.
"Sky?"
The other Pearl was standing a little ways down the hall, back pressed flat against the wall like she was trying to keep herself upright. Slow tears dripped from the corners of her eyes down her cheeks and then hovered at her chin before falling. She looked startled when Crimson said her name.
"What's wrong?" Crimson asked gently, taking her hand and easing her away from the wall and towards her room.
Sky shook her head, trailing obediently after her.
"If you don't want to see Blue, you don't have to," she said softly as she closed the door behind them and let go. "Sky."
"It's not that. She seems nice."
"But you don't like her."
"Of course I like her!" Sky said quickly. "She's—She's amazing. Everyone likes her."
"Well, personally I was going to withhold judgement until I actually get to know her," Crimson replied, gesturing for Sky to take a seat. "But yes, I suppose she is. What's the matter?"
"I don't know." Sky blinked quickly, hugging herself in a way that made her slender shoulders look even more fragile. "I guess because she's just as amazing as I expected and I'm…not."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Crimson asked, voice sharp.
Sky winced. "She's brave and she's free and she's spent her whole life giving everybody else hope. I don't know how to follow that. I-I don't even feel any connection to her now that we've met, because I'm new and I never saw her projections myself and I didn't have to wait to be part of the rebellion and—" She broke off, voice wavering. "I'm nothing like her. I don't know how to be like her."
"No one expects you to be like Blue."
"Everyone expects me to be like Blue!" she shot back before catching herself, lowering her eyes once more, and murmuring a quiet, "I'm sorry. But they do."
"Why do you think that?" Crimson asked, eyebrows raised.
"They all talk about her, or—or show me her stories or…" Sky scrubbed a hand across her eyes. "I wish they'd just say it, but they don't, and I feel like I'm disappointing them."
"That's not true."
Sky stretched her legs out and pointed her toes, looking like she wanted to leave.
"Sky. It isn't."
"Yes, it is. Even you do it."
Crimson stared at her, startled. "I do what?"
"Never mind."
"No, I want to know what you mean."
Sky hesitated, hands wringing in her lap. "I mean…I know it's different now that we actually know each other. But her projections were really inspiring for you and that's the whole reason you came to recruit us, isn't it?"
"Sky, no," Crimson said, shocked. "I never expected you to—Yes, of course part of it was strategic, but I never wanted you to make you feel like you were being compared to her. You're not Blue, and that's a good thing." When Sky didn't say anything, she touched her cheek lightly to get her to look up. "We share the projections because that's our history. It's not a lot, but it's ours—the Renegade and Blue and Yellow and…and us right now too. It doesn't matter where we've all come from, because we've got something in common. There was never meant to be any ulterior motive behind the others sharing that with you, I'm sure. There certainly wasn't with me."
"I'm still…" Sky swiped at her eyes. "I wish I could do more for everyone."
"You're doing plenty," Crimson murmured. "I promise."
"I spend more time with Blue Diamond than I do here," she whispered.
"And that gives us valuable insight that we couldn't have without you," she reassured her. "That's important. Don't minimize your own efforts."
"I know…"
"I honor your service," Crimson said softly. "Yours. You're wonderful and dedicated and I look forward to the day when you can stay here and just be yourself."
"Thank you," Sky managed tearfully.
"I'm sorry I didn't consider how you must feel when your predecessors left behind such a big legacy. But I promise, that is not why I want you here."
She nodded, unfurling one hand and watching Crimson's settle reassuringly firm in her palm. Sky smiled, faint but sincere, and Crimson's gaze didn't waver.
"My Diamond might call me back soon," Sky murmured after a few long moments. "I should get cleaned up."
"Here," she offered, drawing a small cloth from her gem. "It's not exactly a handkerchief, but it's clean," she said, pressing it into Sky's hand.
"Thanks," she said quietly.
"You're welcome." She gave Sky a moment to wipe her face.
"Um…" She looked down at the cloth, not sure what to do with it.
"You can hold onto it," Crimson said easily. "I have more."
"For the long line of Pearls having crying fits in the hallway?" Sky asked wryly, fingers curling around it carefully.
"Aha, there's your sense of humor." She smiled. "Yes, for purposes including but not limited to crying Pearls. Keep it."
"Thank you," she said, managing a small smile in return as she folded it up into a neat square. "I'll see you soon?"
"I'd like that." Crimson gave her a quick hug before walking her to the door. "Tell Caddy I expect her to take good care of you."
Sky laughed quietly. "She always does."
"I know. See you soon. Be safe."
"You too. Thanks, Crimson."