Steven thought he heard a growl behind the trees and yelped, speeding up hurriedly. "W-Wait for me! Eegh... Why do gem pads have to be so far away from other people?" He grumbled.
"Where are we going, anyways...?" he huffed, struggling to keep up with Amethyst's vigor, and the other Gem's long strides. "You haven't told me why you woke me up out of bed so early!
"And I still think we should've left you in the temple," Pearl muttered worriedly.
"Well..." Amethyst exchanged glances with Garnet, then seemed to make up her mind.
She slowed her pace so that she was then walking at Steven's side, instead of in front of him. Steven's face leveled as he realised that what he was about to hear was probably important. "Listen Steven... We wanted it to be a surprise for you, but since we're close to our destination anyways, well, here goes," the purple gem cleared her throat, looking both nervous and excited at the same time. "Remember that stone-thing Pearl found from Peridot's ship? The one that looked like a pebble from the bottom of a river?" Steven nodded. "Well, turns out it's a map. And map to all the active gem pads on earth, which must be what Peridot planned on checking up on after she fixes the big one. Good thing she never succeeded that, huh?" Steven nodded. "All of the ones we know are active are kept active because we constantly monitor them to make sure nobody but us can zoom around." Steven nodded. "Well, we've never used, or even know about this one before." Steven started to nod, before he stopped mid-step. His eyes widened comically. Amethyst nodded proudly, just as excited as a kid going to the zoo. Maybe more. Her eyes shone as she blurted out the words, "We. Have found -"
"Other gems, Steven!" Pearl butted in, walking backwards, practically tearing her hair out in frustration. Drops of milk-colored sweat rolled down her face, curving around the shape of her grimacing jaw. "And we don't know who they are, o-or, how powerful they could be. For all we know, they could be other Homeworld gems!"
"Homeworld gems?" Steven asked, eyes sparkling.
"Homeworld gems," Garnet interjected calmly, crushing a bothering fly in her fist. Strangely though, when she released it to gravity, only pink glitter trickled out of her hand. Wonder why. "Or..."
Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl fell silent after that, each exchanging unsure looks and silently communicating. Steven continued the rest of the trek to civilization with a pout. He hated being left out.
Thankfully, right at that moment, a gigantic labradorian panther pounced on them, breaking the proverbial ice. Steven cried out in alarm when he saw it, but couldn't help but feel relieved at the distraction, somewhat, as he held his shield against its claws. Homeworld stuff was weird. But at least this, he knew how to deal with.