Peridot squeaked as the Gem creature spat a glob of that green liquid right at them. They ducked and saw the surface the liquid stuck to corrode into nothing within seconds. The creature advanced, moaning and hissing, its large black jaw wide open.
"Eep!" They cringed. The creature readied itself to spit again and the Gem upped and ran across the room, splashing in the shallow water. The creature screeched and took off after them, beginning a rather traumatic game around the Burning Room of tag for Peridot.
The small Gem leapt for one of the tubes leading to the platform, but they were too slow and the creature nearly caught up with them. A stream of the corrosive spit sailed over their head as they began to freak out. What were they supposed to do? They couldn't take out this creature like the other Gems; they were too weak. They couldn't reason with it, it wouldn't listen.
Looking back at their pursuant, it was obvious they couldn't outrun it for too long either. The terrifying creature was catching up in leaps and bounds as it chased them around the room.
Attempting to confuse the creature, the green Gem suddenly turned to the side and sprinted across the diameter of the circular room. The creature, however, took it all in stride and began honing right in, causing Peridot to panic. In a last-ditch attempt to get away, they dived into the pit at the centre.
They didn't fall far at all, faceplanting into something damp and hot, like wet sand. Shutting their eyes tight, they scrambled to their feet, feeling little grains of this something work its way into every nook and cranny of their body.
Yes, this felt exactly like that horrifying day Steven introduced them to sand, only worse. They squinted open their eyes to see a very, very black substance smeared all over their body. The audio log was still in their hands.
Then they raised their eyes, and there was the creature. The pit was surprisingly shallow and Peridot stood a head and a bit taller than the opening.
They covered their face, but after nothing happened for a second, they sneaked a look. The creature was calmly staring down at them, regarding them with that one Gem eye whilst their mandibles dribbled venom.
"Huh?" Peridot raised an eyebrow. "And now you aren't attacking me again? What kind of defective thing are you, anyway?"
The creature opened their jaws and gave out a soft rasping noise. Its hair was slowly letting itself down as it calmed.
The green Gem sighed and looked down on themselves. "Aaah, it doesn't matter. Look what you've made me do, creature!" They wiped the black sand stuff off of their chest. "You made me jump in this pit and get this irritating grainy substance all over-"
With an alarmed screech, the creature jumped back into action, its jaw swinging wide open.
"What? What did I do?" Peridot looked down, where they saw their hand had revealed a distinctive yellow diamond underneath the grainy black sand they had been covered in. "You-you're upset by my Diamond's insignia? Blasphemy!"
The creature spat just to the side of Peridot, and they watched in terror as the liquid ate away the stone. "B-but in certain situations, protocol can be ignored..."
The green Gem reached down and grabbed a handful of the black substance, then plastered it over the diamond in their uniform. "There, you... you clod! Now leave me alone!"
The Gem animal immediately calmed down, but it did not leave. Like a few seconds ago it was content to just sit and stare at Peridot, who was considerably less comfortable with the situation.
Reluctant to turn their back on the creature, Peridot attempted to reach backwards and clamber out of the pit. This attempt was met with failure, so begrudgingly they turned and awkwardly crawled out, all the time aware of the soft moans and growls coming from the thing that was watching them.
As soon as the small Gem was out, they turned and checked to see the creature was standing in the same place; it was.
"Heh." Peridot began backing away, talking to the thing like they thought it could understand a word they spoke. "That's right, you creature! You stay right where you are. Now, to find Steven and the others-"
The creature suddenly squawked in excitement, running over to Peridot. At first they were worried the thing was now upset about the name 'Steven' but now it appeared to be somewhat... excited, and made no move to attack. The green Gem raised an eyebrow, shrugged and and then took a step forwards...
The creature also took a step. Peridot heard the splash and turned around. It was looking up at them, the smaller pair of pincers on the back of its body wagging a little like some sort of canine's.
"Nya? Oh, no no no!" Peridot instantly realised what was going on. "You, are not following me!"
It opened and closed its jaws, the green liquid dripping steadily out of its mouth.
The small Gem swatted their hands around in the air. "Shoo, you, you whatever you are!"
With a curious noise, the Gem creature inclined its head, hair raising slightly on its back. Nevertheless, it did not take a step back.
Peridot sighed deeply, running a hand down their face. "Ughhhh... nobody listens to a Peridot. Whatever! Just don't get in my way or I'll... uh, I'll do something about it, I can assure you!"
And with that, they continued towards the platform. From there, they grabbed onto the reddish tubes that lined the walls of the Burning Room and helped themselves up onto the top, where they stood facing the arch.
They remembered standing here before, back when they had just been unbubbled by Steven. Though they didn't realise it at the time, it was the start of something big. Not necessarily something good; the Crystal Gems they had become begrudgingly attached to were irrational beings, a ragtag band of traitors to Homeworld and thus the great Yellow Diamond, who never did anything wrong.
But they weren't bad Gems, which completely confused Peridot. They could only rationalise this inconsistency by reasoning that even those in the wrong were not completely flawed. This thought was still far out of line with Homeworld's way of thinking, but it was far better than any implication that the great leader was...
Peridot shook themselves, unwilling to even entertain the thought. They looked towards the arch, and jumped slightly when the creature padded past them, grunting contentedly. Then they sighed, stepped forward and turned to walk down a short corridor that led to the outside of the temple, noting how much darker it was than they remembered.
They reached the door, and it opened automatically. What they saw upon exiting the Burning Room made Peridot realise that whatever was going on was far more serious than their recent problems with the Crystal Gems.