Part 1: The Mission
Chapter 5: Colossal Cliff Climb
"You don't have to carry me, you know." Ruby huffed, thankful not a single gem she knew could see her right now. Sapphire gently set her down with a sigh, and sat upon a log near the edge of the foreseeable woods.
"I'm sorry, I just…." She blinked in and out of future vision, "I don't want your injury to get any worse."
Ruby sat next to her, and held up her non gem hand. From her fingertips to her wrist a sickly yellow network of veins had grown from where she'd touched the monster's gem.
"What even is this stuff, anyways?" she asked, flexing her fingers slowly.
"I don't know," Sapphire sighed, putting her hand on her shoulder with subdued urgency, "but in my visions, if it spreads to your gem… the best case scenario is you becoming a monster, like this thing." In her other hand she thickened the layer of ice around the orb, to ensure its containment. Ruby pushed her gem hand into the side of her hand, sighing sadly.
"This is it, isn't it?" her eyes welled up with remorseful tears, "we're never gonna make it to the spire…"
"Don't say that, Ruby." Sapphire squeezed gently, although her visions were awash with chaos and ruin, calming her escort had become an unexpected priority for her.
Ruby let out a groan, her tears steaming away on her cheeks, "Jasper is going to be furious…"
"Jasper?" Sapphire's voice picked up, hoping a change of subject could calm her red friend, "Is she the gem that mentored you?"
"Y-yeah," Ruby responded, through tiny sobs, "and I took this mission so she'd promote me to the front…"
Sapphire recoiled a bit from this, "t-the front? Why would you want to be sent there, of all places? It's so dangerous."
"I know," she shook her head, flexing her corrupted hand, "but you don't know what it's like. When you're a brute, you only shine on the battlefield." She stood tears finally subsiding.
"And I need to shine."
Sapphire stared at her, and stood beside her, "if it means that much to you, then we have to get to the spire." A smile passed between the two, "just try not to overexert yourself, ok?"
"Gem warrior's honor." Ruby flashed a smile, "Now let's get out of these woods, huh?" Ruby took the lead, brushing aside the last of the foliage…. Revealing massive Cliffside, spanning for miles in all directions.
"Peeeeerfect." Ruby groaned.
/
After many hours of search, it became clear the only way past the cliff was a vertical move. Ruby's eyes climbed the edge, her anxiety clear to see.
"Ruby, look at me." Sapphire placed her hands on either cheek of the brute gem, "I'm going to try something to get us over this… if it doesn't work-"
"Then we climb." Ruby took a deep breath, and she suddenly felt Sapphire's arms wrap tightly around her.
"Yes, yes, but slowly." Sapphire took a deep breath, and the two began slowly ascend. Ruby gripped her charge tightly.
"Yooooou can fly!" Ruby's eyes widened, darting between Sapphire and the ground.
"Well, I can levitate." Sapphire responded, rising steadily, "but I've never tried for this long…"
Ruby clung to her tightly, less than assured by the turn of events. As the altitude increased, she became aware of the placement of her corrupted hand shifting it of sapphire and away from her other hand. The strain caused Sapphire to groan, but still she rose higher.
"We should stop, switch to climbing" Ruby looked at the ground, then at the pained concentration of Sapphire.
"n-no… that's too risky for you." Their flight faltered as the blue gem spoke, "I need to get us- to… the top…" no sooner were the words spoken that Sapphire blacked out, sending the gems to fall hundreds of feet towards sharp, fallen stones below. Ruby screamed and instinctively grabbed a loose stone on the edge of the cliff, squeezing Sapphire close to herself. The jolt of the sudden stop caused her to scream again, as the spider web of corruption spread all the way to her forearm. As she panted and dug her boots into cracks in the cliff, Sapphire stirred, energy clearly drained.
"i- Ruby?" her eyes moved from her face to her arm, making the connection of what transpired, "I am so sorry, I should have listened to you! Are you ok?"
Ruby took a deep breath, then gave her charge a pained smile, "hey, it's like Jasper always said: if you don't hurt yourself on a mission, you're probably failing at it. Now you hang on, I've got this."
Sapphire reluctantly wrapped her arms around Ruby's shoulders, but watched Ruby's arm critically.
"O-ok but… maybe I should climb on my own soon." She wondered aloud, as Ruby grabbed a higher stone with her gem hand and pulled the two a little higher, "I don't think you're strong enough to carry us both for long periods right now…"
"Not strong enough!" Ruby laughed, clawing upwards with her corrupted arm, "what good is a brute gem if she's not strong?"
Sapphire sighed, "Did Jasper say that too…?"
"Yeah! And she should know. She is the biggest, toughest, strongest gem I have ever met." Ruby Climbed higher, yellow marks pulsing with each rock climbed, "stronger than you, stronger than me, just…. Scarily strong."
"I see…" Sapphire responded, and though that's all she could say in the moment Sapphire was already working out a list of choice words for this Jasper.
/
Within twenty minutes of climbing, it became apparent to Sapphire that every rock Ruby reached for on the cliff side caused her corruption to spread, just a bit further.
"Hold still for a second, I'm getting off." She sighed, planning her route upwards.
"Aw come on," Ruby half-laughed, half panted, "were halfway there now, I can carry you all the way!"
"You really don't need to." As they stopped, Sapphire crawled onto the rocks beside her escort, "the less strain I put on you, the better this will turn out."
Ruby sighed, straining to grab another rock, "fine, just don't slow me down, ok?"
"Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem…" the blue gem whispered, climbing slowly, but steadily up. Her movements were slow and testing; she had climbed parts of the seer tower, but this was far less uniform. Smooth stones would pull from the soil of the cliff, cracks would trap a hand or a foot and branches would bend unpredictably. At this altitude, a fall would be an instant gem-shatter. After a few minutes of climbing, Sapphire turned to look at Ruby, but found her a yard or so beneath her.
"Ruby, do you want me to wait for you to catch up?" she asked, wincing at the sight of her marks crawling up her bicep.
"No way! I'm not gonna keep falling behind like this," Ruby grunted, climbing faster, "besides, my training on home world was five times harder than this."
"All right…" Sapphire's gaze shifted from her escort to the setting sun, "but I'm stopping at the first stable out cropping, understand."
"That's fine." Ruby growled, the pain in her arm getting worse with each move.
"Look at me, falling behind again." She thought, trying hard to catch up with the blue gem above her. She could feel this speeding up the corruption, and yet Jasper's words rung in her ears.
"Pick it up, squirt! No one's going to wait for you on the battlefield!"
Sapphire spotted a cliff, a few yards above them and climbed quickly onto it, testing it for stability.
"You call that a punch Ruby? This is how a REAL gem punches!"
As Sapphire checked the edges, she could not help but notice that as Ruby climbed, she seemed to be facing ahead in a sort of trance.
"Get up brat. You're sweeping the streets tonight, and you better not show up here again until a Diamond could roll on them and come up clean!"
"What is she thinking about?" Sapphire looked closer, and found that a bit of steam was rising from her cheeks, "she's crying?"
"You're done yet. YOU AREN"T DONE UNTIL I SAY YOU'RE DONE. Get up and face me!"
Sapphire wondered if the stress of the mission, or her corruption was getting to her. But something deep inside her told her it was something more… insidious.
"If you don't shut up, and get back to work, I will stomp your gem to dust. Do you hear me, TINY?"
"R-Ruby don't grab that!" Sapphire yelled as Ruby placed her corrupted hand on a loose rock, which fell away under her weight. Ruby scrambled to grab for another handhold, but her strength and vision failed her. As she braced to fall, she felt Sapphire grab her gem hand with both hands, straining to pull her to the lip of the outcropping.
"w-what were you thinking?!" Sapphire panted, dragging the red gem to safety, "You were going to climb right past me, weren't you."
"I need to finish this mission." Ruby faced the wall, shaking, "I need to prove myself to Jasper-"
"You're going to prove yourself to her by dying?" Sapphire moved between her and the cliff, "does your life matter so little to her, and yourself, that you're expected to put this mission before your own existence?!"
Silence passed, this was the most intense Sapphire had ever spoken to anyone. Ruby's face fell, and turned away from the cliff. Sapphire hoped this question would snap Ruby out of this thought process she seemed to be caught in; and for a moment she thought it had worked.
And then Ruby responded, "Yes, that's the point Sapphire."
And in the stunned shock that followed Ruby began to sing. At least, that's what Sapphire thought she was trying to do.
"This was my last chance to prove myself, the smallest brute gem on the shelf,
Because mistreating's me become a running gag, Jasper used me like a punching bag
And I've spent my entire life I've fallen behind, so forgive me for my lag
I feel like only half a gem, compared to all those that came before
I'm on the bottom of the entire social order, so who cares if I die here?
And yes I know on the battlefield I'll be crushed and any memory will disappear
That I ever even existed, but if I can make me see me for one minute
I'll feel like I'm winning it, which is better than my current loser state
So what if I die? I'm not livin', and those that abuse me could be forgiven
For treating me like I don't exist, but then they go ahead and resist
The attempts I make to fit the brute mold?
What are they doing? Are they calling me garbage to feel closer to gold?
I'll do anything if it means those jerks will let me shine
I'll push myself to the limit, and commit war crimes
I am not useless! I AM GONNA PROVE IT THIS TIME-
Ruby had so much more to say, but at that moment she felt Sapphire's arms wrap around her waist. It was a hug, but it felt oddly protective. And then she felt Sapphire's sobs, and her anger, her pain, melted away.
"y-you shine to me, Ruby." She said between sobs.
"y-you really think so?" Ruby looked down, ad Sapphire's arms. And at her own; how sickly her right arm had grown and how small her gem appeared.
"Yes, absolutely," Sapphire's grip tightened, and her sobs slowed, "when I look at you, all I see is a brave, strong gem. And she's putting too much pressure on herself."
Ruby kneeled, which Sapphire immediately followed, "oh…"
"Tomorrow, at first light, I'm going to carry you the rest of the way up the cliff. You understand?"
"D-do you think you can do that?" Ruby turned to face her charge.
In response, Sapphire giggled, "It seems you're not the only one that's being underestimated here."
Ruby blushed and scratched the back of her head, "ah, sorry…" this received more giggles from Sapphire.
"Don't worry about it, its ok." Sapphire smiled, and thought it would be time yet before she could put a name to it, something in that smile awoke something in Ruby. Something warm and needing that helped to ease her physical and emotional pain.
/
Sapphire grunted, reaching for a small dead shrub, "I can't believe we're almost out of here."
"Me neither," Ruby giggled head nuzzled into her neck, "thanks again, I needed this."
"Annnd that brings your thanks count to 21." Sapphire finally placed her hand on the smooth surface of the top of the cliff.
"And I completely mean it." The red gem sighed happily, "You really saved me."
Sapphire smiled, pulling the two gems over the edge of the cliff, "we're saving each other, it would seem."
Ruby let go of Sapphire and stood beside her, "Yeah, and we can make it to the Sea Spire if we keep working together." She smiled at the blue gem, but noticed her focusing ahead, towards what the cliff had been hiding from the two of them.
The outer edges of the Kindergarten.