A/N: So far I've written about half the word count of Vicissitude (another fluffier fic of mine with Steven and Amethyst as your star leading roles) in about a quarter of the time, and probably will have close to 80% of its worth by the end of the year. Only one way to know for sure. Anywho, back to your regularly scheduled fanfiction!
(I don't own Steven Universe)
III: Provenance, Part III
"Hm," Steven hummed to himself, half-consciously moving the grass in front of him. He walked through the yellowed-green in silence, having a vague idea of where he was going. Recalling where the corruption had hit the ground in relation to where Amethyst and he had landed was surprisingly difficult, though not for the reasons he would've assumed. He could jump up and look for the cushioned crater if he really needed to; it was what else he had to contemplate that made his search difficult.
While she attempted to shrug it off, Amethyst had seemed far more exhausted than Steven had ever seen her, and that was saying something. More than tired, the Gem looked like she'd forgone sleep for hundreds of years. Steven was convinced that it had something to do with Smoky's un-fusion, though exactly how was still a mystery. Fusion wasn't something he'd consider himself an expert on, but he couldn't find much reason for there to be such a difference in Amethyst's and his fatigue. Stevonnie's condition rarely had much of an effect on either Connie or Steven after they un-fused. He had to wonder why Smoky's case seemed so different.
Suddenly, a branch underfoot tripped Steven out of his thoughts. He didn't break anything this time around, though it did break him away from Amethyst's odd condition. The Gem looked around, noticing he had accidentally found the corruption's landing spot without thinking. The grass around him had been flattened in a large clearing, big enough to set up a sizable campfire in. Splinters of broken wood and tree branches dotted the area. Despite the relative flatness of the grass, however, he couldn't see the corruption's Gem quite yet. He got up, dusting off his pants and taking a closer look around.
"Where'd you go..." Steven muttered to himself, striding towards a sizable chunk of the tree from before. It was certainly big enough to take out the corruption, but not by much. The young Gem moved to the side of the tree, placing a hand on its rough surface. Sure enough, he found a bright azure stone hiding in the wood's shade. A satisfied smile brought itself to his lips.
Crouching down, Steven picked up the Gem, inspecting it. Rather than bubble it instantly, he eyed the jewel. He didn't think that the size of a Gem had a whole lot to do with its body, but there was definitely a connection between the corruption's Gem and its huge form. The stone had a definite weight in his hand; its shape, however, was far from definite. The Gem looked like it'd been ripped straight from the ground, dirt and all. Spikes of the stone poked out in random directions, each a slightly different hue of blue. Before Steven could question it, the blue abruptly changed color in his hands.
The Gem began growing brighter, changing into a brighter cyan. Steven felt the surface of the Gem give off a recognizable heat in a matter of moments. Panicking, he formed a bubble around the Gem. It had little of an immediate effect. Then, the Gem's brightness died down. He gave it a couple seconds. Seeing the Gem recede back into its dormant state, he released his breath.
"This can't be good," he said to himself, standing back up from the ground. More seemed to be wrong with the corruption than just its body. While the brief glow was cause for panic, the broken tree reminded him enough of Amethyst to worry about one thing at a time. He would have to talk to Garnet and Pearl about the Gem's odd nature later. Amethyst had said that she wanted to at least see the Gem before he teleported it away, so he kept the bubble in his hands. Moving back around the tree, he spotted where he first entered the clearing in the grass, and began his walk back to his friend. At least she'd get a kick out of how weird the Gem looked.
The walk back through the grass seemed quieter than the first time around. Steven hoped that Amethyst's condition had somehow gotten better over the span of five or so minutes. He wouldn't be that surprised if she'd fallen back into sleeping by now. After another minute, he returned to the small clearing of grass he'd landed Amethyst and himself in. Then he stopped short at the sight of his friend.
She lay face down in the grass, her arms splayed out lazily. While that was par for the course as far as Amethyst's sleeping positions were concerned, her hair was what had stopped Steven's breath short. It wasn't her usual white; instead of the shining silver she usually had, the locks had become a much darker gray. What he thought was his eyes exaggerating was a very real change in hue.
"Amethyst?" he asked urgently, jogging the last few feet to her side. He placed the bubble on the ground beside him as he crouched down to her. She groaned in response. Her hand lifted about one inch off the ground in a form of greetings before falling back to the grass, completely drained of energy. The violet Gem didn't say anything about her hair, or anything at all. Worried, Steven placed a careful hand on her shoulder. Still no real response.
"Are you okay?" he questioned, not entirely expecting an answer. He didn't receive much more than an apathetic shrug. Carefully, he placed his other hand on her, slowly trying to turn her onto her side. She seemed limp. Her face was contorted in a strained grimace, sweat beading on her forehead. Her newly darkened hair clung to her face messily.
"Ain't really... 100%," she gradually told Steven in between breaths. Hoping for more of an explanation, Steven waited, his eyebrows glued together in concern. All Amethyst offered was a lethargic wave in the air with her hand. She seemed to know as much about her condition as he did. For a brief moment, he considered licking his palm, though he didn't have much of an idea on where to place it. A headache didn't seem to be the only thing ailing his companion.
Placing his hands more securely on her shoulders, Steven tried sitting Amethyst up into a more comfortable position. Every one of her movements was sluggish to the point of apathy. As much as he wanted to help her, he didn't have the slightest clue as to how. All that came to mind was getting her to a proper bed, and that was rarely something she thought of as necessary.
A distant whistling turned Steven's attention to the side. He looked to the far-off dot in the sky, recognizing it much faster than the first time around. From the corner of his vision, he could see Amethyst squint open one eye to follow his gaze. They continued watching the bird as it grew closer, and Steven gave a silent thanks that she was alone this time around. The Gem quickly closed the distance between them, turning to her usual form as she hit the ground.
"I don't know what you did-" Pearl began with a grateful look before seeing Amethyst. The thin Gem's expression melted into a concerned grimace, her eyes widening. Amethyst gave her a slow wave. Pearl moved closer to her, not once eyeing the bubble Steven had put on the ground.
"What's wrong?" she instinctively asked, crouching to where Amethyst sat. While Steven was glad she could tell something was off so quickly, he didn't like the fact that something was wrong in the first place. As if to agree, Amethyst grunted in response to Pearl's question, frowning with a shrug. Inspecting the darker color of her hair, Pearl asked Steven what exactly she'd missed. "Did something happen to Amethyst?"
"We don't really know," he answered, keeping a hand on Amethyst's back to prevent her from falling into the grass. She seemed somewhat appreciative. "She said that she was really tired. After we- er, Smoky un-fused, I mean. I had to wake her up earlier."
Pearl grew a little more anxious, unable to make any constructive response beyond saying, "I see," with a hum. Evidently, she didn't know that much about Amethyst's exhausted condition either. Steven had hoped that it was another Gem occurrence he hadn't been educated on quite yet, though Amethyst seemed as clueless as he was. Then again, she rarely seemed to know more than Steven when it came to semi-serious Gem business. Not that he held that against her. Steven explained what he could to Pearl.
"Maybe it was because of Smoky's fight with the corrupted Gem," he told the Gem. She placed a hand on her chin, tilting her head slightly. "I'm not tired at all, but shouldn't I be? We worked together to fight her."
Oddly enough, a hint of a smile appeared on Amethyst's lips. She hummed affirmation, nodding like their cooperation was a pleasant memory. Steven would've appreciated the positivity if it wasn't so diametrically opposed to her obvious discomfort. Pearl hummed in a more contemplative tone.
"That... maybe," she muttered, unsure. Her hand moved to her ribbon on some nervous instinct. "But why would her hair be darker? I'm assuming that's not on purpose."
That was something Steven knew a little less about, which was saying something. He looked to Amethyst for some kind of explanation. Their eyes met, as if she was looking at him for some kind of explanation. Wordlessly, she raised a hand to her hair, sweeping a lock in front of her face to inspect it closer. Her eyebrows rose a fraction when she noticed the comparatively darker strands instead of her usual white.
"...that's a new one," she let out in a tired tone. Steven admitted that the explanation for that was a little harder to find, and added that it wasn't something that tended to happen when Amethyst got tired. She confirmed as much. Pearl kept her eyes on Amethyst for a couple more seconds before standing back up.
"We should head back to the Temple," she stated with a nod, as if to change subjects. That sounded like a good idea to Steven; the sooner they returned home, the sooner they could ask Garnet about Amethyst's current state. Hopefully she would be able to explain more about fusion. Amethyst, though, didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to return home. Steven got the idea that she didn't seem to be in the mood for doing much of anything, judging by the excessive slouch of her posture. It was her fallen expression that got him to talk.
"Can you stand alright?" he asked uncertainly. His worried intentions seemed to come across as more unnecessary than rude. Instead of taking his question as an insult, Amethyst tried shrugging off his worry.
"'Course," she said simply, attempting to put a force of energy in her voice and sitting up somewhat. She promptly made no attempt to stand up, making Pearl raise an eyebrow. After a brief hesitation, Amethyst's shoulders sagged back down tiredly. "...probably."
Steven's eyebrows furrowed together. He glanced at Pearl, who had a similar look on her features. Seeing their hesitation, Amethyst shook her head.
"Just-" she tried again, placing a hand on her knee, "...gimme a sec-"
"Here," Steven told her patiently, placing his hands more securely on her sides. At first, Amethyst resisted the help, reiterating that she could definitely stand on her own (after all, a little tiredness never killed anyone). Her denial only lasted a few more seconds before she reluctantly took Steven's aid, letting him bring her up to a standing position.
"-Ow!" she suddenly faltered. Her leg gave out from underneath her, making her weight go slack. Thankfully, Steven had a tight enough grip on her that she didn't fall to the ground completely, only letting the Gem stumble backwards into him. The weight of her on him was enough to cause him to stumble, but he stood for the both of them as best as he could.
"What is it?" both he and Pearl asked simultaneously, matching expressions of concern. Amethyst shook her head after a few rushed breaths, sweat returning to her forehead. With a grimace, she tentatively moved her leg, taking a sharp breath as it rotated.
"It's, uh..." she muttered, looking almost embarrassed. If it wasn't for her obvious discomfort, Steven would've found her apprehension a more pressing concern than her initial pain. "...it's my foot. Hurts like a-"
Amethyst suddenly cleared her throat, glancing at Steven.
"It hurts a lot," she finished.
Some confusion wedged itself in the concern on Pearl's features. Steven's expression, however, only grew more worried. If he had a mirror, he might've found the word "dire" to be a good way to describe his face. Despite the warm air of the day, he felt a chill go down his back. Slowly, he looked to which side had been the source of Amethyst's sudden pain, following her eyes.
"Your left foot," he said to himself, staring at the boot. Amethyst nodded affirmation, though still tried to shrug off how dire it was.
"Just surprised me," she tried recovering. Neither Pearl nor Steven were the slightest bit convinced, but the latter was too busy staring to pay much mind to what he was hearing. "I-I can still walk, just gonna have to be a little careful, is all. You can let-"
"I hurt my left foot," Steven interrupted. Amethyst stopped abruptly, surprise flooding her features. Pearl, still worried, tilted her head.
"What do you mean?" she inquired, obviously not getting the whole picture. For a few silent moments, all Steven did was flex his leg. Sure enough, it felt as fine as usual. Not a single hint of pain or discomfort could be found. Amethyst appeared to notice even if he hadn't flinched in the slightest.
"When we were running after the smaller Gem at first," Steven explained, his eyes still wide, "I fell and twisted my ankle. Before Amethyst and I fused. I tried healing it, but now..."
At first, Pearl didn't seem to see the connection. Then realization dawned on her like a flood of water. She wordlessly rose a hand to her surprised gape, now staring at the source of her companion's pain. A similarly startled expression fell onto Amethyst's face, and she met Steven's worried eyes. He instinctively tightened his grasp around her just a tad, grimacing.
"How is that..." Pearl began before realizing the futility of her statement. The Gem shook her head in befuddlement. With a newly dire conviction, she crossed her arms. "We should really get back to the Temple now."
Steven agreed wholeheartedly, nodding. Revitalized by the odd occurrence of her injured foot, Amethyst nodded as well, though didn't say much beyond that. If Steven didn't know any better, he might've described her demeanor as... afraid, almost. In all honesty, he was a little scared himself. Not that admitting as much would be beneficial. In an effort to ease her (and himself, somewhat), Steven bent down a little lower, motioning for Amethyst to move an arm to his shoulder to keep upright. Both Gems moved carefully as he licked his palm and moved it towards her injured ankle, being even more careful with raising her pants leg to touch the wound directly.
"...there," he said with a calm sigh. Hopefully that would heal it further than the first time had. Since the damage was more internal, Steven wasn't entirely aware if his spit was as effective as usual, though Amethyst's willingness to test her leg again gave him confidence. She still drew in a sharper breath when bending the limb a little too far, but it was definitely an improvement. She remarked as much, telling him, "Yeah, little better," with an appreciative nod. He considered simply licking his hand again to heal her further, though reasoned it likely didn't work on the same wound in so short of a time.
"Hopefully that will suffice for now," Pearl spoke to either Gem. She seemed somewhat grateful for Steven's healing ability as well. Returning back to his initially supportive position, Steven motioned for Amethyst to try and take a few steps. She did so after a brief hesitation; or, she attempted to do so. It looked like she stepped into a pit of scorpions for all her expression said.
"I'll be fine," she preemptively assured Steven. He could feel her put less of her weight on him as she eased into her next step. Before she could even get the opportunity to protest, Steven tapped her shoulder, telling her to turn towards him. Wordlessly, he turned around and bent down a little further, hooking his arms outwards while giving her a "this way" motion with his head. She looked him up and down for a few moments.
"Nah, nah, c'mon," Amethyst denied, shaking her head. The bags under her eyes didn't make her tone all that persuasive. "Quit yer' worrying. I'll be fine."
As Steven unfortunately expected, Amethyst was more than hesitant to take his offer. That didn't stop him from keeping his offer standing. Pearl rose an eyebrow at Amethyst, mentioning that now probably wasn't the best time to be stubborn. The Gem took another pained step forwards, then looked skeptically back at Steven. She groaned.
About a dozen seconds later, Steven stood up confidently, being careful not to jerk or pull on Amethyst's leg too hard. According to her braced arms hooked in front of his neck, being careful was the right course of action. A subtle grin broke out on Pearl's features, though it was more earnest than teasing. Amethyst didn't look at her long enough to tell either way. She was silent as Steven secured his grasp on her legs.
"Can't forget about her," Steven recalled, turning towards the Gem he'd bubbled from before. The other Gems followed his eyes to their target, and noticeably rose their eyebrows when they saw the size of it. If Amethyst hadn't been forcing an obstinate expression, she probably would've whistled an impressed tune.
"Wow," Pearl said for the both of them, bending down to inspect the haphazard Gem further. With Steven's arms currently occupied, she picked up the bubble tentatively for him. Steven moved towards the Gem, knowing how much Amethyst had wanted to get a closer look.
"We took out somethin' that big?" she asked aloud, incredulous. The Gem served as a welcome distraction from how falsely degrading she thought her current position on Steven's back was. The young Gem nodded in pride. Pearl hummed, also impressed.
"We make a good team," Steven affirmed. He could feel Amethyst shrug agreement, saying a nonchalant, "Guess so." After a couple more moments of inspection, Pearl placed her hand on top of the bubble, teleporting it away.
"These corruptions are getting stranger and stranger," she muttered to herself. Dusting off her hands, she turned to the side, mimicking the earlier "this way" motion Steven had given Amethyst. "There's a warp-pad I passed earlier in this direction."
Steven nodded, following after her into the comparatively taller grass. Amethyst gave a faux snort, though it didn't carry her usual teasing attitude.
"S'matter," she gradually said to Pearl, "we too heavy to carry up there?"
Pearl looked skywards for a moment, and Steven followed her gaze to the floating island above them. Its size wasn't nearly as impressive from as far away as there were.
"I'd rather not risk it," Pearl explained curtly, crossing her arms and resuming her walk through the grass. The usual interaction between both Gems was enough to get Steven to grin. Unfortunately, the laugh Amethyst had returned with sounded almost forced. She remained upright on Steven's back, making some kind of effort to avoid leaning on Steven entirely. Yet another cause for worry.
As much as she likely wanted too, Amethyst refused to relax for a surprising length of time; that was to say, any length of time. Steven had gone so far as to pace his steps evenly on the soft grass to avoid jerking her leg too hard. Whatever the reason for her being so burned out was, Steven mentioned that she could afford to return to resting as soon as she liked. Pearl even encouraged her to avoid using what little energy she had left. It wasn't every day she had a valid excuse for not doing anything, so Steven was even more surprised by the subtle shake of her chin he'd felt on his head.
"Don't wanna leave you alone with boring ol' Pearl, there," Amethyst gave as a reason. On a normal day, Steven would've accepted her explanation, but he got the feeling there was more to it than that. Pearl rolled her eyes. Rather than some retort, she reiterated the fact that Amethyst should take the moments of respite while she could.
"It'll likely be a long walk," she told the short Gem, somewhat slowing her pace through the grass. Steven could detect a hint of concern in her voice as opposed to her usually technical tone. "There's not much to watch out for now."
Amethyst grunted, shaking her head again. Though she probably couldn't see it from where she was, Steven attempted to give her a concerned frown. Something about her demeanor seemed as affected as her energy. Affected by what, he had no idea. He considered mentioning that the warm day was perfect for doing nothing, especially after fighting a monstrous Gem corruption, though Amethyst could probably tell as much on her own. That didn't stop Pearl from mentioning the calm weather herself. After another few yards of silent steps through the grass, Amethyst sighed, either out of exhaustion or frustration.
"Whatever," she muttered, shaking her head. Hesitantly, she lowered more comfortably onto Steven's back. He accepted the change in weight without a word. His arms shifted forward a bit more, allowing her to rest her head on his. Some of her darkened bangs trailed in front of his face, though he blew them away with little difficulty. She yawned tiredly. "Don't let me fall asleep, though, alright? No reason for that."
Both Steven and Pearl stopped walking for a moment. They looked at each other, having a silent conversation.
"Sure thing," Steven told Amethyst, looking towards her tired features. Sure enough, her eyes were already closed.
"I... mean it," she managed to draw out through another yawn. Steven reaffirmed her request with a hum, resuming his walk a little slower than before. Pearl, now with a slight smile, did the same. Amethyst didn't seem to notice their comparatively slower steps. Pearl faced towards her for some time, moving the grass on their path out of instinct.
"...Amethyst?" Steven ventured after some time. His voice was purposefully quieter than usual. He gave the Gem on his back about a half dozen seconds to respond before being given a light snore. She was out like a light in barely over a minute. A relieved sigh fell out of Steven's mouth, mimicking Pearl's own. Hopefully some proper rest would do Amethyst some good. To play it safe, Pearl kept her voice to a whisper.
"What happened before Smoky un-fused?" she asked quietly. Steven moved his eyes to hers, surprised by how quick she'd gotten to the point. He would've shrugged in confusion, though reasoned that wasn't a good idea with Amethyst's current position.
"I... don't know, really," he answered honestly. Frowning, Steven tried recalling exactly what had been going through Smoky's mind prior to dissipating into Amethyst and him. The most he could remember was a potent feeling of fear. Remembering exactly why Smoky was so scared was a bit harder. He expressed as much as he could, following after Pearl's whisper. "Smoky was afraid. It wasn't like they were afraid of the corruption, though. It was more like... being afraid for someone else."
Pearl hummed, stopping for a moment. She tapped a contemplative finger on the grass she was moving aside.
"Concerned?" she tried describing for Steven. His eyebrows rose in recognition.
"Yeah," he confirmed with a nod. That was a good way to put it. Smoky was definitely concerned, but if that was the case...
Steven hummed to himself, frowning. "But you were safe," he reasoned to Pearl. "The corruption was after Smoky at the time, not you. Why would they worry so much about you?"
Pearl was quiet for a couple seconds. She resumed walking forwards, glancing at a barer patch of grass off to the side of their path.
"Maybe Smoky wasn't the one so concerned," she eventually met Steven's question. Her tone was quiet even by a whisper's standards. Steven recoiled slightly, not considering something like that. He continued walking after Pearl with a frown. While Steven loved and cared greatly for his companions, he couldn't remember anything about being too worried for them. It wasn't for a lack of caring, obviously; just that fusing with Amethyst always gave him enough confidence to avoid fearing what would happen to anyone close to him. Understanding that left one candidate for concern left.
"You think Amethyst was worried?" he let out quietly. The Gem looked up at his companion, a curious frown adorning his features. Her expression seemed much more peaceful when it wasn't so strained by being awake. Pearl nodded slowly, adding a quiet hum.
"Smoky seemed very concerned about their lower Gem," she recounted. She didn't stop walking this time, though she did slow a little as she looked back up at the floating island. They'd moved out from being directly underneath it some time ago. "Not to mention how quiet they were. I'd hate to have to describe either you or Amethyst as 'quiet'."
A minor laugh escaped Steven's lips. "Yep, that probably means something's wrong," he admitted. Still, he couldn't help but look back at Amethyst, making sure to keep his arms secure. It wasn't often he could describe Amethyst as worried; the few times he could were usually severe enough to denote some catharsis. The last one they'd shared was after fighting Jasper, and Steven still looked back on their mutual understanding with a contented pride.
"She seemed worried before that, too," Steven suddenly recalled. Amethyst shifted a little in his arms, making him stop cold in his tracks, but otherwise stayed asleep. He picked his feet back up after another few safe seconds. "When I hurt my foot, she looked really concerned. She said she didn't like seeing people she knew get hurt."
That was true enough of anyone, but Pearl seemed to get what Steven was attempting to convey. Placing the why of Amethyst's sudden worry looked like a harder task for her. Steven felt similar, wondering why someone as laid back as his friend was suddenly so bothered. No recent event that could change her casual nature came to mind. Her recent reluctance to relax didn't sit well with Steven, either. Pearl, feeling similar, spoke up carefully.
"She seems hesitant to rely on you," she noted. Her tone was as confident as it was regretful, like she was recalling a worse time. Steven, though internally agreeing, tried to justify the Gem's odd behavior.
"Maybe it's just 'cause she's tired," he answered. From his experience, people became wildly different (usually grumpier, if Steven was recalling honestly) when they became so exhausted. Unfortunately, he could hear the weakness in his argument as well as Pearl could. Both Gems shook their head, knowing something else was off.
"I thought she'd gained her confidence in you before," Pearl stated in that same tentatively factual tone. Steven hummed confirmation. They had gone over the debacle of relying on each other a fair amount of time ago, and as far as Steven was concerned, their mutual understanding hadn't wavered in the slightest since then. Maybe Amethyst's condition put a false perspective on that memory. Obviously, Steven hoped otherwise, though had to reason it was in the realm of possibilities. Looking at the darkened gray of her hair confirmed anything was realistic at this point.
"I hope she feels better when she wakes up," Steven breathed out in a comparatively quieter tone. Since they had already been whispering, Pearl had difficulty hearing him above the ambient waving of the grass surrounding them, but nodded agreement. They shared a quiet moment of contemplation, returning to silence. Steven glanced at the sky above them. Hoping to brighten the mood (or, at the very least, change it), he shifted topics.
"How'd you deal with those Gems?" he asked Pearl, curious. A few seconds passed, then she seemingly heard him. Her hum hadn't gained much more enthusiasm than from before.
"I… didn't," she let out. Her voice was surprisingly dire. "I was still flying when they suddenly dissipated. I assumed you and Amethyst had something to do with that."
Now Steven hummed in that low tone. "I don't think so," he returned. Not much came to mind on why the smaller corruptions took longer to poof. "We poofed the mom a while ago, before they started chasing you."
Pearl put a contemplative hand on her chin. Before she could come up with any theory, Steven recalled when he first found the Gem.
"It was acting weird," he abruptly spoke out. Pearl rose an eyebrow, silently asking what he'd meant. He explained to the best of his knowledge. "When I first found the mom's Gem, it started glowing. Almost like… it was about to regenerate. But that couldn't be it, right?"
Pearl nodded, though she still looked troubled. "No Gem could regenerate that fast," she affirmed, "but the Gem also looked… strange. Much larger than most of the corrupted Gems we've dealt with."
Given the haphazard shape of the Gem, Steven agreed. It wasn't often that fusing seemed necessary when dealing with a corrupted Gem, but their most recent opponent definitely didn't leave much room for risk. Not that he would've turned down Amethyst's offer under most circumstances. Adjusting his grip on her, he glanced up at the Gem on his back, wondering if that had been the reason for her worry. A sudden crunching sound underfoot prevented him from relaying his thoughts to Pearl.
The young Gem paused, careful not to put any more weight onto whatever he stepped on. A hard "crunch" wasn't the most usual noise Steven attributed to walking in a grassy field. Cautiously, he moved his foot to the side, bending downwards a little to inspect what he'd trodden on. Pearl followed his gaze after noticing he'd stopped walking. With a newfound severity, she reached towards the small glint of light. Her grip was as tentative as her expression.
She lifted the stone carefully, eyeing it alongside Steven. His eyes grew wide the moment he recognized the scarlet light reflecting off of it. Thank goodness, the Gem was barely damaged, only having a subtle hint of a web-work crack. Pearl turned the red jewel over in her fingers. It was so small, it barely qualified as a shard.
"What is…?" Pearl trailed off, frowning out of confusion. Steven continued looking at the Gem in silence, letting its presence register. Then, he slowly looked around, taking a much closer inspection of the ground. It was much easier to notice the colorful stones dotting the area now that he knew to look for them. Pearl turned as he had, seeing the rainbow-like collection of Gems scattered around them. None of them could've been much larger than Steven's hand. A few more moments of contemplation let him make sense of his surroundings.
"These must be the smaller Gems," he thought out loud to himself. "The ones that were chasing you." Pearl, after looking back at the floating island they'd first traveled to, matched his recognition.
"This was about where they lost their form," she added, bending down to pick up a few other shards. The Gem's expression hadn't lost much of her confusion, though. "But… they shouldn't have Gems. That's not how offspring work…"
Pearl trailed off again, at a loss. Steven would've bent down to get a closer look at the Gems himself, though didn't want to risk waking Amethyst. With how worried she suddenly became, Steven didn't think confusing her further was the best idea. Instead, he hummed dutifully.
"We can't leave them here," he stated as a matter of fact. Pearl, however more worried than Steven, nodded. She picked up some of the other Gem shards more purposefully. They were small enough that she could afford to put multiple into one bubble. Steven would've helped her, though he was currently preoccupied with an arguably more pressing matter.
"How many were there?" he asked, hoping for a fittingly small answer. The less that could potentially be hiding in the tall grass, the better. Unfortunately, a frustrated sigh from Pearl didn't give Steven much hope.
"At least 11," she answered. For once, Pearl didn't seem that confident. Her expression fell as she bubbled the five or so Gems already in her palm. "But… probably more. I didn't get a good look."
Steven frowned. He could see about four more Gems from where he was, and given that they were flying at the time, it was likely that the rest of them had fallen a fair distance away from each other. Who knew in what direction. Pearl seemed to understand the inconvenience as well, shaking her head.
"This… might take a while," she admitted, sounding embarrassed. Steven nodded patiently, then looked back up to Amethyst. Pearl suddenly halted her collecting to follow his gaze. A regretful expression fell over her features.
"...you should get her to the Temple," Pearl gradually told him. Some professionalism worked its way into her voice. Steven frowned, though had to agree with her priorities.
"I'll take care of her," he affirmed in that same dutiful tone. He swelled his chest out, as if to assume a proud pose. Pearl's expression lingered on the Gem.
"Alright," she eventually said, returning to the Gem shards around them. Steven didn't get the idea that she was ignoring Amethyst's condition in favor of a mission; he liked to think that she simply trusted him enough to not worry. She seemed to convey something along those lines, telling him, "I'll bubble all these shards. Just continue the same way we were going."
Steven nodded, securing his grasp on Amethyst. He carefully walked past Pearl, keeping an eye out for any other small Gem shards hiding in the grass. Hopefully they weren't too scattered, both for Pearl's and his own sake. He gave one last look to Pearl, noticing her conviction to bubble every Gem shard. She seemed eager to focus on such a simple task. In all honesty, Steven didn't blame her. There was too much atypical Gem business within the past half-hour for his tastes.
Humming, Steven moved through the grass, making sure to keep his path straight.
A/N: For the most part, I fail to update all that frequently as a result of being busy with drawing (and soon college, yay) but lucky for you, this was all written a fair amount of time in the past. This means that you can keep reading without stopping if you want! Hint, hint.