Steven Universe x Timelord!Reader

Part 8: Training

Your POV
It had been a few days since the Crystal Gems' discovery of you.

The other lesser known Crystal Gems were much more welcoming of you than you thought. By day five with them, you'd established a few friendships, and you felt more at home. Though one morning, something was different. There were Gems rushing back and forth in something of a frenzy. You stopped one, it was Crazy Lace Agate, one of your new friends.

"Lacy!" As you had decided to call her, "What's going on? Why is everyone bustling?" Crazy Lace places a striped hand on your shoulder in reassurance, not minding the nickname.

"Don't worry your little head none," She said, "Just a mission. You'll prolly be fine. Just sit tight till we get back." She then absconded to another part of the temple.

You wandered around the Crystal Caves for a few moments, scanning Gems' faces in search of Rose Quartz. As their leader, you assumed she'd be on every mission, so your time was finite.

Maybe I could ask someone, you thought. No, you didn't see anyone you knew. You managed to spot her on the warp pad talking to a crowd of other Gems about to leave and do something heroic. You decided not to bother her, and watched her leave in a flash of light along with her friends.

The base all on its own was quite insipid. It appeared as if mostly everyone had left, and those who had not were all in a quaint little party corner, taking and dancing to themselves. You seated yourself by the warp pad and prepared for a return, thinking to yourself, about events that had transpired in the past. Mostly regeneration, and the apathetic look in Yellow Diamond's eyes as she left you to perish.

You felt a foreign hand on your shoulder and you sprang up, making karate chop hands and spinning around to see that it was just Rose. Your subverted your attempt to slap her and ended up redirecting the blow to your face, hearing the remaining Gems giggling mischievously in the background. Rose placed a hand over her mouth and chuckled softly, her voice like an angel's.

"Aren't you going to ask why I've returned?" She inquired. "S-sorry..." You said sheepishly. "Don't be," Rose said, "Why don't you guess? It'll be a fun game."

Well, maybe it's because... "Do you love me???" You said overdramatically. Rose chuckled again, "I'm here to establish that you are trained. We are in the midst of a war, and I would feel much better knowing you know how to defend yourself."

You shrugged. If it meant not hitting yourself in the face again, you were accepting. "Alright, but before we begin, I have a question. Wouldn't Pearl be doing something like this?"

Rose then looked behind her, reached for something, or someone behind her back and placed Pearl down in between you, who appeared just as puzzled as you, but for a different reason. "Well, I would like to stay, but I have a war to fight." "Wait what—?" "Bye Y/N!" And then in another flash of light, she was gone just as quickly as she arrived.

You and Pearl looked at the warp pad, then at each other for a moment before she spoke first. "Right then. You already know me. So let's begin. To the sky arena!"

*Transition brought to you by Lord Darell, CEO of BoxMore*

"Arms raised." You obeyed and managed to block the blow from the HoloPearl in front of you with your blade, which Pearl had granted you. "Keep a low center of gravity." You obeyed once again, squatting down to about two thirds of your height, and happened to block a swipe at your legs. You did this sequence over and over until it seemed like you were getting the hang of it, and it was almost becoming fun. "Congratulations," Pearl commended tentatively, which was idiosyncratic, but you didn't give it much thought. Suddenly, the HoloPearl spoke up, causing you to jump and hide behind Pearl's sinuous form, which you noted would not be ideal for use as a meat shield. ">You have progressed past level 0.000001. Initiating training mode."

That wasn't training mode? You felt somewhat condescended to as the robotic Pearl placed on hand behind her back and resumed her battle stance. Pearl looked down at you lethargically as you were still cowering behind her. She promptly sidestepped, and ushered you forwards into the unknown without a word, which filled you with apprehension. You raised your blade. ">Do you wish to engage in combat?" HoloPearl inquired. "Yes," you felt yourself say without emotion.

">Parry!" HoloPearl did something of an downswipe, which you deflected, ">Parry!" It said again, and you defended once more. ">THRUST!" It suddenly said, and your eyes widened as instinct took over your body, and slapped the tip of its blade away from your chest. Then it just cycled its previous moves, as did you in response. Nice and nonchalant.

You seemed to pick it all up very quickly. Too quickly. You coveted to do something more challenging, what Pearl had set up for you was simply too facile and supercilious. As soon as your lesson was complete and you both were returning to the warp pad, you looked up at her. Shorty.

"Pearl?" You inquired after some trepidation. She looked down at you, not bothering to squat down like Lacy had.

"What is it?" She inquired. Something about her put you off. She intimidated you. You were probably just overreacting. "P-Pardon me, b-but that was super... easy." Pearl hummed and nodded in what appeared to be agreement.

"Do you think I could do something... more... arduous?"

"Well, of course. You could have said something prior to our conclusion."

Well, that was anticlimactic. In short, you returned to the temple to rest, despite being a Gem. The temple was bustling with a multicolored wave of Gems, as it seemed many had returned from the mission. Pearl strode past you, leaving you in the crowd towards something you couldn't see with your... vertical complications.

Pearl's POV
Rose detected. Reunite with Rose.

Your POV
You attempted to follow her, but she speedwalked too quickly for you to catch up, and you cursed your tiny legs. With them, you strolled towards the only sofa in the main room, which was surprisingly empty for once. You climbed up onto it, and sat down with your legs crossed. Suddenly, you yawned. You hadn't realized how tired you were, your studies on Gallifrey about Gems proved false after all, as it appeared they could sleep sometimes. You began to nod off, but not before you were withdrawn from your insipid thoughts as you heard Rose shuffling towards you. You opened your eyes which you hadn't realized you'd closed and smiled at her jovially. "Hello (Y/n)! How are you?" She said in an almost motherly tone. "Alright. Pearl trained me today!"

Rose smiled and sat down next to you. "Why don't you tell me all about it?"