Chapter Text
I watched the stars as my home floated through space, I only needed a small amount of water to keep the barn going, the rest was floating all around me. Not that I had any idea where I was going, I didn’t even know which worlds were controlled by homeworld and which weren't.
I was still pretty close to earth, "Still not too late to go back." I shook my head, "They made their choice, it’s not my fault if they want to die defending earth."
I tried not to think about it, I turned my thoughts back to my terraforming days. That was when my life made sense, I wasn’t exactly happy, but I had a purpose. Suddenly I was broken out of my thoughts by the sound of something crashing into the ground behind the barn, I went to investigate. As soon as I got there I drew a bunch of water to myself, I saw a Ruby with her gemstone in her left leg.
“How did you know I was here?” I shouted at her, “I’m not a rebel! Just leave me alone!”
The Ruby looked confused “Um, hello, can you help me get back to homeworld?” she asked, “I’ve been lost out here for a while.”
She must have been one of the Rubys that Steven sent out into space. “Wait, why are you still out here?” I asked, “shouldn't your teammate have picked you up when she stole our ship?”
“Huh, uh, I don’t know.” She said with a blank look, “Maybe she got lost too.’’
I stared at her, she seemed too stupid to be dangerous, but I decided to keep an eye on her anyway. “So, um, what are you doing out here anyway?” Ruby asked, “Are you on a mission?”
“No, I’m just,” I sighed, “just trying to find somewhere safe I guess.”
She nodded,“Oh, okay.”
We stood in uncomfortable silence for a while, I groaned in frustration, “Ok, come on,” I said “I’m not going to just stand out here for the whole trip.”
“Where are we going?”
“Up.” I said, flying up to the place where the tv was, I grabed Ruby in a ball of water and brought her up with me, I dumped her on the floor next to the tv, I turned around to grab a random episode of Camp Pining Hearts out of the box they were kept in, I looked at the title written on the cover, ‘S05-E07B-Chicken-escape’ “We’re watching this.” I said, puting the tape into the player.
Ruby watched in amazement,“Wow, it’s like space, but there’s no stars.”
“It’s not playing anything,” I frowned, “That’s weird, maybe it needs a better signal.”
I flew up to the roof, bringing the tv and Ruby with me, I put them down and started messing with the tv, “Watch your step.” I said to Ruby.
“Why?” Ruby asked as the roof collapsed underneath her.
I sighed as I went down to see what kind of damage she had done, I saw a surprisingly unpoofed Ruby lying facedown on the floor, luckily she hadn’t landed on any of the meep-morps. Then I saw a bluey-grey gemstone lying on the floor next to Ruby. “Oh that’s not good.”
The gem started assuming its natural form before changing to its monstrous corrupted form. I grabbed Ruby and ran outside filling the barn with water, trapping the monster inside.
“Um,why did you trap her like that?” Ruby asked, “Is she dangerous or something?”
“Of course she’s dangerous! She’s corrupted! How could you not know that!”
She shrugged,then she asked, “How did she get corrupted?”
I started to explain, but, “I don’t know, some gems are just like that on earth.”
“Oh, okay,” Ruby said, “Maybe we should ask her.”
“What?” She couldn't be serious.
“Well, maybe she knows why she’s corrupted.” She was serious.
“Ruby, no, that’s-” I hesitated,thinking, “You know what,that’s actually a great idea Ruby, tell you what, how about you stay here and talk to her while I go… do something else.”
“You mean, by myself?” She looked nervous.
“You can do it.”I said, trying to sound sincere,“I believe in you.”
“Okay.” she said, putting on a braver face than I thought was possible for her.
I flew above the barn, then moved the water away. The corrupted gem ran straight for Ruby.”Um, hi, do you, um,” She looked up at me, “Hey! What was I supposed to-” The corrupted gem rammed straight into Ruby, poofing her instantly. I felt kind of guilty, but I shook it off. I grabbed a pillar attached to the barn and tried to break it off cleanly, instead the whole barn came crashing down on top of the creature.
I looked down on the wreckage that used to be my home. I floated down and started digging through the wreckage, I found the creatures gemstone, I tried to focus on trapping it in place, suddenly a bubble formed around it. “Huh, I guess that’s how that works.” I saw Ruby’s gemstone lying nearby, I picked it up and considered throwing it off into space. Instead I just placed it down on a nearby plank of wood. "In the end she’s just as lost as I am."