A Captured Butterfly

Chapter One

   Pearl drifted into consciousness, driven by the shouting from outside her cell. Her eyes shot open once she realized who was calling to her.

Jasper.

   The petit gem backed up as much as she could to put some distance between her and the hulking gem standing right outside her cell. Jasper sneered down at her, chuckling when she saw the fear in her pale, blue eyes.

   "Aww, don't be afraid little Pearl." She taunted, opening the electric cell door. "I just want to hurt you!"  The orange gem stomped closer to Pearl, grabbing her chin and lifting the smaller gem to eye level. Pearl struggled against the strong gems grasp, trying to kick and fidget her way out. She soon found that method useless.

   "Hey! Leave her alone!" Amethyst shouted from the next cell over, pounding on the shared wall between the cells. Jasper raised an eyebrow, then adjusted her grip on Pearl, so that one hand held her by the back of her neck, and one held her left arm behind her back, bent at an uncomfortable angle.

   "Excuse me?" Jasper slowly walked over to Amethysts cell, standing in front of the electric wall separating the cell from the hallway. "I said, leave her alone." Amethyst muttered between clenched teeth, curling her hands into fists and widening her stance.

   Jasper laughed, raising Pearls chin to leave her neck exposed. Her grin widened, bending the pale gems arm to a painful angle behind her back.

   "And what are you going to do about it?" She questioned. "I'll-" Amethyst stopped once she saw Jasper hold Pearl closer to the electric wall. She pushed the terrified Pearl foreword onto the energy gate. Pearl let out a high pitched scream before blacking out, her body shaking and vibrating with the energy. Amethysts expression turned to horror. "I-I'm sorry! Please stop!" She stuttered and pleaded.

   The bulky gem chuckled once again, taking Pearl off the energy field. "Gonna stay quiet now, aren't we?" Jasper taunted, raising Pearl dangerously close to the fence. "Yes! Yes, just please don't hurt her!" Amethyst cried, hurtfully staring at Pearls burnt skin, lines of yellow visible against her pale complexion.

   "Good." Jasper left as soon as she came, leaving Amethyst without words just as Steven and Garnet ran down the hall to rescue her. 

•••

   "Wait, Jasper has her?" Steven cried out, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "She had her before." Amethyst corrected. "But, yeah."

   Garnet adjusted her glasses, picking up her pace. "Jasper has her in the control bridge. She's not doing very good." Garnet stated, obviously from her future vision. The other two gems exchanged worried glances, jogging to catch up with Garnet.