Pearl ran full speed through the woods. The gem beast was roaring and stomping behind her, but Steven was in her side vision keeping up nicely. They reached the clearing and Pearl grabbed Steven with both hands and without stopping shoved him ahead of her.
Steven hit the rock wall with an audible thud, but Pearl ignored it and started shoving.
"Squeeze in, Steven! Squeeze!"
Pearl pushed and shoved until Steven let out a coughing sound and popped through the crack. Then Pearl wriggled in herself, but before she was cleanly inside, she felt a light beam from the gem beast hit her on her back. She shuddered again and felt her legs give out, but Steven caught her and dragged her deeper into the cave.
They wedged themselves back into behind some ridges. The beast roared, chewed at the crack, and shot at them for a while, but the shot burned the walls next to them harmlessly and after a while the beast growled and backed off.
Pearl waited for the feeling to return to her legs before pushing off Steven's chest and standing up. Evening standing, the space was tight enough that they weren't far apart.
"Thank you," Pearl sighed, her hands still on Steven's chest. She took a deep breath. "We'll wait here for a while until we recharge a bit, then go back for my sword." Frowning, Pearl dropped her hand to her sides. "Unless… have you got a weapon? And how did you make that bubble? And where is your gem and harness?"
These were questions that Pearl should have asked months ago. She'd never seen Steven's gem or harness. And even though she'd been to the medical building, she'd never seen Steven's name on any of the rotation sheets. She should have been suspicious, but Steven had been so good to her during these last eight months, so encouraging, so sweet, that she'd never bothered.
Steven looked down for a while before shifting and opening his cloak. Under the cloak was a plain pink shirt which he lifted to reveal a pink gem, not in a harness, but set directly into his body.
"Rose! You're a natural gem?" Pearl said in disbelief.
"I'm an organic-natural gem hybrid."
"A… what? I've never heard of such a thing before. That's… that's… Amazing! Do have a weapon!"
"Yea, a shield."
"Oh, my stars! That's amazing! A shield, a protective bubble. Anything else?"
"… Lots. I'm still learning control, though. I do more damage than anything else."
"My stars! Do the Pink Stars know about this?"
Steven's face fell. "You can't tell them you know about me! It's a secret! Top level clearance only, even the soldiers on the base know nothing. If they find out you know…"
"I might get in trouble," Pearl muttered. "Or worse. You might get in trouble." Pearl took both of Steven's hands in her own. "I swear on my honor I won't tell anyone about this. You have my word, Rose Quartz. I'll protect you."
Steven's eyes watered up as he smiled. "Pearl…" he muttered.
Pearl smiled for a second, then looked over her shoulder. "I don't hear anything," she whispered.
"Me neither," said Steven. "Let's go. I'll go out first with my shield, you make a run for your sword."
"Right."
Steven edged out of the space first and crept up to the mouth of the cave. He peeked out of the crack and whispered back.
"It's gone for now."
"Okay," Pearl said. "Let's go."
Steven nodded and squeezed out of the crack, after which Pearl followed.
#
Outside the cave, Steven tensed and over his left arm materialized a pink shield with a flowered design on it. Pearl smiled in delight as she eyed the shield.
"I love it!" she squealed.
"Thanks," Steven said, blushing. Then he straightened his face. "Okay, sword."
"Right, sword."
They marched off toward the cliff, moving fast, keeping quiet. The forest was still unnaturally quiet, no birdsong, no animals in the underbrush. Everything was hiding. The gem beast was still nearby.
Pearl wondered what it was. She'd never seen a gem animal before coming to New Homeworld, but had seen two since. But she'd been too busy training to ask the Pink Stars what they were, where they came from, or why they were exclusive to New Homeworld. She also didn't know what the Pink Stars had done with the last gem beast's gem instead of shattering it, or where the gem was now. Garnet had sort of caught it and done some sleight of hand to disappear it from sight. Pearl frowned to herself as he realized how little she knew about New Homeworld and the Pink Stars. She wasn't sure even why she'd been chosen to join them before she'd even been born.
As they approached the cliff, she glanced at Steven; a natural-organic hybrid and living secret. He probably knew more than she did, but now wasn't the time to ask.
The sword was up ahead, near the cliff edge. Steven fell behind her, keeping back towards the forest while Pearl went for her sword. She was almost at it when she heard a roar. Without thinking, Pearl dove forward, but it was too late. A light beam hit the sword and knocked it over the edge of the cliff.
Swallowing a scream of frustration, Pearl whirled around and faced Steven and the gem beast. Steven was fighting the beast alone, blocking light beam shots with his shield and getting in hits while the beast was charging up between shots. Pearl clenched her fists and planted her feet. She was going to fight. Even if it was with her bare hands, she was going to fight. She touched her gem, for luck, for courage, then charged into the fight with a roar.
Her shout must have scared Steven, because he blocked a light beam, then turned and looked at her. Pearl barreled past him and leapt into the air, bringing her right fist down on the gem beast's head. Light wrapped around her fist, condensed, solidified, and created a sword which met the beast's next light beam head on. There was a moment of tension where Pearl was held in midair, falling into the beast sword-first and getting knocked away with the same amount of force. Then the balance tipped and she was blown back clean into the air, head over heels.
"Connie!"
Steve's voice came from all around her as she was spinning. Then he was by her side, clutching her around the waist, holding her to him.
"Steven!" Pearl grinned, then noticed the cliff edge passing them an arm's length away. She clutched Steven and bit back a scream.
"It's okay!" Steven shouted. "I got us!"
The cliff rolled by, slower than it should.
"Gem power?" Pearl asked.
"Yep," Steven said.
"Steven, you're amazing!"
"Thanks. I like your sword."
Pearl beamed and looked at her gem weapon. The sword was a standard cutlass with a board, slightly curved blade of solid deep red and a black hilt with a cupped guard. She felt its presence to her bones and knew that she would never struggle for it again.
"Connie! It's coming!" Steven shouted.
Looking up, Pearl saw the gem beast running down the side of the cliff, shooting at them. She wriggled in Steven's grip, brandishing her sword. Steven held her tighter.
"Connie! Wait until we reach the ground!"
"Can you speed us up?" Connie shouted, watching the beast come closer. "Then slow down right before we reach the ground!"
"Right!" Steven shouted, and they began dropping faster, faster even than natural. Then in a few seconds they suddenly stopped.
After a second of hovering, they touched solid ground again and Pearl jumped from Steven's grip.
"Cover me!" she shouted as the gem beast came barreling towards the bottom of the cliff, then she charged forward.
This time she aimed for the underside of the beast, slashing from the left and right before rolling back to the right to allow Steven to block a shot from the beast's antenna. She spun on the spot, then came back around to slash again, this time right above the beast's gem. It roared, lit up, then poofed into a cloud of smoke. Then the smoke cleared, a single gem was left behind.
Pearl frowned and lifted the point of her sword over the gem only to have Steven shout.
"No!" He caught her arm. "It's not her fault! You don't have to destroy her."
"What… what are those things…?"
"That's… complicated. I'm sorry."
Pearl sighed. "It's fine. I understand." She dissipated her sword and watched Steven place the gem in the bubble and send it away. That explained the sleight of hand.
"I'd better go, Connie," Steven muttered.
"Me too," Pearl sighed. She spied her original sword by the cliff foot and wandered over to it. "That was way more training than I intended."
Steven laughed. "New Homeworld can be more unpredictable than the colonies, I'm told." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small communicator. "Here. For you."
Pearl took it with a smile and a blush. "I'll see you soon, Steven."
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