Series: Rainbow Quest

AU: Sabre, rather than a human, is a being made entirely of crystal.

Context: Orange Steve and Red Steve are exploring in a cave, unaware of what's been curiously following them through the colorful caverns underneath where they're walking.

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[Orange Steve's POV]

"Careful Orange, don't rush it, you might slip." Red calls out as we make our way along the cavern wall.

"I know, I know!" I say, trying not to look down at the ravine below us. "Just- Hang on!"

We're walking along an opened cave that leads into a ravine covered in crystals, especially the large ones below the rocky path that look like stalagmites. I'm trying to hurry past the open part, because the drop past the fenceless path we're taking is a really high one. How is Red not terrified right now?!

"Just a little longer, buddy. Stop trying to run on the path." Red says behind me, carrying the torch we're using to light the way. "Like I said, you might slip. All of the moisture down here collects on the stone, including the stone we're walking on right now."

"But, the-"

"You're not gonna fall down the ravine, chill out."

I stop running, now just walking towards the closed-walled section of the cave path. I just want to get this part over with.

"Why do we even need these crystals? We already have the Chromatic Crystals, can't we fix this with those?" I ask.

"The Chromatic Crystals have no effect, we already tried remember?" Red replies. "The strange illness that's been affecting everyone needs a potion to cure it, and an ingredient for it is the supposedly magical-propertied crystals we're looking for down here. Since these crystals have a very low melting point, enough to turn liquid in a brewing stand, and they're said to have better effects than a Healing Potion, they were supposedly used in a time this illness was first discovered many years ago. Apparently, though, they're guarded..."

"So that's why you made me bring a sword?" I say, clutching the scabbard at my waist. Red grabs his as well.

"Yes, no one's ever really come this far down, so we have no idea if that's true or not." Red continues. "Or what's guarding it, if it is. So keep a lookout."

I sigh and look towards the large crystals that are next to us one the path, growing out of the bottom of the ravine. It takes my mind off the high place. They're really pretty... and clear, too. Almost like glass, if it wasn't for the distortions because of the shapes of the crystals. There's a lot of different colors, some are even shades of different hues rather than just being normal colors. It's nice.

I suddenly see what looks like a person run through the forest-like crystal groups below us. I stop and try to spot them again.

"Orange? What is it?" Red asks.

"I swear, something just ran through the crystals down there..." I say, scanning the ground. I keep my distance because of the height.

"It was probably just a creature that lives down here, we need to keep going." Red answers, walking closer to me.

"No, it looked like a person. Kind of... maybe." I say, still looking for what I saw. What even was it...?

Red stays still for a moment, concerned. He then grasps my shoulder and attempts to get me to keep going.

"Then it was probably Darkness, which is worse. We need to hurry." Red urges. "If it's down here and gets to those crystals before we do, everyone's in danger."

"It wasn't Darkness either! I swear, I saw someone down there!" I say, leaning forward to try and get a better look.

"Orange, be careful-" Red starts, but he's interrupted.

A dull 'crack' echoes in the caverns, and suddenly, the stone underneath one of my feet gives way.

It happens too fast for me to step back.

I try to grab Red's hand as he reaches for me, screaming my name, but I've already fallen too far.

The last thing I do before hitting the ground below me is look back, seeing that I'm not above any crystals. At least it won't hurt...

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...

I slowly get up from the ground, my head pounding.

Looking around, I'm surrounded by those colorful crystals. They're like spruce trees when you look at them up close, they're so tall. Sitting up and looking behind me, up at the cavern path, Red isn't there anymore. I wonder what happened to him...

I quickly turn back around when I hear something in front of me. I take out my sword, not really sure if I can stand up.

"Who's there?!" I yell, trying to sound brave. Really... I'm scared out of my mind.

I soon get my answer when I hear slow, quiet footsteps.

A person in a forest green shirt, dark blue jeans, and combat boots steps out from behind one of the crystals. His brown hair falls over the black blindfold over his eyes, however I can tell he's scared too.

The thing most surprising about him, though, is that his skin is entirely made up of an iridescent, very pastel crystal. He looks as if he was carved from one of the crystals around me, and somehow brought to life.

However, it doesn't mean I should immediately trust him. I point my sword's blade at him, which makes him jump and step back a little.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"Um... My name is Sabre..." The being says. "Please don't point that at me."

"What are you doing here?" I say, not listening to that last part. It might be a trick, he might be working with the Darkness.

"This... is where I live?" Sabre replies, now sounding a little confused.

"What?" I say, lowering my sword slightly.

"Yeah, I live here. A little ways past this area." Sabre continues. "I was just curious as to what you guys are, so uh... I hope I didn't scare you when I followed you."

I sheathe my sword, feeling a little bad for the misunderstanding.

"Wait, so you're what I saw run past those crystals a little bit ago?" I ask.

"Yeah, that was me." Sabre says, giving a small grin. "Again, sorry if I scared you."

"Nah, you didn't. I was just curious too, and we were kind of intruding then." I reply.

"Are you alright? You hit the ground pretty hard." Sabre asks me. "You're lucky you weren't standing above some of the crystal growths when you fell."

"I think I'm okay..." I say, checking my head in case I'm bleeding. Thankfully, I'm not.

Sabre walks out from behind the huge crystal completely and makes his way over to me, hand outstretched.

"Here, lemme help you up." Sabre says, still smiling.

I smile back and take his hand. His... skin, I guess? Is cold, kind of expected since he's made of crystal. Sabre quickly hoists me to my feet.

"Thanks." I say.

"No problem." Sabre replies. "Now, we should see where your friend went, he kind of rushed off once you fell-"

Red's voice interrupts Sabre.

"ORANGE?! ORANGE, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Red calls out from a bit away.

"Over here, Red!" I call back. "And I found something cool! Or, I guess, he found me."

As we hear Red start running in our direction (heh, hypocrite), I turn to Sabre and smile.

"I'm sure he's gonna like you too, once he stops freaking out." I say.

"Alright..." Sabre says. "Hey, what were you two even looking for down here?"

"Oh, we were looking for these special magic crystals for a potion." I answer. "Everyone on the surface has been getting sick, and it's said those crystals are part of a cure, so..."

"Oh, those?" Sabre says, happy. "I know where those are! I can take you guys to them once your friend gets here."

"Really?" I say, excited.

"Of course! You guys need them, and I want to help." Sabre answers, giving a big smile.

As we hear Red getting closer, I also start smiling wider, happy that we have both a solution to our problem and a new friend.

This is gonna be awesome.