Chapter Text
The crackle of a lightning strike hits at the exact same moment Pearl hears a resounding crack from her neck. After she had been shot by Scar, the impact of the arrow led her to stumble down the ravine beside Scar’s base, leaving her at the bottom of the pit.
Well, at least it was quick.
She finds herself lying on the stone ground, a view of a clear blue sky above her.
The only thing she could do was let herself breathe . (Do ghosts even need to breathe? Eh, who knows.)
Her eyes close as she builds a steady rhythm with the rise and fall of her chest, willing for the aching and exhaustion riddled all throughout her body to somehow dissipate.
Aside from the sound of her breaths, she can pick up Scar’s voice off in the distance. It doesn’t sound much like a cheer, or a cry, or anything— but then again, Pearl’s not in a fit state to focus on whatever he’s saying.
Instead, she tries to think back on everything that just unfolded, all the deaths, the hunts…the duel. The zombie that had been creeping towards Scar before Pearl warned him.
She sighs, “I swear, if he dies to a zombie, after all that…”
Now, she wasn’t really expecting a reply.
Especially not a reply from a voice that’s so familiar.
“I know, right? It’d be embarrassing for both of us.”
Pearl’s eyes snap open in an instant, as though the answer gave her a surge of energy, overpowering the waves of numbing pain.
“…Gem?”
She looks…just like she used to, when they were red…
together
.
Pearl blinks, trying to focus on the figure looming over her. It’s only then, that she notices Gem’s body is slightly translucent, allowing rays of sunlight to pass through.
“Hey, Pearl.” Gem extends a greeting they both know far too well. She crouches down, tilting her head. “Are you going to keep lying on the ground, or…?”
“I might.” Pearl chuckles. “It’s pretty comfy down here, actually.”
“I can imagine.” Gem shifts to sitting cross-legged next to Pearl, which prompts her to try and actually sit upright as well.
Pearl grunts when she finally manages to move, scooting over to Gem. Sitting underneath the shades of a bit of overhang of the earth above, they find themselves situated in a corner of the ravine, now further ruined with scorch marks and splatters of blood on the walls.
Despite the destruction, sunlight casts shadows of sunflowers into the chasm. It must be the ones Scar has around his base.
Silence follows. Pearl tries her best to stare only at the walls around, but she ends up glancing at Gem a few too many times. She hopes Gem is too preoccupied to notice. (Pretty slim chance of that happening, considering the fact that there’s nothing of interest nearby but them.)
Eventually, though, something in Pearl pushes her to speak.
“So,” Pearl starts, “what’s got you wanting to give me a visit? I thought you’d be with Scott and Impulse.”
Gem jerks up at the sudden question, then turns away from Pearl. “I— I dunno, I just… We died pretty close to each other, you’re the first one I saw.”
If Pearl’s head had been a bit more clearer, maybe she would’ve questioned why Gem was so insistent on not facing Pearl when she answered. Instead, she accepts the answer with a nonchalant “Ah, I see.”
“Well, I appreciate the company. And…” Pearl adds, pausing as the following words get caught in her throat for a brief second:
“I’m sorry.”
That seemingly got Gem’s attention, causing her to look at Pearl once again.
Just today, Pearl was met with those same pair of eyes on multiple occasions. For some, they sparkled with a sense of joy. For others, they held a flurry of panic behind them.
At this moment, they were glazed with a whirlwind of emotions Pearl couldn’t even begin to decipher.
Pearl can see Gem obviously struggling to find something to say, or to piece together the thoughts in her head. Either way, Pearl waits.
“When you— when Scar was coming for me, you asked me if I wanted to duel it out with you, with swords.”
Pearl nods.
“Why?”
It’s such a simple question, really. Pearl knows exactly why she did it. Just as she knows why she went into the End earlier in the game to fight the dragon, why she rode a camel with the same person who’s killed her twice, why she couldn’t get a successful ambush when she’d been in the siege against Gem and the Scotts.
What leaves her lips is not the answer. Not a clear one, at least.
(It’s never easy, is it? When Scar and Gem had begun fighting, all Pearl wanted was a moment to think . She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know why she began shooting, she just didn’t know. She couldn’t decide.)
“You said you didn’t want a bow fight.”
“But a sword fight, Pearl?” Gem pushes on in an instant. “I know you, Pearl, I know you prefer using an axe.”
“I do, yeah.” Pearl doesn’t give away any more than that, choosing to give Gem a noncommittal response.
“So— If Scar hadn’t— If I agreed, you—”
“You probably would’ve kicked my butt.” Pearl admits with a smile.
Gem takes a deep breath. Then, in the quietest voice Pearl has heard all day, Gem asks, “And you would’ve been fine with that?”
( I would’ve been more than fine with it. )
“You would’ve beat me fair and square, I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
“But you—” Gem cuts herself off with a groan, growing more and more frustrated with Pearl’s vague replies. It’s no use when they’re both dancing around the topic, even though all Gem wants is to ask: would you have let me kill you? Could we have stayed friends? What went wrong?
Gem recalls Pearl backing away after one swing of her sword, when she was fighting Scar, she caught a glimpse of Pearl leaving the fight to them. She remembers how Pearl could’ve pulled out her bow, could’ve ended her right there .
( Do I forgive you? )
A breeze blows past the Sunflower Valley, leading the flowers above, along with their shadows, into a gentle dance.
Nearly every question Gem has dies on the tip of her tongue, leaving only one:
“What now?”
Pearl gives it some quick pondering, before stretching her legs out and bracing herself to stand. “I wanna check on Mailbox and Matchbox.”
“Then,” She helps herself up by leaning on a wall. “I wanna see if I can find my Mounders anywhere.”
Lastly, she extends a hand out to Gem. “After that… I think I remember Scott saying something about a spare camel around Etho’s?”
Gem returns the smirk on Pearl’s face with one of her own. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“The Murder Camel rides once more!” Pearl cheers as she pulls Gem up with her.