“Today, you all celebrate the beginning of your future. As recruits of the Colonial Government, you will serve a great purpose. Soldiers. Engineers. Scientists. The starters for new planet colonies and the next generation of loyal overlanders.” The clean cut man smiled for the first time in four years. “Congratulations.”
The small class let out a controlled cheer, and split up in the party room among their families. One cadet stayed put, and waited for the others to clear out of her way, before stepping up and approaching the General. “Sir?”
He looked down, and she saluted; Arm across her chest as a silent pledge to her people. “I wanted to inquire about the liftoff time for our departure. You said tomorrow, but Should I expect to be up early?”
“The ship leaves at exactly 0800, Cadet Lazuli. I appreciate your concern for being on time.” He looked up at the others, standing and mingling with other classes and their respected families. “Stars knows your peers have an utter lacking in that department…” He paused, turning back to her. “...As impressive as they are, of course.”
“I look forward to serving the Government.” She said, smiling. “I have worked for this since I was eight. Serving as a soldier… protecting our people, wherever we roam.” She glanced down at her peers. “...I know better then anyone here that family should be protected.”
The officer simply nodded, and looked down on them in silence beside her for a few moments, but sighed, reaching and patting her shoulder to break her from her trance. “Go, enjoy yourself. Not too much, but you’ve earned it.” He slowly walked away, putting his arms behind his back and Leaving the Cadet by herself.
She crossed her arms over the railing, looking down again, and letting a small tired smile spread over her face as she watched her peers play around below her.
“Soon.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You can’t tell me you’re AFRAID.” She sputtered, putting her hand on her suitcase. “It’s a completely safe ship. We are some of the best produced cadets, they wouldn’t risk it. Besides, It’s a model my dad flew MANY times. The ride is smooth.”
“Okay, but as and engineer I can’t help but point out the structural flaws of the A310. The wings are too short to provide the best landings possible… The landing gear has been know to malfunction, the tech is not up to date-”
“You worry far too much, Pearl. If you weren’t as smart as you are I don’t think I could put up with you.” She laughed and playfully punched the slightly taller girl in the arm. “Relax. There are separate safety pods for each pair of passengers in case of an emergency. And I doubt there will be. Hundreds of thousands of cadets have shipped off in ships JUST like this.” She pushed her forward. “Now move, please. I’m not gonna be late because of you.”
“You won’t be!” the taller squawked. “You’re so pushy, Lapis.”
The trip to the launch station was relatively quiet then, and as they got closer Lapis felt her heart beating faster. She smiled when the ship came into view, seeing only a small scattering of other cadets there. They were all bidding farewell to their parents. They wouldn’t see them in person for at least two years. The standard.
She didn’t think about it too long. Her and Pearl gathered their bags from the cab and quickly made their way to the ramp where they needed to be. From which they would leave colony c-3 and be on their way toward the Government defensive fleet.
“Wow…” Pearl murmured, as the two approached the gates. “It’s bigger in person. Just… Wow…” The skinny girl let out an uncharacteristic chuckle, turning to her companion. “Okay… I am pretty excited. The new tech being developed on the GDF is astounding… and planets around there are thriving too!”
“Well they move around.” Lapis answered. “Everywhere the fleet goes they bring new tech to better the lives of nearby colonies. So I have to agree with you there.”
“Last time they circled the C quadrant they brought new engines and an altered personal communicator!” Pearl sighed in contentment, looking back at the ship. “It’s amazing how soon I’ll be a part of the teams that develop things like that…”
“Living the dream.” Lapis said, rolling her eyes while the young engineer wasn’t looking. “The military they have staffing it is incredible too.” the blue eyed girls eyes twinkled with excitement. “I hope to get assigned to the main ship… being on Team Alpha would be an honor… being the first to scout out new colonies and first to respond to distress signals…” She bumped Pearl on the arm. “Being able to pilot those fighter class A35’s isn’t too bad either.”
“Destructive.” Pearl said flatly. “I suppose the job suits you, though.”
“Thank you.” Lapis said proudly, puffing her chest out, just as they reached the gate. A guard stood there, gun in hand, with a smaller man standing beside him.
“Cadet ID’s?” The small, nasally sounding man murmured, holding out his hand. Lapis stepped ahead, pulling out the small badge that she knew would soon be replaced with a personnel badge; Once they reached the GDF. The man squinted.
“Cadet Lapis Lazuli, female, blue eyes… black hair…” he paused, glancing up. “clearance granted.” He handed it back to her, along with a ticket. Pearl in turn handed her badge, while Lapis boarded. She only had to look for her pod number, and sat down after tucking her luggage in above her.
She only looked out the window, as several more cadets boarded, and Pearl finally emerged and took her seat next to Lapis, complaining about how the man couldn’t read. Lapis only managed a chuckle, as a woman came around and began informing them of the features of the craft, and made sure they fastened their restraint belts correctly.
“In 17 hours we will be boarding the GDF.” Pearl murmured. “Crazy, huh?”
“Not really. I expected it.” Lapis grinned. “But it is exciting, Pearl. Any ideas for tech?”
Pearl lit up, and Lapis allowed her to go on about several plans she had for prototypes. Including a few control weapons, some modifications for personal communicators, and some completely new device she called a Crane-Bot. Something about moving heavy objects or being armour on the battlefield.
As interesting as it was, Lapis’s mind was elsewhere.
They eventually took off, and she relaxed back so she could sleep. SHe had barely been able to sleep the night before. Excitement and all that. Pearl was messing with an entertainment screen, as Lapis closed her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She opened her eyes when she felt them land. For a second she assumed they were there, but surely she did sleep for 17 hours straight?
Lapis sat up, and peered out the window, to see a partially barren landscape. She glanced over to Pearl to find her asleep, mumbling something incomprehensible in her sleep. SHe blinked, then grabbed the screen in front of her, and inquired it about their location.
“Thank you for requesting information!” A friendly, robotic woman's voice answered. “We are sorry for confusing you! We have landed on Planet A1; Also known as Earth, for a quick refuel, and then we will be heading the last 8 ¾ hours of the trip to our destination. Please stay calm and feel free to go back to sleep; we will be blasting off shortly.”
Lapis stopped listening.
Planet A1?
The A system was the oldest, and from what little stories she had managed to read or hear, Planet A1 was the origin for all the Colonists. It had been abandoned because of resource depletion, according to an article she had found, but was most notable for one thing.
Extremely harsh conditions.
Animals, wilderness, and barren nothingness that would not treat you kindly. Lapis had heard of more than a handful of platoons and teams going missing on the planet, and a sudden fear buried itself in her gut.
She looked out the window again. Why in stars name would they have a fueling station here? She shifted slightly in her seat, but relaxed. A refuel station wasn’t unreasonable. They were still safe. Though a slight doubt remained, she beat it away with a inner chanting of “They wouldn't send us if it was too unsafe”.
She caught sight of a few woman, who were meant to care for the passengers, walking around outside her pods safety walls. They passed in different directions, pausing and then continuing on their way.
But then someone who looked different stumbled into view, and looked inside their pod. Lapis couldn’t see the face clearly. But all of a sudden a bumper came down to secure her and Pearl, and the lights in the pod turned off.
Lapis gripped the seat. “Uhm… hey… The-”
She didn’t get to finish.
Suddenly the pod was outside of the spacecraft, and Lapis was gripping the seat harshly. The loud pop of the disconnect had woken Pearl, who screamed and gripped at the bumper. Lapis barely managed to move her head to look at the small window, to see a swirling mix of sky and ground and nothingness. Her head felt light, and she gripped tighter, leaning her head back and clenching her jaw. Measures she’d learned in the cadet academy on crash landing advice. To prevent whiplash and steady yourself.
After all, they were bound to crash.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peridot had woken up a bit later than normal. She was thankful for the extra sleep time. She would need it, since her first hunt would likely last to the evening.
Breakfast was laying on the table, a simple mush of grains and the browned sugar. Heated up and steaming. Oh how she loved oatmeal… It took her less then ten minutes to finish and put up the bowl, and shove on her boots; Rushing outside to saddle up her horse so she wouldn’t keep the hunters waiting.
Pumpkin, as the reddish chestnut horse had been dubbed, whinied when she approached; Circling her while she pulled the saddle off the rack.
“Yeah yeah…” The blonde muttered. “Keep your horseshoes on, P-kin.” It took a bit, but soon he was saddled and ready to ride. “Aren’t you excited, bud? Our first hunt!” She hopped a bit. “What do you think? Catch a deer, a boar? Maybe even an elk if we get out far enough…” She finally grasped the reins. “Now come on, they’ll be at the trail-gate soon.”
She decided against mounting until she arrived there, and smiled, waving at people she passed. She passed the small school building, and saw a familiar curly haired boy jumping around inside. She didn’t stop, but allowed herself to shake her head fondly. She quickened her pace when she saw three horses gathered at the end of the street by the trail gate.
Garnet turned to her before she got too close, sending a weird shiver down Peridot’s spine. It always unnerved her how quick Garnet was like that; she always seemed to know what to do. She was kind, however, and Peridot relaxed when the tall woman shot her a smile from her horse; nicknamed Scorch. It made sense, his owner being a fire-bender.
“Morning, Peridot.” She said calmly, and the other two hunters turned. “Sleep well, I hope. We will be gone for awhile.”
“Rested and packed.” Peridot replied, quickly pulling herself up into Pumpkins saddle. “Did my dad head out to the fields already?”
“Yes.” the second hunter replied. A air-bender named Qaura. “I passed him on my way here. He wished us luck.” She chuckled. “Mostly you though, I would think.”
Peridot chuckled too, looking over and smiling more warmly at the last bender of the party. Ben, a water-bender she had grown up with. He smiled back. “You ready?”
“Let's get going.” Garnet interrupted. “I’d like to get to the edge around noon so we can work our way back.” She glanced back at them. “Less work that way.”
Peridot nodded, and they slowly followed Garnet out the gate and onto the trail. It would be at least an hour's ride; if they didn't meet any distractions. It was steady going, until suddenly all the horses stopped and shifted on their legs, pulling back from their intended direction.
“What?” Peridot grumbled, gripping her reins tighter and steadying Pumpkin. “Hey… easy…”
“We aren’t just gonna ignore that, right?” Ben cut in, looking ahead to Garnet and Quara. “Horses don’t spook over nothing. Especially Peridot’s.” He gave her a worried look, that she answered with a small thumbs up, while still holding her riens.
“We will continue on… eyes peeled. Peridot, try to feel for any major disturbances.” The woman tapped her heels against Scorch and they were moving again. Peridot took the order to heart, and closed her eyes; trusting Pumpkin to keep them on the trail. There was light vibrations slowly fading out from in front of them.
She opened her eyes.
“I think something big hit the ground… to be giving off vibrations after that?” She glanced at ben beside her, who furrowed his brows. “I can’t think of anything but a big rock or something… Garnet?”
The fire-bender didn’t stop. “You two need to stay in formation. We keep going. We investigate.” She looked back for only a second. “Be ready for anything.”
It set a pool of fear into Peridot’s stomach. But she took a deep breath and the riding went smooth from there. As they approached the edge of the treeline, their original goal, they all paused. In the distance a cloud of smoke was wafting only lightly up into the air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lapis took deep, unsteady breaths, shakily reaching for the release lever on the side of her seat. She managed to pull it roughly, and the safety bumper released its hold. She paid no mind to Pearl stiff and breathing quickly next to her, mostly because she was much more concerned with getting out ot the stupid pod.
The second the seatbelt was unfastened, she lurched forward, nearly smashing the entertainment screen. She took a second, then pushed off, wobbling past Pearl who had come to her sense and was trying to unbuckle as well.
“Lapis?” She said in a panicked squeak. “What happened? Where are we?”
“I think we got ejected from the ship.” Lapis said, weakly and leaning against the door, tapping angrily at the control pad. “Oh stars… please… c'mon…” It suddenly opened, and she fell forward, straight into what appeared to be a field of long grass. Pearl was at the door by the time the black haired cadet was lifting herself up.
“W-we should wait for them to come get us. It’s a mistake.” Pearl reached down. “Lapis get back in the pod!”
“Are you kidding me?” Lapis snapped, turning around. “I’m not going back into that thing! Its SMOKING for star’s sake. We need to find another shelter.” She turned back, and saw a treeline. “Trees are… good… I think… cmon.”
She didn’t wait for her friend to answer. She was already walking toward the tree line, wobbly but determined. They would track the pod, and follow their trail. She couldn’t bear to be in that stupid pod anymore. She had a new feeling in her gut, and it felt like she had to move… toward the trees. An instinct, maybe.
She didn’t bother to pay attention to Pearl’s rushed footsteps, which were caused by her efforts to catch up. Soon they were walking more calmly side by side, the trees coming closer and closer.
“Where do we head after this, Ms. Bossypants?” Pearl grumbled. “We will DIE out here.”
“You could have stayed in the pod.” Lapis replied flatly, slowing down and stopping at the edge of the trees. She twitched and rubbed her hands, feeling a weird tingling. “You still can. I am not going back to that thing.” She looked around, and shrunk in on herself a bit. “Not that this planet is any better.”
“We don’t even know WHAT planet we are on.” She shifted. “Maybe it's a colony… I mean it has trees.”
“Planet A1.”
Pearl froze, moving back from the tree and looking at her fellow cadet. “You’re… you’re joking, right?” She tensed. “WHY? What!” She grabbed Lapis by the arms. “We are on the DEATH planet? Great. Just perfect!”
Lapis furrowed her brows, pulling herself from the engineers grip. “Yeah. Panicking is the PERFECT solution. Because we ARE on a death planet. A planet that people don’t come back from. A planet no one knows what holds.” She poked at her chest. “But we have a chance as long as you don’t panic and forget everything you’ve learned about survival. Okay?”
Pearl took a deep inhale, and a slow exhale. “How did we even get ejected?”
“Mutiny, spies, who in stars name CARES.” Lapis growled, scratching her cheek. “It doesn’t really matter right now.” She turned back to the trees, glancing around. “Lets head this way… try to find a cave or something.”
“Aren’t caves where animals live?” Pearl asked, hesitantly following the black haired girl. “Like… god what are the big hairy ones called? They are extinct now… uhh…. Bears! Yeah! They live in caves.”
“Like you said, they're extinct.” Lapis hopped over what looked like a tree root, and kept walking.
“As far as we KNOW.” Pearl corrected. “I mean nob-”
“Pearl the more you think about it the more panicked you'll be and thats not helping so just STOP. Or keep it to yourself.” She growled.
Pearl opened her mouth to retort, but closed it and let herself fall silent. She knew Lapis was partially right. They kept going, stepping over rocks and tree roots and changing direction slightly. Lapis finally paused, leaning against a tree and slumping down. “I’m so tired. God the trees are ENDLESS.”
A loud animal noise made both girls look up. Lapis stumbled up from her place on the ground, listening to a heavy pounding get closer to them. She was about to reach for Pearl, but the skinny girl was already sprinting in the opposite direction. Lapis was about to follow her, but a large creature suddenly burst from the green between her and her fellow cadet. She decided not to stick around to see what it was.
So she was gone. Turned in the opposite direction of Pearl and running as fast as she can. The same thundering of the feet of the creature now chasing her came closer and closer. Her fear drove her to run faster then she thought she was capable of. But the pounding still grew closer.
She quickly realized that she wouldn’t be able to outrun it.
She skidded and spun around a tree, the creature also sliding, and letting out a shrill noise Lapis had never heard before. She paused and peered out from behind the tree as a blonde about her age hopped off and met her eyes.
The ground rumbled beneath her, and she stumbled back as a peice of ground lifted up; the spot she had just been in. She looked up to see the Blonde, a hand raised. She dropped it and the ground fell back. Then the stranger moved forward.
Lapis only had a split second, but in that time she put together that this was a bender. Dangerous and unpredictable. Able to control everything around her. This was bad.
But she wasn’t going to submit. She reached forward and yanked on the bender’s outstretched arm, twirling them and slamming them sideways into a tree. The bender seemed to be stunned, and when she turned, Lapis attacked again with a punch. She managed to dodge the black haired girls fist, and grabbing the sleeve of her cadet jacket and pulling her. Lapis slipped the jacket off, and slid a punch into her stomach. The blonde shifted back but grabbed Lapis’s arm again and with a surprising amount of strength pushed her face first into the ground.
“Stop, please!” Lapis heard her speak. “I’m-”
But Lapis shoved a elbow into the blonde’s ribs and threw her off, flipping the situation by straddling the stomach of the bender. “Piss off!” She hissed, punching her in the face, but before she could get up and run, a second pair of hands grabbed her from behind; pulling her off and slamming her back into the ground.
SHe squirmed as a knee pressed her down, and her hair was gripped roughly. She opened her mouth to scream, maybe for help, maybe for Pearl, maybe even for her parents; but the second stranger pressed two forceful fingers onto a certain place on her neck, and her vision snapped out into blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peridot hissed at the pain in her eye from the punch. She stumbled up, finding Garnet getting off the limp girl that had attacked her. The fire-bender turned and steadied her with hands on her shoulder. “She got your eye?”
“Just a bruise. Not going blind yet.” She joked, moving her hand down to the pace where she had been hit in the ribs. “She is… fiesty. Who even…”
“An overlander.” Garnet sneered, lifting the jacket that had come off in the scuffle. “Monsters. They take, and take…” She turned, looking down at the girl. “Though… I’ve never seen one so young…” She bent down again, lifting the black haired cadet up by her arms, slinging her arm around her to hold her up. “Do you mind carrying her on your horse? Scorch doesn't like extra baggage.”
“Course not.” The blonde murmured, lifting her hand up to blow a whistle and breath out steadily. “She hit my ribs pretty bad too… I just didn’t want to hurt her bad, you know? I didn’t… I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay, Peridot. You shouldn’t have had to deal with it anyway. But we need to get to the others and-” Pumpkin jumped a log and snorted, stopping by Peridot’s side. “... And get back to the city.”
“There was a second one… I saw them. She ran off in the opposite direction.” Peridot said, moving to hop up on Pumpkin. Garnet set her in the younger benders lap.
“Hold tight, just so she doesn't fall.” She moved back towards Scorch. “And I saw too. Ben and Qaura went after her. They’ll catch up. I told them to not chase her past the trees, with no exceptions. Overlanders don’t like the forest terrain.
Peridot shifted a bit, the limp girls head falling onto her shoulder. Peridot wrapped the fallen jacket around her saddlebag, and kicked lightly to get Pumpkin going, turning slightly to face the direction of the city. “Alright.”
Garnet was quick to catch up, staying in a walk directly to the right of Peridot. She glanced, making a small hmm noise. “What do you think, 15, 16?”
“She does look my age. How old are they usually?” Peridot asked, adjusting her right arm to have a better grip on the reins.
“I’ve seen them as old as 50, young as 25. They’ve never sent anything but soldiers to our planet.” Garnet explained, looking at the girl. “I think she was a soldier in training. If that symbol on her jacket means anything. And that uniform…” she hummed again. “ the council will decide what to do with her.”
“We aren’t gonna hurt her or anything, right? I mean… she was probably just scared.” SHe unconsciously tightened her left hands grip around the girl. “Look I know it’s a different situation, but…”
“Best case scenario is we send her back out from the treeline. She’ll wander back to the ship she crashed on and will be rescued by more overlanders.” Garnet muttered out. “But I would hate sending anyone back up there. Everything is set for them but they make it seem like it’s your own choice.”
“How do you know so much?” The younger questioned, turning to her.
“We tried to end the battles peacefully.” Garnet muttered. “But the three high rulers want to destroy all free benders. They see us as a threat.” She turned to Peridot. “Because we have powers, I mean.”
“We don’t use our powers for fighting!” Peridot argued.
“It doesn’t matter to them. We have abilities they don’t. So they fear us. And… sadly, they greatly outnumber us.” She sighed, rolling her shoulders a bit. Peridot opened her mouth to ask more, but the sound of hoofbeats behind them made both benders look back. Ben and Quara emerged from down the path, slowing as they got closer.
“We lost track of the second one.” Quara sighed. “Around the cliffs.”
“The council will probably send a search party that way. Don’t stress too much about it Quora.” She turned. “Come on, we have to get back quickly.” And then she was in a gallop, heading back to the city.
The others exchanged a look, Ben glancing at the girl in Peridots arms, but soon they were forced to follow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lapis shivered as she woke, groaning a bit and shuffling side to side. The course friction against her wrists made her blink and look up; rope tied her arms above her. She pulled, but hissed at the pain of more friction. So she gave up and looked around. She was sitting in a surprisingly comfortable position on a bed, surrounded by weirdly colored walls. She raised a brow at the strange bright color she didn’t recognize.
She looked at the rope again, gripping it and using it to stand herself up, sighing at the less straining hold on her wrists. But her head snapped up when the squeaking sound of a door caught her attention. A turned head entered the room, and it took her a second to process the blonde hair.
She gripped her ropes tighter, backing away as the girl stumbled down the three small steps and paused to look at her. Their eyes met, the tenseness clear.
Peridot shifted on her feet. “You’re awake.”
“Yes.”
SHe looked at her again, Lapis furrowing her brows, trying to hide her fear. “How do you feel? I know the rope isn't comfortable… It’s all we could find…”
“As if you CARE.” Lapis hissed, leaning her head around the rope.
“I…” Peridot tilted her head, then looking down to a small bag in her hands. Lapis looked at it as well, and Peridot looked back up before moving closer and holding it up. The cadet raised a brow, and Peridot rolled her eyes. “I am supposed to leave you alone.”
“Then why don’t you?” Lapis sneered.
“Because I don’t want you to starve.” She lifted the bag an inch higher. “It’s a sandwich.”
Lapis didn’t move, just looking between the bag and the girl. Peridot didn’t move either, holding eye contact.
Lapis slowly reached and grabbed it, Peridot took a step back and siat in a chair in the corner. The overlander managed to open it, finding a simple cheese and meat sandwich. It looked like chicken.
She looked back up to the blonde, who rubbed at her eye. She realized then that it was black. A tiny bubble of regret rose in her chest, but she shook her head and looked at her head on. “I did a number on you, eh?”
“My eye and my ribs. Thanks.” Peridot muttered, breathing out. “Though, I guess I did scare you. Sorry for like… chasing you down. I could’ve handled that better.” Peridot looked up and smiled.
Lapis smirked back, but forced a frown while turning away. “What the hell were you on? That uh… beast. Animal, whatever.”
“You’ve never seen a horse?” She asked, genuinely confused. But she suddenly laughed. “Other than being a sassy companion and a good mode of transport they aren’t half bad. Pumpkin wouldn’t hurt you, promise.”
Lapis peeked back at her, letting her shoulders relax. “Pumpkin? Like the vegetable?”
“Technically a fruit. But… yes. Orange sphere like object. Popular in pies?” She leaned forward, a small glimmer in her eyes. “How strange it must be, being in space so often. Not seeing things so common as a HORSE.”
“That thing was huge!” Lapis argued, shifting back to face the blonde. “And I know what a PIE is, you CAVUS.” She hissed, but laughing. “Stars, this has to be the strangest position I’ve ever been in.” She glared at the blonde. “How’s it feel to hold me captive?”
“Okay… hold on… one, what in suns name does CAVUS mean? Two, who said you are a CAPTIVE?” Peridot laughed too, the situation suddenly seeming so ridiculous.
“I’m tied up by my hands, idiot!” Lapis giggled, not really sure why, but shook her head fondly. “If I was just here as a guest they wouldn’t do that.”
Peridot took a second, glancing at the door, then moving closer, stepping onto the bed. Lapis backed up, but relaxed a bit when Peridot easily undid the knot and released her. “There. Just… don’t try anything. Please? We aren’t gonna hurt you. Infact, good chance they'll send you back to your ship soon. It’s just difficult to trust you.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Assaulting a council members daughter doesn't exactly help your case, overlander.”
“Council member?” She sat down, rubbing her wrists. “You people have councils?”
“Only one.” Peridot explained, sitting down “People from different parts of the city, different jobs, ideas… They all decide what's best. With people's opinions taken into consideration.” Peridot sniffled and held her right eye. “And you ask that like we’re… savages.”
“You ARE benders.” Lapis said, not as confident about that meaning something as she had been before. All she could do is look at the injured girl, who slid and sat down on the side of the bed. She looked sideways, but sat down again, rubbing her wrists. “Thanks for the uhm… sandwich.”
A small silence followed, and although her mind screamed for her to not touch any food from them, one look at the blonde made her feel strangely at ease. If they wanted to hurt or force information out of her surely they would give her food…
SHe was about to lift the sandwich and take a bite when she spoke again.
“Peridot.”
“Excuse me?” Lapis muttered, wondering why she would suddenly blurt out a gemstones name.
“My name.” The blonde clarified, looking back at her with one eye and a smile. “Peridot.”
Their eyes met again, and Lapis was shocked to find the deep green eye to be soothing. It reminded her of her home; Her mother loved plants. The smile was warm and made her chest ache with longing. It hit her that she was still on a strange planet, and she broke the contact, frowning down at the bed and closing her eyes. She couldn’t cry in front of a BENDER. After a deep breath, she sighed.
“I’m Lapis. Not that it matters much, Hmm?” If they were gonna let her go it really wouldn’t. She told herself that's why she felt herself slowly relaxing. Pearl slipped her mind too. Her own well being caused her much greater concern.
She looked up sturdily, finding Peridot in another relaxed smile. “Not really. But thank you.”
The cadet bit into the sandwich, giving in.
Things can’t get worse.