Chapter 2

I blinked, finding myself lying on the ground, covered in dirt. I lifted my head up slowly, peeking through my hair over my face. Where was I? Nothing was recognizable to me. It was eerily quiet. I slowly shifted where I was laying and sat myself up. My energy was slowly returning to me, but I still felt weak and exhausted. No matter where I looked, it was all the same. The heavy smog that surrounded me made me cough when I took a breath in. Where was…anything? Where was I? No direction was clear to me. I could barely see within a few feet from where I was sitting. The only sound that could be heard was my own breathing and heart beating. I couldn't help but feel like…

This wasn't home anymore…

To think that just moments ago that there was a gruesome battle taking place here. And now it seemed like there was no one left standing from the battle. Pick a direction to go, and start walking, I thought. It took me a moment after finally standing up, but I picked a direction that seemed promising to me. I took my time slowly walking through the thick haze, a mixture of rainbow colors swirling like vapor in the air. How strange.. Even if I waved it aside to see where I was going, it wouldn't help me see any more clearly. I was barefoot, stepping through the grass hesitantly as I tried to see where I was going to the best of my ability. I had just woken up on the ground after who knows how long. There was still light in the day though, so at least I didn't wake up in the dark, which would have been worse. The forest was gone when I regained my consciousness. It was the first thing I noticed. The tree I was on was unrecognizable, everything felt…different. All of the trees were withered, losing nearly all of its leaves and branches. Everything looked so...dead.

Was there anyone else here? Where did everyone go?

I stopped walking when I felt my feet step on something sharp, it felt like glass. I looked around, still unable to see anything but the rainbow colored fog surrounding me. I took a small step forward, and then had to jump back realizing that there was more glass on the floor than expected. It seemed like no matter where I stepped, there were tiny sharp shards all over the ground. This was confusing to me. These weren't here before. I picked one of the shards up to figure out what to make of it. It was reddish and sort of round on one side. The ground revealed whenever sunlight managed to make its way through the ominous rainbow colored fog, that there were more than just a few shards on the ground, and more than one color too. Whatever these were, they littered the entire village as I continued to walk around, looking for signs of life. I could barely make out the silhouette of any structure or tree. It appeared as a shadow to me. It made my surroundings all the more mysterious and silent. No one else was here it seemed, except me.

My feet were beginning to sting. I had been stepping on these pieces for a while, and they were probably cutting up the soles of my feet by now, making them bleed. I was so confused and getting really tired of walking around aimlessly through this weird fog. There was nowhere truly safe to sit on the ground, so I decided to sit on a tree that had been chopped down by something, leaving it lying on the ground to conveniently make a bench for me to sit on for the time being. "Ow.." I hissed as I was rubbing my feet. I tore a part of my dress into two strips to wrap around my feet to help with the cuts and scrapes. After looking at my feet, I realized what a total mess I was. I was covered in dirt and dust. I have bruises and scrapes all over my arms and legs. And my hair was so tangled, I didn't even bother to braid it like how I liked to. I had no energy to do anything.

I was able to give my feet a break for now. I felt them continue to sting regardless.. I began to imagine what happened down here while I was on that tree. Looking back was confusing. All I saw were scenes of fights, a great battle, and I was running away from it. But then I decided to climb a tree so I can see what was going on. And then…?

I couldn't remember quite well what happened next. So much happened. Did any of it even make sense?

Did all of those warriors fight to the death? Why were there a bunch of pieces of glass all over the floor everywhere I walked? Where did all of their bodies go if any of them were slain? Why is this fog so colorful? That last question seemed like the most harmless of all.

As a child, I didn't know much to begin with. But as a human, I knew even less.

I began to cry, realizing that everyone truly was gone the longer I sat. They either all left without taking me with them, or something worse happened. I can't be the only one still here, could I? I sniffled and tried to find comfort by hugging my knees to my chest.

Hello?...Somebody…?

I wasn't sure how much time had passed before I noticed how the sun was beginning to set. I hadn't moved from where I sat. I was getting hungry and was tempted to fall asleep curled up in this position. I didn't want to walk anymore. I didn't even know where else to go.

The last gleams of sunshine were coming through the colorful fog, revealing how the grass on the ground was coated with various sizes of shards of all colors. One of them seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, catching my attention due to the intense gleam of its gold coloring. It was not too far from me, and I could see that it was a big piece. I found the energy to get up and carefully make my way toward it, toward that glow. It shined like star. It was a yellowish, golden, amber color. When I was standing right in front of it, I bent down to pick it up. That was when I noticed, when I carefully held it to avoid getting hurt, that it was a whole piece. It was so big that it fit on both palms of my scratched up, dirty hands. This didn't have any sharpness to it. It was perfectly smooth and round. It was very different from all of the other pieces on the ground. This was the first whole one I had seen since I first entered what was left of my village. When I raised it up to the sky so that the sun could hit it with its rays of light once again, that beautiful color seemed to sparkle like the sun itself. What a spectacle sight.

Someone must have dropped this. This was a…hmm, I knew the term from somewhere.. Oh yeah, a jewel! Someone dropped a huge jewel. It made me wonder.. are all of these pieces, pieces of whole jewels like this one? This one didn't get destroyed though. That's weird.

It survived, just like me.

"I guess it's just you and me." I muttered to myself, holding the yellow jewel in my hands. I went back to the tree trunk and sat on it as I examined the jewel more carefully. "Looks like we both survived whatever happened here." I wiped my face as I began to tear up again. I used whatever tears trickling down my cheeks to wash the jewel and make it even more sparkly and clean. That was when I noticed that it had a scratch on it that gave it an unsmooth finish on one side, but not the other. I sighed, looking down at the jewel as I continued to cry silently.

Look at me. I'm talking to a rock. A very pretty rock, but it's lifeless to me. We were both survivors from mass destruction, and yet I was somehow finding comfort holding it in my hands. I brought it close to my chest, sobbing quietly to myself. I was still alone with nowhere to go.

I guess in a way, we were both broken somewhere, but still whole and beautiful despite what we've been through and what we've seen. We somehow made it.

"Let's start retrieving those that have fallen."

"But Rose, what if these shards belong to Homeworld gems?"

"That doesn't matter. The fallen have fallen. And it would be best to take what remains instead of letting them reform as they are."

Through the fog, multiple groups of warriors that survived the battle began to grab handfuls of the broken shards and bubble them to preserve their remains. The leader that fought to defend this part of the planet stood in solitude, looking down with deep sorrow upon the many shards that lay before her feet. A thin and pale warrior came by her side, expressing concern.

"Rose?" asked the pale warrior, not meaning to interfere in her leader's time of mourning. Her curly pink hair and light pink dress gently swayed as the seemingly giant warrior turned to acknowledge her ally. "Pearl, are there any sign of survivors?" Rose sounded hopeful when she asked her.

Pearl bowed her head, solemnly sighing, "That is what I came to report. It will take some time to salvage every shard we can find, but it looks like there's not a trace of life…of any kind."

Rose's eyes widened at the news, she had to look away to fight back the overwhelming feelings of sorrow. "I see."

Pearl quickly came to her aid, not wanting to upset her by being the bearer of bad news. "B-But look at the bright side, we won this battle. The Homeworld gems retreated and-"

"They retreated because they had set a trap." A calm tone cut off the pale gem from attempting to console their leader. A tall, stern gem stepped forward. She adjusted her sunglasses as their attention was brought to her. She stood just barely underneath the height of their great leader of their rebellion in shades of red and black. From her tone to her attitude, she was quite expressionless in comparison of the two. "If we didn't fight back, they would have destroyed all of the humans. If we defended the humans, then they would make the humans retreat into the forest where they had set up a trap that would kill them anyway. There were no other options. Homeworld was ready to take drastic measures...There was nothing we could have done to prevent this. It's not your fault." She spoke bluntly, but in her tone was a hint of disappointment and sympathy for the events that occurred.

"But.." Rose looked at the two gems that stood before her, each of them waiting for her response after hearing the unbearable truth. She put her hands together, regaining her composure. With a gloomy expression that didn't suit the beautiful gem that she was to her followers, she quietly spoke, "I suppose, we did our best…but I wish we could have done more for them."

Rose walked between the two gems to look yonder from where they stood at the sunset. Down below was the valley, but it was completely engulfed by a cloud of color, and the forest that had lavished there, was gone. She furrowed her brow in acknowledgement of the reason behind the existence of the 'rainbow fog' and the disappearance of the forest..

"Homeworld doesn't care about how many gems fall under their authority, as long as they do as they're ordered by their Diamonds, more and more gems will be sacrificed for this cause. And every time we gain more followers, I always ask if they understand our cause and the price it will take to defend the life on this planet…All to fight against the greed of the rulers we once followed. It's too much to ask of everyone and yet if we don't fight back we.. they.." She closed her eyes and bowed her head, thinking about the lost lives that fell within that valley with her arms outstretched. She didn't need to continue her statement.. It was clear what would happen if they didn't try to defend the life on Earth.

For a moment, she remained quiet and still, like a statue. She focused on the breeze and the fresh air. The breeze was stronger on top of the hill. It was a refreshing feeling you can't recreate. Her hair and dress seemed to glow into a brighter shade of pink as the last of the suns warm rays began to disappear. With a deep breath, her hair began to release pink flower petals along the breeze.

This was her way of mourning. In an instant, the wind picked up the pink petals and spread them far and wide down the valley below. Gems that were already down there picking up the pieces of shards across the land stopped what they were doing and looked up as they saw at the top of the hill, their leader performing one of her many magical abilities. Everyone looked at the pink petals in awe. Their sweet scent filled the air and reassured their saddened hearts.

No matter what, Rose knew she had to remain strong and set an example as leader of the Crystal Gems. She felt her hands being held in that instant. She opened her eyes and found the two of her closest friends holding her hands when she was finished. "I always love it when you do that." Pearl smiled gently as the three of them looked down and marveled at the contrast of the rainbow that the air held in place and the pink flower petals raining into the colors. It just made the scenery so breathtakingly beautiful. Pearl leaned against Rose's arm, gazing out into the last glimpse of the sun that remained before it disappeared completely at the earth's horizon.

"I'm heading back to base." Rose exclaimed, feeling much better after using her magic and seeing one of nature's most beautiful sights. "Garnet, Pearl, tell all of the others that as soon as they finish cleaning up, to double check for any shards left behind. Also, if any human remains are found, bury them properly, even if it takes them all night. It's the least we could do for them."

Garnet and Pearl nodded and went ahead to opposite sides of the valley to tell the rest of their allies of their leader's orders. This gave Rose time to herself to cope from the failure she still felt in being unable to save this valley's fate. She could spend a moment in solitude and create an even more effective battle strategy against Homeworld. She won't dare let this planet fall into the hands of Homeworld, even if she was the only gem willing to fight for it. Thankfully, she had loyal friends that believed in her and in the cause. She promised herself that this would not happen again.

In a flash, she disappeared and left everyone else to tend to their duties so she could tend to hers. All that was left from where she once stood was a trace of pink rose petals.