Pearls

Chapter Six

Yellow came back into consciousness slowly. First there was only gentle darkness, and Yellow drifted in it, grateful for the calm it provided. Next, she slowly became aware of the sound of her own breathing, steady and soothing. Then she realized that she could feel- she could feel the clothes on her body and the scratchy ground she lay on. Soon after that, the stream of thoughts started- events, places, and people trickling into her head as she gradually remembered them all. And before she could enjoy that blissful darkness and delightful ignorance properly, her eyes were opening and reality was flooding back. She was a traitor and an escapee, and she was now on a strange planet, injured, with no idea where she was and what she was doing. She groaned as she sat up, blinking rapidly against the light. Her body ached and flashes of pain arched through her frame at the movement, so she stilled herself and focused on adjusting her eyes to her surroundings.

She was in a big room, roughly hewn out of grey rock and lit with a single, bright lantern that hung from the sloped ceiling. She lay on a pallet of scratchy soft stuff, pushed up against a surprisingly warm wall. A few metal crates littered the room and a gleaming silver hatch was attached to the ceiling. It was quiet, save for the sound of her own breathing, and it would have been peaceful except for the fact that Yellow Pearl had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there.

Yellow glanced down at herself, and was surprised to find that someone had bound her wounds- both her hands were wrapped in clean white cloth and her leg was in a cast. Her left arm was in a sling and cradled against her body. She reached up with her right arm to touch her head, only to be met with another bandage. She sighed, but the breath hurt her ribs. She hoped they weren't broken.

Yellow slowly and carefully moved off the straw pallet, wincing at the pain. It seemed that she had broken or bruised every part of her, somehow. She crawled towards the crates, hoping that they might yield some clue as to where she was. What had happened? How was she here- or perhaps the better, yet slightly more ominus question was, who put her here? An examination of one of the crates revealed that it was firmly sealed. Yellow doubted she could open it at full strength, and injured as she was, she had no chance. A quick but painful inspection of the other boxes proved that they were all similarly locked. Yellow made her way over to the metal hach and examined it- it was far to high for her to reach, the stone it was set against looked unclimbable, and it appeared to be sealed. Clearly, she would not be exiting through it without help. She looked around the room for a possible escape, or at least something interesting, something to give her a clue about her location. But there was nothing- just rock walls, unmarked boxes, and unreachable haches. Body aching, Yellow Pearl limped back to her itchy pallet.

Yellow spent the next several units lying there, trying to puzzle out where she was. Theory after theory drifted through her head, from The Diamonds have found us, to We've been kidnapped by locals, to This is all a horrible nightmare, to I've been shattered and this is the afterlife. She shifted restlessly, wishing she could pace without pain. It was torture, just waiting there. Unable to do anything. She stood and searched the room a few more times, even trying and failing to pry open the crates. She wondered about Blue Pearl- where she was, if she was safe. And the Diamonds- had they discovered their Pearls' betrayal yet, or did they still believe that they had two faithful servants? It wasn't until Yellow Pearl settled on her back on the pallet that she remembered Yellow Diamond's letter, still tucked away under her leotard. She pulled it out, marveling. Aside from being a bit crumpled, it was as pristine and white as ever. It was a miracle that the thing hadn't been ripped apart or lost yet. Alone, bored, and wondering whether she would ever get out of here, Yellow felt the nagging urge to open it.

Her fingers were halfway towards the seal before she shook herself back into reality. Just because she had gone rogue and run away did not mean she was a traitor. Just because she had been dragged on this crazy trip did not mean she renounced the Diamond empire. It had been drilled into her brain to always be loyal, to always put the Diamonds above herself, and it was that training that had kept her alive. She couldn't start acting rash and rifling through the Diamonds' private mail on a whim. Besides, that envelope was the last connection she had to Yellow Diamond- the last thing really keeping her anchored, reminding her of who and what she was. Do not forget your place, she scolded herself.