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The barn is noticeably colder when they get out of bed the next morning. Peridot climbs out of her bed and makes her way over to the loft.
“Lapis?” she calls up, breath visible in the cold air. The blue gem shifts in her seat and blinks her eyes open, looking down at her green companion.
“What?” Lapis replies, pausing when she sees her breath. Curious she blows out some air, blinking when the same thing happens. She rises from her spot, summoning her wings, and descends to where Peridot is standing. Peridot hums, squinting in the space before her.
“There seems to be smoke coming out of our mouths,” she mutters. Lapis brings a hand up and blows into it, breath curling around her fingers. She spreads her wings and flies over to the door, pushing it open to peek outside.
The land is covered in a thick layer of something white.
“Whoa…”
She steps out on to the cold ground and kneels, swiping her hand through the frozen substance. It’s light and fluffy, scooping into her hand seamlessly and cold to the touch.
“What is it?” Peridot asks from the doorway. Lapis lifts her hand to her face and stares at it intently.
“Water, I think,” she answers. “But it’s frozen?”
“Silly, Lapis,” Peridot replies, venturing over to her friend. “Frozen water is solid. This is um….” She kneels to scoop some up herself and examine it. “Uh…. Hm.”
Lapis drops her handful and stands up, gazing around at the fields of white before them. Whatever it is, it came over night and seems harmless enough. Off in the distance she spots the pond, gleaming in the sunlight.
She squints, wings materializing and takes to the sky, flying over to the body of water.
The surface is frozen solid and cold to the touch.
Distantly, she hears Peridot calling for her, feet crunching against the ground as she runs over.
“Lapis!” She says, coming over the hill. “I think I know what happened. I remember Steven tel-whoa. What happened to the pond?”
“It frozen,” Lapis replies as Peridot comes to a stop next to her. She kneels at the edge of the water and pokes it.
“Hmm… it could have something to do with this…. ‘snow’ Steven told me about.”
“Snow?”
“Yeah!” Peridot answers, eyes gleaming. “On Earth, when the temperature drops to a certain degree, water in the clouds freeze and drop this ‘snow’ on the ground.”
“Hm,” Lapis hums, looking out over the pond. “So, it’s just frozen water then… the same must have happened to the pond.”
Curious, she steps onto the surface. It holds her weight just like the water tower she made so long ago. She takes another step and her foot slips, nearly sending her sprawling across the pond on her back. Her wings balance her, though and help keep her on her feet.
Lapis soon discovers it’s far easier to glide across the surface rather than trying to walk. She twirls around, smiling, as her wings provide balance and stability.
She stops before the smaller gem.
“Come on,” she says. “It’s fun.” Peridot stares at her, face twisted with skepticism, but she eventually relents and hesitantly steps on to the pond.
Peridot’s feet slid out from under her and her arms go flailing as she tries to reclaim her balance. She lands on her butt. Lapis can’t help but laugh.
“It’s not funny,” Peridot grumbles, slowly climbing back to her feet. She slips a couple times but manages to right herself. “Besides, it’s not like I have wings to help me stay up.”
“Here,” Lapis offers, gliding over to her. “Do it like this.” Slowly, she pushes off with one foot and then the other, allowing herself to glide to a stop in the middle of the pond.
Peridot lifts a leg, arms stretched out and steps down. She wobbles but manages to glide a couple feet.
She falls on the next attempt, landing on her hands and knees.
All attempts have mixed results. Sometimes, Peridot stays upright, others she ends on her back or butt. It’s slow going for her as Lapis glides circles effortlessly.
“This isn’t fun,” Peridot grumbles, laying on her back after her latest try. Lapis appears in her line of vision and she frowns. “If it weren’t for your wings it would be just as hard.”
Lapis shrugs and dematerializes her wings.
“You want help?” she asks, reaching a hand down to at least help Peridot up. She holds Peridot’s hand in hers. “Just follow my lead.”
Lapis pulls Peridot along, occasionally giving her pointers on how to do it herself. Slowly, the make their way around the perimeter of the pond.
Eventually, Lapis releases one hand and moves to Peridot’s side. She stumbles a bit but manages to stay upright. The make a few more laps like that, with Lapis at her side before Lapis finally releases her all together.
Peridot glides a few feet, stumbles but manages to stay standing. She pushes herself around a few more times, smiling growing on her face. She laughs.
“I knew I could do it!” she says. “This is much easier than I thought it would be.”
Lapis smiles, hand twitching slightly, as the surface beneath Peridot’s feet shift, water reaching up and gently pull them back down. It releases the green gem, solidifies, and moves onto the next step.
It Peridot had any help moving around the pond, well…. That would be a secret for Lapis to keep to herself.