Backstage Protection
A Steven Universe Fanfiction
Chapter 2
A/N: Thanks for the comments! I'm going to try to be semi-regular with these updates . . . maybe one every day or every other day, I'm not sure. With a break in a few months when finals come along, of course.
Bluebucks – Thanks! You'll find out in this chapter, haha.
M-gold – Thanks so much!
How much time had passed? Lapis wasn't entirely sure, but she knew she had been walking for quite a while now, and it was completely dark in the woods. She was depending almost entirely on her own dumb luck; the wildlife around here was probably less than friendly, and she had no idea how she hadn't run into something by now.
She wasn't much of a physical fighter, and right now was a time in which she could only fly off or use her powers if it was absolutely necessary. She couldn't afford a mistake that would cost her the ability to move around on her own; even reverted into gem form she was in danger of Jasper's wrath (and probably even more so).
As the small gem walked through the forest, tired and the burst of confidence and energy slowly wearing off, a strange yet somehow familiar smell hit her. She furrowed her brow in confusion and sniffed the air carefully, trying to place how she knew it.
Smoke… from a crash…
There was a moment of her being excited by this realization, believing that she must have found the gem she was looking for. Lapis grinned widely and was about to run in the direction that the smell and the smoke were coming from, but she stopped herself.
What if a human plane crashed? It might not be her. Or what if it's a trick? Jasper must be out of the water by now…
She bit her lip and started moving forward again, though slowly and quietly. Some of the trees around her were starting to look broken and knocked over, so she figured she must be getting close. A clearing was now apparent just past where the trees were, some high-pitched grumbling also quite clear.
"Flipping Crystal Gems… broke all my things… broke the ship… can't break my pride…"
Yep, that was Peridot all right.
Lapis was about to rush out into the clearing when she realized that she hadn't really planned this through very well. What if Peridot didn't want to help her and was only loyal to her superiors and the Homeworld? What would she do then?
So focused was the blue gem on doubting herself that she didn't really notice that she'd been spotted until probably the third or fourth time her name had been said.
"Lapis!" The green gem declared again, both sounding and looking impatient.
"Uh . . . sorry." Oh yeah, real nice, already mucked up…
She huffed and marched up to Lapis. "We need to get back to the Homeworld and file a report! Where's Jasper?"
"We… don't exactly have a way to get back home anymore."
"That only answers one of my questions."
"I…. I'm not with Jasper anymore."
"Why?"
A pause as she thought about how to answer this. "Well, she forced me to fuse with her and I was worried that she was going to hurt Steven and I was just really angry and I mighta sorta dragged us both under the ocean and we were trapped there for a while but then she broke away and attacked me so I went in the direction I saw you land and…"
One of those weird fish stick fingers went up to Lapis's lips to keep her from talking anymore.
"So basically, Jasper is a bigger jerk than once thought, you've just come out of imprisonment, you're running from her, and you came straight to me?"
A small nod.
"Why?"
She shrugged. "I thought you'd know what to do."
Peridot paused before giving a firm nod. "We'll figure something out. But first, we should fix this escape pod…"