And we have another horror after the first one that is Frybo! Ho freaking Ray.
Edit: HAPPY FALL BREAK TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE IT RIGHT NOW! To celebrate it I'll probably be updating my fanfiction a lot more since there's no school :) (Yes I used an emoji. Sue me.)
"R-Ronaldo!" Steven cried as he posted the picture. Ronaldo cast him a half worried half curious glance.
"Is something the matter Steven?" He asked. Steven bit his lip, taking the gem back and shoving it in his pocket, it radiated a warm heat.
"N-no it's nothing. Really." He said. He hated lying but he knew it was best to leave them out of it. Alright, he decided he'd try to hide it from the gems! If anything they'd have much more to do soon, although on the other hand..Around now they're not very busy, so the best time to tell them would be now..He pondered it over in his head for a few more seconds and decided to wait until at least after it was explainable and they'd met Lapis, then he could just explain from there. He started heading to the home. Lying to the gems would be very hard, but he could manage if it meant not potentially driving them headfirst into danger.
He felt the weather get heavier, it was not going to be a clear night, there would probably be thunderstorms at least. He went straight to his home and fell asleep.
Later the next day...
The day so far had been eventful, he had once again witnessed Amethysts shape shifting powers whilst playing with his dads hose and having water fights, but this time Steven didn't question how to use the powers as he already knew how, and didn't want to experience the whole, "I'm becoming a cat monster" Kinda event. Although... That only made Amethyst suspicious, as when normally she shows him a new power he'd all, "Ooh~! I wanna know how to do that!" Or something along those lines.
Steven paid no mind to it and just made himself a sandwich, wondering when the gems were coming back.
"Steven~!" Amethyst called, "We're gonna fight a living island." She said teasingly. His face lit up, he had never gotten to go the last time! This time maybe he could go!
"Oh! Lemme come! Please~!" He cried, eating some of his sandwich, even after eating an entire box of donuts, he still managed to have room. He ran out the door, not noticing the hint of worry crossing the purple gems face, she still was wondering why he was acting so different, she never told anyone else she'd noticed it, it wasn't obvious enough or serious enough to alert, it was just...He wasn't as easily surprised by things as he used to be, now he seemed to know everything that might happen before it did.
Almost as if he'd had future vision. But he couldn't...Could he? Rose Quartz had never had the power of future vision, how could Steven? And if he did, how come it was just showing up now. After pondering this for a moment Amethyst shrugged it off as being some weird mood he was in and followed him to the boat where Garnet and Pearl were waiting.
"Guys guys!" Steven called, waving to them at the boat. Oh. What a huge mistake he had just made. A big mistake.
'How did he know where to go?' Amethyst thought, she didn't catch any sort of hint that the other two had noticed, maybe they just assumed Amethyst had told him. But she didn't. Not even a hint. Amethyst was sure now something was going on, deeper than the optimistic smile facade Steven had always worn. He was hiding something. Something big, she could tell, normally she was easy going, but this kind of thing she just knew, it seemed to sit in the pit of her stomach and give her an uneasy feeling, so much so that she just couldn't forget, even if she could fake it. It was just too big for even her.
Even the easygoing carefree Amethyst could pick up these kind of things. Right? And yet still. She kept her mouth shut.
Climbing aboard the small boat, possibly considered a raft, the four drifted away towards the island, Steven now was completely clueless, no longer with the advantage of knowing what would happen, he was on his own now.
The boat crashed onto the island, and sure enough, it seemed almost...Living I guess you could say. It didn't move but the colors seemed to move and change, as if expressing emotion, Pearl touched it with her hand before stepping onto the island, and the color shifted to a red tint. She recoiled it back, nearly whacking Garnet in the face.
"Oh I have an idea! Since it expresses emotion and seemingly feels pain," Amethyst gestured to the red spot quickly fading, "We should just shape shift into birds!" Amethyst exclaimed. She immediately turned to Steven for a response, his face was slightly nervous, but why? Shouldn't he be excited about learning a new power? Something was definitely up. Her mind seemed to keep luring back to future vision the more she thought about this, she shook the thought form her mind and glanced over to the two gems.
"I guess that could work, but-" Pearl was cut off by Steven.
"-Wait- Um.." He paused, he tried to come up with a good excuse, he really didn't want to have to do the whole shape shifting disaster again. He was frightened of what might happen, especially if there was a threat at the time while it was happening, "I-I don't know how to shape shift!" He said, not thinking about it when it left his mouth, it was just the quickest excuse he could make out, and boy did he regret it. He mentally cursed himself (Which he did very rarely) for even considering the idea, then they'd have to teach him- wait. How could they teach him in such a dire situation? This was actually the perfect plan! They couldn't teach him so they'd just have to carry him. That hope immediately crumbled.
"Think about what you wanna be and just shake it out!" Amethyst said quickly, she truly did not want to waste time explaining in a mission, they needed to finish their business here quickly before the island woke up. She saw Steven's face grow more nervous as he stepped back a little, but sighed and tried, surprisingly he got it on the first shot...Kind of..
Instead of turning into a bird he simply grew wings, one bigger than the other, and different colors, one red and one yellow. He tried to fly, his weight holding him down for a second before he lifted off the ground. He acted as if he'd done this a ,million times before, but realized he still needed to act surprised. "W-whoa!" He cried, laughing bit as he tested out his new wings, but inside he was scared what might happen, quick! What do birds hate, if cats hate water then- wait that's it cats! If he could turn his finger into a cat and scare his wings off and then drench himself in water (If he needed to of course) Then that'd solve it!
Steven flew up into the air, he had gotten pretty good with this, making those secret shape shifting lessons with Amethyst were really paying off. (Which yes I know is only cannon to this story.)
The group transformed into flying animals, Pearl a bird (obviously) well actually a swan, Garnet a bee, and Amethyst a giant fly. pearl noticed Garnet hadn't said much lately, not putting much thought into it however, it was noticeable enough to think about for a few seconds, what was going on in the fusions head? Something told her she didn't want to know, which was odd, normally she'd be all about finding out what the leader was thinking, but this was a different case, and it wasn't just Garnet, the rest of the group seemed to be acting off as well, Amethyst was always seemingly deep in thought when she thought she was alone, she ate and slept less, and she always seemed to be keeping an eye on Steven, which brings her back to her other group member. Steven. He wasn't as carefree and careless as before, and he wasn't surprised at anything, every move they made seemed to be already written down in the boys head, and charted, there were little events that would excite him, but he always seemed to be thinking of a way out of their current situation, and always knew how immediately. Or at least, what not to do.
Amethyst soared lower than the others, and behind Steven particularly, charting his movements to see if he was expecting anything, but no, he seemed completely clueless this time and it was a bit surprising, seeing how everything else he knew how to solve. It was a little scary, and Amethyst missed the old Steven, always with that huge smile on his face, but now it seemed to lessen, his face told Amethyst he was just dying to say something, but something held him back, something that only he could effect apparently, he avoided others more and more, and sometimes even some of the little things set him off, like the gems shards Pearl had the other day made him nervous, very nervous. Amethyst had been spying on him to see if there was anything weird going on with him, she was sure Pearl noticed by now. There was also Centipeedle Amethyst caught him always having a regretful small smile on his face while he watched centipeedle while he thought he was alone. Some may call this, "Invading his privacy" But Amethyst called it, "Being extra cautious, like Pearl." She was surprised how less guilty it made her feel.
Garnet kept an eye on all the surrounding areas, including Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven. They banked down, just barely above a large river, as the plains dipped down into hills and mini canyons. Amethyst on the bottom, barely pressing her wings against the sharp rock, Pearl on the side, just barely ahead of Steven, who was seemingly faster and more agile than Garnet remembered, he seemed to maneuver swiftly and smoothly along thin passageways, and small holes, accelerating in the right air currents, at times his sandle would get caught on a sharp boulder or stalagmite, but he recovered nicely, catching up to the group swiftly and steadily without wavering much. Garnet, like the rest of the group, caught onto Steven's odd behavior and kept quiet to herself, only talking when she needed too, but mostly thinking about what route to take, the best situation where it all ended out okay, mostly consisted of keeping quiet, but there were a few odd ones that stuck out where she alerted the others and, albeit foggy and disoriented Steven told them the truth, Garnet just couldn't make out what he was telling them, it was too far and too deep into the future, it wasn't open enough for Garnet to peek through.
Making their way onto a large mountain the group surveyed the area, taking in the details, their mission was to recover a gem artifact, it was what gave a life force to the nonliving matter, it could do large groups at a time, like, say, a island. It should be right...Ah here! The group circled down into a large cave, and sitting on top of a stalagmite was a gem artifact! It was pulsing purple, blue, and green. Steven touched it, feeling the same radiating heat that the gem hatched to the thin string had, he dug around in his pocket, finding it still there. He didn't bring it out, as it might bring up questions later.
And~ Cut! hope you've all enjoyed! This will be another two parter! Remember to review and goodbye~!