Renegades

Chapter 1: The Long Walk Home

Mawsitsit's soles ached as she trudged through the sandy, worn path. The squadron had finally been dismissed when they reached the beginning of a milder, thick forest. Yellow Diamond was recieved by another squadron awaiting her command. The Mawsitsits had split off as they left, some running home in exuberance, others lagging behind due to exhaustion. Mawsitsit walked slowly, unlike most of them. She'd rather take in the soft hum of the night time crickets and the sun slipping behind the horizon.

Step, step, step. Sand crystals crunched softly between her toes. The silence left her to her thoughts, really. A smile crossed her face as she remembered her goodbye to the fusion she met during her mandated break. It ran off into the sunset with wild abandon, laughing as it waved goodbye. The three gems forming it split just before it ran out of sight. Mawsitsit reminisced about the flash of light, the laughter. If only she could've ran home behind it, stayed with her newfound friends.

Throughout the day, Mawsitsit had met so many new faces. She wasn't used to the heated squadron. Even though they all beared the same gem, everyone had such different personalities. She met strict and surly Mawsitsits who shoved past her without a care. There were the carefree and reckless, whose laughter and friendliness echoed at resting times. Also came the quiet and shy, who blended like wallpaper and spoke not a word. Back in the mild squadron, everyone seemed like carbon copies, silent and serious.

Mawsitsit was surprised to find she really like the reckless ones, even if communication felt awkward at times. Mawsitsit would probably fall into the rare category of naive and emotional. Attached, social butterfly, open minded, constantly thinking. That was her. Her emotions got the best of her at times, though. She was easily aggrivated, quick to snap, sensitive, and prone to cry. Worry-free wasn't in her nature. Although she was a flowing river of friendship, inside she had a heart with steel panel walls. Anxiety was ever pressing at the seams. Everything mattered, everything was important. She was bound to observe.

Now that the sun was setting, it was a much more bearable temperature. The sand was somewhat softer beneath her bare feet, and a glance above revealed a glorious crimson sky. Crickets made a symphony around her. Although music was shamed by society, it was glorious to her. The only songs she had ever heard were government created, government sung, and government mandated dedications to Yellow Diamond. The songs all sounded like bland repetetions of 3 notes, over and over. The words were empty, they meant nothing. The soft chirping of crickets meant so much more then those meaningless anthems. With all these thoughts in her head, Mawsitsit actually enjoyed the tiresome evening walk. Or, at least until she began hearing footsteps.

They skittered softly just past, seemingly behind her. It scared Mawsitsit a bit, but she finally calmed down. After the fear subsided, again they would come, leaving no footprint nor trace. Only the pitter-pat of feet teasing the path. It was so unnerving. Again, the thought of fugitive gems roaming the rutheless deserts of Homeworld sent shivers up Maws' spine. Her hand hovered over her neck protectively, ready to draw her spear. The fusion's observation echoed in her mind...

"So, your gem is on your neck, huh? That seems awful vunerable." The memory whispered through her skull. Vunerable... Mawsitsit hated feeling weak.

Nothing happened, though. Mawsitsit just walked, and walked, and walked. Eventually her hand slipped from her throat, guard falling. Nothing but the heat playing tricks on her, she determined. The trip to the forest was a two day trip. She knew she needed to rest eventually, and slowly the need for rest came. Her eyelids began to droop, her joints began to loosen. She must have walked for hours and hours.

By the time the sun had hidden its face and the stars had shone above, she needed to sleep. There was a small pouch secured to her back, with a rolled up sleeping mat in it and some snacks of a measly amount bread and beef jerky, plus her canteen. Mawsitsit stepped off of the unlit path and laid her mat upon the sand. An overwhelming sense of gratefullness swept over her as she rest upon the mat, knawing at some jerky and sipping at her water supply.

After a while, Mawsitsit returned her rations to her pouch, and sat her pouch down upon her mat. Sleepy and fed, she rest her head on her pouch and laid back, staring at the sky. The glories of the stars shone above, dancing before her eyes. They sweet chirpings of the symphonic crickets sung her to sleep, a lullaby sweet and pleasing.