Scene #3344: Ancient Foes

Owner	Pose
Peridot	The capture attempt had not been successful. But that didn't mean the Crystal gems hadn't managed to do a fair amount of damage to her warship. She'd been temporarily separated from Jasper. Cornered. Beaten. Healed. Peridot had been through quite the experience. Eventually she had come to reach a sort of understanding with the Crystal gems. An uneasy alliance of sorts that had no details of how it would function, or even proceed. But, Peridot could barely bring herself to fight one of the few other gems on the entire massive planet. So, she stood on the beach. Her limb enhancers had been damaged. They were back on the Warship. She hadn't been back since she had been temporarily separated. She wasn't sure when she wanted to go back. Bandages were wrapped around her neck, and shoulders and she stood next to a rock, in the sand. She was just at the shoreline, staring out to sea. She dared to go no closer to the large body of water. The most she had ever seen in one place. If she had her holo-screen she'd have started taking notes.
Sunstone	Sunstone had paid a brief visit to Beach City, though she wasn't deep friends with the other Gems or anything. Instead she was something of a mild ally, someone with roughly the same values. But for some reason, something kept her away from them for extended periods of time. Maybe she just wasn't used to being around other people anymore... maybe she had other problems. But one way or another, she heard about Peridot's presence and that meant she showed up to the beach at a steady walk. She stopped not too far away. Her face was neutral, it lacked the smile it usually did. The fact that Peridot didn't have her limb enhancers caused some pause-- it wasn't something Sunstone was familiar with. Her metal gloves were just that... gloves. She closed the rest of the distance and sat at a comfortable distance. Comfortable, she hoped, for Peridot. She didn't say anything. She just watched, unblinkingly.
Peridot	She heard the approaching footsteps of another being. Subtle though they were. Initially, Peridot assumed it was Pearl. It lacked the weight and purpose that Garnet's walked assumed. She had come to a certain understanding with Pearl. But she sitll avoided the war machine. She was the reason Peridot was dressed in bandages. "It's.. big." She said, still watching the ocean. "I mean, I knew it was big. I could see it from the atmosphere, but I've never.. stood this close to it." Lapis and Jasper had found their way to her mind. She found the idea of being dragged into the inky blackness in front of her terrifying. She didn't want to touch it, much less disappear into it. She started to turn. "I can't imagine--" Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened. "Ah-!" She gasped as she saw the figure of Sunstone. She hadn't encountered her in so long, she had completely neglected to even consider that the other gem could show up. Peridot stumbled backwards, her back slamming into the boulder she was standing next to. "N-no!" She stammered, falling to a sitting position. She had no weapons. No Jasper, or even Lapis. No turret robonoids or even a way to call any of them forth to her defense. She held up her hands defensively. "What-... what are you doing here?" She asked, her tone panicked. Her eyes started darting around. The beach house suddenly seemed miles away. Sunstone had her dead to rights. If she so chose.
Sunstone	"Looking at you." The answer was deadpan. Sunstone didn't seem to react at all to the panic or the surprise. There was nothing there except, maybe, a dull frown. It wasn't like Garnet's stoicism... it seemed tired. Broken. Despite her eyesight, her distant gaze didn't seem entirely focused on Peridot. "I heard about what happened. Sort of." She looks aside and raises her brows, as if slightly frustrated by her inability to keep up with current events. She hasn't seen a lot of information, at least not through reports that she's read lately. "It sounds like you've been talking to the Crystal Gems a lot..." she observes... then she turns her eyes away from Peridot and to the ocean. Her cold gaze softens and her mouth wilts into a frown. Groggy would be a good word for her face. "We can talk, if you want," she offers.
Peridot	Peridot was silent for a long time. She was already prone to anxiety, and being next to someone who had a lot of reasons to kill her made her nervous. A few billion reasons, depending on how much she blamed her specifically for what happened between them. She swallowed a little, before she slowly and carefully pushed herself up to a standing position. She briefly looked towards the Beach House. She could run, she realized. Something about Sunstone seemed off to her. As though the other gem was distracted. Peridot could make a break for it, and be out of harms way. But, she steadied herself instead. The fact that she could escape said a lot more about Sunstones intent, rather than Peridot's physical prowess. If she was safe running... she could be just as safe here. And so... she swallowed her fear. "I.. I have." She confesses. "I mean, I haven't told them anything yet." She went on. "I'm still a little mad... The Pearl stabbed me in the chest. The war machine choked me." Though choking wasn't as bad on a gem who did not air. It still hurt. She looked at Sunstone uneasily. "You aren't... trying to shoot me." She accuses. "It feels weird just talking to you. Why aren't you trying to kill me?"
Sunstone	"What would that accomplish?" Sunstone looked at Peridot seriously. "I failed all of those people. They're dead. Killing you doesn't bring them back," she tells Peridot, "You don't seem like the same person I had attacked back on that world. You seem..." Head to toe scrutiny. Almost as if judging her for being short. "I don't know. I fought with you before because I was still angry. Now, it just doesn't feel worth it." She let out a deflating sigh and flopped back into the sand. She settled like that, her gemstone sparkling in the ambient light, her body glowing faintly against the sand. Her arms are sprawled out.
Peridot	"Logical.." She said in a guarded tone. "But.. still." She desisted, having no desire to convince Sunstone to do anything otherwise. Peridot did after all, enjoy the benefit of not being attacked while she was in such a vulnerable state. Her lips tightened a little at Sunstones comment. Though it had trailed off... she knew exactly what the other gem was saying about her. Sunstone wasn't the first one to say that about her. She'd heard the same accusations from the only other two gems she trusted completely. Jasper... Lapis... The image of Lapis lingered in her mind. "I had strictly forbidden Lapis from speaking to you." She says, looking down at her feet. "Now.. here I am. Guilty of breaking my own mandate." Her hands curl into tiny fist. "I wasn't supposed to be here this long. Everything is blowing up in my face. My mission.. my job. I'm talking to rebel gems. I'm.. increasingly mesmerized by the ocean. I have human friends." "I even drank tea, and liked it." She confessed. "I need you to tell me something." Her body became tense. She glared at Sunstone. There was a mixture of anger and desperation in her expression. "Is this how it happened to you?"
Sunstone	Sunstone replied, "No." It was dull. A distant memory came back to her. "They weren't anything like humans. They were..." She furrowed her brow. "They were more peaceful. They could resolve conflicts in an instant. It confused me, so I investigated, and they saw right through me. They saw that I was there to destroy their world, to use it as fuel to create more Gems, and they... just... forgave me. Just like that." She raises a hand and spreads out her fingers. "They knew that I didn't know any better, just by looking at me. And after that... The rebellion on Earth was fuel to a fire. I was doubting myself before that happened, but by then I knew I had to stop it. So I sabotaged the Kindergarten and I tried to stop other Gems from interfering... but in the end, they were all dead. I was poofed for centuries and that was long enough to have missed a war that wiped them out." "And they left something that just said, 'It is never too late for forgiveness.' A plaque, at the foot of an old statue. That's all I could find." She lowers her hand again. "It was insane. But it was beautiful. They just couldn't hate me. They couldn't populate other worlds, but they were so much more advanced than we were when it came to emotion." "And our kind destroyed them." No anger, just a matter-of-fact conclusion. "I didn't really understand until after they were gone."
Peridot	Peridot seemed at least somewhat relieved. That she was perhaps a little more safe from the corruption that turned loyal Homeworld gems like her into traitorous rebel gems that could never go home. The reason gems rebelled was never particularly well documented. Though the results of rebellion certainly were. It usually ended in death, for any who opposed Homeworld. Peridot herself had never cared to know. She only needed to know what her holo-screen told her. But for the moment, she was without her tech. "I.. can't relate to that." She squinted. "I've always worked remotely. I've never got to know the host species on planets we consume. It's been banned since the earth rebellion- because of what happened to you." She clasped her hands behind her back. "I won't... I will not apologize for doing my job." She said sternly. Her job was to crush the rebellion. She was still a loyal Homeworlder. "However, I have come to an important decision. One that I have not arrived at lightly... nor will it be easy to enforce." "Homeworld gems.. and rebel gems. We need to work together. Though we have different reasons which motivate us... we have the same goal. I don't want.. or intend to conquer earth. I just want to go home. And you rebel gems. You want Homeworld to leave you alone.. to not deal with the consequences of our experiments." "Therefore.. Sunstone.. I will suggest the notion-- I am.." She cleared her throat and furrowed her brows. "I am sorry that they sent me. And the nature of our history together will always loom over our uh.." She looked off to the side. "Association.. with one another."
Sunstone	Sunstone was silent. Deathly silent. She didn't know how to process being apologized to by one of the people responsible for how things turned out. The fact that their circumstances brought them together didn't bother her at all, it was more... The glowing gem slowly got up to a stand again and made sure to pat some sand off of herself. "Save your apology," she murmurs, "I already forgive you." And then she turns to leave, her shoes tromping through the sand slowly.
Peridot	Peridot raised her hand a moment as Sunstone walked away. "I uh.." She started, biting her lower lip. She was unsure whether or not she said something wrong... or if she said something right. "Look, I know I don't know things." She followed up. "Well, I know things.. My knowledge is unmatched in a few very specific fields-- I am extraordinarily intelligent, as is a Peridot's natural state of being.. But..." She grits her teeth. "You know what I mean." "I'm trying to do better. I have been pushing the bounds of my knowledge in areas not inherent to my natural talent. And- and- Jasper isn't going to help me in that department. I need..." She was silent for a while, letting her head dip down. "No- no. It's fine. Listen, if you want to be apart of my.. efforts. I will welcome your collaboration. I won't set traps for you anymore. If not then-" She clears her throat. "Then, I would not be upset if you were to find success in your other endeavors, so long as they do not conflict with my mission parameters."
Sunstone	Sunstone looked down at Peridot, brought momentarily to a halt by the awkward attempt at a connection. The look of confusion that eventually develops, and then discomfort, makes it clear that she's struggling very hard to accept all of this at its face value. "First of all..." She tries, "People respond better when your vocabulary is more..." She struggles more. "Personable? 'Mission parameters' and 'collaboration' are words used by ... well... they just don't have the warmth that a lot of species value. You're figuring it out." She approaches and ... she thinks to get to a kneeling posture, since it's more polite to be closer to eye level. She awkwardly smiles at Peridot. "Th... thanks. You tried. You could use some practice, but I can tell." She held her hand out at Peridot. "I can help."
Peridot	"My vocabulary is..." She starts, but stops herself. The idea of speaking less formally was a bridge too far for her. It was too fast, too soon. She was still struggling with open to collaborating with known traitors. She was filled with dread with the idea that Yellow Diamond might find out. Or.. how she was going to deal with Jasper finding out... ...Jasper... "Listen- more importantly than that..." She looked to Sunstones hand. There was unmistakable fear in Peridot's eyes. Though for once, it wasn't the sort of fear one feels when looking down the barrel of a blaster. Choosing to befriend an enemy... it was a huge risk to her standing. She could lose everything. It wasn't entirely just an intangible fear of losing something down the road such as her status with Homeworld. She could lose her warship -now-. If Jasper decided to take it from her. "Should Jasper discover the nature of our... accord..." She squints... she was handing Sunstone a metaphorical weapon that could be used against her. "Before I am ready for her to know." "I shall phrase it another way." She goes on in a pragmatic tone. "It is better for you, the crystal gems, and me that I remain in charge of Homeworld forces on earth. Therefore I would not jeopardize my position by telling Jasper before I do, lightly." "This goes for future encounters."