Infinite Skies

A New Day

Author's note: I can't believe I completely forgot to put this part first. Also, I've decided to call each section "episodes" instead of "books".
______________________________________

Episode 2: First Mission

A New Day

An invasion has begun. Green fire rains over the doomed planet, the screams of many innocents growing quieter and quieter as time passes and more of the world dies.

Above this burning world, this planet that had no hope of escaping its ultimate fate, a pair of wings flap gently. The wing's owner stumbles for a moment before regaining her balance in the air, constantly fighting to keep someone dear to her in hold, someone she whom she held dearer than even life itself. She looks down sadly at the one she was willing to sacrifice millions for, her heart hurting as her unwilling prisoner struggled to be free.
______________________________________

Sanctuary: Present

Steven lied calmly in his bed, a new bed he gained upon coming to Sanctuary. Apparently that was something that all residents, regardless of who or what they were, were given, along with other essentials that varied from specie to specie. The supplies would typically be enough to hold them off for a year, after which they would need to find a job to buy more, which weren't in short supply, surprisingly. If the new resident was a child with no caretakers, they would be given to a home that would hold and take care of them until someone finally came to adopt them, sort of like an orphanage for the multiverse.

The bed would have been comfortable, even better than the one he had in his old home, except for one thing, the blue water gem next to him, squeezing him tightly. Granted, he wasn't all that aggravated by this, he had lived with it for five thousand years, minus the first hundred where she watched him sleep to make sure he made no more suicide attempts. Still, it was something he didn't like, but lived with.

Steven let out a small gasp as Lapis suddenly tightened her hold on him, the hybrid groaning in response.

"Lapis, I know you're awake." He said.

A short pause came, followed by a little laugh. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Steven sighed, managing a smile. "No, I've been awake for awhile. You?"

"Same." Lapis answered. "…It's kind of weird. It's been awhile since we've seen anyone. Now, there are people and gems everywhere. It's going to be strange. It's been a long time it's just been you and me.

"Yea…" Alpha trailed off. "It has been a long time."
______________________________________

Rose Wings hummed a soft little tune, using his wings to easily reach the counter, wearing a perfectly clean white apron saying "Kiss the chef" in bright pink letters. On the stove, two pans sat, bacon sizzling in one, scrambled eggs in another.

"Mm, smells great."

Rose Wings turned to find Water Wings coming from his room.

"Good morning." Rose Wings sang with a wave.

Water Wings gave a chuckle. "Well you seem happy this morning." He commented, sitting down at the table.

"Well of course I am." Rose Wings said, scooping some of the eggs and one especially crisp piece of bacon onto a plate, moving to their fridge. "Today's our new recruits' first mission."

"Ah, right." Water Wings responded, truly already knowing the answer.

"Syrup as usual?" Rose Wings asked, earning a nod from his pal.

"So, what's the mission going to be?" Water Wings asked.

"Dunno." Rose Wings responded, gently flying over and placing a plate with a burned piece of bacon and syrup covered eggs before him, just the way Water Wings liked it. "Green and GB went out this morning to request it and neither of them told me what they were going to ask for." He said, going back to the stove. "You don't think this Steven's vegan, do you?"

Water Wings casually waved his hand in the air. "Meh, kid could use some meat on his bones either way." He said, looking down and realizing with a blank expression that he had no silverware.

A door slammed open. Jazz sliding into the kitchen. "Meat?" She ran up to Rose Wings, the Steven holding out one of his rose petal wings and halting her.

"Ah ah ah, organics first, you know the rules. You can get whatever's left." He said without turning, keeping his wing out as a precaution.

Jazz sighed, turning to go to the table. She sat down, resting her head on her hand, glancing over to find Water Wings using his water wings to scoop up his eggs.

"What? At least I'm not using my hands this time."

Another door creaked open.

"Geez, you guys are worse than my old Amethyst." Steven said in rosey pink pajamas, Lapis trailing closely after him. Steven sat down on one of the two newly purchased wooden chairs at the recently lengthened table, accommodations the team had made for their newest recruits. "And she used break a plate literally every week."

"Ah Amethysts. Can't live with them, can't live without them." Rose Wings mused.

Steven raised an eyebrow. He was still getting used to his dramatically changed life, and one of the things he was having a hard time adapting to was how different people or gems sometimes were referred to in plurals. It wasn't bad, or even offensive, it was just odd to genuinely think about that there were multitudes of the same person who generally had the same personalities. It was somewhat humorous to think about how one could spend a lifetime learning about the variations in personality of a single person.

"Hey Steven." Water Wings nonchalantly called. "Rosy asked you how you liked your bacon?"

Like that, Steven was brought back to his old life, cooking his own food to what he considered perfection, Amethyst sometimes eagerly waiting for her own, not caring how it was prepared as long as she could fit it in her mouth.

"I don't really know." Steven answered halfway without thinking, yanking himself from the memories before he could become too wrapped up in them as he had in his first hundred years, something he eventually realized was an inefficient use of time.

"Oh…crisp then?"

"Sure." Steven answered. He listened as his rose winged counterpart hummed a familiar tune, one he could swear he heard his Garnet sing once. He looked out the rounded window in their little base, gazing almost in disbelief at a beautiful world outside. "Today's a new day."
______________________________________

Author's note: See, everything's been thought of here in sanctuary…that doesn't mean it's anywhere near perfect though. You can't blame them though for some flaws, especially those involving the cult worshipping Apocalypse (they're actually very peaceful, the problems occur because of everyone holding a grudge against the guy). Hey, at least Sanctuary is considerate of everyone. You be you.