Beyond Her Colony

Chapter One

     Steven's bubble slammed against the back wall, cracks appearing in the stone. He and Connie were thrown against the side of the bubble, both yelping in pain. Tanzanite chuckled and approached, rearing back his arm to swing his blade, but I screamed and threw myself into him, tackling him. We rolled on the ground, trying to pin each other.

     He dug his boot into the cracks on the cobble and he pinned my shoulders down breathing hard. "Pathetic!" He yelled through clenched teeth as he reared back his sword with both hands, but Amethyst's whip sliced straight through his gem, shattering it in two. His sword clattered to the ground when his physical form disappeared, and the two gem fragments clinked on the cobble. Amethyst looked down to the fragments and gasped, dropping her whip.

     "I didn't think I'd shatter him!" She cried, stepping back. I stood, cracking my knuckles.

     "Just... please don't do it again." Garnet said quietly as she lifted the shards and bubbled them, touching the top and sending it away. Steven popped the bubble, and Connie dropped her sword.

     "Was that another Tanzanite? What is with them?" She blurted. I rubbed the back of my neck.

     "It's quite a long story." Looking around at the Kindergarten, I breathed in the musty air. Dust from the fight was settling, and Peridot peeked out from behind a rock. She glanced around, then, attempting to act nonchalant and casual, swaggered over. "Your help would have been much appreciated, Peridot," I brushed off my arms, and Peridot threw her hands forward.

     "I was going to help, but then I saw this weird...object behind the rock that I...uh, thought I should investigate!" She claimed, but I didn't believe it. Neither did Garnet.

     Amethyst stuck out a hip. "The fight lasted twenty minutes, Peri! How can you examine a rock for that long?"

     Peridot began to stammer random words. Garnet and I exchanged glances, and she then waved her hand. "Stop it. Peridot, we're only going to allow you to come on these missions if you'll aid us in battle. Do you understand?"

     "But the rock wa-"

     "Do you understand?" Garnet leaned forwards, closer to Peridot. Peridot chewed her lip and nodded. I clapped my hands together.

     "Alright! First thing's first. Is everyone alright? Steven, is your gem cracked? Connie, did you break anything?"

     Connie and Steven chuckled. "No, Pearl, we're fine." Steven answered, and I turned to the others. Garnet held up both her hands, showing that they were not scratched or cracked. Amethyst pulled down her shirt slightly and revealed that she was perfectly fine. I glanced to Peridot's gem, which was somehow slightly cracked.

     "How have you already cracked your gem? You didn't do anything!" Amethyst exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "All you did was examine some stupid rock!"

     "Guys!" Peridot yelled, and all of us fell silent. She let out a calm breath, then gestured to the rock. "Look, the rock had legs and was blue. It was moving and while you guys were fighting the Tanzanites, I was fighting the rock. It smashed its body into my gem and cracked it."

     I glanced to Garnet as we summoned our weapons and rushed over to the area where Peridot had been fighting the mysterious rock. I did notice a deeper blue pebble on the ground, but when I picked it up, I didn't notice any distinct legs. I waved it at Peridot. "Is this it?" She nodded, stepping back and away from it. Garnet took the rock from my grasp and observed it.

     "This is just a pebble," Garnet smashed her thumb and forefinger together, smashing the piece into dust. She shook her hand and began walking through the canyon. "Let's go before another dangerous pebble cracks Peridot's gem even more."