LOG-063.

  I'd been ready for a fight.

  To watch former 'allies' stare at me in utter shock as I plunged my claws through their lightforms, working with the Crystal Gems to hopefully clear the ship piece by piece, bubbling any enemies we encountered as we went. Something that would have been impossible normally, but with so many of the cruiser's dedicated soldier caste Gems brawling out on the beach with the small army of corrupted beasts they'd unleashed...well, the opportunity was a golden one, to say the absolute very least.

  That's what I'd been ready for, anyway. A fight. A struggle. Some kind of contest. Instead, we merely made our way through familiar, if utterly silent halls. The only noise being our own footsteps and the constant trickle of water guiding us along.

  "No offense, but this is super weird."

  I blinked at Amethyst's dry tone, even as the current around my ankles gave me another tug, prompting me to finally crest the 'hill' of mangled hull and deck plating that we'd been steadily traversing ever since leaving the Roaming Eye, before planting my foot back on what was relatively solid flooring once more.

  Twisted armour and machinery soon transitioned into the damnably familiar plating of what had once been my temporary prison-home, even as we continued to slowly make our way forward.

  Sure, being dragged along by a seemingly sentient stream of water was an experience I hadn't exactly expected today, at least up until I'd confirmed that Brim (or at least a distinctly non-hostile Lapis Lazuli, though I struggled to think of anyone that could be behind all this besides the blue bird brain in question) was aboard the warship, but surely the Crystal Gems had, in their many, many years spent on Earth, experienced just as if not stranger situations?

  "I suppose it is a rather novel form of navigation."

  Another tug halted any response I might have made to Pearl's seemingly innocuous comment. Instead, I gave the uppity stream a light kick in reproach, just as I began to walk forward once more.

  I recognized this particular corridor, thankfully. I'd spent no small amount of time sobbing away in the storage closet to our right whenever the pressure of things became too much, and judging by Vermilion's subtle glance, she remembered the little hiding spot as well, her fingers trembling for a second before she grabbed at her arm for comfort, drawing a concerned glance from Pearl in turn.

  More importantly however, I remembered just where this corridor led. Water occasionally rippled around my dancing shoes as I planted one foot in front of the other, making my way past what I knew to be a small maintenance area for the limb enhancers every Peridot aboard the Retaliator was equipped with, though unlike the handful of times I'd taken advantage of the isolated space (ostensibly under the pretence of needing to 'clean' up any mess left within), the door now remained firmly locked down, likely unwilling to open until the current crisis was declared resolved by the bridge crew.

  Garnet ended up pausing to rap one of her larger gauntlets against the surface of the barrier, pausing for a moment before nodding to herself and moving to follow behind the rest of the team.

  It was about halfway to the hangar that someone finally decided to speak up and break the silence that had befallen the group.

  "Viridian?" Rose, of course.

  Glancing back at the faux Quartz out of the corner of my eye, I paused for a moment, warily glancing around the intersection we needed to cross. Though the chances of actually running into one of the Retaliator's crewmembers was low, what with the rogue hydrokinetic we were moving towards likely causing all sorts of havoc within other parts of the cruiser, it still never hurt to be cautious when it came to things like this.

  "Yes?"

  Rose's voice remained more curious than everything, even as her hand gripped around the hilt of her sword as a distant thumping sound echoed down the hallway, prompting a much more distinct ripple from the water.

  "This...friend of yours. The Lapis Lazuli. How do you know her again?"

  Stepping across the water and pausing as that same thumping made itself known once more, I idly stretched my fingers out, talons glancing against each other for a moment as the digits danced through the air at my sides.

  "...She was trying to capture this ship when we first met. Ended up seeing me and Vermilion and...also tried to capture us? Or rescue, I'm still not really sure. Ended up cornering the both of us until I got a lucky hit in and poofed her. Stuff happened after that, and we ended up bonding over our shared dislike of the Empire...among other things."

  Pearl's voice had also turned curious, eyes darting towards the door ahead of us as I idly moved to place my palm flat against the reader next to it. Conveniently, it seemed my gemstone's ID signature was still embedded within the cruiser's security systems, considering the obstacle promptly opened up a second later.

  "You did mention absconding away from your previous position with the help of some other Gems. So she's a rebel, then? Alone, or part of a group?"

  Vermilion chose to pipe up in that moment, following along behind her Crystal Gem counterpart as I stalked through the doorway, noting the numerous dents coating the walls.

  "Her Kindergarten was captured by the native organic species of a fledgling colony. They...grew up with the locals, I suppose is the best way to describe it. But...after the Empire wrote it off as a loss, the entire planet was bombarded until no life remained."

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  Judging by the several sharp intakes of air I could hear behind me, the group of rebels were apparently utterly shocked by the idea. Which was a little odd, considering their own circumstances.

  Scowling at yet another tug on my ankles, I gave the water another light but annoyed kick, letting the uppity Lapis Lazuli know in no uncertain terms that she'd damn well better be patient (I wasn't about to sprint through a warship and get clotheslined by some panicking Rutile, for Stars sake!), before turning to glance back at the group.

  "Most of the organic species died with their world after Yellow Diamond-" And there was the typical widening of eyes from Rose. Honestly, just how had she never been found out? "-showed up with a Decimator fleet and glassed the place. Some escaped though. And they took what was left of their own Gems with them when they did."

  I paused, trying to find the right words to use as they all stared at me.

  "That...was a long time ago. The current generation all live in either stolen Imperial starships, or their own freshly made vessels. Descendants of the original exodus, obviously. But the Gems they grew alongside have stuck with them up until now, from what we were told."

  My fingers went up one by one as the group paid attention, even as I leaned around a corner, staring down the seemingly empty corridor.

  "Brim, Lapis Lazuli. Bit of a strange one. Self professed romantic and I'm absolutely certain she has a thing for Pearls, judging by her own advances towards myself." Turning back around to deliberately look at the servant turned warrior standing next to Rose managed to elicit an ever so slight blush from the renegade, her cheeks turning somewhat cyan.

  "There's also Talon. She's a Citrine. Think of her as an elite Quartz-" Amethyst notably perked up at that. "-a cut above the rest. Likes to fight and laughs really loudly. Not sure if she's here as well, but if Brim is, then there's a chance. And finally there's Quille. I'm...not actually all that sure just what she is, to be honest. Maybe some kind of weird, overgrown Pearl? She's also odd, but in her own distinctly different way. Doesn't really seem to talk."

  We all paused as the thumping sound returned and left once more, before skittering our way past the latest intersection, Rose deciding to speak up as we did so.

  "They have...rather interesting names, I suppose!"

  I glanced back at the hidden Diamond with a bored look.

  "They were raised by evolved avians. I have no doubt there'd be some Gem running around with the name Rebecca-" I pointedly ignored Vermilion's quietly corrective "Becky" as we turned yet another corner. "-or Greg if one of our kind had been adopted and taught by a human rather than the standard fare."

  The comment inspired a rather...contemplative look on the rebel leader's face, but I didn't have time to think about that.

  Namely because that same thumping noise was much louder now, and rapidly approaching from further down the hall. I tensed, claws splayed and ready as the Gems behind me likely did the same with their own weapons (or whatever Vermilion was doing. Hiding behind Pearl, possibly) as the noise got closer and closer, accompanied by...something else.

  "Aaaaaaa-"

  What was-?

  "-aaaaAAAAAAAAA!"

  My eyes widened, and I watched, utterly gobsmacked, as a screaming Peridot flailed through the air, limbs desperately slapping against the ring of liquid wrapped around her torso which was effectively slamming her against the walls, ceiling and floor.

  Peridot facet 2I5P, cut 6XA. I'd met her aboard the bridge a few times, though from what I'd gleaned from her usual ramblings, she was more regularly stationed performing maintenance on the starfighters in the primary hangar bay.

  As the now upside down technician flailed her arms around in some distinctly futile effort to escape the water's grasp, her eyes flicked towards us, widening in turn from behind her visor.

  "WhaaaAAAAAAAAA!"

  And there she went, the ring dragging her down an entirely different hallway, slamming her up and down the floor and walls as it did so.

  "...huh...they really are durable."

  Silence met my bemused comment, before yet another fucking tug nearly caused me to lose my footing.

  The water stilled as I slashed through it with a minor snarl, claws slicing through the liquid as I began to stomp forward.

  "Fine! I'm going! Impatient, pushy, scatterbrained-"

  The rest of the trip remained largely uneventful as I all but marched my way up the path leading to the hangar doors, the rest of the Gems hot on my heels. It was only as I was turning the corner that I noticed what seemed to be a living barricade of feathers blocking the way, prompting me to slow to a stop as several weapons were brandished, a handful of destabilizers humming threateningly in the hands of the overgrown birds staring back at me warily.

  Nonplussed, I cocked my hip and tilted my head while giving the lot a distinctly pointed look.

  "Hello."

  The chirping noise still felt incredibly odd to enunciate properly as it escaped past my lips, but the singular word seemed to calm the group significantly, one of them turning their head to look back at something as the Crystal Gems turned to glance at me in bewilderment, in between looking at the Avians in abject curiosity.

  The soft pitter patter of running footsteps followed by the flap of wings made itself known as a few of the organics moved aside, permitting just enough space to allow a blue blur to soar past the lot of them, heading straight towards me.

  The Gems tensed. The blue blur grew ever closer, a keening noise emitting from it.

  "Viridiaaaaaaa-oof!"

  And I...merely turned sideways at the very last second, letting the Lapis Lazuli fly right past me and slam straight into a wall, in between a startled Amethyst and distinctly amused Garnet.

  Tapping a foot against the water still pooled just above my ankles, I finally stepped forward, leaning down and dragging the groaning terraformer back up to her feet.

  "Hello as well, Brim."

  A second passed as the blue Gem apparently got back her bearings, before turning to glance over at me with a wide smile practically stretching her lips apart.

  "Viridian!"

  Quirking a brow, I nodded.

  "That's me. I suppose it's nice to see you again? In spite of the less than ideal circumstances-hurk!"

  I should have expected it, really, but as the Lazuli leapt forward and wrapped me up in a hug, arms and water wings and all, I could do little but wiggle and squirm in surprise beneath the myriad of stares everyone was sending our way.

  Amethyst was holding back laughter. Vermilion also looked amused. Garnet was smiling softly, and Pearl looked more than a little lost.

  Rose was grinning just as widely as Brim had, with what seemed to almost be literal stars in her eyes as the clingy Lapis continued to snuggle up to me in the middle of everyone watching us.

  Slowly pulling an arm out from the hug cocoon she was apparently attempting to turn herself into, I gave her a gentle pat on the head and tried to salvage what was left of my dignity, considering hers was clearly something that couldn't be saved.

  "Alright, yes. Nice to see you too. Now let go, we're still on a hostile warship."

  Boisterous laughter from behind the wall of Avians at least confirmed Talon's presence, even as Brim's grip only grew tighter.

  My gentle patting turned to light slapping as she doggedly refused to release me.

  "Brim! Let go of me! You're being weird again! And this really isn't the time for this!"

  Her only response was to tighten her hold even further, before fucking lifting me into the air and carrying me over towards the hangar bay, prompting an involuntary squawk from my throat.

  "No! I missed you! And we have time because I'm slapping everyone with the ocean beneath us!"

  Fucking-!

  Ugh. Fine. Better next to the overly huggy water manipulator than anywhere else when floating atop the giant mass of water, I supposed.

  ...The hug wasn't that bad either, all things considered.