One Day I'll Save You

Forest Gem

They headed out into the deep woods of the mountainside. A little carefree, to be honest, Amethyst was doing her usual routines of jokes and morphing into b different animals and objects as Steven and Tanzenite attempted to guess what she was.
The sky above was cloudy and dim, the light that did shine through was a pale yellow, the flowers' colors popped brightly against the greens and browns of damp wood, and the air smelled sweet with nature. Amethyst had changed into just about everything from a fish, to a bear and everything in between and Steven was having good fun when the weather took a turn for the worst.

Thunder started to boom across the sky and rain began falling as hard as possible. Steven put up his hood and the three of them ran under thicker trees where the rain wasn't so... wet. The dripping branches gave off a sort of, footstep tap and, to any human, would set them on edge. Luckiky, Steven was used to things like this, it made it easier to handle.
"Okay, Garnet said that the Gem Monster should be around here." Tanzenite said putting on her thinking face. Steven made one too, even thought both of them were sure he was thinking about what to have as a snack later.
"Maybe we should split up, I'll take Steven." Amethyst suggested snapping gleefully. Tanzenite nodded.
"That might be the best option, but for now, let's wait for the rain to die down, Steven can get sick." She smiled down at him. He looked up and rested his hands behind his head.
"You don't need to worry about me you know, I've been through so much weather, it's crazy!" She giggled at his comment.
"I'm sure..." she looked out further into the woods.
"But I feel uneasy." Amethyst gave her a knowing look and started searching around.

A few moments later they heard her call to them.
"Hey!" They looked up and saw her waving from above them, how and when she did that was a mystery to them both. Tanzenite grabbed Steven at the waist and jumped up to Amethyst who pointed into a small divot in a near hillside. She set Steven down and nestled into it. Steven looked around, suddenly nervous.
"Any... special reason why we're up here?" Tanzenite looked at him. She was distracted again. She smiled and flipped her short wet hair.
"Of course, just watching the rain." Steven made an unsure noise and sat down between her and Amethyst. He set down his bag and pulled out his little Ukulele and strummed a few strings.
"Steven?... What are you doing?" Steven smiled to Tanzenite's question and took a breath.

"Oh Tanzenite,
what is your story,
what do you see?
I just want to know...
more about you,
oh Tanzenite,
you're full of mystery
.. you're really neat,
and fun, and nice!
But I want to know more,
oh I want to know more,
about you."

He strummed the last string and Tanzenite laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder. Amethyst was smiling gently to the song he sang. Tanzenite gave a sudden thoughtful face, then grinned sweetly, like a parent to her child, and took a breath.

"Oh Steven,
how precious you are,
how I wish I could tell you... everything.
Yet, I cannot bring it forward
and I cannot let it out,
I cannot let you see the way, the way I see myself,
In a heartbeat I would show you,
All the memories I keep,
All the dreaded thoughts I bear,
All the things that make me sleep
The person who I love the most
The person who I miss
How I wish that I could see her
Oh how I wish...."

Her voice trailed off once she realized she was singing more than she ment. She looked up and saw Amethyst and Steven looking at her concerned. She laughed.
"N-nevermind, that was just... something else!" Steven smiled and put a hand on her chest. She smiled and held his hand gently in hers.
"It's okay... when you're ready, you can always talk." She made a determined smile.
"Understood."

They sat there for a few more moments until the rain died down some. Once it did, they headed out again. Eventually they found tracks in the mud of something, not big, but not small either. Amethyst looked at Tanzenite and they nodded at each other.
"Is it ahead, T?" Amethyst asked.
Tanzenite gave a quick sniff to the air like a dog and nodded.
"Still a long ways though." Amethyst grabbed her whip from her Gem, Steven summoned his shield and gave a look of determination.
"Better safe than sorry." He said dramatically. Tanzenite snickered. It was so hard to stay focused with him there.
They walked forward and catiously made their way around the inner woods. Deeper and deeper they went until it was black all around them. Tanzenite kind of laughed, making Amethyst and Steven jump a little.
"What?!" They both said.
"Nothing... I was thinking how aweful it would be if the Gem Monster was invisible." She said with a laugh in her smile.
"Oh! I fought a Gem Monster like that once on Mask Island! You could still see the gem though, so it wasn't too hard." As Steven finished telling his Story a loud thud rang around them. Tanzenite grabbed Steven and tossed him to the opposite direction of the sound.
"It's here!" She yelled reaching for her gem. It began to glow and a hilt of a weapon appeared. Just as she had her weapon halfway out a medium sized, four legged, dog looking creature jumped out from behind a thick bunch of trees. It took a wide swipe at the three of them. Tanzenite did a nimble dodge while Amethyst pinned it down with her whip. Steven tossed his held at it face with a shout. The shield bounced off the bridge of the monster's muzzle. It tossed it's head about and shook loose of Amethysts binding and lunged for Tanzenite. She pulled her weapon out completely and blocked the claws that were surprisingly long. She grit her teeth and tossed the beast on its back. Luckily the gem was there. She jumped and spun her weapon around, sending the shafts downward into the beast's body. The monster let out a loud roar and it's body poof ed away. Leaving a round, dark red gem behind. Tanzenite picked it up and handed it to Steven. He looked at it and then to her.
"That was... amazing..." she blushed.
"Aw... shucks Steven." She sent her weapon away and looked at Amethyst who was all smiles.
"You look happy." She said.
"It's been a while since I've seen you in action, brought back memories!" She gave her a shoulder punch and laughed loudly. Steven looked at the gem again and bubbled it. He pressed the top and sent it to the Temple.
"ALRIGHTY THEN" Steven exclaimed, throwing his arms up.
"We ready to head back?!" His face was all smiles. The two girls smiled and grabbed either of his hands.
"You got it Steve---!" Tanzenite was cut off suddenly. Her eyes went wide. Her hand tightened around Steven's and she spun around quickly, weapon on hand. Amethyst followed suit. They both pushed Steven away as a large claw landed on Tanzenite's weapon's handle.

This monster was three times the size of the other monster. It was the same type, only this one had the gem in the forhead. Tanzenite let out a yell as she pushed the monster back into the trees, turning several into woodchips. Amethyst jumped into action as well. She threw her whip and attached it to the back of the gem dog and kept to try to at least distract it. The monster thrashed and spun sending amethyst and Tanzenite flying into seperate ends of the, now, clearing. Steven looked at the sheer vastness of this gem monster and pulled out his bubble shield just as the monster threw down its massive paw. The bubble withstood the blow. Steven looked at both Amethyst and Tanzenite they exchanged looks and nodded. Steven knew they had something in mind, he just didn't know what.