"Alright, the Homeworld militia should be here any second, let's go over the plan, since we know the geography of this field well, we can use it to our advantage. Garnet, take Sodalite and the rest of the sharp shooting party up on the floating islands, there are ballistas waiting there. Here's how we attack..." Rose began to explain, drawing in the dirt. Sodalite zoned out for most of it because of nerves. It was her first battle as a Crystal Gem, and she had always feared Homeworld, and her lack of proper training aided her anxiety in taking over her confidence. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a warm hand touching her wrist.
She looked up to see Garnet, a strange anomaly Gem she had first seen at the Cloud Arena several weeks ago. A fusion between two different gem types? It confused Sodalite, but she still followed her orders, and how could she ignore her? Garnet herself was a clash of bright pink and blue like someone threw big buckets of paint on her, and her hair was large, poofy, and square shaped, like a Ruby who used too much hairspray and got a little crazy with the teasing comb. Her clothes looked tattered and thrown together, and she had three wide eyes that looked just as confused as Sodalite was, yet eager at the same time.
"Let's go. You know the plan, right?" Garnet asked.
Sodalite nodded, her mouth slightly agape.
Garnet began leaping across the floating islands with ease, directing where each sharp shooter should go. Sodalite was not a very good jumper, so it took her time and effort to try and keep up with Garnet, and her landings on the islands were sloppy and dangerous.
"Uh, Garnet? Do you mind slowing down?" Sodalite yelled as she landed face first on a floating island.
"There's no time! You're manning the ballista at the very top island!" Garnet kept jumping.
Sodalite looked to where Garnet gestured, which happened to be the highest island in the chain. She groaned at how far she was from it and tried to go faster.
After a few more minutes, Sodalite climbed up and peeked her head over the surface of the island, gasping for breath. Garnet was sitting peacefully, looking down at the field below, the passing clouds, and the sun which was rising over the distant mountains.
"What took you so long?" Garnet asked, not even looking at Sodalite.
"Well," Sodalite grunted as she gave herself one more pull up onto the island. "Not everyone is a fusion."
"I can respect that." Garnet shrugged. "Do you know the controls for this?" She pointed to the ballista.
"Yes, but I've only worked this thing once. I'm not exactly a soldier." Sodalite said quietly.
"Neither am I," Garnet added.
"Yeah but you have Ruby in you, you know what to do, you can be a soldier. I'm just a slave, used to running back and forth for Blue Diamond." Sodalite said.
"I also have Sapphire in me. You, on the other hand, are the only one of you, and just because you were something then, doesn't mean you can't be someone completely different now. You have to make that choice." Garnet wrapped her hand in Sodalite's. Sodalite looked up into Garnet's eyes. "Do you understand?" Garnet asked.
Sodalite nodded.
"Good." Garnet stood up. "Rose will be up here to do a final check shortly, and remember the plan." Garnet leaped off the island and began her descent.
Sodalite looked at the ballista. "Crap, I didn't listen to the plan."
"My lectures are not that boring, are they?" Sodalite could hear the low, smooth voice of Rose Quartz behind her.
Sodalite turned around and gasped. "No, no, no, no, no! Not at all! What made you think that?" Sodalite stuttered in fear only to be silenced by Rose's finger over her lips.
"It's perfectly fine, I'm not like Blue Diamond," Rose said.
"Oh...okay," Sodalite mumbled.
Rose crouched down to Sodalite's level. "I know this is your first time, and I know you're scared, but you are really doing something great here."
"That reminds me of what Blue Diamond told me when she took me into slavery," Sodalite mumbled.
"This isn't like that. Trust me. Look at the view out there, look at the Gems you've met, all of this is for them, for that. Isn't that worth fighting for?" Rose put a hand on Sodalite's shoulder as she looked out into the field. "
"Yeah, I guess so," Sodalite said.
"Soon, all that guessing is going to turn into knowing." Rose winked.
"Mm." Sodalite could only respond with that.
"You may not believe me, but when a problem or a cause appears and it stares you in the eyes, you must seize it, that's how change happens," Rose added.
"Oh," Sodalite replied.
"And if you really didn't listen to what I said, just make calculated attacks into the masses of Homeworld's soldiers, the more in a single shot, the better. There's a pile of ammunition next to the ballista, and you can summon your weapon if you get into trouble. Good luck, Sodalite." And with that, Rose Quartz was gone.
"Great," Sodalite muttered to herself as she loaded the first arrow on her ballista. She then sat back and waited for the horns to sound. She looked down at the blue star on her chest. She grabbed the fabric with her hand and clenched it. Rose and Garnet's words rolled around in her head...
"Look at the view out there, look at the Gems you've met, all of this is for them, for that. Isn't that worth fighting for?"
"You, on the other hand, are the only one of you, and just because you were something then, doesn't mean you can't be someone completely different now. You have to make that choice."
"You may not believe me, but when a problem or a cause appears and it stares you in the eyes, you must seize it, that's how change happens,"
Sodalite shook her head, she tried to focus on her task, but she couldn't. She remained aloof, looking out into the mountains.
"Soon, all that guessing is going to turn into knowing."
Sodalite wasn't sure what she was feeling, whether or not it was the feeling of knowing, finally having all of your questions answered, except her questions weren't answered. Where was she? What was she doing? Who was she supposed to be? And why? She remembered asking both Rose Quartz and Garnet, and even the Pearl, but they all answered with different forms of the same answer:
"I don't know, you have to figure that out for yourself."
Thankfully, Sodalite's thoughts were interrupted by the fanfare of Homeworld, who's sound intertwined with the Crystal Gems' fanfare and war cry to create a melancholy, yet confident and triumphant sound that captured Sodalite's full attention.
She heard the sound of the Gem next to her shooting a ballista, so she took it as a sign to shoot as well. She aimed, saw a group of Ruby fusions in ranks, and decided to start there. However, once she shot, she whimpered in fear and cowered behind her ballista. She peeked out to see the arrow explode, poofing and/or shattering the entire wave of Rubies.
"Wow," Sodalite said breathlessly. She didn't realize that some of the arrows had detonators on them. She thought only Homeworld had those, but Sodalite assumed that someone stole them.
"Nice shot, whoever you are! Let's see some more of that action!" The shooter next to Sodalite shouted and raised a Rose Quartz battle flag proudly over her ballista.
Sodalite looked over to the limp cloth known as her flag and remembered what Garnet told her about it.
"Just in case you want a little something fancy, or if you want to display a little pride."
Her first shot made her confident and full of determination. She looked down at her star, then back at the millions of Gems bearing Blue Diamond emblems. She looked back at her star, smiled, and picked up her flag.
"Soon, all that guessing is going to turn into knowing."
"If this is what knowing feels like, then I'm never questioning this again!" Sodalite shouted.
Sodalite loaded up another arrow, aimed, and fired. She continued to do this, getting more into it as she went along. Before long, she ran out of arrows. She leaned against the ballista, then turned to the shooter next to her.
"Hey, what do we do once we're out of ammo?" Sodalite asked.
"Just try not to get shot." The shooter replied.
"What?" Sodalite replied quizzically, only to hear the enraged shouts from down below.
"There! Fire!" Sodalite heard the order from a Homeworld Quartz as seven ballistas were shot at the islands.
"Shoot." Sodalite ducked under her ballista, bracing for impact. Instead, the arrow annihilated half of the island underneath her. She dug her hands into the grass as the island shook violently. As if things couldn't get worse, the island began falling out of the sky. Sodalite screamed in fear, then decided that it would be best not to go down with the ship. She peered over the side of the island as it fell, hesitated, then jumped off of the island. Sodalite closed her eyes and braced for impact, her mind scrambling, her life practically flashing before her eyes...
Sodalite felt a force catch her and slide across the dirt. Sodalite opened her eyes to see the multicolored sleeves of Garnet wrapped around her chest, holding her like a quarterback would hold a football. Garnet's usually confused eyes were gleaming with determination, but yet there was a certain anger to them, a certain defensive nature. Sodalite wasn't sure what scared her more, the fall or the angry three-eyed fusion that caught her.
"Garnet? What are you doing?" Sodalite asked.
"What do you think? Saving your butt! Summon your weapon, and I'll try to cover you as best I can." Garnet replied with a forceful tone.
"Okay." Sodalite's mouth was agape again. She summoned her battle axe, then followed Garnet into battle.
Sodalite officially decided that she liked sharpshooting better. The battlefield was intense to say the least, she was careful not to get knocked over by a falling fusion, or get blown to bits by an explosive arrow. The least of her worries was stepping on gem shards which were planted all over the place, like thorny, disturbing plants.
"This is where I leave you, hold up as best you can, and I may be back soon." Garnet turned abruptly to face Sodalite. After giving Sodalite her orders, Garnet leaped away.
"Great," Sodalite said sarcastically. Afterward, she instantly engaged in a fight with a Jasper, and if it weren't for her perseverance, determination, and one lucky swing of her axe, she wouldn't have won. Sodalite took a minute to take in her surroundings. It looked like a volcano went off, to say the least. All plant and animal life in the area were stripped, due to the bombs and the trampling of the soldiers' boots. Garnet had returned, luckily, and the two were fighting side by side.
"Hey, Garnet? If we're fighting this war to protect life on Earth, then why are we destroying it with bombs and stuff?" Sodalite asked.
"The Earth can regenerate from this, I already know that this field will be bountiful with strawberries once we're done with it. However, if Homeworld wins, the Earth can never regenerate from what they are planning to do." Garnet replied as she punched an oncoming Homeworld soldier with her gauntlet.
Another fanfare echoed through the field, but it wasn't the kind that Sodalite had heard before. Instead of it bearing a triumphant ring, it was melancholy, like a distressed mother bird crying for its lost young.
Garnet managed to cackle triumphantly. "They're retreating! We've won!"
"What?" Sodalite's demeanor seemed to leap, and an unconcealable smile began to spread across her face. "We've won? Does that mean Blue Diamond will leave Earth?" Sodalite asked excitedly.
"No, no, the war has only just started. We just won the battle. Both Homeworld and we have not yet even begun to fight!" Garnet grinned.
"Wait, then why are we celebrating?" Sodalite was suddenly very confused.
Garnet wrapped her arm around Sodalite. "Every battle we win means another day closer to the war ending, and I think that's good enough for now."
Sodalite nodded in agreement.
"Let's head back to base, you deserve some sleep," Garnet said as they began walking.
"Sleep?" Sodalite asked.
"Oh, you have much to learn..." Garnet smiled.
Us Crystal Gems gotta stick together, right?
The early years of the Gem War I can imagine being like a bonding time for everyone, that's where strong friendships were made, and I bet Rose taught every Gem she took in to be kind and accepting to everyone, which makes them a very tight-knit army. :)
This memory is supposed to fill Rhodonite with DETERMINATION to keep fighting!