Kindergarten, around 16000 years ago:
As Pearl and Connie came out of the ripple, they tumbled towards the canyon floor. Above them, Amethyst and Steven appeared, Steven's hands tangled in Amethyst's hair, both hurtling towards them with no control.
As the group crashed to the floor in a jumbled messed, there was a loud crunching sound. Groaning, they lay there for a moment.
Finally, Steven sat up. Untwisting his hand from Amethyst's hair, he stood on wobbling legs. "Is... is everyone okay?"
Amethyst sat up. "Yeah. Thanks for pulling me through, dude." Reaching out, she pulled him into a hug. "I would have been stranded..." she whispered.
Steven hugged her back. "Sorry if that hurt though. Your hair was the only thing I could reach..."
"Don't worry about it, Ste-man." Amethyst gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Connie groaned and rolled away from Pearl. "That landing could have been better…" she muttered.
Steven quickly went to check on her. "Are you hurt?!"
Connie looked herself over. "Um... No. I'm fine."
With a shake of her head, Pearl sat up. "Not my best landing, no. Maybe a seven out of ten..." she grunted as she stood up, swaying slightly.
As they looked at her with horror, she looked around, instinctively reaching up towards her gem, finding it undamaged. "What? What's wrong?"
Looking down at herself, her eyes widened at the sight of her right leg, which was twisted inwards and glitching in and out of existence. "Oh. Maybe that should be a two instead..."
"Pearl! Your leg's broken!" Steven cried as Amethyst quickly rushed over to offer Pearl some support.
Pearl shrugged. "Eh, I've had much worse, believe me..." she poked it with a finger briefly as it finally seemed to settle on solid. "I'm fine, let's go."
With obvious effort, she started to limp past them. She didn't get more than two steps before she felt herself being picked up. "Wha?!" Looking down, she found herself sitting on Amethyst shoulders.
"You crazy, stubborn, bloody..." the purple Gem trailed off, muttering under her breath.
Steven ran over. "Pearl, let me heal you!" he raised his hand to his mouth, but Pearl gently grabbed it.
"No. Steven... No. You know how I am about bodily fluids..." she shuddered with disgust.
"But, you're hurt..."
Pearl shrugged. "Yes. But I've had worse, and I've healed from worse without anyone's help. This will be fine by... tomorrow. I'm a pearl. We're experts at ignoring pain. Honestly, I don't even feel it." she poked it again, finally hitting it with a loud slap. "Hmm... Nope, not a thing." she shrugged before she looked back at him. "Trust me, Steven, I'm perfectly fine. This is just... a momentary setback. Inevitable when you're used as a landing pad for three members of the Shorty Squad. And it was better that I get hurt than any of you, because I honestly don't care about my own personal pain, and can repair it quickly. My gem is intact, so I am fine." she huffed. "Now, can we please start moving. We may have several weeks before the next ripple, yes, but we don't know how long it'll take to reach the next location on foot."
"Wait? What do you mean, on foot?" Amethyst glanced up from between Pearl's legs.
Realising their position, they both blushed.
Pearl pointed towards the canyon walls. "Notice that the holes are all gone?"
Looking around, they gasped at the bare walls. "Hey... what happened?"
Pearl nodded towards the location of the warp pad. "Steven, pop up and check the warp, okay?"
Steven nodded and jumped up. A second later, they heard his yell. "Hey! It's gone!"
Pearl waited until he had jumped back down. "That particular warp pad was one of the first put in, right after the Galaxy Warp was installed. So, we must have gone back to before Pink and I came to Earth, possibly even before Earth was chosen as the site of her first colony. The other me thought that it could even possibly be before any of us existed, as entropic cascade failure wasn't an issue despite the long delay."
Amethyst glanced up. "So, no warps mean we're walking to the next place? Where's that?"
Pearl glanced down. "Actually, it's the future location of the Temple. So, we're going to prehistoric Beach City. We're almost home."
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As they rounded a bend in the canyon, they paused with horror. Ahead of them was a massive dark brown bear.
"Oh, hell no..." Amethyst whispered, tightening her grip on Pearl's thighs in case they had to run.
The mega-bear spotted them and turned about, standing up to its full height of almost four metres.
Steven grabbed Connie's hand as the pink bubble formed around them.
Amethyst side-stepped it, as Pearl reached to her gem, the light of a spear already appearing.
Glancing up, Amethyst started glowing.
Pearl dropped her hand, her spear sucking back in as Amethyst shifted and grew beneath her. Finally, she found herself sitting on the shoulders of a giant bear.
Standing, the purple behemoth towered over the wild bear. Amethyst gave a toothy grin and roared, the sound echoing along the canyon walls and reverberating back.
The mega-bear dropped to all fours with a whine, turned and fled from the larger threat, its lumbering footfalls faintly heard under the rippling echoes of Amethyst's fierce display of strength.
Pearl smiled and patted behind Amethyst's furry ears fondly. "That's my Amethyst." she whispered.
Steven dropped the bubble, his face brimming with awe as Amethyst glowed and returned to her usual form, a blush evident on her face. "That was amazing!" the boy bounced around excitedly.
Connie gaped. "That was incredible. And that roar, holy smokes!"
Amethyst grinned. "Aww, shucks, you guys..." her blush deepened. "Quit it..."
Pearl shook her head. "Nope. We're never gonna let you forget this."
"Stooopppp..." Amethyst moaned, a hand over her face.
Steven giggled happily. "Amethyst is the greatest shapeshifter in the world!"
Pearl nodded. "I can agree with that. Pink may have successfully pretended to be a quartz for six thousand years, but even her skills paled compared to this little expert." she ruffled Amethyst's hair lightly.
Amethyst sighed. "Screw it. I'm gonna find that bear, and let him eat the lot of ya." she muttered as she started walking again, her face still burning from the praise.
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Sometimelater...
As the group reached the end of the canyon, they found themselves standing before a large open plain. No longer protected by the canyon walls, a sudden cold wind blew over them, causing the young teens to shiver.
"Man, that's cold..." Connie shivered, hugging herself.
Pearl glanced around at the distant horizon. "Well, no wonder..." she muttered.
At their looks, she pointed to the north. Filling the skyline, they saw large expenses of white, with sheer cliffs of blue.
"Glaciers." Pearl explained. "We must be in Earth's last ice age... Definitely before the colonisation era."
Steven rubbed his hands together. "Pearl, can we have blankets?"
Pearl looked down at them. "Oh! Uh, actually, it might be best if I put you both in my gem. That way, you can be warm, and you can avoid the long walk we have ahead of us."
Connie nodded quickly. "Yes please, ma'am."
Pearl waited until they were standing in front of her before lifting them up one at a time into her gem in a flash of light.
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Steven & Connie's POV:
Surface Pearl caught them as they reappeared in the bright white room.
"Hey, Pearl inside Pearl's pearl!" Steven gave her a hug, which she quickly returned.
"Hello, Steven. Hello, Connie. You won't be staying here. It's not really... suited, for long term comfort." Releasing Steven, she turned to the wall of stored items, scrolling through briefly. Taking out the ancient game device, she placed it in Steven's hands.
"Oh. So, where are we going then?" Connie asked as the manifestation of Pearl's consciousness handed her a box of books.
"It'd better not be your repressed war memories... or when you were sad about mum... or when you helped Pink fake her death... cause I've been to those places, and they weren't very comfortable either..." Steven huffed.
Surface Pearl blushed. "Uh... no. To be fair, I did warn you that it was a mess in there. You insisted." she sighed. "Anyway, I'm sending you to one of the few layers in here that isn't horribly traumatised and messed up." she frowned. "I... have issues." she shrugged. "Anyway, hold onto that stuff. I'll send more supplies in behind you, food and whatnot."
With another flash of light, they descended.
Once again, they were caught. As the new Pearl, who was wearing a pale yellow blouse and sky blue pants with pink flats, placed them on the floor, they looked around with shock.
"Hey... This looks like my house..." Steven stared, confused.
"Well, I did want you to be comfortable this time. You might be here for a few weeks, after all..." This Pearl stepped back, her arms out as a box of food appeared with a flash above her. Catching it, she turned and placed it on the counter. Reaching out again, she caught another box filled with water bottles.
Connie looked around, her eyes settling on the pearl busying herself putting everything away for easy access. "So... What part of Pearl's personality do you represent?"
Turning to grab a box of cereal, Pearl hummed. "Hmm? Oh... I'm probably the part that enjoys looking after people. Cleaning, cooking, sewing, that kind of thing." she reached into the cupboard and drew out two mugs. Placing a spoon into each one, she crumbled some cookies into them before she started to pour some milk.
Connie nodded. "Ah. So, Pearl's inner motherly instincts then."
Pearl blushed faintly. "Gems... don't really have those, Connie. Honestly, we've been winging it for the last... almost fifteen years... Quite frankly, I'm surprised he's still alive, and reasonably well-adjusted." she shrugged.
She put the milk into the fridge and closed the door. Picking up the two mugs, she set them down on the coffee table. "Milk and cookies?"
"Yes please!" Steven called, happily grabbing the nearest mug.
"Thank you." Connie took her mug with a smile.
Pearl sat down on the couch nearby. "Now, some ground rules about being in here. Firstly, even though this place is an exact replica of Steven's house, keep in mind that it's merely a replica." she pointed towards the bathroom door. "So, even though there is a bathroom behind that door, it's only there because of my obsessive attention to detail. It is absolutely non-functional. Therefore, if you need to use the facilities... tell me, so I can shove you out behind a bush somewhere." she waited for their nods of understanding, their mouths full, before continuing.
"Secondly, the kitchen taps also lack function. The only water in here is in those bottles I've set to chill in the fridge."
Connie raised an eyebrow and wiped her mouth. "So, you have electricity in here, but no water?"
Pearl nodded. "Yes. The electricity is basically my own natural power. Of course, all pearls have a small amount of water within their gems, leftover as part of the process from which we're made... but trust me, you wouldn't want to drink or wash with that..." she frowned. "It technically counts as industrial waste..."
"Also, don't try to leave the actual confines of the house. Through that door..." she pointed at the screen door leading to the beach outside. "... is nothingness. I... don't actually know what will happen if you step outside, you may even cease to exist... I'd rather not take that risk. So, as long as you stay in this facsimile of Steven's room, you should be safe and warm. I can let you out to use the bushes, and will let you out once we're safely back in our own time, and your parents are glaring at me to hand over their children." she rolled her eyes. "Until then... I have books, the old game device, Surface can send some jigsaw puzzles down for us, and any other supplies we may find we need."