Chapter 6: Rock On
Luckily Steven, thanks to his flashlight, found some old pieces of wood tucked into a back corner of the cave. He lifted them up, with a bit of struggle, and moved them to where the remainder of the group had huddled. Weiss then loaded fire dust on her rapier again, and set the wood alight so that they had a decent sized fire. Now that they could see, everyone surveyed the cave. It was about as long as Steven's house, but it had a thin entrance and a larger circular chamber in the back where the party was sitting now. Everyone checked each other to see if anyone was badly hurt. Luckily, everyone had enough aura to repair all their wounds, so Ruby, Blake, Yang and especially Weiss politely declined Steven's offer to heal them with his healing saliva. Steven himself, however, had suffered a nasty burn on his hands from picking up the Gem's gemstones in the fire. He turned around so Team RWBY wouldn't have to watch him lick his hands.
Once everyone was okay, Weiss immediately got up and began examining the cave for a way out. She muttered feverishly to herself as she darted around the area, pausing every now and then to touch the rock in certain places. Finally, once she was sure that there were no plausible means of escape from the chamber, she hurriedly dashed into the entrance tunnel and examined the build up in front of the cave entrance. While she was out of sight, Steven reached in his back pack and pulled out the gem stones. He kept them in his lap while he reached into his duffle bag for his pillow. Pulling it out, he laid it beside the fire and set the four gemstones softly upon it. Steven smiled just as Weiss came barrelling back into view of the group.
"Well, that's it! We are officially trapped and going to die here!" She shrieked before collapsing in sobs. Ruby moved beside her and wrapped her arms around the heiress. "It's okay Weiss, we'll get through this together," Ruby said comfortingly. "Shut up, don't touch me!" Weiss growled as she pulled Ruby in closer. While they hugged it out, the other three turned to face one another, feeling awkward. "Should we do that to? For moral support?" Blake asked Yang out of nowhere. Yang laughed. "And leave Steven to grieve by himself? Who do you think I am? Weiss?" "I heard that!" Weiss said, her voice slightly muffled from Ruby's hood. "Of course, how silly of me," Blake said quietly, secretly disappointed. Wanting the topic to change quickly, she added, "so, what's going on with the Gems?" Steven looked at them. "Well, when they get hurt badly, they get rid of their physical body and go into their gemstones. From their they regenerate until they eventually pop back out, or something like that.," he said. Despite seeing it multiple times from both Amethyst and Pearl, Steven was still a little unclear on the exact details of regeneration. "So...how long does that take?" Yang asked. "It varies," Steven said. "With Pearl it took several weeks before she came out. I have no idea how long it takes Ruby and Sapphire, and as for Amethyst-" Steven was cut off by a bright glow emitting from one of the gemstones. Even Weiss and Ruby broke off their hug to see what was going on. There was a blinding flash of light, and then suddenly a figured appeared.
The figure however seemed to be struggling. The light finally died down, and their stood Amethyst, with a chicken head replacing her own. "Oh my god I messed up my regeneration! Ahhh!" She screamed in terror. Everyone else started screaming and panicking, before Amethyst changed her head back to it's usual shape. "Ha! I'm just messing with you guys, gotcha!" The gem cried as she fell on the ground laughing. Yang, after recovering from her initial shock, joined Amethyst in her raucous laughter. Blake seemed mildly annoyed by the outburst, Ruby just seemed relieved that Amethyst was okay, and Steven, being used to Amethyst's antics, laughed good-naturedly. Weiss on the other hand, was not impressed.
"What? You think that was funny? I almost had a heart attack!" Weiss raged at the purple gem, who'd finally pulled herself together. Amethyst waved Weiss down. "Psssht, lighten up Snow Angel." "And don't call me Snow Angel," Weiss shouted back. "Your word is my command, Ice Queen," Amethyst said suavely, sinking into a deep bow which cracked up everyone else in the cave. Weiss huffed and turned away from the laughter. "Anyway, once the Garnet and Pearl come back we can just fuse and break this cliff to bits!" This seemed to calm everyone down, and they all settled back down to simply relax and wait for that to happen. Except for Weiss, who was still being a little salty.
Amethyst turned and looked at the remaining three gems nestled on the pillow. "Man, usually Ruby regenerates faster than I do," she said in mild surprise. She turned and looked at Steven. "You know, cause she's so small. And between you and me, not very bright." Steven nodded, remembering the Rubies he'd played baseball with a while ago. "Then what about Sapphire? Shouldn't she be okay soon?" Amethyst shook her head, "she likes to take her time, kinda like Pearl." Right as she said this, a red glow appeared. "Speak of the devil," Amethyst said. Out of the red jewel sprung forth a small red being with unnaturally cubic hair. "Hey Ruby," Steven greeted her. "Hello Steven," she responded. She turned and examined Sapphire's gemstone. "She's still not back, huh?" she asked the other two gems, who both shook their heads. Sighing, Ruby sat prominently beside her partner's gem, as if gardening it.
Blake moved from her spot beside Yang to be closer to the Crystal Gems. "So, can you two fuse to get us out of here?" She asked, almost as if she wasn't interested. Steven however, knew that Blake was fascinated by the concept of fusion, was probably bursting inside to see it in action. "Oh, well, ummm...I don't know if I can," Ruby said, almost nervously. "Why?" Steven asked, "you've fused with her before right?" He remembered the towering figure of Sugilite. "That's different, that was Garnet. And besides the only gem I've ever fused with by myself who wasn't another Ruby is Sapphire," Ruby said, almost sounding embarrassed. "Well, would you at least be willing to try?" Steven asked. Ruby looked unsure, but nodded after seeing Steven's puppy dog eyes.
"Let's get some music going to help," Amethyst suggested. "Ooh! I've got just the thing!" Steven said with excitement. He stood up and went over to his cheeseburger back pack, which had ended up beside Ruby and Yang, who'd started up their own conversation. "Hey, whatcha doin'?" Yang said as Steven dug around in his bag. "Amethyst and Ruby are going to try fusing, and they want some music to help them," Steven explained. "Oooh, that sounds exciting! Can we watch?" Ruby asked. Steven thought about it, and replied, "actually, Ruby seems pretty nervous. So, the less people watching her the better, I think." Ruby looked understanding, Yang looked a little disappointed. Steven dug out his ukulele, and headed back over to Amethyst, Ruby and Blake. "Alright, you two ready?" Steven asked. Amethyst nodded enthusiastically. Ruby looked unsure, but nodded all the same. "Wait!" Yang called from across the cave. They turned to look at her. "Just hope your plan really...comes together!" Yang said, unable to keep a straight face. Both Steven and Amethyst laughed their heads off. Both Blake and Ruby looked at Amethyst, Steven and Yang like they were idiots. Regaining their composure, Steven and Amethyst once again prepared themselves.
"Alright Steven, hit it!" Amethyst said. Steven nodded and began strumming. "All I wanna do, is see you turn into, a giant woman. A giant woman! All I wanna be, is someone who gets to see, a giant woman. A giant woman! All I wanna do, is help you turn into, a giant woman. A giant woman!" Steven sang as Ruby and Amethyst danced. They seemed to be doing okay, if a little clumsy here and there. Then, the moment came when they began fusing. Blake's eyes widened at the synchronization of two individual souls as one.
Without warning, the fusion suddenly flashed and the two gems fell hard to the ground. Amethyst sat up, rubbing her head. "I am so sorry!" Ruby said, almost in tears, "I just can't do it without Sapphire. It just feels so wrong!" Ruby turned away from the group, completely embarrassed. Amethyst got up and put her hand on the small gem's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it!" She said reassuringly. Ruby smiled gratefully. Weiss, who'd been lurking in a corner observing the whole event, came out to do what else but complain. "So, if you two are unable to fuse, how long will it take until we're in the presence of two gems who can fuse?" She asked pointedly at Amethyst. "Umm," about a five hours for Sapphire, and maybe three weeks for Pearl," she said casually. "Well, at least Sugilite will have the best chance of smashing the rock," Steven said with his ever present optimism. Everyone gathered back around the fire, and began thinking of ways to pass the next few hours.
"So Steven, do you know any other songs?" Ruby asked, pointing at his ukulele still in his hand. Steven nodded. "Hey, why don't you play us something?" Yang said eagerly. Ruby nodded enthusiastically, Blake smiled, and even Weiss seemed pretty interested in hearing more of Steven's music. "Alright," Steven said, and began his strumming and singing. "If you're evil and you're on the rise, you can count on the four of us taking you down. Cause we're good and evil never beats us, we'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas." Steven turned to Ruby and Amethyst, who both nodded and joined in. "We, are the Crystal Gems, we always save the day. And if you think we can't, we'll always find away. That's why the people of this world believe in.." "Garnet," Ruby sang. "Amethyst," Amethyst sang. "And Pearl," Amethyst, who'd changed shape so that she looked exactly like Pearl, sand in an intentionally horrible impression of Pearl's voice. Every one laughed, and then Steven finally added, "and Steven!"
"Wow! It's so cool that you guys have a theme song!" Ruby said. She turned to her team, looking deep in thought. "Hey, why don't we have a theme song?" she asked. Yang replied, "I feel like we do, but I'm pretty sure it changes, like, every year." Ruby shook her head. "No, you're thinking of the Remnant national anthem. That changes at the start of each season. I meant a theme song for Team RWBY." Blake interrupted. "We do, but everyone forgot about it," she said. Steven's attention was instantly drawn. "You guys have a theme song? Can I hear it? Please?" he asked, almost begging. "Of course!" Ruby said eagerly. She, Blake and Yang turned expectantly to Weiss, who looked confused. "Why are you all staring at me?" she asked. "Well, you're easily the best singer out of all of us, so you should perform it," Blake said. Weiss, who had always loved singing, agreed without any further prompting. "Alright, here we go," she said, a little nervous.
"Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest. White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test. Black the beast descends from shadows. Yellow beauty burns gold." She closed her eyes and smiled. The cave burst into applause from everyone. Weiss's smile grew and she gave a short curtsy. The echoing of the applause seemed to be growing louder and louder. Weiss opened her eyes and saw everyone looking around in curiosity at the growing sound.
Suddenly, there was a big flash of light and a large pink circle appeared. From the circle the group heard a mighty roar. Steven suddenly broke into a wide smile, for out of the portal jumped a rather large, rather pink, lion. "Lion! You've come to save us!" Steven shouted, hugging his clearly exhausted friend. Everyone seemed to speechless to do anything but stare at Lion. "We'd better hurry," Steven pressed, "I think it's a strain on him to keep this portal!" The group nodded obediently, quickly gathered up their stuff, and were lead by Amethyst through the portal. "Right before I left," Steven said, "that portal you showed me. Were you telling me that you would be able to help me?" Lion stared, and then unmistakably gave a nod. Steven pulled Lion into an even bigger hug before helping him to his feet, and the two walked side by side back to Beach City.
Authors note:
I hope you found the songs to be enjoyable and not tedious. I have several thank yous to make. First, to my first ten followers on my first story. You guys are great! Second, specifically to AnimeVulpaGirl, Red Diz, Daxen123, and Gamelover41592, who had really nice things to say about the story so far. Remember I am always open to suggestions and constructive criticism. It makes me a better writer, which means I can give you a better story. It's win/win. Anyway, looking forward to seeing you all in Beach City for the next part of the story. As always, stay fabulous!