Do you think you could do reader finding spinel in the garden and rescuing her?
It was random really. You hadn’t picked any location when you used the warp pad, didn’t really care where you went just so long as it was away.
You were on the run, or at least trying to be. You had messed up and you had messed up bad. You were sure that, any moment now, someone would notice your mistake and the search would begin to find and shatter you. Too many mistakes, too many mess ups. You had to be off-colored or something and you were sure the others knew.
So you didn’t care where you went just so long as you found a good place to hide.
When the tunnel of light vanished you found yourself in what looked to be a garden, or at least it once was. There was an array of plants, nothing now but withered skeletons of what they once must have been. There were plenty of columns, the remains of vines still clinging to the once beautiful stone and in the middle was a fountain, bone dry and cracked.
It was unusual. There weren’t a lot of gardens in the empire but the ones that did exist were well taken care of, beautiful and intricate as ever. This one was clearly abandoned. It would make a decent enough hiding spot, at least for now. No one was going to come by any time soon.
Your footsteps were loud against the worn stone stairs that led down from the warp pad. You took your time looking everything over, hovering every once in a while to inspect something more closely. You hadn’t gotten far when you heard it. A small voice, sounding like a shout in the quiet.
You jumped, frantically turning about till you found that there was another gem with you! You weren’t alone!
You stared at her for a moment, lost for words. She had a big, pink, heart-shaped gem in the middle of her chest, a gem you couldn’t recognize. Her hair was in pink, heart-shaped buns and she wore bright clothing. Or, you were sure it was once bright. Now it was dulled by a layer of dirt and dust. She looked disheveled and worn, her clothes damaged, her hair a mess. Her hands were clasped in front of her and she stood attentively for what must have been a very long time because some of those shriveled, clinging vines had grown around her feet and lower legs. She looked up at you with dark, sad eyes, just a spark of hope and maybe even curiosity in them.
She tilted her head slightly and realized you had been staring, probably for too long. You cleared your throat.
The other gem’s head tilted a little more.
“Why are you here? Did Pink send you?”
She seemed to get a little more excited with that last question, a smile daring to bleed through onto her face. You frowned back, shifting uncomfortably in place.
“Ummm…. No. I’m sorry, but no one sent me, I was just-”
You cut yourself off. You were just doing what, exactly? You couldn’t tell her you were running away, some stupid off-color that couldn’t get anything right. She would surely turn you in, just like any other gem would. But as you looked into her hopeful eyes you couldn’t bring yourself to lie to her.
“I’m looking for somewhere to hide.” You admitted, shoulders sagging a little.
The gem perked up at your words.
“Really? You mean like hide and seek? Well, the garden’s a great place for hiding! Pink and I use to play hide and seek all the time!”
You nodded numbly, mind working things over and trying to put the pieces together.
“My best friend, of course! Pink Diamond!”
Your heart fell. Oh. This wasn’t going to end well, you could tell.
“Oh, um… Did she leave you here?”
The gem’s smile became strained but she managed to keep it on.
“No, of course not! We’re playing a game is all.”
She sounded like she was trying to convince herself just as much as you and you could see the cracks starting to form like she was about to break. Oh stars, you didn’t know how you were supposed to handle this! You had never dealt with stuff like this before. What were you supposed to tell her? That Pink Diamond was never going to come back? That the game was never really that? And who’s to say Pink didn’t plan on coming back but was shattered before she could? You didn’t know enough about what was going on, but what you did know was that you couldn’t leave this poor gem standing for who knows how much longer, waiting for a gem to come back that never would.
“Oh! I’m Spinel! It’s nice to meet you, by the way.”
“Right. Spinel … There’s something I need to tell you and I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”
The smile on her face vanished in an instant, something darker breaking through her smiley facade.
“Pink Diamond … she isn’t… isn’t coming back.”
You saw the tears start to swell in her eyes, that smile forced back onto her face.
“Don’t be s-silly! Of course she’s coming back! That’s part of the game!” She insisted.
You felt a sense of pity for the gem, felt sad for her. You took a step towards her, half expecting the gem to run off, but she stayed firmly in place. She couldn’t lose the game. You took another step towards her, then another until you could reach out a hand and put it on her shoulder.
“I really am sorry, but she can’t come back.”
“And why not?” She snapped and you jumped, drawing your hand back like she bit you. You didn’t expect her to get so angry, glaring at you so intensely you felt like you would burst into flames. And you didn’t want to tell her. You took another deep breath.
“Something happened. On Earth. She was …”
You found it difficult to say it aloud. Spinel seemed to understand what you were getting at, her form starting to shake and tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked up at you with such desperation you felt something inside you break.
“She was shattered.” You finally forced the words out, almost spitting them like they were bile in your mouth. And all you could do was watch as the gem came undone.
She shook her head slowly, staring at the ground with wide, unseeing eyes, mumbling “no” to herself over and over again. You tried reaching out to her, to show her comfort, but she flinched away, stumbling back and finally breaking the vines around her feet. She turned away from you, hands clenched into fists, shoulders shaking.
“She can’t be.” You only just managed to catch the whisper, her voice soft and weak, broken. “She said she’d be back. She’s supposed to come back.”
She fell to her knees and you rushed forward, stopping just short, hands outstretched, uncertain. Spinel sobbed, loud and heartbroken, hands tangling into her hair and pulling at her buns until they came undone and kept pulling, pulling, sobs bursting out of her. You winced at the sight, nealing next to her and trying to gently pry her hands out of her hair.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” You said over and over again in your gentlest, sweetest voice, trying to calm her. It took some work but you managed to get her hands out of her hair which now hung limp and ragged. She immediately clung onto you, arms stretching and wrapping around your middle over and over again and squeezing painfully, burying her face into your chest and wailing, the sound so loud it made your head hurt. You ignored the pain, doing your best to hug the gem back and continuing your whispers of reassurance. What else were you supposed to do?
Who knows how long you were there comforting Spinel. The rock the garden was built on didn’t have any way of telling time, no sun to keep track of, just the stars twinkling in the black sky. But you were a patient gem. You could wait.
And eventually, the gem did calm down. Or, at the very least, she stopped shaking so much and her cries quieted to whimpers. You sighed when her grip on you loosened, your form relaxing just a bit now that you weren’t being crushed.
But what were you supposed to do now? You thought it over, holding the smaller gem close as she whimpered and sighed, tears finally starting to dry. It probably wouldn’t be the best idea to stay here. No doubt the place would hold unpleasant memories for Spinel. But it was also one of the best hiding places for you. You sighed. It was more important to help her, you decided. So what other places could be a good hiding spot.
You had plenty of ideas, of course, but none of them seemed good enough for you. But that was fine. You had time to figure that out. Right now you needed to get Spinel cleaned up.
“Hey,” You said, voice still soft and comforting. There was a pause, then the gem looked up at you with big, dark teary eyes. She looked so tired and you felt your chest tighten at the sight. You smiled at her softly. “Why don’t we get you cleaned up, okay? You might feel a little bit better.”
Spinel stared up at you a moment longer before slowly nodding. You helped her to her feet and led her to the warp pad, the gem clinging onto your arm as she slowly made her way up the stone stairs. She paused on the warp pad, looking out over the decaying garden, her shoulders sagging.
“Please,” she said after several long moments, looking up at you once more. “Take me away from here.”
There was a flash of light as the warp pad activated then it was gone, leaving nothing behind but the dead plants and crumbling stone.
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