The battle had finally died down, and the surrounding forest developed a rare silence. Coal, Pearl, Luna, and the golem carrying White Diamond kept a steady pace through the long quiet. Sometimes Pearl turned back to look at Luna, or White Diamond, having linked arms with Coal.
"She's not going to murder us when she wakes up, is she?" Pearl whispered.
Coal neglected to answer.
Fortunately, the cave only required about an hour's walk, and lay well in seclusion past a thick patch of forest. It wasn't particularly large or small, but just the right size for the three of them to stay the night. No one besides Coal or Pearl came there, and Coal had posted protection charms onto the trees and had written her spells in the dirt.
When the band arrived, Luna waited outside while the golem came in and set White Diamond gently upon the floor. Her armor chattered as her body landed, and her fine features shifted, though she didn't wake.
"Thank you, Golem." Coal touched her creation on the shoulder. "You're free to go now."
The creature grunted and walked outside the cave, making heavy steps before collapsing back into dirt, rocks, and soil. Luna squawked in surprise.
Pearl set up the larger sleeping mat and as Coal placed White Diamond upon it, making sure her head didn't crash against the floor as her body landed. Not a second passed without those dark grey hands coming to White's jewel.
On rare occasions, Coal and Pearl had been tasked with curing a cracked gem. For this procedure, Coal would funnel every fiber of her body's power into her patient's stone, and this healing played out no differently, but the crack in White's gem was severe. The terrible and slender fault continued to the innermost sanctum of her diamond, which Coal observed from the side before covering it gingerly with her palms. Her gem appeared as a broken mirror, tinier faults branching out from the one in the center like roots of a sinister tree.
All the while, Pearl wiped White's face of sweat and opened parts of her armor to release the heat. She mixed potions for the pain, and or to help her restore blood or water. White swallowed whenever Pearl poured potion into her mouth, but she had yet to speak.
As the light faded, Pearl lit a candle. The moon had come out, and the sky retained a handsome purple, but would soon transition to black.
"I'm glad Luna brought her to us." Coal spoke as Pearl wiped the side of White's face with the cloth. After so many hours, she had finally interrupted the whistling of the wind with her voice.
"I'm sure she'll wake up and scowl at you any moment now."
Coal sighed, and lifted her hands. Though the candlelight wavered, that terrible scar had grown shallow, and the smaller cuts had disappeared. She touched White's shoulders, and Coal's frothy lashes managed a few long blinks as the shadows deepened beneath them.
Pearl's cloth drank White's sweat again.
"It's getting late." Coal prepped her hands, birthed a gasp of smoke from her heartlines, and straightened her crooked back. "Would you like to get some sleep?"
"Would that be alright?"
Coal returned to the position she had held for hours. "You should rest."
"You should too."
"I can't," Coal said, "White Diamond is in my bed."
Pearl snorted. "Are you sure? I'm tired, but I can still help."
"I'm sure. It shouldn't be much longer."
"Alright. Wake me if you need me."
Through the night, one enormous gem looked over the other, wiping the sweat from her brow and switching out candles as they burned to the ends of their wicks. She watched White breathe slowly and steadily, and unconsciously adjust her shapely lips. Sometimes her eyes squeezed tightly shut, but the moment where she exposed her gorgeous silver and diamond pupils had yet to come.
The first time Coal had locked eyes with White Diamond was outside the palace garden. She stood amongst the plants, dressed in billowing crème robes and shined like a goddess beneath the beams of the sun. The breeze bunched inside her sleeves and rustled her long strands of upright hair.
Even with the wind, she looked like a statue. The spring had brought up flowers around her and the stony features of her delicate face remained locked on to Coal, who stayed just as still.
"You're quite curious, aren't you?"
The dark grey gem covered in rags and a light layer of dirt didn't answer. She merely lifted her fabrics to cover her gem from those powerful, prying eyes.
"You're much taller than any gems I've seen. Who are you, exactly?"
"I'm Coal, My Diamond."
"Coal? Are all Coals as large as you are? I've never seen one."
"We're usually quite tall, Ma'am." Her left fingers gripped her garment and her heart fluttered faster. She couldn't say more.
"Well…" White Diamond set her dagger of a stare onto something else, and in turning her head, displayed her profile. "I've seen you around before. I've even heard about you. Apparently, you have some strong magic." Lazily, White brought her attention back and blinked just once. "If that's true, you could work in the city. I want to have a place for every gem in my empire, regardless of who you are. You can find a purpose, in case you grow tired of wandering through the woods."
"Thank you, My Diamond, but I enjoy moving from place to place."
Coal nearly heard the smack of White's stare as it afflicted her face. "Are you a criminal?"
"No, Ma'am." She raised the hand that didn't threaten to tear apart her outfit. "I don't cause trouble. I simply prefer to explore."
"For your sake, I hope you're telling the truth." White turned toward her palace, though she didn't begin to walk. "Next time, go exploring further from my home. You shouldn't be this close." She crossed her arms in a way that showed their definition. Her shapely shoulders swelled with their muscles underneath. "I don't want to catch you around here again."
Coal didn't reply, but began her descent from the mountain, leaving White behind inside her glowing garden.
Yet, somehow, they continued to run into one another. Even outside the streets of the city, they would lock eyes on a mountain path or inside the forest. Granted, this never happened too far away from White's city, but their run-ins occurred enough to include short conversations.
"You again?"
"How is the dirt today, Coal?"
"Are you tired of living like an animal yet?"
And Coal would answer back:
"Yes, Madame. It's me again."
"The dirt is lovely today."
"I'm not sick of it yet, My Diamond. Are you satisfied in life?"
Eventually, White began to greet her with a wave of the hand. "Coal," she would say, as she and her army passed by.
"Greetings, My Diamond. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Tired," and she might roll her eyes, "And you?"
"I'm doing well, Madame. Today looks like it's going to be pleasant. I'm looking forward to the warm weather."
"Us too. Isn't that right, Ladies?"
Her army of Quartzes replied with a unanimous grunt before passing by and shaking the ground with their steps.
When Topaz's inn was full and they had nowhere to sleep, Coal and Pearl would tuck themselves into the edge of White Diamond's garden. Hiding amongst the lush leaves that never seemed to wilt, they both slept and listened. Sometimes, even from the bottom of the mountain, Coal could hear White's strict voice, and even rarer still, the sound of a siren calling White softly.
"My Diamond…"
The lights upon the hill would extinguish.
Coal took her hands from White's brow and wiped up her own sweat. Her body complained with rigidness and her stomach whined of hunger, but beneath her palms was a flawless gem. White Diamond had returned to her normal color of smooth marble and stayed still, save for the steady breathing expanding her chest.
Coal blinked and searched through her faulty vision at the diamond. It sparkled in the unsteady candlelight without flaw. Sighing, Coal propped herself against the cave's hard, rocky wall while expelling a few tears, which she wiped away and eventually came to set her cramping arms at her sides, where sleep could grab her by the wrist and drag her away. Unconsciousness came for her like a tidal wave, swallowing her in the time White Diamond could snap her fingers to make a demand.
Coal slept as the candle wax melted to the ground.