#apollowuzhere

[kj-at-your-fingertips]

Hematite

for @apollowuzhere

[freezing-kaiju]

Survivors of Shards

chapter 13

@apollowuzhere @irazel @grilledwatermelon

more willa cause i wanna get this done

I followed Cuprite out of the metal room into the bright sun.  She bent down and picked up the bubble holding Billy’s gem, then turned to the surrounding gems, who I assumed was the rest of her crew.

“Everyone, I have an important announcement,” she declared.  “Stay away from Gravity Falls.  The people there are hostile and posses a weapon that can instantly corrupt gems.”  A yellow gem on my right gasped.  “For your own safety, stay out.”  Her expression switched to something a bit more pleasant.  “Oh, and some good news.  Willa here will be joining the crew.”  With that, she turned around and retreated back into the room with my bubbled sibling.

I felt uncomfortable under the gazes of the many gems around me.  “Um….hello,” I said, smiling softly and giving a small wave.  They probably didn’t look at me too fondly since I had attacked them not too long ago.  I shifted nervously.  The others looked at me with a mixture of expressions: some sympathy, some disgust, some fear.  Then a large golden gem stepped forward, her chubby hand outstretched towards me.

“Hi!  I’m Amber,” she greeted cheerfully.  “I think we sorta met before, but that doesn’t count….but anyways nice to meet you!”

This gem, Amber, seemed nice enough, but I did a quick sweep of her mind just to be sure.  Her mind was very pleasant, filled with positive thoughts and little things she’s noticed on earth that she likes.  She had a particular interest in bees, specifically how cute they are.  She also seemed fond of the peridot that was with the group.  Once I was a bit more sure I could trust Amber, I cautiously reached out and shook her hand.  She happily returned the shake and smiled.

“Is it ok if I hug you?” she asked.

“Um….y-yes I suppose so,” I agreed.  “What an odd request.”

“Yay!”  Amber lunged forward and wrapped me in a very soft, warm hug.  I tensed at the sudden impact, but relaxed almost instantly.  It was nice.  I felt almost….safe.

Amber pulled away from the hug, to my disappointment, and a hand clapped me on the shoulder.

“Heya!” the responsible bismuth exclaimed.  “Nice to meet you too.  What exactly are you gonna be doin’ here las?”

“D-doing?” I questioned.  I felt a lump form in my throat as I began to panic.  “Is….is there something I was supposed to do?  I’m sorry, was I supposed to be helping you with your ship?  I did not know.  I’m so very sorry.”  I bowed my head and clasped my hands together in shame.

The bismuth’s gaze softened a bit.  “No, no, it’s ok.  I was just saying….well we could sure use the help, if you want to.  We’re down about thirty crew members.”

“Yes, well I-” I cut off mid sentence, losing my footing and grabbing at my gem.  The corruption had swelled up, the burning feeling returning for a moment, then retreating, leaving me a gasping, sobbing mess.

The bismuth stepped back in fear, muttering, “Was it something I said?”

Then another gem, a pink and yellow one, ran forwards, waving her hands in a series of symbols.  I remembered long ago there was a human who used those motions.  They did not have the ability to hear or speak, so that was how they communicated.  I only knew a few words, but could never use it fluently.  

I tried to stand back up, only to have my knees buckle under me and land with a small “thud” back on the grass.  The pink and yellow gem raised her eyebrows and stared at me with her gem eye.  It was over her right, just like mine.  It glowed and a beam shot out at me.  I was frightened and started crawling away, but when it hit I felt a feeling similar yet different to Cuprite’s.  I was calmer, but also….invigorated.  I apologized and stood back up, thanking the gem.  Then I realized something.

“Can you hear me?” I asked her.

The gem nodded.  I let out a small sigh of relief.  I didn’t want to be rude by speaking when she couldn’t hear what I was saying.

“What’s your name?”

While she signed, I recognized the word “name.”  She finished and the bismuth translated, “‘My name is Lemonade Tourmaline.’”

“Very nice to meet you.”

Lemonade Tourmaline nodded, and a figure in the back moved closer.

“Hey,” they said.  “My name’s Peridot Facet-4T6B-Cut-9JH.  Glad to see another addition to this mess of idiots.  We’re all doomed here, but hey, we’re doomed together!”

I shrunk back from the peridot.  The word “doom” repeated in my mind.  “I….um….I’m s-sorry….I’ll….I’ll do better….”

“Nah nah nah, not your fault.”

Amber butted in, placing a hand on the peridot’s arm.  “I’m sorry, 9JH can be a bit blunt sometimes.  Everyone’s still trying to get over the tragedy….I’d say so far you and Lavander Jade have cried an equal amount, poor dear….”

“Oh, well I’m sorry for being such a burden,” I said, feeling guilty for getting in their way.  “I’m sure you didn’t need this in a time of crisis.”

“Eh, buck up mate!” a voice behind me shouted.  I turned and saw a lanky red gem grinning and leaning on a sword.  “We’re all in this together, roight?  Least you are now….’less you wanna leave.  I’m Aventurine, by the way, but you can call me Red.”

“Hello.”

A jasper pushed Red and 9JH to the side, mumbling, “Outta my way wankers.”  They then continued a little louder, “Willa, aye?  Got a few….ok, a lot of questions for ya.”

“....Ok-kay….” I agreed.

“First off: you from homeworld or from Earth somehow?  Second, what happened to you?  Third, would it hurt if I poke you in the corrupted bits?  Fourth, what the hell is Spain?”

I was a little startled by the barrage of questions, but I had done so little to help already….

“Well, my sibling and I were originally from homeworld, but we came here after an….accident on our ship.  We arrived a while ago and a….not so nice human….hurt us….and….” I stopped to collect myself.  It was hard to retell the story once, let alone twice in one day.  “Anyway….yes it would hurt, so please refrain from doing so.  I have heard of Spain, but do not know quite what it is.  My sibling and I have not traveled far from Gravity Falls.”

“Right, ok, right, gotcha.”  The jasper scribbled down the information, then smiled.  “Thanks!”

I smiled back.  “Glad I could help.”

“What the hell is going on here?” the alabaster, who I recognized from in the woods, asked, kicking down a door. “This guy stabbed me! Why are we letting them free?”

“I….I’m very sorry about earlier,” I said, trying not to upset them any more than I already had.  “I didn’t mean to hurt you….I-”

The alabaster growled slightly. “Cause anymore problems, and you’ll get more punishment than just a hug. I really hope you like bears.”

I stepped away from the gem, shaking.  A high pitched voice laughed behind me.

“I think a hug from you would be punishment enough Al!” they exclaimed, scaring me even more.  I was really starting to regret coming out here without waiting for Billy first.  My head shot around to make eye contact with a grinning hematite.  The alabaster rolled their eyes, mumbling something I couldn’t quite make out.  

“She’s not wrong you know,” an obsidian said flatly.  I hadn’t noticed her there before, and the sudden appearance made me want to retract back into my gem.  There were way too many people here for me to process.

Then the yellow gem from earlier, a beryl by the looks of her, ran up to the alabaster, panic on her face.

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that Calcite went back towards that awful town?!” she shrieked in fear and anger.  “Not to mention that neither of the rubies can be found anywhere!  They could have followed her!”  The other gems seemed taken aback by her outburst.

“I already had this talk with Calcite,” the alabaster responded.  “She didn’t want me following her. Believe me, I wanted to go with her. What can I do if she doesn’t want me to? I got the feeling she’d try and fight me if I did. If the rubies followed her, at least she has some protection.”

“Those rubies are sweet, but they are no protectors, and if what Cuprite said is true, I don’t think it would make much of a difference.  She’s too stubborn for her own good.  I’ll go with you, hopefully she’ll listen to me.”

“Fine. Perhaps we could try to track her down. The bird has decent eyesight, so it should make things easier.”

The beryl nodded and began hovering off, the alabaster in her wake.  I watched for a moment, thinking on whether or not my next choice would be a mistake.

“Wait!” I yelled.  They both stopped to look back at me.  “I’m….I’m coming with you.”

“That’s not happening. You’ll just cause trouble,” the alabaster said.

“Besides, we could never ask you to go back to that place,” the beryl agreed.

“Listen,” I began, a bound of confidence flowing through me.  “I’ve lived in that town for decades and I know those woods like the back of my gem.  If anyone will be able to help you find your friend….it’s me.”

“And I have to help the Calcite that helped me.”  I kept that one to myself.

“I mean,” the hematite contributed, snorting a bit and wrapping an arm around my shoulders, “their gem is on their eye, so the back is probably easy to see.”  The beryl and the alabaster shared a glance at one another.

The alabaster shook their head and shrugged tiredly. “I can take them in a fight, and they might be able to help. It’s up to you, Beryl. How do you think Calcite would react?”

The beryl looked like a deer in headlights, rubbing her hands together nervously.  “I….uh….I think she would use whatever resources she had.”

“Fine.” the alabaster grumbled. “You can come, but don’t slow us down and don’t try anything.”

“Y-yes!  Of course!  Thank you!”  I began following the two back into the forest I had been trapped in for so long.  But before I could leave, I heard a voice call out from behind me.

“Willa, darling,” Cuprite said, “would you please come in?”

[kj-at-your-fingertips]

Moonstone

for @apollowuzhere

[kj-at-your-fingertips]

Willa (Blue Tanzanite)

for @apollowuzhere

[kj-at-your-fingertips]

Orange Calcite

for @apollowuzhere

[freezing-kaiju]

Survivors of Shards

Chapter 11

written with @apollowuzhere @irazel and @grilledwatermelon

tho this part is all @apollowuzhere

this one’s a long one and imma post the next part later today also!

WILLA FLASHBACK TIME

“Are you sure about this Yellow?” I questioned, following closely behind my fellow tanzanite. “Positive!” they assured me, signature crazy smile in place.  “Once they know this planet has tons of life on it, they’ll turn around and we can go back to homeworld without an issue!  No more stupid mission, no more cramped ship, no more annoying crew mates.” “But….there isn’t tons of life on this planet….” “Yeah but they don’t know that.  Who’re they going to trust, themselves or the psychics?” I smiled and giggled quietly behind my hand.  I sometimes forgot how clever my sibling was.  “Yes ok, let’s do it!” --------------- “Look, we can explain,” Yellow said.  They held up their hands in surrender as the rest of our crew surrounded us. I wrung my hands while my eyes darted from gem to gem.  “Yes...uh….we were just….” “Trying to trick us into turning back,” our supervising Agate finished.  She marched through the crowd and circled around us, her footsteps echoing off the metal walls.  “Let me ask you this.  Do you really think we’re that stupid?” A pause.  “Honestly, yeah kind of,” Yellow replied.  I kicked them in the shin, earning a small “ow” in return. “You two are going to be in a lot of trouble when we get back to homeworld,” the agate said, getting closer with each word.  She looked down on us like scum, her gaze seeming as though it saw through my entire form.  A wicked smile stretched its way across her face.  “I wonder what the diamonds will do to you.” That’s when it happened.  Yellow scooped me up in their arms, and ran.  They pushed through the wall of gems and swerved every which way, trying to get away from the angry yelling and horrible threats.  I could hear them accusing us of terrible things, both out loud and in their minds.  I tried not to listen. “What are you doing?!” I screamed.  Though I didn’t make any attempt to get away, in fact clinging to their collar with all of my strength. “Saving our asses, Blue,” they responded.  “Now shut up and hold on!” We took a turn down a corridor filled with crew members, who noticed us immediately.  We turned around only to be met with more coming on our right.  Yellow ran to the left, dodging weapons as they came flying at us from every tunnel and passageway around us. We reached the escape pods just as we were about to be overwhelmed.  Yellow threw me in full force then dove after me, shutting the door behind them.  They slammed their back against it while the gems outside pounded on it, trying to get in. “Hurry!” they yelled, straining under the force of all the gems. I frantically punched in random coordinates, somewhere far away from this wretched ship, and hit the launch button.  We shot out of the room like a comet, and I went flying back into Yellow while we rocketed out of the solar system. It took a few hours for us to slow down enough to where we could actually move around the little pod.  I crawled over and sat in a corner next to the control pad while Yellow sat cross-legged in the center.  They ran their hand through their hair and smiled a little.   “Well,” they started, “that could have gone better.” I didn’t say anything for a while, choosing to start at a rivet in the floor instead.  I felt fear and sadness prick at the back of my mind.  I was sure Yellow could see it too. “Hey, hey it’s ok,” they assured me. “No it’s not!” I yelled, startling Yellow back a bit.   “It’s not ok!  You had to have that stupid idea to get out of that mission didn’t you?  You couldn’t just go along with it!  Well congratulations, we got out of it!  Now we have no clue where we’re going, everyone hates us, and we can never go home!”  The tears were coming full force now.  Yellow let out a sigh and came to sit next to me.  I tried to turn away, but they wouldn’t let me.  They cupped my cheek with one hand and wiped away the steady stream of water. “I know this seems bad now Blue,” they said, “but think of it this way.  We don’t have anyone telling us what to do anymore.  We never have to listen to another agate brag about how important she is, or be put down my another sapphire for not being ‘real psychics.’” They put emphasis on the air quotes, making me laugh just a little.  “Wherever we end up, we can be whoever we want!” “Yeah, I suppose.” We sat in silence for a while, watching the stars go by outside. “Hey Blue?” Yellow called. “Hmm?” “Who do you want to be?” “....I don’t know….but I don’t want to be Blue.” “Mmm.” “Who do you want to be?” “I don’t know either, but I don’t want to be Yellow.” We both laughed softly and I scooted in closer to lean on my sibling’s shoulder. “So what do we do?” I asked “You know, I read the mind of a hematite once.  She had just come back from a pretty densely packed planet.” “Yeah?” “Yeah, there were plenty of names in there.” “Oh?  Like what?” My sibling replayed the memory for me in their mind.  There were a lot of names to choose from, but one in particular caught my eye. “Willa,” I said. “That’s what you’re going with?” they asked. “Yes.  I quite like that one.” “Alright Willa.” I relaxed a little more at my new name.  “What about you?” “I’m trying to decide between two.” “And they are?” “Oluwakanyinsola or Billy.” I snorted.  “You can barely even say the first one, how do you expect anyone else to?” “Aw, but I like that one!  I think it captures my complex personality.” I punched them lightly in the shoulder.  “You’re so dramatic.  Besides, Billy is a nice name.” “Fine, fine, I’ll go with Billy.”  Billy leaned back and crossed their arms.  “So that’s it, eh?” “What do you mean?” “We’re finally more than just tanzanites.  We’re people.” “Hmm, guess I didn’t think about it before now, but yeah.” “Yeah…” We sat there for a while longer before both of us lied down and fell asleep.  I had never slept before, but it was really nice.  I even had a dream….about what our new life was going to be like.  I had a feeling we’d be doing a lot of sleeping for a while. ----------- Finally, after a decade and a half of flying through space, we finally reached our destination.  We weren’t sure what it was or what to do about it, but we were here!  I stepped out and looked up at the big blue sky, small white fluffy things floating around aimlessly.  A soft breeze blew my hair out of my eye, as if the world wanted me to get a better look.  I felt the soft plant life between my toes and did a little twirl as Billy climbed out of the pod.  They took a deep breath, which was weird since we didn’t even need to breathe, and sighed. “So this is what we’ve been waiting for for so long,” they began, surveying the area.  They looked up at the taller plants growing around, which almost touched the white puff balls in the sky.  “I’ve got to say, I’m impressed.” “Oh wow, something impresses Billy and it’s not themselves,” I teased.  “Are you feeling alright?” “Oh hardy har Willa, you’ve got to admit this place is cool!” “Yes, it’s very cool.” I took in the nature around me for a good few minutes before Billy lost their patience.  I was awoken from my daydreaming by getting slammed into and tumbling down a muddy hill, laughing hysterically.  When we reached the bottom, I smeared mud into my sibling’s face. “What was that for?” I asked between laughs. “I haven’t been able to move more than three feet at a time for fifteen years!” Billy complained.  “Let’s play!”  They jumped back on top of me and we wrestled for a bit before laying back and watching the sky. Suddenly, we heard a rustle in the nearby plant life.  Billy and I sat up and watched it carefully, Billy with their hand already reaching for their gem. Out comes a older looking person with skin the same color as the trunks of the tall plants, long grey hair pulled back in a ponytail, a walking stick, and a simple white button up and cargo shorts. “A human!” I exclaimed without meaning to.  I remembered memories of humans from gems who had gone to a planet called Earth.  This was where the rebellion had happened!  Billy and I never told anyone, but we had always been rooting for the Crystal Gems.  The old woman jumped back, and I apologized for startling her. “No, that’s alright,” she said.  She had a very warm smile that could light up any room, and I instantly felt comfortable in her presence.  I could tell Billy felt the same, but they didn’t show any sign of it outwardly.  “I saw your ship land out here and wanted to make sure everything was ok.” “You’re….not afraid of us?”  Billy asked. “Not at all!” the woman explained cheerfully.  “We get a lot of weird stuff out here, and innocent until proven guilty I say!  Your journey must have been long, would you like to come back with me and I can give you some food and get you cleaned up?” At this point Billy had dropped their hand back down to their side, feeling safe in the woman’s company.  We could both tell she had no hostile intentions towards us. “What is….food?” I asked. The woman gave us an exaggerated gasp.  “Well allow me to show you!”  She began to walk back the way she came.  Billy and I smiled at each other and ran to catch up with her.  She stopped for a second, scoffing at herself.  “Where are my manners?  My name is Trinity.  Do you have names?” “Yes, I am Willa,” I replied, “and this is my sibling, Billy.” “Hiya!” Billy waved. “What beautiful names!  Well, I’d like to welcome you to Earth!” “Where exactly are we on Earth?” Billy questioned. “Well, we’re heading back to a little town called Gravity Falls.” ------------ I sat out in the summer sun, letting it warm my skin soothingly.  The wind rustled the pine needles and sent waves through the grass around me.  The sweet scent of fresh berries swirled around in the breeze.  I hummed at the comfort and calm this planet provided me with everyday for the past few decades. Billy came out of the woods with an armful of peaches and let them roll to the ground around me.  They kneeled down next to me, picking one up and taking a big bite out of it, pit and all. “Anything interesting today?” Billy asked me. “Not really,” I answered.  “Lazy Susan dropped by today.  She said she had a new bottle of gin for you at the diner.” “Oh what?!” They jumped up and yanked on my arm.  “What are we sitting here for?  Let’s go!”  Without letting go of my wrist, they ran down the path towards the town.  I stumbled as I tried to keep up, yelling at them playfully. We almost fell into the local diner and took a seat at the bar.  We both giggled while we came down from our running high.  Lazy Susan, the old waitress with a lazy eye and teased brunette hair, came and greeted us happily, setting down our menus on the counter. “What will you have?” she asked, taking out a pad and pencil. “Can we have some pancakes please?” I wondered.  I twiddled my thumbs nervously, even though I had known her for years.  I was always a little uncomfortable around people. “Of course dear!”  She scribbled down our order and turned around before stopping and snapping her fingers.  “I almost forgot!”  She plucked a large glass bottle filled with clear liquid off of a nearby shelf and placed it in front of Billy. “Ah yes!” they cheered.  “Thanks a bunch Susan!” She laughed at Billy’s excitement.  “I’ll go get your pancakes.” The diner was pretty empty for a Saturday, but that just meant we got our food faster.  We chatted about little things we liked and little things that bothered us.  Our food came and Billy poured some of their gin into the syrup, then proceeded to drench the fluffy cakes in it. I heard the little bell at the door jingle.  I looked over Billy’s shoulder to find a young man I had never seen before walk in.  He wore glasses, khakis, and a simple black t-shirt.  He had his nose in a journal, scratching a pen into the paper at a speed I have never seen.  As I looked closer, I noticed this human had six fingers instead of five. I projected my observations to Billy telepathically while they chewed their pancakes.  They looked up at me with wide eyes and full cheeks, then glanced over at the newcomer.  He sat down on my other side, still writing in his book.  Billy and I couldn’t help but stare at the strange man and his detailed drawings. “Who is that?” Billy asked me through our thoughts. “I don’t know,” I said.  “Can you get anything from his mind?” Billy took a minute.  “He’s new to the town.  He’s here to study all the crazy stuff that goes on around here.  The weird creatures in the woods and stuff.” “You mean like us?” Billy and I made eye contact and I heard a gasp behind me.  The man had finally noticed us.  His eyes were wide and his mouth agape.  We stared at each other for a few minutes in complete silence. After a few minutes, the man began to slowly reach up towards me.  His six fingered hand got closer to my face, but he only seemed curious, not hostile.  I had never had someone act this way around me. I came out of my trance when he pressed a thumb to my gem, yelping and covering it with my hands. “Fascinating,” the man whispered. “What was that?” I complained softly trying not to offend him. “I’m sorry, it’s just….what are you?” “Excuse us?” Billy questioned. “Well you’re clearly not human,” the man observed.  “So what are you.” I looked down, blushing deeply and rubbing my gem.  “Rude,” I mumbled. “We’re aliens,” Billy deadpanned, face still.  “Gems more specifically.” “Incredible.  Tell me more.”  The man lifted his journal up, pen at the ready. “Um,” I began, “we don’t really talk about ourselves like that….with….humans….” The man furrowed his brows and grunted in frustration.  Instead of apologizing, he just got up, and left, telling us quietly, “come to the shack in the woods when you change your mind.” We watched him go in shock.  No one had ever been so direct with us about our anatomy.  I felt we wouldn’t see the last of that man. ---------------- Billy sipped a glass of wine from the rocking chair on the porch.  Stanford had just returned from studying fairies out in the woods and watched as I grew frost on the surrounding grass.  He jotted down little things in his journal while I twirled my fingers around. “Very good!” he exclaimed.  “Now, can you frost the flower over there?”  He pointed to a violet growing about a foot away. “Um, yes, sure.”  With a wave of my hand, the flower was frozen. “Amazing!  Billy, could you get me some more ink?” “But I just sat down,” Billy whined. “Come on,” he ordered, snapping his fingers.  “My pen’s almost out and I need to get a sketch of this.” “You know what?  You get it,” Billy grumbled. A pause.  Ford looked up at my sibling.  “What?” “You heard me.  I’m tired of being treated like a servant.” “You can’t do that!  I let you stay in my house, I kept you safe, I gave you food.”  My chest tightened. Billy threw their hands up in exasperation.  “We don’t even need to eat!” “We thought you were helping us….because you liked us….” I said quietly with tears in my eye.  I was so afraid.  Was our friend not really our friend? “Of course I like you!” Ford retorted.  “You’re a fascinating specimen!  I’ve never seen anything like you!” “But….don’t you like us for anything else….than what we are?”  I sniffled. “What are we to you?!” Billy demanded. “An experiment!” he yelled.  “An observation!” I gasped and placed my hands over my mouth, a small trickle of water falling down my cheek.  The ground around me froze solid and Ford stumbled back.  I glared through the tears. “I thought you cared about us!” I shrieked.   Billy stood up, scowl on their face, and cried, “Why?!  All these years you projected thoughts of real friendship!  Why work so hard to deceive us?!” Ford jumped to his feet.  “I told you not to read my mind!” “We can’t control it all the time!” I yelled through my tears. “Shut up!”  Ford smacked me across the face.  This was the first time I had ever seen such hostile thoughts in the mind of my once-thought-friend.  I curled in on myself, spikes of ice growing out around me. “You get away from Willa!” Billy screamed.  Fire curled around their hands and swirls of sand formed around Ford. “I’m done with this!”  Ford pulled a small gun out of his jacket and fired it at my sibling.  They crumpled to the ground, clutching their gem and wailing in agony.  Their form flickered and popped.  Pained tears came pouring from their eye. “No!” I cried, and I jumped on Ford.  I placed a hand on his, the one holding the gun, and sent a burst of cold through my fingertips.  Ford yelped and pushed me off.  I hit the ground only a second before I was shot as well. Fiery pain exploded in my chest, the feeling of molten lava seeping through my form and clouding my vision.  I felt myself scream, but I couldn’t hear anything except a high pitched ringing.  I couldn’t summon my weapons or use my abilities to protect myself.  I was completely defenseless. With all the strength I had left, I tried to crawl to a suffering Billy, but Ford was quicker.  He took out his switchblade, the one he kept “in case of emergency,” and stabbed it into their back.  I heard a loud poof and covered my eye and gem with my forearm.  When I looked back up, Ford was standing over me with his weapon in one hand and Billy’s gem in the other. “Hopefully one day you’ll learn to be more courteous guests,” he growled.  Somehow that sentence was crystal clear to me. There was a flash of silver, a poof, and everything went black.

[freezing-kaiju]

Survivors of Shards

Chapter 2

This part focuses on @apollowuzhere‘s character Calcite! Written by me, @apollowuzhere, @irazel, and @grilledwatermelon

SWITCH PERSPECTIVE: Calcite

It was foggy.  I wasn’t sure if it was the environment or my mind, but it was foggy.  I was floating aimlessly, not sure what to do, or who or where I was.  It was orange everywhere; it was bright and dark, clear and clouded.  I couldn’t make any sense of it.  Then there was the one blotch of purple somewhere in the distance.  Even though I didn’t know what it was, it was different.  And it was growing.

I saw the shape first, tall, with broad shoulders and a pointed chin.  But something was wrong.  Its eyes...and body...they were shifting. Melting, almost...and tweaked...twitching.  But its eyes were sad, filled not only with tears, but fear and pain.  A purple flash from the figure’s center blinded me for a moment as I took it all in.

The figure spoke, but I couldn’t make out the words.  It whispered and yelled at the same time, its voice shifting and layered over itself.  I didn’t understand, but I could feel a strange sensation running down my cheeks as it became foggier once again.

The next sensation was a warm, tingling one...the feeling of reforming. I was blinded by a bright light as I came back to consciousness.  My feet hit a soft surface and, looking around, it was nothing but rubble.  Metal shards, craters, and……..gem shards.  The glittering colors of my dead colleagues were scattered on the ground around me...although two shimmers came from higher up in my peripheral vision.  My head raised to come face to face with an indifferent looking peridot from my ship’s crew.  I hadn’t spoken to her much, but we had had passing conversations.

“Ah, you’re up.  You’re one of the calcites right?” she asked with little interest.

I said nothing, just giving a slight tilt of my head in agreement.  She hummed to herself and went back to organizing whole, functioning gems.  They had survived.

The other shine came from a brown-gold gem on the arm of a chubby figure, an Amber.  There were not many of them left on homeworld, and I had forgotten she had been on the mission.  She was curled in on herself, muttering about her uselessness in this horrific situation, and trembling, her small insect-like wings buzzing with anxiety.  I slowly approached the spooked gem, feeling a sense of nostalgia as I got closer.

She lifted her head to meet my eyes, and I stopped in my tracks.  I remembered her.  She was a bee amber I had planted only a little over a century ago.  The sweet little gem was in threat of being shattered when first discovered, so I took it upon myself to plant it.  Homeworld and I disagreed on what a waste was.  They saw the whole race of ambers as worthless, pathetic gems; even the other calcites refused to plant ambers.  I saw the waste in not planting the gem.  It can’t be said who that amber could be or what they could do, and they couldn’t do any harm by trying.  So when the bee amber was taken away to be shattered, I stood in the way.  I took full responsibility for her, which was why she had come with us.  Now we were in a wreck, and it was my fault she was here.

I had so many questions.  How many others had perished?  Were there any other calcites still left?  Was this peridot the last one?  Who were the ones on the table?  Where was Beryl?

Beryl!  I rushed over to the peridot and shoved her out of the way, getting a small “hey!” in return.  I scanned over the pile of gems: there was a jade, an aventurine, an alabaster, a cuprite, several others, and...there!  A beautiful golden gem sparkled in front of me.  Yellow Beryl, one of the five who had come on the mission.  There had been one beryl for each calcite, and she had been paired with me.  She had been one of the only ones I had connected with on the ship.  In fact, she had been one of the only ones I had connected with after…….nevermind.  I felt the weight of whatever world we were on lift off my shoulders when I held the gem in my hands.  Undamaged, not even a hairline fracture.

“Yeah, she’s the only beryl left,” the peridot spoke up, still sounding bitter, probably because I pushed her.  “You’re the only calcite too, and I’m the only peridot. Some luck, eh? More than half the crew just...shattered.”

The smile faded from my face, and I growled in frustration.  Of course I’d be the only one left, I’d always been the odd one out when it came to my sisters.  They never cared about the ones they planted, but I did.  They thought I was dangerous, getting so close, and they weren’t afraid of sharing it.  They believed I would hurt someone in order to keep my gems safe.  They were wrong.  The only one I had hurt in getting attached was myself.

But Beryl was here, safe and sound, and that’s what mattered most right now.

A warm feeling soothed the palm of my hand.  A growing glow coming from Beryl’s gem tinged my sight yellow, and I set her back on the ground to reform.  The gem didn’t stay there long, rising into the air to make room for the growing light.  A small body formed from the glow, followed by a short skirt and a long braid.  As her whole body began to take form, her feet delicately touched ground, like a ballerina landing in slow motion.  She opened her glowing blue orbs to look into mine, her expression one of innocent confusion.

“Where are we?  Who are you?” she asked, her voice low and trembling slightly.

“Hey, come on, it’s me, the calcite you were partnered up with, remember?”  Beryl tilted her head, but showed a little sign of understanding.

The peridot giggled at the situation. “Hey. Sorry to burst your bubble here, but uh...long story short, we crashed, everybody died, and now we’re screwed.”

Beryl put her hand up to her mouth, wrapping the other one tightly around her torso.  “I see,” she said shakily, clearly distressed by the situation.  In all honesty, who wouldn’t be?  I’m just glad the cuprite survived, we’re going to need it.

A sliding sound, metal on metal, on my left caught my attention.  A door had opened and a grey-and-black-striped Jasper walked out, cradling a single gem in her hands. “Hey, ‘dot. I found Bismuth!”

The peridot nodded absentmindedly. “Good, we’re gonna need her. Put her on the pile.”

The Jasper walked over and put the Bismuth on the pile, muttering, “stay safe, buddy.”

The pile of gems was both a sign of hope and a significant source of sadness.  There were those who had survived, there they were, but thinking about how many there had been, this was only a fraction of the original crew.  We had lost hundreds, and saved few.  Even those who were alive were stranded because there was no one to fly the ship, and the ship being utterly destroyed didn’t help much either.  The feeling of despair was suffocating once we recognized the gravity of the situation.

The pile of gems shifted suddenly and a single white gem rolled out, glowing harshly.  It grew outwards in a mass of spikes before landing on its feet with a dull thud.  It was the alabaster, and they seemed just as confused as the rest of us.

“What the hell just happened?” Alabaster asked, looking around, not seeming to recognize most of the gems there.

I was curious to see how the alabaster would take knowing their sapphire had been shattered in the accident.  I knew it was dark and I shouldn’t be so unempathetic towards the situation or the poor gem, but my morbid curiosity didn’t deture.  Their purpose was specific, I wondered if they would stick to it.

The peridot looked at the Alabaster and instantly straightened up. “Finally! Someone with more authority than me, I swear I was gonna shatter under the pressure. So umm...yeah, nearly everyone is dead. The other Peridots...Supervisors Shadow Agate and Purple Sapphire...there’s only one calcite and one beryl left. Mission’s ruined, communications are shot and you’re the highest ranking gem left alive.”

I felt a little annoyed by the peridot’s speech.  I never understood why alabasters were so high ranking since they just protected other gems.  Being a calcite was confusing; sometimes we were treated like diamonds, sometimes we were treated like dirt.  The alabaster registered the peridot’s words.

“Sapphire’s dead? Shadow Agate too?” Alabaster looked like they already had a headache. “Alright. Peridot, can you access the computer files? Figure out what crashed us?”

“Already did that. The engines didn’t explode, but they were shut off suddenly mid-flight. Not a command from Main Engineering, but that reported that they couldn’t turn the engines back on. The information cuts out in the middle of that.”

“Shut off? Does that mean someone from on the ship did it?” Alabaster asked.

Treachery.  I had not considered it an option, but it wouldn’t surprise me.  I didn’t know all of the gems aboard that ship and I didn’t need to to know many of them weren’t thrilled about this mission.  I wasn’t either, at first, but I grew to accept it.  If that was the case, who would do it, and were they even still alive?

“Well...I’m not sure. They didn’t do it via Main Engineering, which would have been obvious...and whoever did it either stole, destroyed, or dumped all the fuel. They could have done it externally or through some hacking measure.”

“I think that hardly matters right now,” I said, finally speaking up.  “We have gems still regenerating and others…….the point is we have more important work to do right now than solve some stupid mystery.”

Before I could continue, a soft glow began emitting from within the gem pile.  Beryl noticed as well and, being closer than I was, plucked the gem out of the pile so it could reform properly.  I saw the hat before I saw the body, and, once formed, it didn’t even touch the ground.

The hematite did a backflip in the air before touching down, laughing hysterically.

“HOO, what a ride!” she exclaimed, not noticing the state of our current situation.  “What happened back there?  One minute I was showing a couple beryls a trick and the next, POOF!”  She laughed again, as if she believed she had said something funny.  Her sense of humor eludes me.

Instead of letting the peridot give the same explanation, I took it upon myself.

“We crashed.  There’s a lot of dead and we have no way home,” I deadpanned.  I was beginning to adjust to our current position, as dire as it may have been.

Her laughing died down and her smile fell slightly.  With a snort, she gave a quick, “What?”

I said nothing, only looking her in the eyes and nodding before turning to the alabaster for any instructions they may have.

“Well, the first step is securing the ship so we aren’t such easy targets in an attack. We’re on a hill, so it’s likely everyone on this side of the planet has seen us crash. We need to be ready if they come to investigate,” Alabaster decided.   “Beryl, why don’t you take a look around?”

“Yes alright,” Beryl agreed hesitantly, “but do we know for sure they are hostile towards us?”  Fear flashed in her eyes.

“We don’t, but this planet is marked as hostile in all of the reports I’ve read. So, we’ll assume everyone is hostile until proven otherwise.”

This didn’t seem to reassure the small golden gem.  I put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off, assuring me she would be alright.  With that, she took to the sky and disappeared in the grey clouds hanging just above our heads.

I worry too much for her, I know that, but it never stopped me.  I didn’t know what I would do with myself if she had gotten hurt and I wasn’t there to protect her.  Internally I cursed myself for getting so close.  Attachment has caused me nothing but grief in these past centuries, so why do it again?  She would be fine.

I turned back to the hematite, her smile long gone and her eyes wide.  “I know it seems bad,” I began, “but-”

“Seems bad?!” She cut me off, the smile coming back, but it was more chaotic, and her laugh more….disturbing.  “A couple gems left behind seems bad.  This is….terrifying!  What are we supposed to do?!”

A black spike placed itself on the arm of the hematite, and a thin body made itself around to face her.  It stared up at her, solid black eyes glimmering.

“There is no point in getting so worked up,” the obsidian said, her monotone voice not faltering in the slightest.  “There is nothing we can do to make it so we didn’t crash.  We must move forward.”

Hematite sniffled and began giggling to herself.  The obsidian looked somewhat confused.

“Sorry, sorry,” Hematite said, “it’s just I’m surprised how well you’re HANDling the situation!”  Hematite lost it, laughing so hard she fell to the ground.  Obsidian looked down at her spikes and sighed before walking off.  The whole interaction was as strange to watch as it probably was to have.

I felt a chubby hand on my shoulder and Amber’s soft, wavering voice asked, “Uh...is...is there anything I can do, eh? I dunno what to do and...I should be helping...instead of just bein’ useless...”

I wasn’t sure what to say.  I didn’t know what to do with myself, let alone what Amber should do.  But this was my Amber and I was responsible for her, so I had to come up with something.

“Um, you could…” I searched desperately for a task for her.  “You could do a perimeter check.  Fly around the hill and see if we have any uninvited guests coming up here.”

Amber smiled and nodded. “Yes! I won't let you down.” She jumped and buzzed off, tiny wings somehow keeping her fat little body aloft, like she didn’t care what was impossible.

I smiled as she left.  I knew I had done right with that one.

Beryl touched down next to me and began relaying her observations.  Apparently there were three towns nearby.  One had two gold sticks and was the closest, another had a few statues, which was farther into the forest of pine trees, and the last had a large water tower and located near the water.  Seemed counter intuitive to have a water tower where there’s already so much water, but I don’t know how this planet works.

“What was that town’s name?” the Peridot asked, furiously taking notes.

“The stick one doesn’t have one, but the one in the woods is Gravity Falls...bit of a silly name, and the one by the water is Beach City,” Beryl explained quietly.

The peridot’s mouth dropped open. “Did you...did you say Beach City?”

“As I recall.” Beryl gave a soft smile.

The Peridot threw up her arms in defeat, startling me back a little. “WELL! That’s it then. We’re all dead. We’re good as shattered. Might as well self-destruct the ship if it had enough fuel to do that! Do you know where Beach City is? THAT’S WHERE THE CRYSTAL GEMS LIVE! WE LANDED LESS THAN A MILE FROM THEIR HOME BASE!”

I had heard of the Crystal Gems before, but I never considered them that….evil.  They connected with things, like humans, in a way I could relate to.  I didn’t say that though.  What would they do if they thought I was a rebel?  What would Beryl think?

“What’s the big deal?” I asked, a little irritably.  “We haven’t done anything to hurt anyone.  As far as I know, they only attack if given a reason.”

“WELL THAT’S NOT GONNA STOP ME FROM PANICKING!” she shouted.

“Only attack if given reason? They started a war for this stupid planet. And we’re here to resume plans. We’re exactly the sort of people they attack!” Alabaster said, getting louder with each word.  I was pretty sure they were transferring their headache to me. “I’m supposed to protect all of you, but now what? We’re all stuck here with nothing.”

“We have the towns,” Beryl offered.

“Think of this logically,” Obsidian said from her place on top of a rock.  I have no idea how she got over there, but I suppose that was her job.  “There must be a reason they fought for this planet.  We should figure out what it was.”

“We know why they fought for the planet. It’s got resources and they wanted them. Only logical reason to risk fighting the diamonds,” Alabaster said.

“What resources could they possibly use?” I questioned.  “If they were going to take over and start their own colony, they would still need resources from homeworld to plant the gems, and they don’t have any calcites with them anyway.”

“How do we know any of that? We thought they had been eradicated until recently. Who knows what sort of gems are with them now?”

“I may not know exactly how many gems are left,” Hematite cut in, “but according to a meeting I was in before I came on this shipwreck was that there were exactly zero calcites on this planet.  Well, except you.”

I raised an eyebrow and smiled a little.  I felt pretty important being the only calcite here.  That feeling didn’t last long, however, because I didn’t even know if I’d end up carrying out what I came here for.

“Then I suppose that this one,” Alabaster nodded toward me, “is currently the most important gem here, in terms of completing the mission.”

“What does that have to do with anything right now?” I asked them.  I didn’t get an answer though, as we were all distracted by a noise coming from above our heads.

“GUYS!” Amber’s voice shouted as she buzzed back. “There’s a human driving a vehicle towards us with a fusion and an Amethyst and another peridot in it, and there’s also a Lapis Lazuli flying our way and I think she saw me and there’s also a human riding a really big fluffy pink aminal!”

I hummed in uncertainty and worry.  I didn’t know the intentions of these gems, but I couldn’t quite say they were hostile.  These had to be the Crystal Gems, there was no other option.  I was going to stick by my claims until proven wrong.

I squared my shoulders and turned to Amber.  “How long will take for them to arrive at our location?”

“I don’t know. A few minutes?” Amber shrugged. “I want to hug the animal. It looks soft.”

“Yeah. We aren't doing that,” Alabaster said. “Do we have any rooms that we can easily defend?”

“What would we defend?” Obsidian questioned, now right next to Beryl.  She jumped when she heard the static voice next to her.  “The ship is in ruins.”

“Bismuth’s still poofed and all the robonoids are offline. Can’t find the activation key,” the peridot responded.

“We’d be protecting ourselves. And those who haven't reformed,” Alabaster stated.

“So keep Jasper by the poofed gems and the rest of us will discuss with our guests.”  Obsidian smiled, which was more terrifying than anything else I had seen today.

“And if we're all killed? You expect Jasper to protect against them all?” Alabaster asked.

“We won’t be,” I said with more confidence than I felt.  I could see a vehicle on the horizon, so there was no point in hiding now.  We were going to see this thing through, for better or worse.

“Fine, but if things go south, it's not my fault. Also, someone else should probably do most of the talking.”

The van and the animal came to a halt next to the rock Obsidian had been sitting on, and the people dismounted their respective modes of transportation.  The Lapis Lazuli continued to hover in the air, the soft sound of her beating wings the only noise between the two parties. Beryl grabbed onto my wrist, tight, as Hematite rushed towards the group at full speed.

“Hey there!  I see you’ve found our little base.  You must be quite the mystery hunters!  Does the lion talk too?”  She cackled at the top of her lungs, but there was no turning back now.  She was already on a roll.  “Hey Lapis!  WATER you doing up there?  Come down and join the conversation!”

“Can I smash her?” the Lapis Lazuli called down, to which the taller human responded “Um...no, Lapis.” Come to think of it...they looked like a human, but there was a Rose Quartz on their navel.

“So...” the probably-rose-quartz spoke up. “Welcome to Earth! I’m Stevonnie, we are the Crystal Gems...and uh...we hope you’re not gonna cause any trouble?”

“I don’t see any reason why we would,” Beryl said, not releasing her grip on my wrist.  She refused to make eye contact with anyone, and I could tell she was trying not to get too anxious.  It would be unfortunate if she poofed in front of everyone right now.

“Umm...” Amber raised her hand and stepped forwards timidly. “Can I...can I pet the big pink thing? It looks soft.”

“Uh, sure.” Stevonnie nodded. “If he lets you.”

Amber hesitantly moved closer and began petting Lion. He bristled, then relaxed.

“Woow...this is soft...”

“Yeah. Don’t reach too deep though, you’ll get lost in there. Literally.”

Amber nodded. “Ok then. Sorry. I’ll go back now...” She buzzed back off to the ship.

Alabaster looked at the others, then, realizing no one was going to talk, stepped forward. “Look, I don’t know why you’ve come here, but maybe all of you should return to… wherever it is you came from. We aren’t looking for a fight, but we don’t want company either.”

The tall fusion stepped forward, her visor flashing in the obscured sunlight, and said in a calm, unemotional voice, “We understand. You are welcome in Beach City so long as you leave the humans be and don’t brandish any weapons unless attacked.”

“That shouldn’t affect our plans or mission at all, so fine. We will agree to your terms,” Alabaster said, standing straighter so they were nearly as tall as the fusion.

The fusion nodded. “Agreed, then. If you need anything, I am Garnet. We’ll go now.”

They piled back into the car, and were soon on their way back.  I swore I felt a sigh of relief emit from the group.

“That went well. We’re not dead!” our peridot declared.

“And I suppose that, as long as we follow their rules, we’ll be left alone to figure out our next plan of action,” Alabaster agreed. “But I don’t trust them. Whatever we’re going to do, it’s best we do it soon.”

“Well...we got nothing to do till Bismuth wakes up...” Peridot shrugged. “And Cuprite...we’re gonna need her...I think everyone here but Jasper needs a therapist. Speaking of, where are the Rubies?”

[kj-at-your-fingertips]

Billy (Yellow Tanzanite)

for @apollowuzhere