Fairy Tails

Fairy Tails

A roar bellowed out against the sky, rupturing the clouds with quick, violent bursts of light. The rain was heavy, raging down like bullets being whipped sideways by the winds. The air rushed and hollered, piercing the tops of trees with a deep hiss. The grass was drowning in mud.

Noises of turmoil, desperate effort and weakened breathing sounded from below a small thicket. The figure hiding within eventually did crawl out, a deep orange arm covered in deep blue markings extending their claws to seep into the dampened earth. With a heave, they came forward, fighting the resistance of the heavy bush and exposing themselves to the storm. Rain beat down against her back, barbed with small spikes that were a fascinating amalgamation of colors. A heavy tail thumped hard into the mud, carrying identical, smaller stone-like spikes.

Her eyes blinked. She kept blinking them, full of dirt and rain, and the color red. She always saw red when she was like this. Sometimes it changed color, sometimes it was blue, or yellow, and it wasn't so bad. But the horn on her head pulsed with pain. It shot waves into her body, further inhibiting her will to move further.

"..Why.." She had no energy to do anything more but clasp the glowing horn in her head, feeling the pulsating, numbing sensation shoot into her body. She hated it. She wanted to just give in. Always in the back of her mind, if I give in...what will happen to me?

But that sinking feeling was enough to strike fear into her. It was enough, that sudden moment of dread, of giving into whatever "it" was, to will her to stand, heaving softly, her body weak. Her vision was still blurred, but she trudged on regardless. She stumbled forward, careful in her weakness and vulnerability. She knew the storm would swallow her if she didn't keep running.

While the storm raged like a vengeful god above him, Steven was internally panicking. His shoes, wholly unprepared for the downpour that had come out of nowhere, splashed and squelched in each mud puddle he accidentally stumbled through. His shield, positioned protectively above his head as he ran, provided only the barest amounts of light that kept him from running into trees or off large slopes. Of course, the lightning was an even better source of light, but Steven wasn't about to be thankful for it, not when it was flashing and booming so close to his location, setting his nerves on edge each time.

"Periiiidot?!? PERIDOTTTT!?!"

---

The morning had started off much less eventfully. He and Peridot had decided to travel half-way up the mountains near Beach City, having Steven's dad drive them ("are you two sure you're going to be ok up there?") and hiking up the rest of the way. Steven had had troubles making it so far with Peridot's quick gem pace, especially with his Cheesburger backpack filled to the brim with snacks and various board games as it was, but it had all been worth it when they reached what the nerdy green gem had been looking for; mineral deposits.

"Do you see these Steven? Pure ore, ripe for the taking! Why didn't I come up here ages ago?? All of my projects would have been significantly improved!" Steven had huffed and puffed on a nearby rock, giving Peridot a thumbs up as he caught his breath. He smiled, watching the gem start on a nerdy rant as she collected samples. Her rant used highly complex language and Steven only caught the words "amazing!" and "Signifigant improvement" out of the whole of it, but what really mattered was the way her eyes shone with a light that he had only seen before when she was with her tablet or various alien-themed memorabilia.

Yup, totally worth it, he had thought.

---

"This was so not worth it!!"

Steven stopped running, whirling this way and that in the middle of a clearing as he heard a strange howl. It echoed through the trees, and if it hadn't been raining so hard, Steven betted it would have sent birds flying from their branches in fright.

"Peridot...?"

A rustle came from the bushes, something large and obviously not Peridot. Steven let his head get wet for a moment as he directed his shield towards the noise.

"Please be a goat or rabbit or something cute..." the gem stumbled out of the bush, and Steven's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the corrupted gem creature "Aaa! Not a rabbit!"

A noise. A voice.

Instantly, the gem's ears perked, and her body stiffened. The rain cascaded down against her form. The pain in her head suddenly pulsed, a shockwave of agony coursing through her. But as soon as it came, it went. But it was enough to make the large Pietersite flinch and stumble back. Teeth bared and clutching hard, her jaw tense, eyes tightened shut. She clasped her horn again, as it began to glow a deep, reddish light. As it brightened, abruptly illuminating the clearing as if a lightning bolt struck down over them.

Then it vanished.

The pain was gone. the glowing ceased. And the horn...was smaller. While still a reputable size, it was not the swollen mass forcing itself out of the gem's head as it was before.

"It...I'm..." In a disgruntled groan, she blinked more. The red was going away, she could see now. And before her, she looked into the terrified eyes of a small child, trembling at her feet, shakily steadying a pink shield in-front of him.

"...I'm, better." She brought her hands down, away from her face, looking at them. Her claws were gone, no longer stretching her fingers out. "It feels so much better...You." Hazel eyes, swirling with too many emotions to name, met with Steven's. The gem took a step closer.

"You...shouldn't be...out here.." Suddenly, everything felt weak, her body feeling as though it was failing. "It's...dangerous..."

Sure enough, her knees gave way, and she stumbled onto the ground hard enough to shake the earth. Knocked out cold, the gem fell over onto Steven.

Admin Note:

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Thank you,

Lapis Lazuli.

Admin Note: Garnet is unlocking this thread as the roleplay requirements have been met.

Steven's eyes widened as the unknown gem took a step closer to him, and another. Now that he was over the shock of a mysterious gem jumping out of nowhere at him, he could see that she wasn't like the other corrupted gems, not really. Sure, she was large and spiky and previously had claws, but from what he could see through the rain... her eyes, her eyes shone with intelligence, almost human.

It reminded him, he thought with an uncomfortable jolt, of Centi.

Steven stepped forward and let his shield disappear, reaching out a tentative hand, as if he could pull the Pietersite back from the brink of corruption with will alone. He didn't get much further than that, though, because the next thing Steven knew, he was on the ground with a hulking mass of orange gem atop him.

Steven's breath flew out of him at the sudden weight, and he was startled so much that he couldn't do more then lie there blinking in shock, wetness soaking into the back of his jeans and white hair tickling his face. After a moment, however, he gained his bearing, and knew; this gem needed help. His help. Steven slipped and slided on the mud underneath him for a few moments before he was able to gain the necessary leverage to haul Tempest up and off of his body; he gently set her back down next to him, on her back, but he didn't like the way that she was entirely unresponsive to the rain hitting her already wetted face.

Steven would have slapped some healing spit onto the problem in an effort to fix everything, but as he examined the gem's face and body parts that were visible through the mud, no obvious gemstone stood out. So, he was forced to go with the slightly more difficult option; dragging the gem somewhere warm and dry and safe until she woke up, .

Well, the warm and dry parts would be pretty difficult in this storm, but after a few minutes of walking, limp gem being dragged by her arm behind him, the small gem hybrid found something that was, at the very least, safe; a hollowed out tree, not unlike the one he and Connie had taken refuge in when up North, barely fit both of them (Steven had to move Tempest and her limbs into a sitting position, and even then his back was to the rain), but it stopped the light and sound of the lighting strikes and wind from being as close and real.

Now, all there was left to do was wait.

Come home.

Darkness and nothingness. That's all she could see or feel.

Come home to me.

An echo reverberated in her mind. She stirred.

Why can't you see me?

"Mmm..."

She felt herself come into consciousness. Her eyelids were heavy as she struggled to open them. At first, her vision was blurry. The darkness and nothingness that surrounded her slowly dissipated, to form what appeared to be the inside of a cave. With a heave of her chest, air filling her lungs, she blinked a second time, released a sigh, and focused. It was dark, with a shimmer of light in her peripherals. Her body turned ever so slightly, and when she realized she was not in pain, relaxed her shoulders.

Her eyes widened. It was the boy.

In an instant her back flung against the wall of the cave as she pushed herself hard against it in sudden shock. Hurried and short breaths left her mouth, the force of her surprise shaking the structure they were hidden within.  It took a moment for the situation to settle in. Once it was apparent there was no imminent danger, the orange being slipped down to the floor.

"Just...leave me alone. Please don't hurt me." Her elongated, pointed ears slanted down in submission, eyes drooped and whirling with a deep, musty hazel. Her composition was tense as her fingers dug into the soil they rested in. "I just..." Her expression hardened. "You're a kid...you shouldn't be out here." Her eyes traveled to the weathering storm outside, "...It's dangerous."

It started with a finger twitch that he didn't even notice, digging through his soggy backpack for anything not touched by the rain as he was, but he certainly noticed that the unknown gem was awake when she flung herself bodily at the wall behind her, rattling the walls of the tree they took refuge in. Steven unconsciously clutched his cheeseburger backpack close, eyes wide as the orange gem's eyes met his.

"Just... leave me alone. Please don't hurt me"

"I... I'm not going to hurt you" he smiled in reassurance, though his heart was torn up inside at seeing how fearful and hurt the gem was. At least she didn't seem to be corrupted mentally "I'm Steven"

"I just... you're a kid, you shouldn't be out here ...it's dangerous"

He followed her gaze towards the storm outside, where the lightning and thunder were starting to abate, but not much else. He laughed nervously and rubbed at his arm in abashment.

"I didn't mean to get stuck here, me and Peridot were already up here when the storm started..." he perked up, eyes shining "Oh! Once the rain stops, you could help me look for Peridot! Then you could meet the Crystal Gems! They'd love to meet another gem-!"

Steven considered that Tempest was a homeworld gem, but he decided that it didn't really matter, in the end; she wasn't hurting anyone and she needed his help; the less could be said of Peridot when he'd found her, and look at her now!

Tempest blinked softly, gaze slowly passing from the heavy rain down to the child looking up at her, subtly confused with his sudden joyous countenance. It took her some time to finally let her muscles completely relax. Another extended sigh. Her breath was finally catching up with her.

"Er...I figured you weren't just out here for the fun of it. Human children can be unpredictable, though." She contemplated, softly to herself for the most part, only mumbling.  She changed from her current position, tail sweeping beside her as she crossed her legs. She let her back rest against the wall, and at this moment, took the time to gaze up to take in the environment.

"...Oh. It's a tree." She blinked, it was indeed a hollowed tree they were sheltered in. Shadows crawled up the interior and hid away from the light coming from the small hole in the trunk that Steven had his back to. The orange gem watched Steven for a moment. How he precariously shifted his eyes. Rubbing his arm. A feeling began to coil itself around her. She could sense his uncertainty, his hope, his fear and his optimism all at once. It was a strange collaboration of sensations. Tempest's ears twitched.

"Are you afraid of me?" The gem asked in earnest. She settled herself, allowing her nerves to calm. She wanted to extend a feeling of security to the boy, letting him know he didn't have to feel scared. Her eyes softened, hazel eyes forming a reflecting, blue-grey hue. Slowly, she bent forward, and outstretched her arm. Deep blue markings complimented the intense orange and gradients of red in her skin.

"Are you afraid of the storm? It's alright. I don't bite, I promise...my name's Tempest." She wore a crooked smile, pointed ears perking a little.  "So, Steven...Uhh, who's Peridot?"