Steven Universe fan fic: episode 1: Reformed

"My body... Why can't I reshape it faster? I can tell it to return to normal but it refuses to let me. Long, black hair as usual, grey skin, charcoal eyes. That's my head, now to the rest. Long arms, and legs, that brings me to about 6ft now if I'm guessing right, maybe a little taller, hard to tell with no reference. Now on to my clothes, last time I was formed, it was a black shirt, brown jacket, red scarf, grey pants? I think that was right. Fully clothed fully formed, now let's try this again!"

*******

Under a pile of rubble in the kindergarten, a bright white flash shined through the cracks, just long enough to catch the eyes of a passerby before a puff of white smoke fumed from between the rocks.

*******

"No, no, no! Please work, I can't stand being stuck here, I have a mission I'm meant to fulfill! Rose Quartz, and her gems probably know Jasper's strategy! I don't want to be the one gem that couldn't hold their own..." Silence drifted through the empty space. "I'll try this again."

******

A young girl, probably only ten stared at the rocks. She had short brown hair, boyish in appearance if not for the fact that she wore a yellow dress with white frills in the openings. She wore a pair of black dress shoes that she was given not five days ago. On he'd feet were knee high socks that were as white as snow. She was told to stay close while playing in her dress, but she'd always been adventurous. Now, she could have sworn that she saw a white light coming from it. She ran over, and looked at the rocks, inspecting them for a few minutes. She was worried that she was starting to see things. This place was creepy enough as it was. Giant drills were everywhere, and her daddy told her that this place was full of wierd things. She knelled against the ground, her dress rubbing in the dirt. She moved the rocks about tugging them away with all her strength. She was stronger than some of the neighbor boys, and took great pride in her strength, still young though, the rocks proved hard to move.

"Are you serious! Why are these things so hard to move! You'd think they were iron or something!" She complained as she pulled aside another rock. Her hands, now covered in dirt from the rocks, pulled apart two smaller rocks. She couldn't see very well in the darkness, the clouds hanging over the place providing little light to look inside. She reached inside her sock, and pulled out a small torch for just such an occasion. It was a flat keychain torch you could get at a the general store, but better than nothing. She pressed hard against the little button hoping that it would light up. To her glee, it did, and shined a dim light through the rocks. She'd have to replace it soon at the rate it was expiring. As she scanned over the small cave created by them. In the center, she found a decent sized, black gem. She grabbed it, and looked it over.

"No way! This is like one of the things dad buys mommy when she's mad, and I just found one for free!" She smiled wide, and wrapped it in her dress. "Can't let daddy take this from me, I found it, I get to keep it." She rose off the dirt, unaware of what she'd just found. She ran home, eager to find out what kind of gemstone it was.

The moment she stepped through the door to her house, her father stepped in her way. "And where have you been, young lady?"

"Out playin'." The girl responded playfully.

"That's odd, I didn't see you outside. Did you play in one of the neighbors yards?"

"Yeah, Suzy was playing in the sand box, but I wanted to play in the dirt."

"Her mother didn't call."

"She forgot?"

"Rachel, I told you that exploring the canyon isn't safe."

"But I managed just fine!"

"I know you like to think of yourself as a little explorer, but it's dangerous out there! The canyon's unstable, rocks are falling all the time! I just don't want my little angel to get hurt."

"Fine, I won't go there anymore... If find me somewhere just as fun." She muttered under her breath.

Her father smiled, "Good, now go change into some clean clothes. I really wish you didn't go out in the dirt wearing your dresses."

Rachel ran off towards her room, pulling the dress over her head. Her room was small, a dresser, a bed, a window, and a desk for homework, a computer also rested on the desk. It was a thin rectangle that acted as a portal to the internet, though her parents had helpfully set up a filter. She dug through her dresser till she found a blue t-shirt. She kicked of the dress shoes, and pulled off her knee socks before pulling a pair of jeans shorts out of her dresser. She left the dress in a pile of her other used clothes, sitting in one corner of the room. She pulled her shirt on, and jumped into her shorts. Before digging through her dress. She was pleased to find that the gem wasn't just a trick of the light rock, and was actually a shiny gemstone. She walked over to the computer, and jumped into the chair. Her first choice was just typing it into the search bar.

"What's the name of a black gemstone?"

"Onyx." It was the fist result, but the image of the gem was too smooth, this gem had a tear stone shape with a blocky surface.

"That isn't it... What gems can be black?" A list of different gemstones came up on the screen she scanned through the list for a while before she heard her father calling to her from downstairs.

"Rachel, dinner time!"

Rachel looked at the clock on her computer, three hours!? She sighed unsatisfied that she hadn't found exactly what the gem was called, but was still hungry. She put the gem on her bed, and ran to the kitchen for dinner. By the time she finished, the sun had set, and it was almost her bed time. She returned to her room, and grabbed the gemstone, jumping onto her bed in the process. She held it above her head, and pondered.

"What kind of gem are you? You're black, but not smooth, but you share so many things with other gems, that it's hard to tell what you are exactly." She sighed, and covered her eyes using the back of her hands. "Why is this so hard!"

The gem began to glow in her hands filling her room with a shining, white light. She looked at the gem, and tossed it away, into the pile of clothes, scared of what was happening. The gem rose from the ground, and from it, a hand. Surrounding the gem was a glowing white hand, and following along formed an arm, a chest, a head, another arm, legs, a silhouette of a human was floating in her room, with the gem lodged in the back of its hand. The human form grew clothes from the white light. Pants, shirt, shoes, jacket, scarf. It's hair flowed down, resting against its shoulders, and with that the light faded. The newly formed person dropped to the floor, and put their hands to their face.

"I'm- I reformed!" His voice was deep, obviously more masculine than feminine. He looked at his hands, a growing smile forming on his face. He rubbed his cheeks, felt along his arms, and hugged himself. "I can't believe it! After so many attempts, it finally worked!" His face fell for a moment. "Oh no, Jasper will kill me if she doesn't get that report!" He looked around the room he was in then noticed the little boy. "Oh! Hello, you must be one of those things... A human! From the appearance, you are what their race identify as a boy?"

"I'm a girl..." She responded quietly.

"Sorry, information is a little obscured, you're the first one I've met."

"You came out of the gemstone I found." She continued her quiet voice.

"That's my gem, it's what I am, this body is just a projection from it, to whatever suits my needs." He smiled warmly, and knelt down to her level. "So you're the one who freed me from the cursed rock fall?"

Rachel nodded silently in response.

"I won't forget your kindness, human. If you'll excuse me, I have an important message to deliver to my commanding officer. I will see myself out of your home."

He stood up, and walked over to the window before he felt a tug against his scarf. He looked back to see the girl holding onto his scarf.

"What's your name?"

"I am identified as Black Zircon, as is the gem in my hand." Rachel nodded, and released his scarf, Zircon dropped out of the window, and fell to the ground below. He ran quickly into the woods. In the direction of the kindergarten.

Rachel closed her window, and went to bed, pulling the blanket up to her neck. "Black Zircon..." She muttered as she closed her eyes. "... Weird name."

******

The next morning, Rachel rose, bright, and early. The ground still had droplets of dew coating its blades. She jumped out of bed, throwing the blanket of herself, and ran downstairs. She poured herself a bowl of cereal, and shoveled it away as her father got dressed for work.

"Now Rachel, I'm going to be gone for a few hours, I'll be home to make you dinner, but until then, I'm leaving a babysitter in my place. She should be arriving any minute now." The doorbell rang at the front door, and Rachel pouted. "There she is now." Her father said, straightening his tie. He walked into the other room, and opened the door. Rachel listened to them talk for a few minutes before the door was shut. A few moments later, a woman walked into the kitchen. She wore a button up blouse, and a pair of jeans. She had long blond hair, and blue eyes. She put on a smile, and greeted Rachel.

"Hey there Rachel, I'm going to be watching you today while your dad it gone. He's already told me that you can play in the yard as long as you ask me first, I'll be in the other room if you need me." With that, she walked into the room where the TV was, and began watching it.

Rachel watched as the woman left the room, and stuck her tounge out. Her father had hired this woman before, and she didn't like her, she was quick to change her mind, and never actually did anything. She would just watch TV all day. Rachel returned to her cereal, finishing it up, and drinking the milk. She dropped the bowl she had used in the sink, and headed to the room that her babysitter was in.

"Can I play outside?"

"Yeah, sure, have fun."

Rachel ran out the back door, and headed towards the kindergarten. She wanted to see if she could find any other gemstones like the one last night. She found her way back to the canyon, and began overturning every rock she found. The eerie sounds of crumbling rock were all that accompanied her as she searched for more gems.

******

Zircon sat, looking at the land before him, deactivated injectors as far as he could see. He'd returned to the old tent, now pile of rotting cloth. Jasper was nowhere to be found. She'd probably lost the war, and went back to Homeworld. Zircon rubbed his hands across his face. He was abandoned, not even searched for. He hated that feeling, the feeling of abandonment, it felt bitter, and cold. He always hated the kindergarten, the idea of cheap copy gems, the way it affected the land. He scooped a bit of dirt into his hand, and crumbled it. It was nothing but dead land. He didn't hate Rose Quartz, or her gems, he just ended up in Jasper's grasp before their's. He didn't hold a favoritism towards either group, Jasper was hard headed as always, but he'd never met Rose. He only heard of her, her campaign for protecting earth, how the land held beauty that shouldn't be destroyed. Now that he'd gotten a good look, he knew she was right, but switching sides in the middle of the war was next to impossible. Jasper would sooner pop him, and he doubted Rose would be very accepting of a traitor. He sighed, wondering what they were doing now. If they were still protecting earth with everything they had. Zircon looked down into the canyon, and paused his thoughts. Was that the human from earlier?

******

Rachel was a little dejected. No matter what rock she over turned, she couldn't find another gemstone. She picked up a small rock, and threw it with all her strength. "Why can't I find another one!" She shouted, the sound echoing through the canyon. Her voice carried just enough strength to send a small pebble tumbling down the wall. As it traveled it knocked loose other stones before creating a rockslide. The rocks all slid down the cliff, and collided with one of the injectors, knocking it lose. The metal groaned as it lost its hold, and fell. Rachel looked up to see a large metal drill falling down on top of her. She screamed loudly, and covered her eyes. The sound of metal being cut filled her ears, and she felt the force of the metal hitting the ground beside her. She removed her hands from her eyes, and looked up. Black Zircon was standing in front of her, a long, black sword in his hand. He looked back at her, and smiled.

"We're even now."

The sword he held disappeared in a flash of white light. He looked over the destroyed injector, and laughed. Not a laugh of joy or humor, but one of nervousness. The injector had been in active for what seemed like centuries, leading him to question exactly how long he had been trapped. He'd never been much for finding his own way, mostly going along with whatever was going on at the time. He wasn't sure what to do, where to go. He ran his hands through his hair, brushing it back. He felt something tug against his scarf, and looked back.

"Thank you for saving me, but are you going to leave again?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm kind of lost on that matter." Zircon muttered the last part under his breath.

"If not, you could live with me."

"If I remember the reports correctly, you humans get territorial as you age. So wouldn't that be impossible?"

"My dad's at work now, and he doesn't get home till tonight, I could sneak you past the babysitter, and you could live in my room."

"I'm not a pet."

"No, you're an awesome person with no home, and I'm offering you one."

"Why?"

"Because you saved my life, I only get one shot at it, and you saved me, I want to at least give you a home."

"I can make my own. Besides, You already saved me from those rocks, I'm standing here because you removed my gem from under them. Thanks for the help, human but I'm going to go, and find my place here." Zircon ruffled Rachel's hair, and walked deeper into the canyon. He didn't look back, and disappeared into the fog.

Rachel headed home. When she slid open the door, she was immediately snached up by the babysitter who was more than a little relieved that Rachel hadn't disappeared under her watch.

"I thought I told you could only play outside!" The sitter shouted at the young girl.

"You never said where outside."

"I hate it when you kids take everything literal. Go to your room till your father gets home."

Rachel didn't argue, the babysitter looked like she was about to explode. She ran up the stairs, and shut her door. She stood by the window, looking out over the neighborhood. She let out a soft sigh, wondering her life would ever be as exciting as these past two days.