Peridot stared tiredly at her holoscreen. Earth's moon was high in the sky, and she had been walking through this valley for some time. She used her remaining finger to tap the icon to begin recording a log. "Log Date…ugh, I don't even care anymore. I just want to get off this dumb planet." She sighed. "I hope my message got through to Homeworld before those Crystal Clods destroyed the-"
Peridot stopped as she noticed one of the icons on her screen flashing. She tapped it, switching the display to a radar map of her current position. There was a blip not far from her location, with a waveform box next to it.
"A…Gem signature?" Peridot said. It didn't look like one the Crystal Gems', but it still looked...off. She sighed. She needed all the help she could get at this point. "This better be worth my time."
Amber couldn't remember the last time her father let her outside the lab. Actually, this was the first time she went outside ever! Not that her dad was letting her, but how was she supposed to learn about herself if she was always cooped-up in the lab all day? Her gem almost didn't fit through the opening as her honey-like body oozed through the window of her room. If she had an actual heart, it would probably be racing.
Amber gaped at the moonlit landscape sprawling out before her. There was nothing but featureless, flat, rocky land for as far as she could see. She loved it. All the stars twinkling in the sky, all the things she had only ever heard about in books or on TV, all the SPACE! Amber leapt, crying out in pure excitement as she shot into the cold night air much higher than she could ever go under a roof. She landed a ways away from her home with a literal splat. She reformed into her standard humanoid form, giggling. Then she ran out into the night, her arms outstretched like she was about to take flight.
Amber hopped, skipped, bounced, and, occasionally, rolled across the rocky landscape, and she was having the time of her life! The wind blowing through her thick, yellow hair, how she seemed to float ever-so-slightly at the apex of her great bounds, she never wanted to go inside again! Why was her dad so worried about this place if it was-?
Amber stopped suddenly. She had felt a little…tingle. Like the feeling you get when you know someone's behind you, but…farther away. Then she heard a sound; a very faint clanking sound. She crept over to a nearby boulder and stretched her legs to peek over the top of it.
"Ugh, come on! I know that Gem signature is around here somewhere." Said a very annoyed-looking green lady as she walked past Amber's hiding spot. Her hair was big, yellow, and shaped like a triangle. She wore big, green boots that made soft, metallic clangs as they struck the rocky ground. Amber wasn't sure how this lady expected to find anything with a glowing screen in front of her face, or how her fingers were floating where her palms were supposed to be. The green lady turned her head, though Amber couldn't tell if she saw her.
Amber gasped. In that lady's fore head was a green, triangular gemstone! Amber looked down at her chest, bringing her gem to the surface so she could see it better—it just felt…safer to have it inside her chest—it was orange, like her, but also had a darker bubble with a jagged shape in the center.
Okay, so their gems didn't look the same, but she still had a gem, just like her! Amber stretched over the boulder and ran up to the green gem-having lady.
"Hi! My name's Amber!" She said, her excitement barely contained. The green one jumped and yelped in surprise. She turned around to stare at Amber wide-eyed. She glanced back and forth between the glowing screen in front of her and the little orange girl smiling expectantly.
"Did…Yellow Diamond send you?" She said finally, giving Amber a look that was a mix of confusion and apprehension.
Amber's smile evaporated, morphing into a puzzled frown. "…Who's Yellow Diamond?"
"I'll take that as a 'no' then." She lowered her eyelids, turning away from Amber as her screen disappeared and turned into the four missing fingers on her other hand. "How long have you been on this planet?"
"Umm…my whole life…which is a few weeks…" Amber shook her head to regain her composure. Trying to get back on topic, she puffed out her chest and pointed to her gem. "But look! We both have gem-thingies!" She stared at Amber's gem with an expression of severe puzzlement. Not the reaction she was hoping for. "I mean, I know mine's not green or a triangle, but-"
"Amber!" Called a distant voice from the direction of Amber's home.
"Daddy!" Amber exclaimed, regular joyful energy returning, "Oh, this is great! I'll introduce you!"
"…Dah-dee…?" The green Gem looked confused, but Amber didn't notice as she grabbed her new acquaintance's arm and began running toward the concerned voice of her father. "Hey!"
"Dad! Dad! You're not gonna believe what I found!" Amber called as her father, a man named Dr. George Jhonson, came into view. His head was wrapped in short, brown hair and a beard. He wore black, square-rimmed glasses, jeans, and a green shirt underneath his white button-up shirt. He turned towards Amber and stooped down to pull her into a hug.
"Amber! What are you-" he started, but was interrupted when a green bubble of light suddenly enveloped him. "Augh!"
Amber turned around to find the bubble originating from the green Gem's arm. "H-hey! What are you doing?!" Amber wailed, staring at her in shock. "Put him down!"
"Clearly this human has somehow damaged your gem. But don't worry, I'll fix it." The green Gem said calmly, bringing her other arm up as the fingers on it formed a ball of energy between them. "Just as soon as this…'Dah-dee' is taken care of."
Amber gasped. Then she balled her fists and closed her eyes, saying, "I said, put. HIM. DOWN!" through clenched teeth. Her fist grew almost as big as her as she pulled it back, then she punched the green Gem, sending her skidding across the rocky ground and dropping Amber's father in the process. She propped herself up on her elbow, scowling at Amber in shock and anger.
"I don't believe this!" She exclaimed. She narrowed her eyes, "You're just like those Crystal Gems." she spat.
Amber's gem began to glow within her torso. Her form rippled as it grew taller; her hair poofed into a big, triangular afro; her legs and forearms broadened as her palms seemed to disappear, leaving her fingers floating in space; finally, her gem surfaced on her forehead, right where the green one's was. "Leave. Us. ALONE!" She shouted. She thrust her arms at the green gem, her fingers splayed equidistant from each other. They began spinning at blistering speed, creating an extremely strong gust of wind. The green Gem screamed wildly as she was swept-up in the whirlwind, launched off into the distance and out of view.
Amber panted as her fingers slowed to a stop. Her expression softened, as did the rest of her body. She dropped to her knees as her form returned to the way it was before, tears pooling in her eyes as her gem sunk back into her chest.
"Amber…" Dr. Jhonson said, staring as he tried to digest the ordeal he had just witnessed.
"Is this why you didn't want me to leave, daddy?" Amber said, her voice shaking as tears dripped down her cheek, "Because of mean people like her that want to take you away from me?"
"Amber…" Her father repeated. He kneeled next to her and put his arms around her in a hug. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I kept you locked-in all this time. I just wanted to protect you. You're my little drop of sunshine." He wiped a tear from her face.