Author's Note: Warning for blood, gore and death.

oOoOoOo

Olivine Pearl

Pearl regenerated to the sound of rushing water.

Senses flooded her newly formed body as Pearl floated down to the ground. She wasn't where she expected herself to be. She… she wasn't near the base. She wasn't sure where she was. Some kind of… Earth wilderness. There were trees, and bushes, and even a river.

The river was close. Very close. In fact, she was standing on its sandy shore itself, the waves practically lapping at her feet. A possibility occurred to her. She reached out and touched at her gemstone, embedded in her elbow. It was wet.

She remembered— she remembered the screams as the rebels attacked— she remembered a Base Evacuation Order— she remembered running, desperate— a fall, tumbling through the darkness— a heavy impact, cold all around—a heavy blow to her head—

Pearl winced. She had an idea of how she got here, now. The Crystal Gems had made a guerrilla strike on the base, and all non-combatant Gems had been forced to flee. As they'd been running to the nearest Warp Pad- across a bridge with no railing- Pearl had slipped and fallen into the water. Her last body must have been destroyed in the rapids, her gem being carried down river until washing up here.

Where ever 'here' was.

"Great," Pearl muttered. "Just excellent."

Of course she hadn't managed to keep up. Of course. No, she'd gone and slipped, and gotten poofed. Wonderful work! Now she had no idea where she was, or where her Master was, or where the rest of the base staff had been relocated, and it could take forever to find out on foot. Her Master would be furious when she found out— the punishment would be terrible, and she'd deserve it, for being so incompetent—

Could be worse, she supposed. Her gem could have gotten smashed to pieces in water. She could have been murdered by some mad dissenters.

Small blessings.

Because it occurred to Pearl, that being lost in the middle of no-Gem's-land, on a Diamond forsaken planet overrun with rebels, being murdered was still very much a possibility.

Swallowing uncomfortably, Pearl looked around, as though expecting some Crystal Gems to leap out from behind a bush. None did. She strained her ears. She couldn't hear anything aside from the rushing of water and the snuffling of earth creatures in the bush.

"Can't stand around," she told herself. She choose a random direction, and started off.

It was immensely unpleasant. Outside the temples and bases, Earth was was rough and wildly unorganised. The ground beneath her feet was uneven and unsteady, and huge rocks kept jutting out of the ground, just waiting to trip her up. An trip her up, they did; the usually graceful and elegant Pearl found herself constantly falling. Once she even fell back into the water. Kicking and spluttering, she fought her way to the shore, terrified of being carried off again.

She lay on the sand, cursing herself, cursing the situation, cursing the entire planet, and then she heard it. A voice.

At first she thought it was just the moaning of some organic animal or other, but then, she caught a word. "He…hello?"

Pearl sat up, straining. She didn't say anything, not yet.

"Hello?" the voice said again, low and feeble. "H— help."

Someone else was lost too.

Stumbling to her feet, Pearl set off to find the source of the voice. She didn't have to go far. Only a little ways from the river was its owner, propped up against the base of a tree, half hidden by ferns. For a moment, Pearl thought it was a Gem— a carnelian or a beryl, based on their red colour.

But it wasn't either. The thing she found may have been Gem-shaped, but it wasn't a Gem. Its skin wasn't actually red, but dark brown. It just was simply covered in some dark, red fluid which smelt of rust.

Its face was a grimace of pain.

"Help," it said again, when it saw her. It barely seemed capable of keeping its eyes open.

"I—" Pearl said.

This— this must have been one of those earth creatures— the ones the rebels were so obsessed with. Pearl tried to remember what they were called. Hoomins?

This being did bare curious resemblance to Gem-kind. But it was clearly much, much weaker. There was an arrow sticking out of its chest, one which Pearl recognised as regulation equipment supplied to Homeworld archers. The hoomin had not even attempted to remove the arrow from its body, but neither had it poofed. It was just… sitting there, arrow in its chest, as the terrible red liquid seeped out.

It kept sucking air in and out of its gaping mouth. It made a terrible noise, rough and gurgling.

"Help," it repeated.

"I— I can't," Pearl said, because she felt she had to offer some kind of explanation. "I need to get back— my Master is expecting me. And—"

It blinked, slowly. "Please. Water."

"Water?"

"I ne— I need water."

Water? Pearl didn't see what water had to do with anything, but it was a simple enough request. She could spare some time to fulfil it, she supposed. She turned around, and raced to the river. There she filled her cupped hands with water; she had to move quickly to bring it back to the injured hoomin before it all leaked out. Once she arrived back in the grove she stood for an awkward moment, unsure about what it wanted. The hoomin pointed a shaking finger towards its mouth.

Confused but curious, Pearl brought her hands to its mouth. It leaned forward, and sucked the water up into it. Slowly, at first, then faster, desperate.

"Th— thank you," it managed, one all the water was gone. Pearl was a little taken aback by the courtesy— sometimes her Master couldn't even managed that much. And then it said, "More."

So Pearl got more.

She brought three more handfuls of water for the hoomin to drink from. After the fourth, it couldn't manage any more. It simply slumped backwards, leaving the water in the Gem's hand. After a moment of deliberation, Pearl slowly let the water drip onto the hoomin's body. With light fingers she tried to wash away the red. The creature winced, but did not try to stop her. Its skin was very hot. She fetched a fifth handful of water, thinking that it would help cool it down. Besides, there was a lot of red to clean.

A lot. No matter how quickly she wiped it away, there was always more. It just kept leaking out of the wound. Pearl did not know anything about these organic creatures, but this didn't seem normal. She looked around, wondering if maybe there was a way that she could…plug the hole with some leaves.

"St— stop," the hoomin said, when she reached for some mulch to do just that. Pants punctuated each syllable. "It- won't- do- any good."

Pearl began to straighten, preparing to leave. "Is there anything else I can do, then?'

"Stay- with- me."

"I can't," she said. "I need to find my Master. I have responsibilities and duties to attend to."

Its eyes closed. "Just- for- a- little while. Please."

Pearl frowned. Considered. It was not as though she had any idea where she was going, anyway.

She sat back down, besides the hoomin, almost but not quite touching it. She stared forward into the forest, at the brown trees and green grass, listening to the ugly rattle of its breathing. Idly, she began to hum softly, in an attempt to fill the air with something sweeter. No true song, just random notes strong together in a pleasing pattern.

Her singing was why she did not immediately notice when the other sound stopped.

When she did, Pearl found the silence quite startling. She looked at the hoomin. It had not moved. Its eyes were still closed. She said, "Excuse me?"

It didn't respond.

She came closer. It didn't stir. She prodded its body with a finger. The red liquid had dried. Its skin was cold.

"Oh," she said, quietly.

It was dead.

Gently, Pearl pulled the Homeworld arrow from its chest, trying not to disturb the corpse. She left it where it lay, and walked to the river. The water was fast there. She held the arrow out, and dropped it in. She watched get carried away by the rushing water, until it was out of sight. Then she waded in a short distance in, and washed the red off her legs, her torso, her hands.

If her face was wet, it was only from the water.

oOoOoOo

Author's Note: So... uh, something light and fluffy to start Steven's Summer Adventures off with, I guess?

(But seriously, I'm pumped!)