Earth Bound

Alliances

"Are we really going to leave her?" Peri inquired as she followed Onyx to the front door. On what had seemed like a wise decision, Onyx had told the gems they were to gather up their things and leave. They had done so in relatively short order, the only thing slowing them down was Peri's insistence that they find Onyx's over shirt, and Snowflake's house seemed like a labyrinth of hallways lined with closed and locked doors. After much debate and Peri's determination leading them through the halls back to her room where she'd sworn she saw Onyx's shirt on a chair, they finally retrieved the article of clothing. Onyx slipped into her shirt with only slight struggle as the bandaging on her shoulder and side made the fabric tighter. Like that, they were ready to leave.

Casting a glance back up the stairwell that they'd just wandered down, Onyx breathed a heavy sigh, "We don't have any other choices. Right now she needs her space... and we need ours."

Now it was Tourmaline's turn to interject into the conversation, "Where are we going to go?"

"Back to the ship."

"What if the monsters come back for us?" Tourmaline shivered at the thought.

"We have daylight on our side; we'll make it back before nightfall. Now c'mon, we need to get going."

With both gems outside, Onyx closed the door giving it a last lingering gaze. Leaving Snowflake like this didn't feel right but she saw the fire in the gem's eyes, she knew that getting away was their best option.

For the first time Onyx felt completely out of control as she stood on the porch looking at the thick woods that surrounded the house. Where was their ship? Were they really safe? Would she be able to protect Peri and Tourmaline if a situation arose? A warm hand on her shoulder pulled her from her thoughts.

"Our ship landed somewhere due southwest of here." Peri pointed off towards the rear of the house.

"We should go there first and then we can track coordinates back to our ship." Tourmaline suggested to Onyx.

With everyone in agreement they set off. Navigating the woods in the day time on a nearly cloudless day proved to be much easier than it had in the pouring rain. Tourmaline kept quiet to herself and reserved as she strolled through the thicket of trees. Onyx found the utmost enjoyment out of watching Peri excitedly stop to investigate some of the peculiar things about earth.

~

Grabbing a pen and paper, scribbling down furious notes, Snowflake threw herself into her work once again. Sniffling back tears as she wrote she poured out her heart as she had on multiple occasions before. It felt like an eternity before her emotions subsided into a dull pain in the back of her mind. Then, and only then, could she realize how alone she was. The thought of companionship from anyone had slipped through her hands once again.

Humans lived such short lives that it seemed whenever she'd befriend one in no time they were gone and she was left before a grave to weep and mourn alone. After a while the humans seemed to all but depart from the woods leaving her alone.

With a disheartened sigh she collected herself enough to rise from her chair and cast a long glance at the notes she'd so quickly recorded. From her work she tore her gaze away to look at the tapestry.

Closing her eyes she could almost hear a familiar voice telling her, "You are no fighter nor will you ever be one. Why don't you just give up this fight and accept who you are supposed to be?"

Opening her eyes she gave the design another look. "You are wrong my Diamond," She boldly announced, returning to her desk she lifted out a carefully wrapped parcel. With extreme delicacy she untied the leather straps which bound the dingy cloth to the object. Inside the worn cloth there was a dagger meticulously covered in a brown leather sheath. Tying it to her leg as she often did when she would go hunting strode to the door testing the fit. It still fit like a glove. "I am a fighter and this is who I am."