"Let's go, Stella! Why are we still here?" Jay exclaims, pulling on my shirt sleeve.

"That is a good question, Jay. Why can't we leave, Peridot?" I ask.

Peridot shrugs. "Go ahead. Leave." 

"Really?" Jay bolts to the rope ladder, followed by Ryker.

Peridot slips a small gadget into my hand. "Just call me whenever you need me."

Pine and Violet look at Peridot suspiciously.

"It's just a communication device so that she can stay in touch with me." Peridot rolls her eyes.

"Come on, let's go!" I yell, grabbing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"It's been a while since I've been outside." Ryker tells me with a grin. 

"The world looks sadder than I remembered it looking like." Jay sighs.

Unfortunately, my little brother isn't wrong. The sky is grey with smog. The ground is no longer ground, it's all a gross pavement. The few plants that are left are mostly sticks, and everywhere you look is drab. 

"Has it always been like this?" Jay asks me.

I turn to Violet and Pine, and Pine shrugs. "We were made on Earth after the Diamonds took over and the world already looked kinda like this." She replies, glancing down at the short boy.

"We had an old friend who helped establish the Earth colonies." Violet says. 

"What was she like?" I ask. 

"Let's get on our way first, then I'll tell you." Violet promises. 

"Where do we have to go?" Ryker questions, trying to figure out what looks like a holographic map of something.

"Well, that's a good--" Violet starts, but I cut her off quickly.

"Where'd you get that?" I yell, tackling Ryker to the ground. In an attempt to snatch the device that's project the map, Ryker bites my wrist, causing me to cringe in pain.

"Peridot gave it to me when we were training!" He screams back, clutching the projector tightly.

I grab his right hand and try to pry his fingers away from the piece of gem technology, but he just bites my wrist again.

"It's not yours!" He tells me. "Peridot wanted me to have it!"

Pine grabs my shoulders and throws me into the arms of Violet, then lifts Ryker to his feet. "My stars, are all humans as light as you?"

Ryker rolls his eyes.

Violet and I smile at each other knowingly.

"This," I tell her, "is going to be quite a long journey."