Steven's P.O.V
The wind might bite into me with its bitter teeth and the darkness of night may make me feel small and alone, but with the fire inside me of near certain victory, I let all those other things go and let my determination flood my mind. And, even though I hate Rose and want her to pay for all that she's done and could possibly still do, my aim is not to kill her. At worst, she'll be poofed, bubbled, and taken to a particularly familiar place that I'll get to later. As of now, though, I'm so set on stopping Rose here and now that I doubt anything could stop me. There have been a few bumps in the road, but most has gone exactly as I've wanted it to so far. Just this last battle to fight and I better do it fast because my essence fading in and out of reality has gotten continuously worse. If I remain in this timeline much longer, I'll be scattered to the wind whipping at my face and lost among the stars like half of the Avengers after Infinity War. But, I'm determined not to let that happen.
My freefall then comes to an end as I see the tops of the trees approaching rapidly, forcing me to summon my bubble. I then collide with the tall, hulking plants with the force of a punch and feel myself get bounced back and forth while falling even more towards the ground. It's dizzying for sure, but it's better that getting bruised, so I'll just leave it at that. My bubble then slams the ground, leaving a small crater-sized indent in the grassy forest floor. Letting my protection fade away, I stand up strong and confident, exhaling firmly before I begin looking.
Rose and her little trio of rebels for sure fell in this direction, I watched their fall just to be sure, so I can safely confirm that they have to be in this area somewhere. They wouldn't just be standing around in plain sight waiting for me though because after seeing what me and my arm were capable of, those four would be smart to stay out of sight. And the only way to do that would be to hide among the canopy in hopes that I would pass underneath them and play victim to an ambush attack. You see, they think they can outsmart me, but it's just what they tried to pull before on the Homeworld Army when they first arrived at the Diamond Arena. Rose just doesn't have her hundreds of allies now, so she'll definitely play this move more safe than the other.
Well, might as not wait all day. If I'm going to have any chance drawing them out, I should walk around and scan the environment for clues as to where they landed, if they even crashed into the ground that is. Also, it'll give them a false sense of security, making Rose, Pearl, Garnet, and Bismuth think that I'm not expecting them. I shake some leaves and loose twigs off me, then get right to business and strut down this reasonably looking path between these trees that have plenty of room in between. Luck's on my side this day, and not just because my army dominated hers, but due to the fact that the Sun has just risen, so my path and any clue to the four Crystal Gem's whereabouts are more easily visible to me than compared to if it was nighttime. So far I've found nothing, no Rose-shaped craters or indentations of any kind other than those placed in the ground naturally, but I've only just begun. Can't slack and take to much time though, cause the small group could eventually get tired of waiting for me and just decide to run. I can't and won't have that.
Pressing my hands against the trunks of two trees I squeeze by, my eyes flit around, focusing in on the ground once again. Hmm, no footprints, but why would there be any? It's not like they're stupid and trying to make their direction of movement seem obvious. However, the distribution of leaves up in this small clearing about four feet in front of me seem too crunched and unevenly placed, even for pieces of nature that fall pretty randomly. Showing an outward frown, but smiling on the inside, I trot right into the clearing, bending down once I reach the leaves to further examine them. Yep, the Gems have definitely been here and if I didn't know any better, I bet they're hiding around me right at this very second. Perfect, now I just gotta taunt them and draw them out. Well, here goes nothing.
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His Mother's Son
FanfictionThe truth is out. Rose Quartz, the leader of the Crystal Gem rebellion, was Pink Diamond all along. It shocked all of the Gems, but Steven was the most affected. His anger now only grows, seeing that his mother, who he once looked up too, was nothin...
