Steven leans against the side of his bubble, eyes wide as he takes in the sights around him. A lush, seemingly endless forest surrounds the area of the lake they continue to rise above.
Lake?
Rise?
He looks at the creature as a sound like tinkling crystals reaches him. The scales rise up, and with a flap of the creature's fins, become feathers! The tail fins become feathered sails, the side fins, wings. Its eyes change from glowing orbs, to cat-like, pupils shrinking to slits in the light of day, and its mouth loosens slightly, taking a deep breath of air as gills become lungs. With a flap of enormous feathered wings it begins to glide down toward the beach, the other creature still dead in its grasp, and his bubble still firmly in its mouth.
Looking down Steven sees his eyes weren't deceiving him. He was in the middle of a massive evergreen forest, heading towards a clearing primarily occupied by a large lake. The lake is fed by a cliff side waterfall, the top of the cliff covered in grasses and small trees. The river that becomes the waterfall disappears into the thick evergreens, coming from where, he can only guess.
They glide down to the shore, the creature dumping the dead one onto the grass as they land. It carefully sets his bubble down nearby, making a light crooning sound at him. He looks into its eyes from his bubble, unsure of what to do. It walks away, making more crooning and whistling sounds. It stops by the dead one and starts tearing it apart, dropping chunks of meat everywhere. It takes everything Steven has to push down the nausea threatening to overwhelm him at the sight.
All at once the air is alive with little versions of the creature flying all around, doing loop de loops, crashing into each other, and chittering and whistling in excitement!
Steven presses his hands to his cheeks, stars glittering in his eyes, "Aaww!" He can't help it, they're just so dang cute!
As they fly around in a hectic mishmash of color he counts them; 5 small creatures in total flying and walking around awkwardly. They're just babies! The big one must be their mom. Some of them can barely get off the ground with their little wings, but they all excitedly dig into the meal their mom brought them. He's a little disgusted as they dig in with fervor, but he understands, they gotta eat. As they eat the dead creature one of the smaller ones lifts its head and looks right at him. He stares, frozen in place, and now worried that maybe he's going to be dessert. The little one blinks its large round eyes and tilts its head, clearly thinking. It swallows the meat in its mouth, jumps down and grabs another chunk of meat, then, using its small wings to lift it into the air, it glides over to him still in his bubble. It drops the meat in front of him and sits back, looking at him with curiosity, tilting its head this way and that.
ꉂ⋈ꕤ 𓂅ǂ⋆ ๑ꕤ ?
He blinks as a sound seems to resonate. It felt like the creature made a noise that somehow reverberated around inside his bubble and his head at the same time.
He places one hand in his hair, panicking a little, "I-uh… I don't…" he's so confused, and scared. It's all becoming too much. He groans in confusion and stress, "I can't… what's… going on?"
The little creature tilts its head when he speaks, as if it's trying to understand him, or curious at the sound of his voice. It scoots a little closer to his bubble,
I҉ ҉s҉a҉i҉d҉,҉ ҉w҉h҉o҉ ҉a҉r҉e҉ ҉y҉o҉u҉?҉
He pauses for a moment, "Are you… trying to talk to me?" The sound was still reverberating in his bubble, but for just a moment, it was clearer in his head. It sounded almost like words, though the stress, and trying to understand a strange voice in his head, is beginning to give him a small headache.
The little creature becomes more excited, bouncing a little,
Ỹ̶̜̲̽̐͌̐͗͠͝ę̶͎̙͋͋͛̏͛̽s̸̞̐̇͑̍ ̷̦̙͔̘̼̞̬̼͔̔Ỷ̷̡͉̜̘̩̘̜͒̐̐̅͆̈̀͆̚ȇ̵̱̖̦̻̓ş̶̦̙̙̜́̂͆͝!̴̺̓̊͛́͊̍͊͋ ̵̡̢̨̮̺̼̙̗͝I̷̧͚̖̭̰̾̈́̔̀̈́̈́̓̈́̂͘ ̶̬̭̋ṡ̵͉͎͙̟̱̋̿͆͒ͅa̸̼̗̞̩͉̤̬̥̰̱͊̔̊͌i̸̳̬̣̅͛̏̉́̽̋͠d̴̙̀̓̾̒̆,̵̡̟̭̬̥̪͖͇̇͑̚ ̵̨̬̣̩̹͙̗̰̮̀͊͜ẅ̸̬̯̲̝̒͋͂̽̿̏́̌̕h̶̡͉̮̜̞̞̦͂͜ͅo̷̧̢̗̠͓̠̯̲̊̄̅̿͝ͅ ̵͚́a̷̢̛͍̫͈͛͒̂̓̇̓̌ͅȓ̴̢͈͈̲̹̐̂́̀̈́̾̀͊̄͜e̵̙̼̕ ̵͇̩̭̝͇̑͆̋͆͘y̵̡̝͈̪̦͙͕͕̓ớ̵̡̡̯̱̯̳̞̳̅̏͘͜ų̸̜̬̄͑̇͆̆?̸̝̝́̉̉͗̾̊͊̈́
He leans on the side of his bubble, this time the sound was only in his head, not his bubble. It was speaking to him! It was still garbled, and hurt his head, but he could make out words. In his amazement he loses concentration on his bubble, and leans a little too hard against the side. It pops and sends him falling flat on his face in the grass. The little creature jumps back a little bit, and watches him, feathers puffed up, making it look a little like a fuzzy puffball.
A҉r҉e҉ ҉y҉o҉u҉ ҉o҉k҉a҉y҉?҉
He sits up, spitting out some dirt, "Yyeah I'm… I'm okay. Just surprised." The little creature's voice in his head is somewhat unsettling. It's quiet, but high pitched and feminine. Like the voice of a shy little girl, even though this creature doesn't exactly seem shy…
The little creature scoots closer to him again, more and more fascinated by the sound of his voice.
It croons and at the same time he hears it's voice in his head again, Y̾o̾u̾ ̾s̾o̾u̾n̾d̾ ̾f̾u̾n̾n̾y̾.̾ ̾I̾ ̾l̾i̾k̾e̾ ̾i̾t̾.̾ ̾T̾a̾l̾k̾ ̾m̾o̾r̾e̾!̾
Steven hums to himself, the voice is becoming clearer the more it talks to him. Or is it becoming clearer the more he talks to it? He roughly scratches his fingernails along his scalp as he huffs in frustration.
"She's learning from you. Talk more and she'll be better able to talk back."
Steven freezes and slowly looks up. The giant creature somehow managed to close the distance over to them, without him even hearing a footstep, and she also spoke to him in his head. Just what the heck is going on?
The giant creature lowers its head in a nod, and walks back over to the others who've been watching them carefully. As it returns to them, they continue their ravenous eating. The dead creature slowly becomes nothing more than bones. He glances at the small one next to him.
"I.. Um…" She jumps a little in excitement at the sound of his voice again, the feathers on her head perking upwards, "I don't really know… what to talk about?"
Her head feathers flatten out a little, then she tilts her head and bounces in excitement, he hears the little one say,
Ẃ̷̲̗̹͖͑͠h̷̢̦̯̭͕̽̍̓ȯ̷̡̭͈̝̯̙͔̙̿̆͆͜͝ ̵̨̡͉͉̥̩̠̟͕̽̏ͅǎ̷̮̖͇̿͂̔͋̈́͗́̉̚ṛ̸̣̘̦͔̘̹͔͓̔̏̋̊e̴̢̥͍̼̺͋͂͐̈́́̋͛̔̚ ̵̨̢̛̦͎͇̞̞̈́̎̀̇̊͗̑y̸̲̱̪̅͘o̶̢̦̭̥͑͛̅͒̈́͊̍́͠u̷̜͑?̷͇̪̲̠̝̈́̌̏́͠W̷̡̙̦̰̝͙͔̜͒̂͐̀ḧ̸͖́̍̓̅̀̚e̶̗̺̣̳͍͕̱͎̲̰͐͐͆͒̉̇́̕r̴̭̖̋̓̀̾̂͂̌͑͗e̵̛͔̓͊͂͐̈́ ̵̛͇̖̱̟͉͖͂͆̏͗̑̋̏̕d̷̖̞̰̜̖̮̂i̷͙̦͈͓̩͛d̴̮̝̙͉͓̱̤͊̾ͅ ̸̩̟̺̙͚͓̻͕̠̏̈́̓̾̀y̴͎̖̲̥͓̳̙̩̭̳͂̓͗͐̿̀̕̚̕ǫ̶̭̫͉̠̳͇̩̜̐̀̓̈́͂̑̂̐͝ṵ̸̽̒̇͆̓̌̿ ̸̡̨̳̪̹̤̰͓̱̒̿͂̓͗͒ĉ̸̼̙̙̟̞͍̑̕̕͝ö̴̫͙͇͇͙͙́͠͝m̶̨̳̀́͑̚ë̶̢͙͕͕̘́͛͒̒̏̂ ̴̛̝̬̞͇͇̜͓̱͕͐̂͐̇̀̃̈͗͝f̸̩̙̼̫̩͌̃́̽̌̉̋̒̓̇r̷̦̜̖̚͝͠͠o̶̢̹̞̮̜̮͉̓m̷̢̨̜̣̻̦̗̜͑̅͗?̴̟̺͚͎̹̾̿̌͋͛̊͗W̴̰̞̟͆̑̚h̶̻͖̙͚̙͍̅̔͂͜͜ͅy̸̢͎̰̞͔̬̱̼͚̑̎̀̎̄͒̎̋ͅ ̷̡̛͇̖̯͉̝͇̆̌̊̕͘d̷͎̣͎̫̼̩̤̈́́͛̽̂͒̀͘͝i̸̡̱̬̞̜̣͔͋̎̊̇d̷̛͖̯͋̎̅́̀̆́̽͠ ̴̫̝͋̓̀̃͐͠M̵̻̰͕̲̝̋͋͐͛͆͋̎͘͠o̵͕̦̞̲̫͂̽̓̿͂͐͗̀̒͝m̶̝̣̗̭̰͕̻̜͈̏̈́͒̚ͅṁ̶̤͕͕̰̣̣̹̒̈́͒̃͌͠ạ̸̧̨̨̙̤̦̼̹̞̄̀̎͂ ̶̺̞̇͊̎̆͛͌̈̕̕b̸̡͚͔̞͓̽̃͊̊̉͗́̓́̇ͅr̴̗̙̜̈̓̇̐̔̒̾͊͘͝í̶̢̯̥̭̟̤̠̅̌̇̀̚͜͝ǹ̶̨͎̯͉̔̔́̇̂̕ͅͅg̴͙͎͇̻͈͎̀͗͒ ̸̧̲͍̼̗͉̊͜y̸̢̨̺̯̖͇͎̥̅̿̑̈́̑o̵̡̖̫͔̥̪͇͔̭͂̏̔̓̈́ū̷̼̞̾̏͐̇̍ ̵͓͇̝̪̞̲̠̯̈̽̈́̎́͗̀͂͂̕h̷̠̠̮̿͑͑̎̽͒̓̇̀͠é̶͈̖̰͙̹̹́̄r̸͙̠̗̪̰̅͌̍̌̇͊͠e̴̻͇͑͋̀͘͝?̴̯̟̐̉͒̒̏̚̕͘̕Ǎ̵̡͔͕͉̐̍̎̒̾̈̈́̚͝ŗ̴̙̰̜͇̣͉̾̌̾́̉͋̽͜e̸̡̹̩͙̖̳̖͌̃̍̉ ̴͕̙͗̎͝͠y̷̧̪̦̪̖͍͔̰͗̋̚ͅǫ̷̢̝͍̳̭̳́̑̈́̏̍͛̊͘ͅũ̵̘͖̗̻͆͊̈̅̀̕͘͘͘ ̸̹̰͚̙́h̵̥͊̈́̃̒̀̊̀ư̸̧̝̗̪̘̥̹̽͒͌̑͌̔̄ṋ̷͉͓͕̆͌̓͊͊̕̚͝ǧ̴̨̨̰̱̝̲͆͒̀̌͆̆̋ř̷̙̠̓̾̃̈y̶̧̡͇̦̞͔͐̍̐̔͒̾̀͘̕͜͝?̶̢̰̺͇̤͙̺̻̏
He flinches, "Slow down, I can't understand you!" The sound that had become clearer started reverberating in his head again, and it hurt. The little creature seems to frown, as much as something without lips can at least, its feathers all flattening out making her look smaller and sleeker.
I'm.. Sorry. I… a͓̽m͓̽ ͓̽j͓̽u͓̽s͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽e͓̽x͓̽c͓̽i͓̽t͓̽e͓̽d͓̽… to meet… you…
It's as if she's just a kid like him, who's excited to meet someone new. He remembers being like that, he's more guarded than he used to be thanks to gems like Aquamarine and Eyeball…
Making up his mind, he adjusts to sit more comfortably in the grass, "Okay, start over. Slower this time."
She perks up, I said: Who are you? Where did you come from? Why did Momma bring you here? And are you hungry?
He taps his chin, "I'm Steven, I'm from Beach City, I'm not sure but I think she saved me from that monster you guys are eating? And-" His stomach rumbles "I'm a little hungry, yeah."
He hasn't eaten since the party, and who knows how long ago that was…The little creature seems to frown again, the feathers on its head moving and helping it express itself, and walks over to the chunk of meat she'd dropped.
You should eat if you're hungry. She brings it over to him, careful to avoid getting more dirt on it.
He cringes, "I don't think I can eat that."
She tilts her head, It's the only thing we have… Momma didn't catch any deer.
His stomach rumbles again. He really doesn't want to eat some dead mystery creature meat that's been in the ocean, in another creature's mouth, and on the dirty ground. He stares at the hunk of meat. It's probably not safe, what if the creature is actually toxic to humans. He could die, or at the very least get really really sick if he eats it. If he's sick, or dead, he can't go home…
Silver. Dear. Why don't you cook it for him? He's a human, they can't eat raw meat like we can.
The mothers voice rings out in his head again, as she speaks to the little one by him. She squeaks a little, then nods, and does something incredible. With the sound of tinkling crystals, she flaps her wings, lifting herself slightly off the ground and wrapping her wings around her body. When they retract, a feather covered little girl stands in front of him. She's about his height, silvery-gray feathers all over, with feathers on her head looking like a wild bedhead. Her eyes are a bright teal he hadn't noticed before.
Though she's more human looking now, there would be no mistaking her for one. Not with every part of her being covered in feathers, sharp fangs for teeth, and claws tipping her fingers and toes; not to mention her wings and tail. She gives him a big grin full of teeth, he's pretty sure she doesn't realize how terrifying that is, and picks up the hunk of meat in her claws. She takes a deep breath, and carefully blows on the meat. Steven watches in amazement as the meat slowly changes color and begins to steam, and within moments she's holding a perfectly cooked chunk of meat.
Grinning again she hands it to him, clearly proud of herself. He doesn't want to offend her, or waste the effort she went to, so he carefully takes the cooked meat and brings it to his mouth. The first bite is like heaven. The meat is juicy and flavored like nothing he's ever had before. He happily chows down on the rest of it, as tears begin to stream down his face.
"Oh! Oh no! Are you okay? I'm sorry, was it too hot? Did I burn you?" She walks around him, looking him over and panicking as he cries. He doesn't even realize that she's speaking out loud now, not in his head. He shakes his head, no, so she quiets and sits down next to him, one of her wings wrapped around him in a hug.
"I just…" he hiccups, "It's been so difficult lately, and I finally got the chance to rest when that thing showed up and kidnapped me! Now I have no idea where I am or how to get home. Also I was hungrier than I thought and that meat was really good!"
He starts sobbing again, the weight of everything he's been through becoming too much for the small 14 year old to handle. He curls up into a ball and cries his heart out as Silver wraps her arms and wings around him in a feathery warm hug. She lets him cry it all out, making light humming noises now and again and gently rubbing his back. Eventually his crying slows, but he can't keep his eyes open anymore. He falls asleep cocooned in warmth and soft feathers, comforted by the sound of quiet humming.
Steven, you need to wake up.
A voice disturbs his nap. He was so warm and comfy though! Covered in a soft feather blanket. He blinks his eyes open. Feathers? Looking around he sees he's wrapped up in a pair of warm, soft feathered wings. Glancing up he sees teal colored eyes smiling down at him. All at once, everything he just went through flashes through his mind. The beach, the monster, nearly dying again, being rescued by a different creature. He jumps up and looks around, breathing heavily, adrenaline coursing through him as he prepares to fight.
"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Glancing over at the voice, he sees Silver sitting where he had just been laying wrapped in her wings.
Rubbing his face Steven takes a deep breath and calms his racing heart. "Yeah. Yeah I'm okay. Sorry."
My apologies for startling you awake dear. I wanted to talk to you before the sun sets and we all rest for the night.
He looks up at the mom who's standing nearby, watching him and Silver.
"Momma wants to talk to you, so I'm gonna go play with my sisters and brother okay?" Silver stands from her position when he nods in understanding, transforms again, and glides over to her siblings.
The mom steps over to him and lays down, resting her head on the ground so she could look him in the eyes while they talked. He sits down near her head, but far enough away that he doesn't have to crane his neck to see her, and so he would potentially have enough time to get away should she decide to attack him.
I'm curious how you came to be so deep in the ocean in a pink bubble. You're clearly human, and humans can't survive at those depths.
Looking her in the eyes he explains what a gem is, showing her his gemstone and explaining that he's only half human. That his gem half is what gives him the power to make that bubble, and is why he was able to survive long enough for her to rescue him. He begins to tear up again as he recounts his story, missing his family so much. He just wants to go home.
Interesting. If these gems are as you say, made of light, that explains why the shadow beast attacked you. They don't eat flesh you see, they eat light energy. They are beings made from darkness, formed in a dimensional space between worlds, cobbled together from flesh and bone. They devour light to sustain themselves.
Steven stares at the mom creature, completely enraptured by her tale.
I wouldn't be surprised if these gems have records of attacks by them. Though I also wouldn't be surprised if they don't, due to the high likelihood of the creatures simply devouring any and every gem they came into contact with. Though it's not often they go to Earth to eat, has there been a sudden increase in gems grouped together recently?
Stevens' eyes widen in shock, the healed gems! He explains to her the gem war, how in retaliation for the death of one of the diamonds, which he then explains was faked and actually his mother, launched an attack that caused nearly all the gems on the planet to become corrupted monsters. He then tells her how his mom and the other surviving gems spent the next 6,000 years capturing the corrupted gems.
"When they're poofed and bubbled they can't reform, they're sort of… stuck inside their gems, so they don't have a body made of light. All their light is in their gem, which is kept safe in a bubble." he frowns, "Just before I was attacked, we had gone to Homeworld, and managed to convince the other diamonds to come to Earth and heal the corrupted gems. Once we did, there were hundreds, if not thousands of healed gems, fully reformed with their bodies made of light again. We were all celebrating on the beach."
I see. The sudden increase in light must have drawn it right to you. It's lucky I came when I did. You were in the Abyss, the home of those beasts. They rip open portals to spaces where their preferred food source is. Though it's pretty rare for them to bring it back with them, they don't like to share, you see. A unique ability of ours is to latch onto the energy of those openings to make our own, travel into the Abyss and ambush them, bring them back, and eat. The shadow beasts are a favorite prey of ours. We can eat other things, and often do, but the shadow beasts are the best. Especially for my growing children.
Tears build up in his eyes again, "How am I going to get home then? If they don't often go to Earth, and you can't open a portal there without them doing it first… Is it hopeless?"
It's not hopeless, dear. We just have to be patient, another one will open. Especially if there's as many gems grouped together as you say, it will happen again. Until then, you're welcome to stay here. We'll take care of you. Silver seems to have taken a liking to you already anyway.
"Can I ask another question?"
She lifts her head and nods for him to continue.
"If you're not like those monsters, what are you?"
She seems to chuckle, a deep sound reverberating through her chest.
We are Dragons.