Abandoned and Thriving

Quartz frowned in the direction of the other camp, narrowing her eyes. Something about them unsettled her and she wasn’t sure what it was.

Instead of pursuing the thought too much, she followed Aryn, moving to walk just in front of her as if to protect her.

“Lions huh?  Well, to the lions we go!”  Black Star cheered, tucking the map away into her pocket.  Then she took the Quartz’s hand and led her through the zoo.  Although she liked to hold her love’s hand, Black Star was worried that White might wander off or get lost unless she held onto her.  Minutes of following signs and people watching later, the gems arrived at the vast lion exhibit.  Eyes of black widened as Black Star stepped up to the window, gazing inside at the large, majestic beasts behind.

White Quartz was grateful that Black Star held her hand as they walked; she got easily overwhelmed in such a new kind of chaos, and the anchor held her down and guided her through the winding pathways. She was also grateful that almost all the signs had pictures on them – reading still didn’t come quite naturally to her, not in this kind of environment, so they were a welcome help.

The lions, of course, snapped her out of her daze entirely. She gasped and almost tripped over something when they caught her eye; she made eye contact with a lioness lying around and grinned.

“They’re so… pretty,” she said in a near whisper. “Are they just… here? All the time? Can we get closer?”

“Yeah, they’re really pretty.”  Answered Black Star, gazing in awe at the lioness closest to the window.  Lions were known to be notoriously lazy, so the gems would be lucky to see one move around.  “Yep, they’re in there all the time.  Though I suppose.. if it’s too cold they get taken inside somewhere” the runt hummed, still holding White’s hand.  “No, we can’t get closer Whitey, this is as close as we can get, othewise we’d get in trouble,” Black Star pointed out.

White Quartz scooted as close to the glass as she could without crossing the barrier or letting go of Black Star, cooing softly at the lioness she’d made eye contact with. “Do you think they’re happy? I hope they are.”

She frowned a little when they couldn’t get closer, but she decided that was okay. She could just admire them from here, even if she really wanted in on their cuddle pile.

“Do they have any other big cats?” she asked. “They’re big cats, right?”

The freckles under Calcite’s hand threatened to turn into spikes but relaxed when her touch came neither as a crushing grip or an attempt to stab her. White Quartz looked up toward Calcite’s face, uncurling and letting her limbs fall slack. “You’re... you’re not?” she asked. “You know about. About me?”

Her voice was smoothing out as she spoke, still gruff but now with a gloss of curiosity. She wiped the black blood trickling from her mouth with her arm and thought about a response, flipping through the book of words in her head. Stars, she hated how hard it was to form sentences sometimes.

“Our Diamond,” White Quartz echoed as she let Calcite examine her face. “Um, don’t... don’t get too close, I don’t want to. To get snagged.”

As if to prove her point (though she was really just doing it out of habit), she swiped her tongue across her lower teeth, clearing off the goop to reveal their broken points. “Blue says I gotta stop eating rocks but...”

Freed from most of her fear, she’d begun to ramble.

“Lions huh?  Well, to the lions we go!”  Black Star cheered, tucking the map away into her pocket.  Then she took the Quartz’s hand and led her through the zoo.  Although she liked to hold her love’s hand, Black Star was worried that White might wander off or get lost unless she held onto her.  Minutes of following signs and people watching later, the gems arrived at the vast lion exhibit.  Eyes of black widened as Black Star stepped up to the window, gazing inside at the large, majestic beasts behind.

White Quartz was grateful that Black Star held her hand as they walked; she got easily overwhelmed in such a new kind of chaos, and the anchor held her down and guided her through the winding pathways. She was also grateful that almost all the signs had pictures on them -- reading still didn’t come quite naturally to her, not in this kind of environment, so they were a welcome help.

The lions, of course, snapped her out of her daze entirely. She gasped and almost tripped over something when they caught her eye; she made eye contact with a lioness lying around and grinned.

“They’re so... pretty,” she said in a near whisper. “Are they just... here? All the time? Can we get closer?”

She glanced over at her mother, frowning slightly. “… I can do all the talking, if you want. We only need to stay there for a day or two.”

“No, no, don’t leave me out of it,” Quartz insisted, shaking her head. “I’m just… nervous. We don’t know what they want, or who they are, or whether they’re harboring a starving pack of zombies to feed intruders to, or, or…”

She took a deep breath. “Nevermind.”

Aryn nodded before reaching to take the older woman’s hand, squeezing it gently. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, mom. Now, er… where did we hide the trailer, again? I forgot.” She said with a quiet giggle.

Quartz sighed, squeezing Aryn’s hand back. “The, the trailer, trailer. Let me think.”

She stared at the ground, wrinkling her eyebrows. “Dammit, I’d have to look. I can picture it in my head, uh, perfectly, but not...”

“Alright alright,” Black Star chuckled, running to the edge of the sidewalk to hail herself and White Quartz a taxi.  One of the yellow vehicles had pulled up, and Black Star and White Quartz got inside.  Then, they were off to the Zoo, arriving in a fifteen minute drive.

White Quartz stuck close by Black Star, suppressing her natural instinct to wander off so she wouldn’t get separated from her. She glued herself to the window the entire drive, watching the lights go by faster than even the bus ride had made them go.

“Do you ride those a lot?” she asked once they were out of the taxi.

“Only if I’m traveling, otherwise I stick to walking.”  Black Star answered the Quartz, grabbing a map at the Zoo entrance, then the two walked inside.  “Okay Whitey, why don’t you pick the first animal we see!”  Proposed the smaller gem, holding the map up to White Quartz.

“Oh, okay,” White Quartz said, perking up when she saw the map. “I think I get it.”

She almost started off in a random direction, not quite sure what the map was, but now that she was looking at it she understood a bit more. A particular animal caught her eye, making her face light up. “The lions! I love lions!”

She glanced over at her mother, frowning slightly. “… I can do all the talking, if you want. We only need to stay there for a day or two.”

“No, no, don’t leave me out of it,” Quartz insisted, shaking her head. “I’m just... nervous. We don’t know what they want, or who they are, or whether they’re harboring a starving pack of zombies to feed intruders to, or, or...”

She took a deep breath. “Nevermind.”

White Quartz walked – well, shuffled – into the lab, scratching at the thick black scabs from her last “incident” with the gem shards that were as scattered as her silver and turquoise freckles. She stared mostly at the floor, tired and upset on some level that she’d gotten dropped off here instead of being allowed her normal time alone in her room. Yellow had “run” her all day as a guard for a few rambunctious Quartzes who were smaller than her and she didn’t feel in the mood for meeting anyone new.

As lifeless as she seemed, when Calcite touched her goggles, she lit up. A low growl poured from her mouth as she bared jagged, black-stained teeth and took a few steps backward. Her eyes lacked any visible sclera, being only pools of cracked silver with dark pupils, which were at that moment narrowed into slits. She still didn’t quite look at Calcite, but she seemed to know her general direction.

On second thought, why had this gem not just been tossed in the arena to have a few rounds with the more pent up quartzes? It was obvious that she had gotten into a scrap somewhere before being sent to her. Calcite was definitely going to be adding that this damage was not caused by her.

“Watch it.” She warned the larger gem, knowing she was going to be underestimated due to her size. “I can make whoever did this to you look like an Era Two Peridot in comparison.” Calcite went about her regular scans, trying to see if there was anything actually special about this gem.

“Don’t. Touch me,” White Quartz snapped, spitting up black blood. She wiped her face with her arm, frowning; Blue got mad when she was messy, she had to clean up.

“Nobody did this to me,” she said, this one phrase sounding more practiced than her regular halted speech. “I did. I was playing with my friends.”

She flinched away from Calcite’s scans, tensing occasionally to run and only succeeding in tripping herself and landing on the floor when one got too close to her gem. She knew the results that would show up, the rainbow of text marking her as a freak of a fusion and as an undesirable, saved only by the blue monarch’s grief. When the screen lit up in the corner of vision, she hunched into a ball and covered her head, freckles bristling like spikes. “Don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me,” she mumbled, half-coherent.

“Alright alright,” Black Star chuckled, running to the edge of the sidewalk to hail herself and White Quartz a taxi.  One of the yellow vehicles had pulled up, and Black Star and White Quartz got inside.  Then, they were off to the Zoo, arriving in a fifteen minute drive.

White Quartz stuck close by Black Star, suppressing her natural instinct to wander off so she wouldn’t get separated from her. She glued herself to the window the entire drive, watching the lights go by faster than even the bus ride had made them go.

“Do you ride those a lot?” she asked once they were out of the taxi.

Quartz put her hands over her mouth as she stilled, blinking at Aqua while she collected herself. Had she been shouting again? Sometimes the others got mad at her for shouting even when she wasn’t doing it on purpose.

“Sorry,” she said at a near-whisper. “I got excited.”

She opened her eyes again, staring up at Quartz before slowly swimming up to her hand. “I’m cold.”

Quartz put her hand on the smaller mermaid’s head, ruffling her hair as gently as she could. She was still so little, in comparison, she could hardly believe it. Had she ever been that small?

“We can go somewhere warm,” she said. “But you’ll have to swim there yourself.”

Quartz put her hands over her mouth as she stilled, blinking at Aqua while she collected herself. Had she been shouting again? Sometimes the others got mad at her for shouting even when she wasn’t doing it on purpose.

“Sorry,” she said at a near-whisper. “I got excited.”

Black Star let out a “hmm” when White Quartz took her hand, but she didn’t mind it.  “A zoo is where lots of animals from all over the world are kept.  It’s uh.. similar to the Human Zoo I guess, but.. humans aren’t locked up in there, just wild animals like tigers, elephants, monkeys, they’re really neat!”

“I wanna go there!” White Quartz said, grinning. “Can we? Or do you have somewhere you want to go first?”

She started rocking on her heels, excited and having a hard time containing herself to only “socially acceptable” behavior to show it.

“I didn’t have any place in mind so.. Zoo it is!”  Black Star declared proudly.  “Now we just need to find a taxi, it’s.. quite a walk.  Unless.. you’d like to walk there?  It’s.. sort of on the edge of town.”  The darker gem asked as she looked the map over.

White Quartz tapped the toe of her shoe on the ground as she thought, eyes flipping back and forth from where they were to the zoo. She usually walked everywhere, but this was a city, so it wasn’t going to be anything like her walks through the Kindergarten or the mountains around it.

“We can walk back,” she decided. “I want to see the inside of a taxi!”

White Quartz walked -- well, shuffled -- into the lab, scratching at the thick black scabs from her last “incident” with the gem shards that were as scattered as her silver and turquoise freckles. She stared mostly at the floor, tired and upset on some level that she’d gotten dropped off here instead of being allowed her normal time alone in her room. Yellow had “run” her all day as a guard for a few rambunctious Quartzes who were smaller than her and she didn’t feel in the mood for meeting anyone new.

As lifeless as she seemed, when Calcite touched her goggles, she lit up. A low growl poured from her mouth as she bared jagged, black-stained teeth and took a few steps backward. Her eyes lacked any visible sclera, being only pools of cracked silver with dark pupils, which were at that moment narrowed into slits. She still didn’t quite look at Calcite, but she seemed to know her general direction.

Black Star let out a “hmm” when White Quartz took her hand, but she didn’t mind it.  “A zoo is where lots of animals from all over the world are kept.  It’s uh.. similar to the Human Zoo I guess, but.. humans aren’t locked up in there, just wild animals like tigers, elephants, monkeys, they’re really neat!”

“I wanna go there!” White Quartz said, grinning. “Can we? Or do you have somewhere you want to go first?”

She started rocking on her heels, excited and having a hard time containing herself to only “socially acceptable” behavior to show it.