Chapter 4: Shared Dream
They were slowing down. At first it wasn't as obvious, them passing it off as the rush of everything still attempting to be processed. But it quickly became more noticeable that their pace lead to a decreasing advancement. Their sickle had long since been abandoned, with Agate's hand still party curled around the empty air showing that they hadn't even noticed yet. By the time their path was illuminated solely by the moon they looked to be ready to collapse at any moment. Their feet dragged and once again they were limping, but Agate didn't mind it as much as she struggled to keep her eye opened. Even their words took more time to leave their mouth when each finally spoke.
"What's...happening to-us?"
"I think that...because none of us have a full gem...we can't sustain ourselves as well as we used to."
"Well then what do...what do we do now?"
"My best guess is that...we need to...to do what humans call...sleep."
They looked up to the moon and a lazy smile plastered itself on their face.
"Sleep sounds...amazing right now."
Their head was forced back down and their smile disappeared.
"If you think that...for a moment I'd ever partake...in any...any activities this dumb race ever does then-"
"It's not like we... have any...choice...Agate. I can...already feel...m-myself...giving...out." Jade interrupted, her words almost seeming to fade away as she spoke them.
Finally, with their strength almost at empty, they collapsed onto their hands and knees. Their head slumped, and just as Jade was about to fall asleep Agate shook their body as if they were a wet dog. Being successful in opening Jade's eye just a bit wider.
"Don't you...dare traitor...Have...atleast...some of your...dignity as...as a gem."
Jade didn't listen to Agate as her now shortened attention span drifted her gaze over to the sound she just now placed as running water. They hadn't even noticed the stream until now. Even still they smiled as the current shimmered under the reflected moonlight.
"Remember this...Jade?"
They nodded. "Yeah...Whenever we got a break from the battles we'd...come to the river side and you'd put...put flowers in my hair."
Sunstone weakly chuckled at the memory.
"And others would...would always get mad at us for running off when...there was a battle to prepare for. So we made up...a little song to help them find us."
"I remember that...When the...sky is grey and you're feeling low..."
"Go to the river and find your...Sunny-stone."
They both started giggling, much to Agate's annoyance.
"You...rebels are so...emotional." Agate said, trying to sound angry but her exhaustion sucking the fierce out of her voice.
Sunstone then, in her current stupor, gambled their balance in order to playfully raise their left arm into the air.
"Well get used to it Agate because you're...stuck with us!"
They started to lean to the right far more than what Agate and Jade were comfortable with. With a jerk of their shoulder Jade stabilized their balance.
"Against my will." Agate reminded with a grunt.
The open air was silent for a moment before Jade snickered to herself. "Yeah...I guess so..."
Two of their eyes started to close again, and in a desperate attempt Agate risked them falling over again by lifting her hand up and slapping the side of their face.
"Stop! Wake...up!" She ordered.
But their face still held a blissful smile as their eyes started to close again.
"Just close your...eyes and...dream Agate...It's... nice." Sunstone said before her eye shut.
Their left arm bent and they were starting to lean to their side.
"Then in the morning we...we can...keep..." They fell to their side as the final support from Jade left along with her consciousness.
Agate panicked. Bringing pain even to herself as she repeatedly slapped their cheek.
"Hey...Hey! Wake up!"
No response.
Harder and harder Agate kept hitting, but the only thing she could call success was Sunstone's eye briefly opening before closing again.
"Jade!...Sunstone!"
When their only reply were silent snores of slumber Agate finally gave up and sighed.
"...Whatever."
Laying their body flat on their back Agate had only to sky to look at. To her it was odd, she could have sworn that Earth's moon was round. Even still, its crescent shape held a alluring charm that allowed it to be an equal to the majesty of a full moon. Complementing it were the clouds around it. Using the light the moon gave off, each cloud gleamed in their own way. The shades of blue so brilliantly contrasted the sparkling black sky, that it only seemed to make the moon grander. It gave the moon emotions. The moon would seemed shy when a cloud covered its glow. And when on full display the moon looked bold. Proud to be the centerpiece of the night. Showing that even though it was not to its full potential it could still be as grand. It almost reminded Agate of the Diamonds. One grand one surrounded by all those who build off the imposing one. And even though the great authority was no longer at its full potential, they were still strong. Agate respected, as well as admired such efforts to be beautiful, even knowing that it wasn't truly the case. The moon was naturally doing this. Agate wondered if such an impressive display happened every night.
"Is this what those traitors fought for?" Agate thought as she continued to stare at the moon's hypnotic display.
Maybe...just maybe...it would have been a shame if all this beauty had been destroyed.
So many gems never getting this chance to view such a sight.
Maybe...those rebels had reason to-
Agate shook their head as hard as she could to get those thoughts out. A great wave of shame washing over her for even daring to think such a way. Reaching her hand up she grabbed their hair and tugged it over her eye.
"I am not a traitorous scum to gem kind! I am an Agate! Loyal to my Diamond from the day I am made to the day I am shatt...dead!"
That was what Agate repeated to herself until her hand fell and she too was asleep.
In comparison to Steven's other dreams this wasn't weird, more out of place. For the past few nights his dreams mostly revolved around him stopping the epic war between the Cookie Cats and the Lion Lickers with a musical number. But instead of only having five seconds to prepare a song and dance, he woke up in a field. Said field was a bright green with the most luscious and undamaged grass he had ever seen. Scattered among the grass were flowers of many different variety. Some stood tall while others timidly hid in the grass. Some held a bright and healthy bloom while others were too young to accomplish such a feat. All together they created a rainbow of colors that a painter could only dream of replicating.
Steven's head shot around in every direction, trying to make sense of it all, until he spotted them.
Sitting in the center of the field were two gems. One of them had light orange skin and wavy tangerine hair streaked with another shade of orange. She had on a yellow heart cut tube top and leggings along with yellow bands on her upper shoulders and neck. She also sported the color white in her cat-eye sunglasses, long single fingered gloves, slip-ons, and short skirt with ribbons that wrapped in an X across her top. On full display by her exposed belly was a full and shiny Sunstone gem in the shape of an oval.
The other gem, with her back to the Sunstone, had colors all coordinated around green. She wore a dark pointed heart top with a diamond end strip going down the center. Along with that she had green shorts, half sleeves, long gloves, and short boots all different shades of green. Most her hair was tied back by a ribbon into a long braid. The hair that was left out of the braid were strips of side bangs and four pointed bangs pushed to the sides to reveal a full circular Jade on her forehead.
Both Jade and Sunstone didn't notice Steven approaching them as they were too engrossed in their activities. Sunstone plucked one of the many flowers scattered about and was looking over Jade's braid to see where it would fit along with the many others expertly placed in her hair. Jade, meanwhile, was busy twisting and weaving together the last few stems in order to complete her flower crown. All the while lighting singing to herself, with Sunstone humming a melody to her tune.
"When you look up to a sky of grey
And your hope has seen some brighter days
Just go to the river where the sun still shone
And look till you find your Sunny-stone"
She stopped and the two switched roles in their song. Sunstone speeding up the lyrics, which Jade matched in her accompaniment.
"Together with our might we will win this war
Fighting harder than we had before
Though we give our lives every single day
We know in the end it'll all be okay
Cause we believe in the leadership of Rose
This is the path that we have chose~n"
Steven noticed Jade's smile falter for a second as her fingers stopped looping the stems of her crown. Quickly though her smile return, and she turned to Sunstone as the two began singing in a duet.
"And together we are the-"
"Uh...Hello?" Steven interrupted
The two froze for a moment before their heads turned to Steven. Instantly their eyes lit up and their smiles went wide in excitement.
"A Human!" Sunstone exclaimed before looking to Jade.
"Did you dream him up Jade?"
Jade's smile fell and she raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"No...I thought you did..."
Sunstone matched Jade's expression before raising herself on her knees, turning to her left, and shouting.
"HEY AGATE! DID YOU DREAM UP A HUMAN?"
Steven looked to where Sunstone had shouted and was horrified at what his eyes witnessed. He instantly recognized the scenery as the Strawberry battlefield. But a coat of darkness loomed over the divine scene, turning it into a horror movie. Anything he couldn't see was hidden behind a curtain of smoke from poofed gems bursting all about. Each having been effortlessly defeated by a single gem. This gem was tall with tan colored skin. Her hair was shaved into a two toned brown mohawk that ended in a curl. Her clothes were that of a basic gem warrior. A brown jumpsuit with long tan boots and lower sleeves. Her belt was a pale yellow that matched the diamond symbol on her chest. Armed with a long ball and handled chain, she wore a malice grin on her face as she grounded to dust a gem that was underneath her foot. Briefly distracted by the sound of being called, she looked up and glared daggers at the three.
"WHY WOULD I EVER DREAM UP A PATHETIC RACE NOT EVEN WORTH FIGHTING?" She shouted back.
"OKAY JUST ASKING!"
Scoffing Agate swung her ball and chain into another gem's face. Jade and Sunstone both smirked and shook their heads before turning back to Steven. Steven himself had to take a moment before he was able to pull his gaze away from the nightmare.
"I'm not...part of your dream. My name is Steven."
"Well then hello Steven, my name is Jade."
"And I'm Sunstone! Over there is Agate."
Steven slowly, with an unwilling face, once again dared to look over to Agate. She had moved on from shattering gems under her foot to repeatedly punching, who Steven recognized as Garnet, in the face.
"Yeah, we questioned it too at first. But it's a dream so let her have her fun." Jade said nonchalant as she placed the flower crown on Steven's head.
Chuckling nervously Steven adjusted the crown while trying his best to block the sight from his vision.
"So...are you guys gems?"
Jade giggled. "Yup!"
Sunstone leaned over and they both delightedly pointed to their gemstones.
"And even though this is just a dream, it feels great to see my full gem again!"
Sunstone's words acted as the transition to Steven's next question.
"Speaking of which, what are you guys doing here?"
Jade placed her hands on her lap and shrugged.
"To be honest, we don't know. This whole day has just been confusing."
"What do you mean?"
"Well we were your human equivalent of 'dead' for awhile." Jade started off, adding air quotes in the mix of her hand gestures.
"You were shattered?" Steven clarified.
"Yes" Jade nodded before continuing.
"Then we just suddenly...woke up! Even...though we're asleep right now...If that makes any sense."
Steven's confused expression made it clear to Jade that it, indeed, didn't make sense. Sighing, she hit her wrist against her gem then slid her palm across her face.
"Sorry but I don't have a better way of explaining this without confusing you. And Sapphire knows Agate won't tell us anything."
Steven's eyes widened. "You know Sapphire?"
Jade shook her head, loosening most of the flowers and earning a small vexed stare from Sunstone.
"No I...Well I mean yes but..."
"It's a gem term Jade uses." Sunstone interjected, her focus still mostly kept on fixing her hard work.
"Since Sapphires are all knowing, they'd be the only ones who know what Agate won't tell us."
Jade nodded to her "Thanks Sunny." She said before looking back to Steven.
"Anyway we're 'awake' and have kinda been wandering around trying to figure out what to do next. We were hoping to find other Crystal Gems by this time but we got tired."
Stars glimmered in Steven's eyes and excitement bubbled inside him.
"Other? Are you guys Crystal Gems too?"
Jade gave Steven a playful wink. "For life. And in our case, beyond!"
Steven jumped to his feet and started eagerly bouncing in place.
"That explains this dream! And if you're 'awake' that means then we'll be able to find you!" He explained, adding air quotes of his own.
Even Sunstone looked up as her and Jade gave Steven puzzled looks.
"Wait, what?"
"Hold on! I'm gonna wake up now and try to find you guys!"
Steven grabbed his head and started concentrating hard.
"Wait, Steven there's something we have to-" Jade started to reach out to Steven but stopped when he interrupted her.
"Don't worry, I won't be long. I promise!"
Steven started to fade away. Once more Jade made an attempt at stopping him.
"But Steven we-"
This time it was Sunstone who cut Jade off.
"Oh! If you see any of the Crystal gems tell em' 'When the sky is grey and you're feeling low, go to the river and find your Sunny-stone'! They'll understand!"
Sunstone's eye was the first to open when the morning sun rays hit them. Yawning she sat their body up while rubbing her eye. As her arm reached to the sky in a stretch their body trusted forward several times. Sunstone then paused when she realized that she wasn't moving.
"What the...?"
She looked down at their legs and all of yesterday's events were refreshed in her memory.
"Oh right" She said lowly
She looked at her hand and saw Jade's resting on top of hers. Smiling slightly she entwined Jade's fingers with her own and held them tight. Laying back to watch the clouds go by for a moment before calling to Jade.
"You awake Jade?"
Another yawn came out of their mouth and Jade's hand slipped from Sunstone's to move their hair from their face.
"Yeah, I'm up." Jade replied tiredly.
"Should we wake Agate?" Was Sunstone's next question.
Jade shook their head.
"No. She looked like she was having fun and it's too early to hear her screaming."
"Alright then."
The two remained quiet for a little while, watching as a hummingbird rapidly flapped it's wings while it flew around in search of food.
"So who was that human from our dream?" Jade asked to start up conversation.
Sunstone shrugged. "I don't know. Do you think we'll ever see him again?"
"I doubt it. It was only a dream after all..."
Once more they were plunged into silence. As Sunstone lifted their arm to trace around clouds Jade looked to their gem. Studying each individual shard that was used in its creation.
"Hey Sunny, there's always something I wanted to ask you since we started fighting for the rebellion"
Sunstone lowered their arm and rested her hand on their chest as her eye looked to Jade's.
"What is it?"
Jade bit their lip. Sunstone Just barely able to see Jade not looking back at her.
"Well...Why did you-?"
"What are you two traitors going on about?" Questioned Agate as her eye finally opened.
As they were sitting back up Jade slightly shook their head.
"N-Nothing...forget it. Let's keep moving."
Their eyebrow rose and both Agate and Sunstone were both looking at Jade with a mixture of concern and a desire for inquiry. But that ended with Agate rolling her eye and the three slowly getting into a stance that would prepare them to stand up
"Alright then..."
"Whatever."
"Oh! If you see any of the Crystal gems tell em' 'When the sky is grey and you're feeling low, go to the river and find your Sunny-stone'! They'll understand!"
Steven had his "thinking face" on in its full glory as he searched through the vast ocean of bubbled gems. As he searched a majority of his brain focused to keep the memory of his dream fresh and alive. Specifically the images of the two gems he met in said dream. His focus so strong and unbreakable even when he heard the gem door opening behind him along with footsteps.
"Steven?" Pearl called.
"What are you doing out of bed?" Garnet followed.
"Oh! Hey guys! I'm just trying to find Jade and Sunstone" Steven replied. That and his wave being the only indication of his awareness to their presence.
Garnet and Pearl froze while Amethyst continued forward.
"W-who are you looking for?" Pearl asked, her sudden shakiness emphasized by her stuttering.
Finally breaking away from his search Steven turned to face the gems.
"Jade and Sunstone. Jade said that she knew you guys right? Don't you know them?"
"Well...we do but...uh..." Was what Pearl started to say before stopping to look to Garnet.
Garnet looked back at her and it was as if they were having a brief, wordless, conversation. They nodded at each other and Garnet stepped forward and knelt down to Steven's level.
"Steven...the Jade and Sunstone we know were shattered during the gem war."
Steven nodded. "I know that, they told me. Jade also said that they were 'awake'. And if they were that conscious I thought that I could..."
Pearl interrupted. "Steven I highly doubt that they were anything more than a dream."
Steven looked crushed and it pained the gems to have to see it.
"But..."
Garnet put a hand on Steven's shoulder. "I know you were excited but it was only a dream. Now common, let's get you back to bed."
Garnet stood up and ushered Steven along. Reluctantly Steven followed, taking one last look back at the bubbled gems before looking to the ground.
Drowned in defeat Steven dragged himself up the stairs and into bed. There he tucked himself in and gave the gems one last sad look.
"Okay. Night guys"
They each gave him in return a nod. Pearl and Garnet trying to smile, but unable to keep it from looking forced rather than genuine.
"Good night."
"Night dude."
"Good night Steven."
Just as Steven drifted off to sleep a sudden thought reopened his eyes. Quickly he sat back up and got their attention.
"By the way, dream Sunstone told me to tell you "When the sky is grey and you're feeling low, go to the river and find your Sunny-stone."
With that off his chest Steven laid back down and closed his eyes. His potential sleep was suddenly interrupted by Garnet stretching her arms and snatching him out of bed.
"Steven!" Garnet shouted, retracting her arms to pull him to her.
"What did you just say?"
Still in shock Steven had to take a moment before he repeated himself.
"I said 'When the sky is grey and you're feeling low, go to the river and find your-"
"Sunny-stone." Garnet finished for him.
She turned back to Pearl, whose expression looked even deeper into a state of shock.
"Garnet. Only Sunny ever said that..." She said quietly
Garnet looked back at Steven and, the next thing he knew, he was sat down at the table where Pearl placed a sheet of paper and some crayons in front of him. Looking to all three gems he saw Amethyst just as confused as he was, while Pearl and Garnet were becoming more and more visibly anxious as every second went by.
"Now Steven. We want you to draw exactly what Jade and Sunstone looked like in your dream." Pearl explained, her smile now appearing even more forced than before.
"Don't leave out a single detail." Garnet added.
Steven looked at them for another instant. He then nodded and started with grabbing the orange crayon. Pearl bit her lip as she slightly craned her neck to look over Steven's shoulder. She was trying not to let her distress show, but was as successful as her many attempts at lying. She looked to Garnet who met her gaze with a nervous frown. Pearl then looked down and grabbed onto Garnet's arm as her way of comfort.
"So am I missing something here?" Amethyst finally asked.
"You'll know in a second." Was all Garnet replied with.
Rolling her eyes Amethyst groaned and continued to watch Steven with a bored expression. Finally after over fifteen minutes Steven set down his green crayon and held his drawing up to his face to look over.
"This is pretty much what they looked liked."
He held the drawing up for them all to see, only for Pearl to snatch it out of his hands. Pearl's eyes widened and she looked to Steven while passing the picture to Garnet.
"And...you're sure that you weren't just seeing one of Rose's memories?"
"If I did then wouldn't they have called me Rose instead of Steven?"
Pearl's hand went over her mouth and she looked to Garnet again. Who had removed her shades to make sure that she was seeing what was in front of her correctly.
Sure enough on that page was a crudely drawn version of Jade and Sunstone smiling back at them.
"But what could this mean?" Pearl desperately asked.
Garnet didn't answer her, which drove Pearl to start tearing up.
"Garnet, I saw them get shattered!"
Garnet put a hand on Pearl's shoulder, the dismal look she gave her causing Pearl to wipe away the forming tears.
"Could they really be alive?"
"I'm not sure." Garnet answered.
Just as Pearl started to break once more, Garnet spoke.
"But if Steven had that dream then that definitely means that there's a possibility."
"So...if those two gems are really out there,whoever they are, are we gonna try and find them?" Amethyst asked, arms folded with an amused smirk
Garnet now looked to all of them. When she smiled, they all smiled back at her.
"That's exactly what we're gonna do."
Their plan was set and they were all now excited to put it in motion. But there was still one thing that bothered Steven that made him put the enthusiasm to a halt.
"But who were Jade and Sunstone?"