The forest was thicker than Steven thought it would be.

Pearl had brought them to the closest warp pad, but 'close' was clearly a relative term. They had been picking their way through the close-knit trees and underbrush for what must have been six hours, but Steven wasn't able to check the time; playing games on his phone had killed the battery. He silently chastised himself for his short attention span, but it wasn't worth beating himself up over.

A few things had occurred to Steven on their trek:

Firstly, he was positive that if there was a warp pad on the far side of the forest, they wouldn't have to go through so many trees. If the reporters were able to get there easily, it was probably right on the edge. The more he sweat, the more he wished they had teleported to that side.

Second, he knew he was slowing Pearl down. She was trying to set a brisk pace and here he was getting tripped up every other step. She clearly wanted to be moving faster and was more eager than Steven to reach the ship as soon as possible, but she was also incredibly patient with him and his clumsiness.

Third… man, Pearl looked so cool! She was so tall and fast and graceful, hardly ever looking at her feet yet knowing exactly how and where to move them to keep from getting snagged on all the shrubs and roots. She stood erect with her spear in hand, deftly hacking through the tall grass and low hanging branches with sure and powerful hands. When she needed a moment to determine which direction they needed to head, she would plant the base of the spear on the ground and stare off into the distance, pale blue eyes squinting in thought, her back straight, posture immaculate. After a moment, she would turn her head, her prominent nose seeming to point the way, then resolutely march in that direction. Steven wished he could be as confident and cool as she was.

"It shouldn't be too much further," she said, for which Steven was grateful. He didn't want to ask, but he desperately wanted to know. "We should be there before the sun goes down. Hopefully you're not too tired for the trip back."

"Before the sun goes down?" said Steven. "But I feel like I just woke up."

"We're pretty far east of home. I'd say seven or eight hours ahead. Chances are good we can make it home for dinner. If everything goes alright." Again she looked worried. She threw a glance Steven's way, and Steven put on the most serious face he could muster to show he was taking all of this very seriously. She didn't seem completely convinced, but she also didn't say anything else as they continued through the forest.

Pearl held a hand out to stop Steven and pointed with her foot. "The crater," she said. Ahead the ground sloped suddenly downward. Just as the reporter had said, the trees all seemed to be living happily in the new pit, not caring about the explosion that created the crater under them. Pearl placed her hand on one of the trees. "Gem magic. Obviously." She looked down at the roots and traced them with her fingers. "It seems like they were protected from the crash, then replanted." She smiled broadly to herself. "That is just so something Rose would have done. Come on, let's find that ship."

"Wow," said Steven. "You brought us right to the crater without a map or anything. That's amazing!"

"Oh, well, it's hardly a big deal," Pearl said with false modesty, her cheeks coloring slightly.

They didn't have much farther to go. While deep, the crater was not very wide. They had to pass only a handful of trees before they could see the resting place of the pink spherical craft. The reporter and his crew were gone, leaving behind only a candy bar wrapper and a handful of cigarette butts. A deer sniffed at these, looking up cautiously when Steven and Pearl entered the clearing around the craft.

"Stay close, Steven," said Pearl, bringing her spear to the ready and approaching warily. She swept the crater with her eyes, seeking signs of ambush, but saw none. Once she was beside the craft, she reached out and caressed the side. "If I remember correctly…" she mumbled to herself, and suddenly there was a loud click and a scraping of metal on metal. A door appeared in the side of the ship and unceremoniously fell open, nearly hitting Pearl as it swung down.

The gem on Pearl's forehead glowed, emitting a beam of light. Using it, she searched the inside of the ship from the doorway. She waved Steven over and they entered together, Pearl a half-step ahead of him with her spear ready to strike. The ship was dark, lit only by the light from Pearl's gem and the sunlight streaming through the door. The door closed behind them, startling Steven, but Pearl didn't react. Steven figured it was supposed to do that.

"It looks empty," Steven opined after a minute of exploring the small craft.

Pearl nodded. "There aren't any places to hide, and there is only this room and the cockpit." She put the butt of the spear on the floor of this ship with a sharp thunk. "Maybe I should check the travel logs."

In the cockpit, Pearl rubbed her fingers on several panels, producing no noticeable results. She sighed. "It doesn't look like there is any power. The ship is probably out of commission from the impact. Of course, if Peridot had come, we might be able to get this thing up and running again." She turned and scanned the cockpit, looking disappointed. "Whoever was in this ship has already left."

"Aw man," said Steven. "What if there was no one to begin with? Do these things have autopilot?"

"Yes, but judging by the trees outside, there was definitely at least one gem here, and evidence suggests a Rose Quartz. But she or they could be anywhere by now." She struck the ground with her spear in aggravation. "We'll look around for a little bit, but I'm not getting my hopes up. There's a whole planet to hide on." She started walking towards the exit hatch.

"We'll find her eventually," said Steven. "Garnet is great at finding gems, so it's only a matter of time, right?"

"Right," said Pearl, pushing open the door. "We'll make it a top priority."

As the door fell open, a large hand reached through and grabbed Pearl by the back of the neck. With a sudden jerk, it was pulling Pearl onto the point of an outstretched sword. Pearl barely had time to draw breath when she found she had a blade sticking through her stomach and out of her back. Her spear tumbled to the ground and exploded into mist.

"Pearl!" Steven cried, his hands going to his mouth.

Her attacker shifted. Pearl gasped. "Steven," she said, "catch me!" She jerked her head backward and to the right, toward Steven, just as the blade cut upwards through her chest and neck. For a moment, she was split nearly in two from stomach to shoulder, then she burst into a cloud of white mist. Her gem soared through the air and Steven leapt to catch it, landing and rolling to his knees with Pearl clutched in his hands.

His head snapped towards the door as a large figure moved through the open portal and took position in front of it, barring his escape. She was a Rose Quartz, but Steven could only tell because he knew that was what they were looking for. She looked nothing like Steven's mother.

This Rose Quartz's hair was short, barely longer than Pearl's, dropping down in a pink bob cut. Her body was massive, covered in intimidating muscle. Instead of the pleasant dress Rose preferred, this gem wore shiny metal armor over leather, along with leather gloves and metal boots. If anything, she looked more like a Jasper playing at being a knight than a Rose Quartz. In her one hand she held the shield of the Rose Quartz. In the other was a sword. It was nothing like the beautifully appointed cutlass Rose wielded, but a dirty, plain gray thing. The sword could clearly do its job, however, and she leveled it at Steven, who clutched Pearl to his chest.

"Where is the other?" said the Rose Quartz. Her face was contorted into a threatening snarl, nothing like the angelic smile of Earth's Rose. Her eyes darted around the compartment, but were never away from Steven for more than a second. She didn't seem like the kind of gem that was ever caught unawares.

"The other what?" asked Steven, taking the opportunity to get back to his feet, the Rose Quartz watching his movements the entire time as if he might lunge at her at any moment.

"Don't play the fool. I sensed two gems entering my ship. You're holding the one, now where's the other?"

For a moment, Steven was at a loss. "Oh!" he said. "You mean me."

"No, I mean a gem. You are clearly not a gem."

"But I am a gem." He reached for his shirt, but the movement caused the Rose Quartz to lunge forward, and before he could react, Steven had the point of her sword an inch away from his throat. "Whoa!"

"Don't even try reaching for your weapons. I'll kill you before you can draw them." She checked behind her, then snapped her eyes back in a fraction of a second.

"I-I'm not," said Steven, his hands frozen where they were when she lunged. "I'm just trying to show you something. It'll answer your question. Will you let me?"

"No funny business," she warned, but pulled back slightly.

Slowly, carefully, Steven reached down and pulled up his shirt, revealing the large pink gem where his belly button should be. "See? The other gem is me. I'm not lying."

Her eyes went wide, but they quickly shifted from surprise to anger. "What are you doing with the gem of a Rose Quartz?"

"This isn't a Rose Quartz gem; this is my—"

She stepped forward and suddenly Steven was being lifted into the air by his shirt. She suspended him there with one hand while the other began scrabbling at the gem in his stomach. "Hey, that tickles!" he said. Then she dug her fingers in around the edges, gripping it and pulling hard. "Ow! Okay, that doesn't tickle anymore."

"Release the gem!"

"Get off of me!"

His protective bubble grew outward from his gem, pushing her away and thrusting her into the far wall of the ship. Steven didn't wait, but immediately bolted for the door. He doubted he could get away, but his chances were better outside than being trapped in the ship.

He was outside and running back towards where he and Pearl had come from, but he had taken barely a dozen steps when she passed him by and stood in front of him, blocking his path. In desperation, he attempted to bowl her over, but he struck her like he might strike a brick wall, succeeding only in bumping his head into the bubble shield and not much else.

She reached down, her massive arms encircling his bubble, and held it in place. He was pushing at the edges, trying to get it to roll, when she spoke.

"How are you doing this?" she demanded. "Are you an Overlord?"

"No, I'm a human." He gave up on trying to roll away. "And I'm a gem. I'm both. And this is my gem because it's part of my body, so I would appreciate you not trying to rip it out of me."

Her eyes searched him, trying to discern the truth. "What are you? Some sort of hybrid?"

"I guess? I don't really know. None of us do."

She slammed the side of his bubble with a massive fist. "Who did this? Who took that gem? Where did they get it?"

"I-I-It was given to me. Willingly. My mom was a Rose Quartz like you. She, um, gave up her body so I could have one."

The Rose Quartz considered this. "Is that possible?" She didn't find the idea absurd.

Steven shrugged. "Apparently."

An idea seemed to occur to her. She looked Steven in the eye. "Where am I? What planet is this?"

"Earth?" Steven answered, unsure what was coming next.

Her eyes lost focus. "I finally made it." She blinked, and then was staring at him. "And you say your gem came from a Rose Quartz? Willingly?" Steven nodded. "It wasn't THE Rose Quartz, was it? The leader of the rebellion of Earth?" He nodded again.

For a long moment she held the bubble, leaning on it as if she might collapse without it's support, then, with a mighty roar, she picked it up and flung it away from her, sending Steven tumbling end over end and crashing into a tree. "No!" she shouted. "It can't be. She's gone? We've been searching for Earth our whole lives to find her, and when we get here she's GONE?!"

Steven righted himself and rubbed his head. He was going to have some bruises when all this was over. Suddenly his bubble was being lifted and the Rose Quartz was pressing her face into the side inches from his own. "What of the others?" she said, a hint of desperation and maybe a bit of madness to her voice. "There were millions of rebels. Surely some of them still live? I must speak with them!"

"Millions?" said Steven. He looked down at Pearl in his hands, thinking of the mere four members of the rebellion that he knew and wondering what happened to the rest. A brief thought of the Cluster made him shiver. "Well, if you're looking for one, I'm holding her."

"What? That Pearl?" She blinked. "THE Pearl? Rose Quartz's infamous, ferocious Pearl? Why, she didn't even put up a fight!"

"We came here thinking you were going to be friendly! I mean, sure, Pearl was cautious, but she definitely didn't think you were going to attack her out of nowhere. The last gem we fought was kind of crazy, but even she talked to us before trying to kill us."

"You fought?" A light appeared in her eyes. "Then you're still fighting the gems? Where are my manners?" She put his bubble down. "The enemy of my enemy is friend." She beamed down at him. "Where are the others? After all this time, I have to meet someone, anyone, who I can call an ally."

"Hold on," said Steven, moving away from her. "You just attacked us. If Pearl didn't move her head at the last second, you could have shattered her. I'm not leading you to my friends until I understand what's going on."

Before the Rose Quartz could answer, Pearl's gem began to glow. It rose from his hand and floated between him and the Rose Quartz. A silvery-white outline formed in the air, a silhouette of light, taking the slender form of Pearl. Then it bloated on one side and solidified, and suddenly Pearl was there, but not the one Steven was familiar with.

"Get back, Thteven," she said, her puffy face and lips slurring her speech. Her arm, alternately bloated and wiry in places, reached up to her gem and pulled from it her spear, though the fingers didn't seem to work right because she immediately fumbled with it and had to use both hands to keep it from dropping.

"Are you okay, Pearl?" said Steven, moving to help her.

"Thtay back!" Pearl commanded, throwing out her good arm to warn him off. "I'm tho glad you're thafe, Thteven. I don't know what I'd do if I let thomething happen to you. Ath for you," she said, spinning her spear and pointing it towards the Rose Quartz, "you won't catch me by thurprithe thith time."

"Uh," said the Rose Quartz, staring at Pearl's deformed body. "I think you'd better give yourthelf—yourself—more recuperation time."

"Nonthenthe," said Pearl. "I don't have time to—" the spear slipped through her fingers and fell to the ground. "Hold on." Steven and the Rose Quartz watched uncomfortably as her crab-like hands fumbled at the spear's shaft trying to get a grip.

"Look, this was all a huge misunderstanding," said the Rose Quartz quickly. "I had no idea you were the rebels I was looking for. I'm putting my weapon away, see?" She made a show of sheathing her sword. "Besides, I don't think you can fight in that condition."

"I'll thow you," retorted Pearl, still struggling with the spear.

Steven threw an arm around Pearl's shoulder. "Pearl, you need to get yourself back together. I can handle things from here, okay?"

"But Thteven—"

"No buts," said Steven. "She doesn't want to fight anymore. See?" He gestured at the Rose Quartz, who tried to smile and not look intimidating. She failed. "Now go back to your gem and heal yourself properly or I'll poof you back there myself, okay?"

"Well, thereth no need for threatth, but are you thure?"

"Pothit—positive. She's a friend, like we thought. She's just more slice-y than we thought she'd be."

"Okay, good," said Pearl, and her body practically fell apart, "becauthe I couldn't hold thith thing together any longer." And with that, she poofed into dust and her gem fell to the dirt below."

Steven pocketed Pearl's gem. "Better start explaining things real quick, Quartz."

"Quartz?"

"Yeah. Rose Quartz is too long."

"But I'm not a Quartz. I'm a Rose Quartz. Calling me 'Rose' would make more sense since that's the part that differentiates me from other Quartzes."

"There's only one 'Rose' on this planet. It would be way too weird to call you Rose too, so it's either Quartz, or 'you.'"

"Your planet, your rules, I guess," she said. "But it's a long story so you better be ready."

"That's fine," said Steven, turning and gesturing vaguely to the west. "We have about six hours of walking ahead of us anyway, so you can tell the story on the way."

"Okay," she said. "How long is six hours?"

"About a quarter of a day."

"Okay? Well, how long is a day."

Steven stared blankly. "Twenty-four… hours?"

They stared at each other for a long while. "I'm just going to start the story," she said, and began walking west with Steven a step behind.