Steven was only half-conscious, still on the verge of waking up. Yesterday was more exhausting than he remembered. He stretched a little bit, lifting his arms up into the air. He made an attempt to sit up, but his mind wasn't completely awake yet. While trying to wake himself up, he could hear a conversation downstairs.
"But why does Pearl have to go, Garnet!? We don't need her on this one!"
No response came to the nasally loud character. Steven figured Amethyst was trying to get Garnet not to take Pearl on a mission. The boy made another attempt to wake himself by stretching again and succeeded. Steven yawned a little bit and blinked open his eyes, rubbing them a bit so he could focus.
He sat up, taking a glance at his surroundings. He was upstairs, inside a small room in the wall. In front of him was a TV just a few feet away. To his left were some posters taped to the wall and a large window. Steven hopped off his bed and walked down the stairs, heading over to the kitchen area. The boy climbed onto the counter-top and pulled out a cereal box and a bowl.
He got back onto the floor and pulled some milk out of the fridge. He poured the cereal and milk into the bowl. After he finished, he put the milk back and got out a spoon. Steven smiled as he was about to indulge in the Crying Breakfast Friends cereal. Steven scampered over to the seats by the counter-top and climbed onto one. Before anyone knew it, he was stuffing his face with his breakfast.
The two gems by the Warp Pad, Amethyst and Garnet, took notice. A chuckle came from Amethyst as she walked over to Steven, watching him chow down. It didn't take long before his bowl was empty, milk all over his face. He wiped his face off and looked over at the gem standing next to him. She was purple and had almost white hair. She wore purple attire and black pants with stars cut into the knees. Her gem was located on her chest.
"Hey, Amethyst!" Steven chimed. "I heard you're going on a mission?" Excitement filled his voice as he spoke. He was hoping he'd get to go on the mission with them, too.
Almost as if the stout gem could read his mind, she responded. "Sorry, buddy. You can't come along." Steven's smile turned into a frown.
"Aw, why not?"
"We're going on a scouting mission to search for Peridot. Garnet says it's not safe for you to come."
Steven looked at Garnet, disappointment still locked on his face. "It's just a scouting mission, isn't it?" He asked. The half-gem couldn't understand why going on a scouting mission was so dangerous.
The tall, red gem looked at Steven. She had a square-shaped afro. On her shoulders were tear drop shaped shoulder pads. She had a star on her top and her pants were blue on one side, red on the other. Her gems were embedded into the palms of her hands. "Yes," she started. "But Pearl once knocked out all the power in Beach City. Imagine what Peridot could make with her knowledge." She spoke in her usual monotonous voice.
Amethyst looked at Steven then shrugged a bit. "Sorry, dude." She walked back over to the Warp Pad and waited. Despite her wants, Garnet insisted they wait for Pearl. It didn't take long before the tall, thin gem came out of the Temple Door. It appeared she had gotten over yesterday and was ready to go scouting. She walked over to the Warp Pad and stood with the other two gems.
"What took you so long?!" Amethyst shouted at the thin gem, annoyed.
Pearl's expression became a look of annoyance. She couldn't stand how Amethyst always tried to pick a fight with her. She just looked away and ignored the stout gem. Then, within a flash of light, all three gems were gone. Steven was left sitting on the chair with an empty bowl. 'Hm…'
The boy hopped off the chair and walked back over to his room, changing out of his pajamas. He wanted to do something fun for himself while the gems were gone, he just didn't know what. After he got dressed, he looked around, seeing if anything would spark an idea. Steven then noticed Lion lying down by the couch. "That's it!" He jumped down and landed on the couch, laughing.
The large, pink lion flicked its ear before lifting its head and looking at the boy. It gave off a small, tired growl before lying back down. Steven looked at Lion. He hopped off the couch and shook Lion a little bit. "You have to get up, Lion! You're coming too!" He said in his struggle to get the big hunk of fur off the floor.
It took a few more attempts, but the resistant feline finally decided to get up. Lion stretched a little bit before looking at Steven. The boy led them over to the Warp Pad, explaining where they were going. "I figured since Pearl and the others are gone, we could go exploring together! I want to look for more things from my Mom's army, and I'm not going alone."
Steven didn't usually warp on his own, but yesterday had gotten him so excited. When he saw the opportunity, he took it. Lion was now on the Warp Pad with him. Once they were both ready, he outstretched his arms to his sides and concentrated. He managed to get the usual white burst of light to appear. Within seconds, both of them were gone within the now dissipating light.
###
She was resting by a large sand dune, regaining her energy from traveling so far. She lied there calmly as she watched small grains of sand whisk by. She had been trudging across this desert for months in hopes of finding any sort of Warp Pad. She hadn't found one yet, but she had confidence. She was a gem of hardship. She was someone who would never give up, no matter how hard things got.
She was quite big, one of the biggest non-fusion gems. While she was big and strong, she was also hot-headed. The large gem huffed a bit before propping herself up onto her feet. Wiping the sand off herself, she continued along the desert.
She wasn't that affected by the intense heat of the desert, but she was still quite hot. Wiping her forehead, she slogged along, dragging her feet in the hot sand. The gem's hopes lifted when she noticed a large Warp Pad in the distance. She could finally find her. She could finally find the one who abandoned their entire army. She could finally find Rose Quartz.
Determined, the bulky gem began to sprint towards the platform. It was almost as if the heat of the desert disappeared. The gem smiled. She was so close to her destination. She was only ten feet away from the Warp Pad when a light burst from it. She gasped, stepping back a bit. She became a bit fearful and defensive, prepared to fight if anything attacked her. Getting into a fighting stance, she put her fist up to the gem that was on her chest. A glow emitted from the gem. Within seconds, a glowing white silhouette of a weapon appeared, handle in her grip. She pulled out the glowing weapon. Finally, the weapon had materialized, revealing an orange mallet.
She held her weapon in anticipation. She waited to see who would be revealed within the light. Soon enough, the glowing beam finally faded, revealing a boy sitting on top of a pink lion. Both of them were surprised to see a large gem standing a few feet away holding a huge mallet. The gem was still a bit tense, but relaxed their stance a little bit. She was curious, wondering how a human could have possibly used a Warp Pad.
Lion could feel tensions growing, but didn't become defensive. It wanted to see how things would turn out, so it just stood there and waited. The large gem was slowly approaching them. They didn't show any hostility at that moment.
Steven looked at them with curiosity as well. Being the friendly and fun-loving half-gem he is, he hopped off the furry beast. When Steven landed on the ground the gem seemed bigger than before. He felt intimidated as the gem towered over him. The boy made sure to stay close to Lion while she approached them. They finally stood a foot away from them. She leaned down to take a closer look at Steven. He looked like a human, but he managed to use a Warp Pad without a Warp Whistle!
She gripped her weapon tightly but held it away so she wouldn't show hostility. She just wanted to get a close enough look at him. Silence filled the air as the two just stared at each other, both curious. There was the occasional blink and the bored yawns of a pink lion. The larger gem finally broke the silence. "What… Are… You..?"
Steven smiled a bit. "My name's Steven and I'm a Crystal Gem!" He spoke without hesitation, oblivious to what he had just done. The larger just tilted her head, confused. She'd never heard of a gem named Steven, and this gem doesn't even look like one!
"If you truly are a Crystal Gem, show me yer gem..." She had an accent quite like a cliché western girl, speaking with a stern attitude. She wasn't playing around. Steven could tell how serious she was, but tried not to let it bother him. He figured he should just show her his gem and get along to what he came here to do: explore.
The boy lifted his shirt, revealing a rose quartz gemstone in place of his navel. Seeing this shiny pink gemstone caused the larger gem to back up a bit, surprised. She gripped her weapon tightly, feeling a sudden rush of anger. "ROSE QUARTZ!" She shouted, her voice filled with fury. Steven back up a bit, holding onto Lion's mane.
The pink feline backed up with the boy, getting into a defensive stance. Lion gave a glare at the angry beast. The orange gem shot a glare back at them, taking a large step closer to them. The lion gave off a growl, seeing them as a threat. They were prepared to attack at any moment.
"YOU ABANDONED US, ROSE QUARTZ! WE ALL THOUGHT YOU WERE A NOBLE LEADER! NOW YOU RUN AWAY AND HIDE IN THE FORM OF A WEAK AND PATHETIC HUMAN! SHOW ME YER TRUE SELF LIKE THE LEADER YOU ARE!" Her words were filled with mixed emotions. Steven just looked at them in fear and confusion, not knowing what to do. He would've warped away with Lion, but he was too distracted.
After a few moments of silence, the angered gem slammed their mallet onto the sand. The impact caused the ground to shake and some sand to dust up. "DON'T IGNORE ME, ROSE QUARTZ! SHOW YER TRUE FACE! FIGHT ME WITH DIGNITY AND PRIDE!" A few more moments and still no Rose Quartz. She was filled with blistering fury.
"If that's how you wan'a play it…" She picked up her mallet and swung it at the two on the Warp Pad. Lion quickly grabbed Steven with his mouth and dodged out of the way just in time. The mallet hit and broke the Warp Pad. The gem didn't pay much thought to it, though. She snarled, chasing after them. Lion began running, still holding onto Steven by the back of his shirt. Lion stopped in their tracks and set Steven out of the way, turning and facing the gem. The feline opened its mouth and let out a loud roar, sending a beam straight her way. She hit the beam with her mallet, causing it to fly back towards Lion. It quickly jumped out of the way.
Dust flew up as the beam hit the sand causing Steven to instinctively cover his eyes. The pink feline sent another beam blasting towards the gem. Once again, they reflected it with their mallet. This time it hit a rock, causing it to explode. It sent sharp debris flying in every direction. Lion let out a roar as some of the shards stabbed him in his flank.
The orange gem taunted Lion a bit before jumping into the air and landing right in front of them. The ground shook upon impact. Sand dusted up and got into the lion's eyes, blinding it temporarily. She gave off a chuckle as she picked up the feline and flung it into the air. She then jumped up and, with great force, spiked Lion back down to the ground with her mallet.
Steven couldn't do anything more than look on in horror as his best friend hit the ground. The pink cat wouldn't get up, it was too injured. "Lion!" Steven shouted. He got up and ran towards Lion, aware of the on-coming dangers of their attacker. He put his hands on the limp lion and shook them a bit. They wouldn't get up. Tears started to form in Steven's eyes, he was afraid they were dead. The boy felt a bit relieved to see Lion still breathing.
The gem landed back on the ground, holding two mallets. Steven caught her attention right away. "Now that yer pesky lil' friend is out'a the way, it's time to deal with you, Rose Quartz!" The frightened half-gem looked at the larger gem in fear. They slowly approached. Steven knew he didn't have anywhere to run, so he didn't make any attempts to. All he had to do was hope for the best.
She now stood right in front of the frightened child. She dismissed one of her mallets. They reached down and grabbed Steven, lifting him up to get a good look at him. He struggled a bit, wanting to get out of her grip. Even if it would be a rocky fall, it was worth it to get away from her. The gem just rolled her eyes at his futile attempts of escape. "It's upsetting to see such a noble gem become so weak…"
"Now, I'm givin' you one last chance to show yer true self." She threatened, tightening her grip on Steven a little bit. He just kept struggling, trying to squeeze out of her hand. His attempts were useless. A minute of silence passed by. The gem waited to see Rose appear in place of Steven, but it never happened.
"Fine…" She then held him by the collar of his shirt, letting him dangle like a fish on a hook. She gripped the mallet she still had and swung it at him, sending him hurdling towards a rock. Upon impact he made a small cry of pain at his now broken leg. Steven was now on the sand backed up by a large rock. He was holding his leg, a grimace plastered onto his face. There was nowhere he could escape to. He just had to hope for the best like he did before.
To his surprise, she didn't approach him. Her stance relaxed a bit as she dismissed her mallet, leaving her to just stare at Steven. Many thoughts raced her mind as she stared at him, a small sinking feeling in her chest. She noticed how Steven was just curled up in the sand, holding his leg and trembling. This wasn't Rose… She took in a deep breath, slowly approaching Steven while staying calm. She didn't want to scare him.
The gem kneeled down, looking at the pain-filled child. "You're not Rose…" She mumbled. Then, speaking up, she questioned, "What are you..?"
The quivering boy slowly looked up at her, trying to hide his fear. He was confused. First she was hostile but then she's calm and seemingly remorseful. "H-huh…?"
She repeated herself. "What are you?"
"A cr-crystal g-ge—"
She interrupted him. "No. What are you? What type of creature are you?"
Before he answered, Steven took in a deep breath to relax a bit so he could concentrate. He spit on his hand and, hoping it would work, wiped the spit all over his broken leg. It luckily worked, his leg healing within a minute. He then looked up at the towering gem. "I'm half-human…" He answered, still a bit weary.
She raised an eyebrow in response. She's never heard of a gem being half-human. She found it weird and continued to question him, asking him how he was made. He explained to her that his mom had given up her physical form to bring him into the world.
"Now, I get to ask you a question!" Steven said, a short smile appearing on his face. "What's your name?" The large gem blinked a bit, then stood up. Without showing hostility, she summoned her weapon and held it over her shoulder. She puffed her chest out, and with pride, she answered his question.
"I am Cornelian, ex-commanding officer of Rose Quartz' army."