Crystal Lite AU

[panspermia]

In the years since the Crystal Gems were last seen, things have gotten... interesting, in the Universe family. Monsters don't stop attacking the temple simply because its inhabitants are gone, and dangerous artifacts don't stop threatening humanity. The last remaining remnant of the Crystal Gems is one little boy, without any proper magical guidance or teachers of his heritage to show the way. What he has left to him is a handful of abandoned relics to piece together hints, and the secondhand experience of his very ordinary, very overwhelmed father.

They get by. His powers are growing, slowly but steadily. With each new ally or ability they uncover, things get a little better. It's never easy, but it's not as hard. And they've always got each other to count on, no matter what. So long as they've got that, there's nothing in the universe that can stop them.... though it does try.

Comments

Okay!

[oceantier]

She remembers Lion. Mostly as an enormous nose whuffling at the surface of the mirror, fogging up the glass with his great gouts of animal breath.

Not the greatest first impression. Her skepticism remains firmly in place as she gives another short nod and trails after him.

"Why does he know about Rose Quartz?"

She's not going to shorten it to "Rose" like he does.

[fragileandsoft]

"Well, I haven't really asked. I don't speak Lion."

A rumbling noise answers the comment. The feline in question stands at the bottom of the stairs, watching them with faintly glowing eyes.

"Speak of the devil--glad you didn't go far, pal!"

Greg rushes down the stairs, but Lion keeps his gaze fixed firmly on Lapis. His teeth aren't bared, and he doesn't growl again, but he stands tense, waiting, watching.

"Uhhhh--right. You left earlier, you didn't get to meet her. This is Lapis Lazuli! She's--she's gonna help us find Steven. Right? She's a friend!" Lion still doesn't move, and Greg waves Lapis closer. "We're aaaaaall on the same side here. Working together. Yeah?"

[oceantier]

Yeeeah. Sure. All on the same side.

Lapis has frozen where she is, feet braced on the stairs, staring back at the enormous, pink feline below. She doesn't trust it. She knows it doesn't trust her. They have a standoff between them, Gem and lion, with Greg in between. It's not an angry standoff, but it is a standoff all the same.

[fragileandsoft]

Or, everyone could just stare at each other. Greg looks between the two parties, waiting for someone to... smile, or come closer, or maybe blink, but each seems to be waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, he groans softly.

"Oookay. Lion, we need to find something that belonged to Rose. Someplace she kept... I dunno, some bottles of tears, or something? Lapis is hurt."

For another moment, Lion doesn't move. Then, his eyes flicker over to Greg.

"She's going to help us, Lion. But we need to help her first."

The cat huffs out a breath through his nose, and shakes out his mane. Whether it's the promise of help finding Steven or the notion that she's weakened, Lion seems placated for the moment.

[oceantier]

The latter is more what Lapis is worried about. The lion is an unknown here; while she knows humans don't have powers, lions are a question mark. And considering that this one has glowing eyes . . .

Yeeeah. Going to stay wary around this one.

With it seemingly placated for the moment, Lapis edges forward, down a few (though not all) of the remaining stairs, keeping some distance between herself and the feline.

"Are you sure he knows where to go?"

[fragileandsoft]

"I'm not sure of anything."

It's not a joke, it's a grim fact. Greg is flying completely blind, here, and is grasping at whatever straws he can find.

He climbs up onto Lion's back. As Greg holds out a hand to help Lapis up, the cat eyes her; not glaring, not anxious, not evidently anything but looking.

[oceantier]

The quick flick of her eyes in his direction tells him that's not really comforting.

On a slow, arching path to Lion's flank, she comes, a corner of her attention always focused on the fact that the pink feline is watching. (It might not be ominous intent at the moment, but the fact that he watches so carefully is a form of ominous in itself.)

Hand slipping into Greg's, she allows him to help her up onto the great cat, settling as best she can behind him.

No teeth nipping for her leg yet, but she's not fully counting on anything.

[fragileandsoft]

If Lapis wanted confidence, experience, and thorough planning, she made allies with the exact wrong being.

The moment Lapis has perched on Lion's back, the cat's eyes turn bright, glowing white, and he starts running without any input from Greg.

"O--Okay, buddy, uhh, I guess you know where to--aaahlapisholdontight!"

Lion lets out a roar, the rippling effect carrying down the beach. Several feet ahead, it congeals into a portal, and the three of them plunge through.

[oceantier]

Really could have warned her earlier on this, Greg. There's a yelp from the Gem behind him, and he may suddenly find himself squeezed way too tightly around the belly as she seizes hold.

(Secretly she finds she likes it; it's like plunging into a unexpected downdraft while flying.)

She doesn't relinquish her (rather tight) grip, opening an eye to stare in admiration at the portal around them, brief as it is.

[fragileandsoft]

Lion's warp space whooshes around them, all bright and alien motion, for an unending yet brief stretch of seconds.

Then, just as quickly as they dove in, they plunge out the other side. Greg's gotten to ride Lion enough to brace himself against whiplash, but the sudden stop does get him a faceful of mane. "Guh... sorry there, buddy--woah, woah!"

Before Greg can recover, Lion's already making an effort to shake the two riders off; the cat's suddenly deeply irritated, and has no patience for human banter. Greg has to make an effort not to fall into any of the thorny patches poking from the cracked earth. In fact, there seems to be more thorny vines than stone in a lot of places, and Lion lacked the luck to make a clean arrival.