Fight Back the Cold (Closed)

[Ruby Cut-6YK]

    After a while, the cold stops being cold.

    It always starts at the extremities. Your fingers and toes tingle. They’re too far from the heat inside you. As punishment for being forced into the cold, they refuse to work. You can’t perform any complex tasks, like tying a knot, even if you’ve done it a thousand times. Your toes stop listening to you, and you can no longer rely on them for balance.

    Soon, your fingers and toes fail altogether. They’re only senseless fleshy lumps hanging off your hands and feet. The cold moves in from there. Your ears and nose feel like they would shatter if touched. Your body becomes a heavy suit around you.

    Then you stop feeling cold. You stop feeling anything. There’s no more sense of touch, no more smell or sound or the rest. The crackling of the endless thunderstorms around you fade into white noise. The endless expanse of warp space ceases to be desolate and hopeless, and it starts to look inviting instead. A big fluffy bed of the most infinite down. You need to let go and curl up in it, and know the most peaceful sleep.
    
    And Ruby would have. Ruby would have.

    But there was a flame that kept her from her rest. A flame that burned deep within her gem and refused to let her give up. She shivered against the cold, pulling her knees up to her chest. She breathed into her hands and rubbed them together. Her thermokinesis had long since been numbed away by the cold, but she wasn't going to submit.

    How long had she been trapped out here, floating uselessly in warp space? Months? Years? Eons? Had there been a time that she might have known what it felt like to be warm? Her mind was too frozen to think. She was too cold to remember what warm felt like, but she would never let herself be extinguished.

    There is a Ruby that this cold can't smother.

[Variscite]

It had been a long day... all Variscite wanted to do was head back to the Temple. He had not been there for months to stay in his own 'room' the same room that reads the mind of the owner to create the room they want... that was enough to bug the tan hued gem out.

Leaving from the Sea Spire, Varis had stepped food onto the warp pad, and in a blinding blaze of light he was gone... slipping though the warp steam. He would be lying if he said that he never wondered what was outside of the stream. While flying though the warp he reached his hand out... tripping up the beam that surrounded him until he got pulled into the cold, warping realm outside of the stream.

Right away he he hugged himself... he was floating gently though the void... he could even still see the stream and was about to 'swim' his way back when he saw something.... something red. "Is... is that a gem?" were the words that echoed within his mind. Swinging his arms around in a swimming fashion to grow closer to this gem, before even reaching the gem his own gem located on the back of his neck started to glow, a dim light at first but it started to grow brighter.

This... energy emited from him, enveloping the gem before him... pressing this energy into its mind... like a calming wave of water rushing over them, unless deined or push away. Once close enough he reached out with his long arms, gripping the little gem up within his arms and tightly to his chest as with his free arm he pulled and tried to paddle himself closer to the stream before...

He was at the Temple.... the warp was fast and his energy had faded... his gem keeping a dim glow as a small aura of energy flowed around the two... trying to keep things calm, there he stood on the warp pad holding this little gem in his arms, "Uh... H-Hello?" He asked them... what kind of gem was this? He had not seen such a small red gem before. He awaited still holding the gem... they couldn't be... gone could they?

[Ruby Cut-6YK]

    A calming sensation washed through her gem like a wave of searing comfort. It was overwhelming at first, painful even, but that quickly faded. Was this... what warmth felt like? It was better than Ruby imagined!

    Suddenly, there was a hand groping all over her useless body, trying to find purchase. Pulling her around. Ruby wanted to struggle. Break out of their grip and yell at them to leave her alone. But she just didn't have the strength. Whatever had just soothed her aching mind robbed her of the last strength she had, and Ruby finally gave in. But absolute surrender is a two-edged blade. You can simply stop fighting, but you’re helpless to someone who wants to rescue you.

    And someone did. As relief washed over her, Ruby drifted in black and empty dreams for a short time. Very slowly, little by little, she came back to herself.

    Smell was the first of her senses to return. The scent of a salty sea breeze. The smell of an ocean, lazily smashing against the shore. Wafting above those, the aroma of brine. The smells of a beach.

    Her sense of touch was next. Ruby hurt everywhere. Her insides throbbed in pain, itching down deep where they couldn’t be scratched. Her body felt saggy, as if clinging to her like wet rags. Ruby's chest ached with each rise and fall of breath. But it was all good pain. It meant she was still alive, and she couldn’t help feeling happy.

    That happiness quickly drowned in fear. She didn’t know where she was. Ruby had to take in her surroundings. Assess any possible threats. Then she noticed her ears were working, and had been for a while. Someone’s voice. They were saying words Ruby didn't know the meaning of - too much was happening at once for her to understand.

    Ruby opened her eyes, seeing only a pointless blur. Shades of blue with fuzzy spots here and there. She blinked a few times, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. Her sight sharpened into shapes she could define.

    She was... somewhere. Her soldier's intution, frozen as it was, told her that she was somewhere. All around her was blue. She was beneath the purest blue she had ever seen, and just below her was more sand than she could ever know what to do with. The sky and sea stretched across the horizon. It was then that she realized she was not on the ground, and she struggled to find out why. She finally isolated the reason when her numb fingers slapped up and down someone's arms, and she deducted that she was being held. Her eyes fought for focus, and when they did, they were met with one of the tallest gems she had ever met. His skin was tan, though not the shade of any human's skin, and his hair was a vibrant green. She wasn't familiar with any gem sharing these traits.

    Suddenly panicked, Ruby kicked out of the stranger's arms, throwing herself into the coarse sand. Her face hit the ground fist, and the rest of her body followed quickly. She tried to stand up, gain some sort of thing resembling composure, but her feet were still so numb that they couldn't keep her upright. She tried and failed to stand several times, then finally realized it was useless. With her face still pressed into the beach, Ruby tried to say, "State your name and purpose!" as she was conditioned to do from Homeworld, but she hadn't spoken in so long that it came out sounding like:

    "Stuhhh yhh nem en puppus..."

    That wasn't right. Ruby tried again. Her voice was still weak, but at least there were words.

    "State your name and purpose...!"

[Variscite]

The little figure that he was holding seemed to be sturing back to life, it didn't really hit him until now that... what if this was some horrible gem? Tucked away in ... space? That open, warp place... it was hard to describe such a place, even if he was just there. While thinking he didn't notice that she had tried to kick out away from him, he thought he was about to drop her so he fumbled to try and catch the red gem... not really doing anything to help her face planet on a landing into the sand. Holding his hands close to his chest with clentched fingers, "Uhh... sorry about that..." He mumbled softly..

Not taking any steps closer, just kind of watching... they tried to stan-.... no.... no they didn't. He could only watch a gem trying to stand so many times before wanting to help. Taking a few steps over the sands to close the gap only to stop again.

"Stuhhh yhh nem en puppus..."

.... "What?"

They tried again, "State your name and purpose...!"

"Uhh... I'm V-Variscite.... and I um.. don't kn-know my purpose? Protect I guess?" This was, odd to say the least. It made him think this was a Homeworld gem, or at least one that must have spent some time on Homeworld. Then again him being from Earth pretty much every gem was more 'Homeworld' then himself. "Can I just..." He tried to reach down to help pull the little gem up from their faceplant into the sand to try and sit them upright, backing off if they were to fight with him.

[Ruby Cut-6YK]

    To protect? That didn't make any sense. Protect what? Ruby was never briefed about what her objective was. All she was told was that she would be going to the planet Earth. She was never told why, or what she was supposed to do. Was she supposed to "protect" too? It didn't matter. Where was her captain?

    "Um, uh, ehm."

    Ruby didn't know the proper procedure for foreign situation management outside of that one key phrase she was taught to ask, and she blanked. She swatted away Variscite's helping hand. She was a ruby! She was a soldier! If she were to need help with a task as simple as standing up, what would that make her? Trying one last time to stand back up like the dignified bullet sponge rubies were grown to be, Ruby planted one shaky foot underneath her. When it was followed by the second, and she stood to her full, unintimidating height, she let out a triumphant:

    "Ah-ha!"

    But her triumph was short-lived. The depravity of her situation hit her like a truck on diesel. The fleeting wonder of her captain's whereabouts returned to her. Her captain was supposed to be here. Her captain was supposed to give her orders. She looked about herself, panicking. Where was her platoon? Was she the only one?

    "Where...?"

    And then ruby remembered. Ruby remembered the last four years of her life.

    "...Oh."

    The color drained from her face, reducing her rich red complexion to a more peachy color. She clutched her hands to her head, running panicked fingers through her hair. Ruby, for the first time in her life, had no orders to follow. She had no objective to complete, no Diamond to please. It was heretical; terrifying even. Rubies weren't supposed to be idle. A ruby without orders is like a lightbulb without power, or like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without bread. Without any direction... what was she going to do? Tears began to form in Ruby's eyes, and she was still so cold that her fury couldn't burn them away. She kept her eyes to the ground, her hands balled up into tiny fists.

    Ruby was devastated, mourning, directionless, wild, and above all things else, looking for someone to blame.

    Her eyes rose, she looked up at Variscite.

    Now there was a prime candidate. With a mighty roar, she launched herself forward with all of her strength, hoping to tackle Variscite to the ground.

    "Rrrrraaaaauogh!! This is all your fault, isn't it?!"

    The only difficulty was that Ruby's strength hadn't yet returned to her. She flung herself against Variscite's shin to next to no effect, and began uselessly pounding at his leg with weak punches stained with tears.

    "Why!? Why? Why, why, why why why why why why why...?"

    Ruby's rage-fueled flame burnt itself out remarkably quickly, petering off into nothing but mournful embers. Her punches went from weak to nonexistent, and she resorted to curling up into a ball at Variscite's feet.

[Variscite]

This was becoming very much like a human train wreck.... he wanted to help but also couldn't not watch this. His need to want to help others was driving him insane. He struggled to not help the small gem before he was pushed away by her, taking it as a sign to 'step off' he keeps his distance from them.

As the gem tried to stand once again he kept his distance... waiting and watching. Things could never be simple for Varis could they? Things were taking an upturn as the Ruby was able to make it to their feet, "Ah-ha!" this was enough to make Varis smile a bit, happy to see they were uh... well getting back onto their feet. Literally.

"Where...?" there it was, the moment the little gem realized where they were... or maybe where they weren't was more like it. "Your on Earth.. w-wait that might not help..." he realized quickly not every gem has to know what Earth is. Signing and running his hand across the back of his neck, feeling his rough gem under his fingers.

Just like that he watched the little gem start to dim... they looked pale, almost pink since they had this fiery red color of their projection. They reminded him of a human who had gotten sick or drank too much, though he was hoping the gem wasn't about to expel anything from inside their projection and odds were pretty good they wouldn't. Before he could open his trap to ask what was wrong...

"Rrrrraaaaauogh!! This is all your fault, isn't it?!"
 Their eyes had locked onto him, clearly full of rage. Unable to respond before they charged at him, he braced himself for an attack when.... it felt like something was bumping into his leg over and over again. Glancing down only to see the small Ruby almost in tears and.. curling into a ball next to his feet... there was something oddly familiar about this. Something he had seen in himself, this lose of something... not knowing what they were to be doing. Varis knew this feeling all to well..

Letting out a sigh as he dropped back onto his behind, legs spread out before him. One hand was behind him and being used to keep himself upright while the other slowly.... slowly, made its way over to the little gem. He placed his hand onto her head slightly ruffling her hair, "I'm..... I-I'm sorry. Um.... Can I help?" This was all he could do.... he didn't know the gem... figured they didn't care for human things... he felt pretty useless, until his gem started to glow once again, not growing very bright as a green aura began to flow from his gem.

The glow surrounded the two gems, like a mist of green light dancing around the two softly, a calm rushing over the two gems, easily displaced if not wanted but if let in... the aura pushed onto the mind of the Ruby... trying to calm what might be upsetting them gem, at least enough to focus.

[Ruby Cut-6YK]

    "...Earth?"

    So, she had made it. She was alone, but she had made it. That thought made her stomach (did she have one of those? Ruby didn't want to think too hard on it) churn, and she curled up tighter around herself. Her shoulders heaved with shuddering sobs as she lamented her four teammates. Where were they? Were they also on Earth, rescued by other free-floating gems? Or were they still trapped in the nothingness of Warp Space, frozen for eternity? Ruby just wanted to cry - what could she do? She was useless without orders. She couldn't take initiative, or formulate a plan worth following. She followed orders. She simply didn't know how to do anything else.

    Ruby flinched at the sensation of Variscite's hand on her head, ruffling her hair. She shuddered when his palm accidentally brushed against her gemstone, but she didn't make any effort to push him away. It almost helped her calm down.

    Until Variscite asked if he could help.

    Ruby yelped, realizing she was getting too comfortable, and pushed herself away from the taller gem. She yelled at him while scrambling back up to her feet. With her back turned to him, her shrill-yet-gravelly voice echoed off the Crystal Temple and surrounding cliffs.

    "No! No, you can't... Ugh! You can't possibly help! Do you even know what's going on right now?!"

The shifting sand made it difficult to find solid footing, and she stumbled, slid, slipped, and shrieked, but she did not fall. She eventually found a relatively stable stance, in which her legs are much too far apart for it to be comfortable, but at least she was standing. She opened her mouth to scream further, but a soothing presence overwhelmed her, and suddenly, she was serene. She blinked a few times, as if suddenly understanding the answer to an impossible question.

    "Um. Sorry about flipping out like that. I'm... I'm Ruby. Cut-6YK. Um. I'm sorry. I think the cold was getting to me."

    She seemed to be unaware of Variscite's effect on her mind for the time being. She hummed to herself, then sat herself down on the beach, folding her legs. She felt her fingers through the sand, watching the grains pass between her still-numb fingers. She smiled. Her worries fled from her mind, and she was happy.

    "I'm gonna do some explaining and stuff. I probably shouldn't, but nobody told me not to. I'm not very good with words, so, um. Hmmm..."

    The details of Ruby's worries had disappeared like foam, and she could no longer remember the exactness of it. Only the feeling of sadness clung to her heart. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was completely powerless - that troubled her slightly.

    "See, me and my buddies were sent to Earth and stuff, right? All five of us. Was supposed to be real easy stuff, but something bad happened when we warped. The captain thought something happened to the warp pad, or something. We were just... stuck there. It was so cold..."

    Ruby shivered, and the cold reminded her of her fears. Her captain, her friends, her duties. Variscite's calming aura was failing - and it was being replaced by a plume of dread around her heart.

    "We were so cold. All the time. Why did no one tell us how cold it was out there? I am a ruby and was trapped outside the warp stream for..."

    Variscite's power was failing now. An ember was smoldering inside Ruby, catching fire and thawing her out from the inside. Her fists clenched subconsciously, and her breathing came heavier now. She rose to her feet, now slightly aware of the sand's shiftiness.

    "Mhh... How long was I even out there? Agh! I don't care! I-- Ugh, I'm a ruby! Of course I'm cold! What was the deal with all the stupid lightning? It was all pretty for the first five seconds, but it was so cold it burned and what the heck was going on with that!? Yaagh!"

    Ruby kicked at the sand with her concluding yell. Variscite's illusion faded now, burned away by Ruby's bitter flame. As she recovered from her frozen stupor, the air around Ruby shimmered as she superheated herself. Her temper rose rapidly. The sand beneath her feet threatened to melt into glass.

    "Grrrr! Tell me what happened! What happened to the warp!? What happened to my friends? Rrrraaaagh!! WHO DID THIS TO US!?"

[Variscite]

"...Earth?"

He didn't say anything, he was almost enjoying the piece. Letting the gem come to terms with where she was seemed like the best idea at the moment... that is until she leaped up and dashed away from him, giving him only the sight of her back.

"No not really.... I mean I'm not the br-brightest gem, but uh... maybe you can tell me what should be happening?"

This was already odd... did they know what was happening on Earth? Were they honestly asking him what was going on? Varis had a good grip of what was happening here on Earth... but this gem was so roweled up, what could he say to really calm her? She was also a uh... well like him, this gem seemed to have issues with not being a clumsy clod like himself! Couldn't help but grin a bit.

Just like that though, his ability had WORKED for once!

"R-Ruby? Neat, I'm Variscite and... wait I already said that...." He had defeated himself.. "Anyway its fine Ruby. You were just kinda... stuck in space... I think." He still wasn't even sure where they just were himself. Then she really seemed to totally switch up. She sat down... looked happy.

"Me nether...." He mumbled softly after she said she wasn't so good with words, "Y-you don't have to..." he really didn't WANT anything out of this gem, just... couldn't leave a gem out there all alone.. wait. Was she alone? Did he overlook the rest of her friends? His face had turned from a rather soft grin to... almost pale.... clearly in a panic for a moment but he couldn't let her see this. Quickly composing himself he returns back to hearing what she had to say.

"Are they... still out there? W-Want me to go back? It wouldn't really be hard... I could just check..."

His mind was now really bugging him... what if he did not notice the other Rubies? He could feel his soothing light was fading... she was starting to get fired up!

"Whoa! Its ok! Um... I uh.... I ummm.." He couldn't think.... what could have stopped the warp from working for them? He was no technician and had a hard enough time getting them to work normally as is. Clearly her rage was only making him more concerned, "Yea I got nothing..." Again... he was defeated.

Then it all clicked... well maybe.... "Do you remember when you started to warp? Like.. how long ago?" Depending on the time... maybe he would have an answer for the Ruby.

[Ruby Cut-6YK]

    "It wouldn't be hard?! How are you going to find four rubies separated by the depths of warp space?! It's called space for a reason! It's, like, endless! You'll never find them! Never, never, never! I tried, okay?!"

    Ruby punctuated each never by kicking at the sand. She stomped and tromped and sent superheated grains every which way as she let out some of her wrath on the surrounding beach. There wasn't much keeping Ruby from torching both herself and everything within a thirty foot radius, but this little tantrum was certainly therapeutic. Her anger was all-consuming, like a forest set ablaze. But, when Variscite asked her how long she was stuck in warp space, she stopped. She stopped, and she slowly turned to face him.

    Ruby's upper lip twitched, and she took a moment to process what Variscite had just asked her. Did he really ask her that? She trudged through the shifting sand until she was right up close to him, her face contorted with rage. It would have been intimidating if she weren't two feet shorter than him.

    "Would you just listen to me!? Graah! I already said I don't know! I don't know, okay? Do you think I'm stupid? I'm not stupid! Stop asking stupid questions! There was nothing I could have done!!"

    Ruby, with a furious cry, pulled her hands back, flexing power into her shoulders. She thrusted her palms into Variscite's chest, trying to push him away from her. Her gemstone began to glow suddenly, and Ruby brought her fist up to it, effectively clocking herself in the noggin. When she pulled her hand away, though, the loose shape of a mallet formed out of energy, and Ruby tugged it away from her gemstone with her other hand. Everything ceased its glowing very suddenly, and her weapon had been summoned.

    She held her weapon forward as if it were a sword and pointed it at Variscite. Her vision was blurred by her tears, and Ruby stood still; but for heavy breath making her breast rise and fall, and shaking from the sorrow and rage. The tip of the hammer shuddered, like a compass that cannot tell which way is north.

    Ruby's eyes squeezed shut.

    "Who..."

    She swallowed.
 
    "Who did this...?"

     She lowered the mallet. Her arm dropped, so that both hung limp at her sides. The weapon fell from her hand, thunked to the soft sand before fizzling away. Ruby leaned back, looking up to the sky. Built as she was, she looked terribly thin. Her hair was frizzy and reedy, hanging off her head, ungroomed and unkempt.

    She cried out. A wordless noise, full of anguish and agony. The waves bellowed with Ruby's voice, as if the ocean itself made manifest her pain.

    "Who did this!?"

    She yelled again, once the wave had settled. Her knees buckled. She fell forward, her knees pulled up to her face. There she stayed.

    There she wept.

[Variscite]

It only seemed that he was making things worse, each time he tried to do anything it seemed he was taking a step forward and two back.

"I found you didn't I? I'm just t-trying to help, until a little bit ago I didn't even know wh-where I pulled you from."

While Varis wanted to help... it started to look like his help wasn't wanted. All he was trying to do is help but everything he did only made her more and more mad, mad at him. His nerves were starting to wear thin. Should he even keep trying if all he was going to get was anger?

Only being met with even more anger while trying to help he sighs, covering his face with both hands and runs them down over his face, clearly a bit stressed, then greeted by a very close Ruby with a face full of rage.

"I-I don't know! All I wanted to do was help!" He was clearly a bit more agitated then before, unprepared for the shove and he stumbles back falling onto his behind in the sand. Looking at Ruby, his face twisted with some anger... he only wanted to help.

Then she pulled her weapon on him.... maybe he did make a mistake pulling this gem out from the cold.. he hated that thought.

"......." He was quiet, he didn't say anything.

"Who did this...?"

Even with her weapon poofed... he had to remember this, she was Homeworld after all.. he had to remember this over everything else. No matter how much he wanted things to go well, some times gems just don't let that happen. Ruby seemed upset and with reason but, Varis wasn't going to take this much longer.. he wanted to help but not if getting screamed at was his reward.

"Who did this?!" they cried out again, "......" He still didn't say anything. He wanted to talk, he wanted to help still... but not like this. Not of this was HIS fault, he had nothing to do with this other then saving one Ruby. "I'm just a stupid gem, what do I k-know about who busted the pads..." He pulled himself up from the sand, "Good luck... Ruby." He turned and started to walk away, the sand sliding around under his feet.

He wanted to turn back and sit with the little gem, tell them everything would be ok, that he would throw himself back into the void of space just to even TRY and find one of her friends. Being treated as he was gave him every reason to leave, he was slow... clear he didn't want to leave but felt like they didn't really want his help.

[Ruby Cut-6YK]

    Ruby didn't notice Variscite leave at first. She was still swirling in her own emotions, choking on the fear and anger that gripped her very gem. Fear that she'd never see her friends again, and that she was trapped all alone in an alien environment. Anger at... well. Ruby didn't know that yet. And not knowing just made her angrier. She receeded deeper inside herself, simmering in her own evil, wishing more than anything to retreat into her gem.

    She had to know who did this. It was more than just a matter of closure. It was a matter of revenge. Ruby wanted - no, Ruby needed to destroy the force that doomed her only friends to an eternity of nothing. She needed retribution. She needed justice.

    And when Ruby looked up and saw Variscite's back to her, her only chance at revenge was nearly gone. She scrambled back to her feet and ran after him, nearly tripping herself up and losing balance, but she was adjusting incredibly fast to the unstable ground beneath her feet. She called after Variscite, her voice heavy with emotion yet as sharp as a red-hot knife.

    "No! No, please, don't go! I'll do anything!"

    She gained more speed, running past Variscite and stopping in front of him, turning around to face the gem who she needed to enact her glorious revenge. Her stance widened, and she held her arms out at her sides as if she meant to stop him from crossing her. It was foolish, of course, as Variscite could probably very easily overpower the tiny ruby. But she meant it when she said she would do anything to stop him.

    "Please... please. I'll, I'll-I'll do whatever you say. I'll leave you alone forever if you want. Or I'll be your servant or something! Massage your feet, do your chores, destroy your enemies. All I ask in return is that you tell me what happened, I beg of you!"

    Ruby saluted before Variscite, pledging herself to him. The ex-soldier was deadly serious. When a ruby gave their word, they meant it. (Most of the time, anyway. Rubies with their gems on their stomachs are notoriously self-centered.) Her arms folded across her chest, her hands meeting to form the Diamond salute.

[Variscite]

"No! No, please, don't go! I'll do anything!"

This would have been enough to stop Varis, but the small Ruby jumping before him was what stopped him. They seemed set on not letting him past, not that he most likely couldn't just pick the gem up and just chuck them across the beach... he felt awful just thinking about that.

He sighed as he raised both hands up over his head and linked his fingers together, keeping his hands behind his head as he looked down to the Ruby, still quite a bit of passion in the little gem. When Ruby was willing to pretty much make herself Variscites own slave, as far from what he could possibly ever want from the little gem. His head tilted to the side a bit when she gave him some odd looking salute... he figured it must be a Homeworld thing.

"Look..." He started before once again plopping down onto his bum before the gem, his legs folding up under him. "If you will j-just... I don't know, b-be a friend? Ill tell you wh-what you wanna know, sound good?" This was his way of leveling with her.

Seeing how desperate this gem was and what she was willing to give up, why wouldn't she do something as simple as make a friend? "Either way.. I-It was the old Leader of the C-Crystal Gems... the group I fight f-for.. her name was Rose Quartz but... I don't k-know too much about her, I k-know she helped a lot of gems." He wasn't sure how well she would react, he was almost bracing for a punch to the face from Ruby, "I mean... she did it to k-keep the Humans and Earth safe! I don't uh.. think she meant to hurt anyone... a-and I never met her. I'm... sorry..."

He started off looking the Ruby in the eyes but his vision dropped as he spoke, he knew this might set Ruby against him, but he couldn't lie! She had lost friends... who was he to deny her this truth?

[Ruby Cut-6YK]

    A friend? This gem considers her a friend? Ruby had stood over the bodies of too many friends on too many battlefields to gain friends too easily. It only resulted in heartbreak. Ruby detested the idea, but she had no choice - she had given him her word! How stupid could she be? Ruby wanted to meet herself from a minute ago JUST to hit herself over the head with her hammer!

    She had just sworn her allegiance to a Crystal Gem, whatever that was. But their name meant nothing. Not them. There was only one other name with meaning in Ruby's head besides her own: Rose Quartz.

    Rose Quartz. Ruby repeated that name over and over in her head so that she'd never forget it.

    Four years ago she had friends, a squad, an occupation; four years ago she had things to love, and things to fear. Now she has none of these. When faced with the enemy, when faced with Rose Quartz, she instead has purpose. It's built into her.

    As a ruby, she is built to intimidate. The resemblance to a child is entirely intentional. Most foes are unwilling to strike one down, after all. When sent en masse into a battlefield, there isn't much that can stop a colossal ruby fusion.

    As a ruby, she is built to dominate. The uncanny durability of her variety of gem can stop burst from a handship's laser cannon. Those tiny arms are ten times stronger than human, and move with the blurring speed of uncanny gem reflexes.

    As a ruby, she is built to eradicate. Those human-sized hands have human-sized fingers for exactly one reason: to hold a weapon.

    As Ruby, she is built for revenge. She would pay Rose Quartz back every minute she was trapped in warp space with the strike of her hammer. She would pay Rose Quartz back every tear she shed with another degree Celsius. She would pay Rose Quartz back.

    But here, now, she was faced with an entirely different foe. A Crystal Gem. Ruby's promise had fled from her mind the moment she learned of her new "friend's" employer. Rose Quartz was the enemy. Crystal Gems served Rose Quartz. Variscite was a Crystal Gem.

    Ruby took a deep breath, then stared up at Variscite.

    "I've never broken a promise before."

    And so, with a single brilliant stroke, Ruby ducked forward, her fists pulled close to her face. She shifted her body weight forward and swiveled her shoulder into a stiff right hook into Variscite's unprotected stomach. The point of impact sizzled from the sheer heat of the brief contact with Ruby's fist.

[Variscite]

It seemed the Ruby was in deep thought... having some inner delema she was working out? Was his request really that much for them? There was still so much of his own culture that he didn't understand, maybe he had asked too much? He of all gems should know what its like for all your friends to be gone. He realized it wasn't really fair to put her in such a situation.

"If that's um... too much I-its fine... I k-know what its like to lose friends iv... lost a lot.." He wasn't sure if any of this was getting though to her, he wanted to show he had some understanding of her situation but, how could he know? Maybe he was upsetting her even more.

They looked up to him, he had grown a bit more of a worried look across his face, "Is... are yo-" was all he could say before he was drilled in the gut by Ruby's burning fist. Crouching over a bit and taking a few steps back, his gut was hot... almost burning?! "Ouff..."

He wasn't going to let this turn into a fight, lunging forward and his goal was to scoop up the Ruby, fighting any burning aura and pulling them into a strong hug, pulling them off of the ground. "I'm sorry! Y-You don't have to be a-anything." his arms burning from the embrace, "Ill l-leave ok? Once you... chill out." poor choice of words maybe but he didn't want to leave this gem literally steaming from rage before leaving their sight.

[Ruby Cut-6YK]

    Ruby's whole arm shuddered after it connected with Variscite's gut, as if she struggled to keep herself steady. It had been a very long time since Ruby had last hit anything. She enjoyed the fight; she gave herself over to the thrill of battle. The rush of winning. How many years ago had that been? She couldn't remember. Too many. When you don't sleep, days smear together into a haze of fatigue so deep it becomes a physical pain. Anger could keep her upright, keep her moving, keep her thinking, but it could not give her rest. Not that she wanted rest.

    She was too angry for that.

    She took one tentative step forward, her hands balled up at her sides, but Variscite caught her off guard. He swiped forward, with warm and human hands, and cupped the burning soldier in a warm and human hug. She struggled for a few violent moments, her arms restrained at her sides and her feet kicking back and forth, her temper rising to dangerous extremes. Ruby felt and heard Variscite wince when his projection brushed against her own.

    Which made her aware, without surprise and without distress, that she was hurting him.

    Contemplation of how Variscite must feel brought only one slight sting of regret, and more than a bit of puzzlement. Until this very moment, she had never expected, for no discernible reason, that her foes would be so difficult to hit.

    There was a cold void in Ruby's chest that she was afraid would soon fill with regret, and grief. She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let herself care. He was the enemy! He was an ally of Rose Quartz! He was trying to get in her head - yes, that must be it! He was trying to betray her! It was a fool's errand to try and reason with her now. Variscite's words and offer could no longer reach her ears.

    "Let go of me!"

    Ruby pulled her fist back as far as she could (which wasn't very far, her arms were otherwise restrained by Variscite's hug) and sunk it into Variscite's lower abdomen, where a liver would be on a person. Ruby kicked free of Variscite's grip, landing in the sand on her back. She raised one finger and pointed at him, her face contorted with betrayal.

    "You're the enemy! Why would I listen to you?!"