[IC] We Are the Crystal Gems

[Pathfinder]

With a small, lopsided grin Johnny moved behind and hooked his arms underneath the statues. It definitely wasn't easy moving him around but it also wasn't very hard, most of the difficulty came from how awkward it was to carry the person shaped rock. It had just struck Johnny how odd this must be. Like honestly what are the odds that out of the six billion people on this rock, it was Johnny who found them? Granted he did go to places where Gems had been but those had been there for centuries, maybe more. Today was just a good day, all in all.

"The names Johnny, by the way. Nice to meet ya."

[21308]

Spinel was now back with the group, presumably with Howlite somewhere behind. "It is good to meet you as well, Johnny." Spinel said. "I agree with Obsessvive Blue and Unfriendly Yellow, it would be best if we did this quickly, and it will go faster of we work together. I myself will be of little help, but that doesn't mean I won't." She positioned herself so that she was opposite to Johnny, as least as much as she could be, and started to lift.

[Loony]

"Johnny," she repeated, letting the name roll off her tongue, "Johnny. A strange weird name, but she supposed she liked it. It seemed fitting for this...thing.

"Oh, pardon me, I suppose I should introduce myself. I, contrary to common belief, am not named Unfriendly Yellow..." She a quick glance to Spinel before continuing, "but am named Evenkite. However, I prefer simply being called Eve. A pleasure to meet you, Johnny. I really would like to help, but again, I'm not even sure I can reach up to how far you two can carry. Even if I could, I have to only use one arm because of Amber here," she paused once more, motioning to the dormant gemstone she still kept cradled with her, "and let's face it, these arms aren't exactly built of muscle. Please forgive me for my uselessness, and thank you for your assistance." With that, Evenkite gave a curt bow of her head, and made her way towards the blue and white gem whom was still fumbling about with the excessive amount of weaponry.

"I can, however, help you with some of those weapons, if you'd like, gem whom is certainly not named Obsessive Blue. Maybe not by much, but it would save us all a headache, at the very least."

[HaltingBlooper]

"My name is Emerald." Said Emerald. "Can we hurry with the introductions? We really need to leave!" Emerald turned his head as much towards Johnny as possible. "And could you put me in the..."van", as you call it? That would be a big help. Also, I apologize if I'm too heavy to move easily. Nice to meet you too." Emerald wondered to himself how long it would be until they were attacked again, and thought that if that happened soon, the thing holding him would probably die. "And, for your sake, "Johnny", we should really move before the spiderthings come back."

[pyroman]

"Sodalite-ful to meet you, Johnny." The blue Gem said to the human. She smiled to herself, snickering even, thinking that her choice of words was rather funny. The words just appeared to her, as if they were ingrained into her mind despite not being conscious for more than half an hour. "Sodalite..." She said to herself, believing that it was her name, or what she wished people to call her. It seemed appropriate, and she quite enjoyed the name.

Her attention moved to Evenkite, who had offered to carry her weapons. While it was a nice offer, she didn't want to force it on her if she didn't actually want to do it. "Only if you'd like to." Was her response. "I'll get most of them later."

[Pathfinder]

The ghost like gem offered to help with Emerald, as it was discovered, and Johnny welcomed the help. The guy wasn't heavy as much as awkward, if he was only positioned a little differently than he could bare the weight on his shoulders but since he wasn't Johnny would just have to bear with it. "Thanks for the help by the way, oh I didn't catch your name yet." Johnny put up a friendly face as he dragged mister dead weight, occasionally looking behind them to watch for anything to trip over and to keep the path in sight. It wouldn't take long normally but the added weight would surly drag the walk back by a healthy chunk. Honestly, Johnny was looking forward to it. It'd been awhile since he had to work hard to do something.

[Loony]

A puzzled expression grew on Evenkite's face. "Why would I ask I didn't want to do so? Of course I'm going to help. Not by much, but I'm going to help."

Her eyes scanned the pile for any weapons which were light and small enough for her to handle while still safely carrying Amber, and settled for what to her was a sword and what to others was little more than a dagger or knife. After finding it's sheath, she carried it under her right arm, keeping Amber in her left, and hopped off to look for anything else that would be fit to carry.

"You know, you really out to be more careful with those weapons. If not for the sake of our ears, for the sake of their effectiveness. You're dulling them by pushing them about on the ground," she said as she passed by Sodalite, her eyes now on some sort of flail.

"Why do you need to bring all of these, anyways? Isn't this a little...excessive?"

[LokiLeo789]

One being could not enjoy anything in this world without striving to achieve that enjoyment. Paying attention to it, caring for it, and in essence, enjoying the enjoyment. Unfortunately, the sunrise that he enjoyed so much, must of not been so important to him this time. Alex had ended up falling asleep on the bench. Not even the morning suns rays that beat down on his face woke him. Alex spent the next 5 or so hours asleep, snoring loud enough to scare the birds on the trees around him.

Only the high pitched shrieking of his watch alarm, which he had grown accustomed to waking up to, had awoken him. Alex groggily brought his wrist up to his face, the watch showed that it was about 10. "Mornings over." Alex mumbled despondently as he stumbled over to his car. It was an classic vehicle, not a muscle, but a delicate one. Unfortunately, the ladies did not like delicate, in reality, Alex did not know what the ladies liked anymore. Once he left elementary school, dealing with girls became a thousand times more difficult. Alex couldn't get a grasp on it, was he getting dumber, or were girl getting more psychologically complicated, Alex guessed the latter.

Alex cruised to his Martial Arts training facility. Having sworn to never call it a "dojo", he opted to utilize that name in it's place. Training started at eleven, so Alex had abit of time to spare since he had left a bit early. Alex contemplated just going back to sleep, but what good would that have done at this point. He could have just gone straight to the "dojo" instead, but then he would have been stuck outside in the parking lot. There had been rumors of and unusual place not to far from his current location, but Alex contemplated it's pros and cons. Pros: Proving that there is nothing wrong with it. Maybe get some style points. Waste time. Still get style points if there is something there. Cons: Something is up there. He dies. The last con was a game changer for Alex, death was an experience he wanted to enjoy when life got extremely boring. Old age would be the extreme for Alex anyway.

It would be a difficult hike, the hills and the steep rock face did not seem stellar. But even if he was late for training, telling his "teacher", he went hiking for body fitness would most likely get him out of trouble. Alex turned onto a dirt road that would lead him up a path close enough to the "scary place", for him to walk, despite being very unprepared.

[The ghost in black]

Howlite stayed next to spinel the whole time and when she started lifting the talking statue decided to go on ahead and clear rocks and stray weapons out of their way. As she walked on she found a long handle sticking out of the groundand decided to check it out, Howlite wrapped her hands around the handle and pulled upward on it surprised by her own strength and how light it seemed as the large broad ax came out of the ground. "Cool!" She said with a large smile and her voice echoing around the canyon "what do you think of this weapon Mr. Lizard?" She asked as she held the ax up and inspected it and giving a few test swings, "yeah I like it too". As Howlite swung the axe she brought it down on a stone easily cleaving it in half but leaving her a bit winded from the force of the hit. Howlite walked back to the group with her newly aquired weapon that was almost as big as her slung over her shoulder.

[LizLegend]

"Nice to meet you Johnny," Zircon gave a single slow wave to him. Zircon then silently nodded in agreement to the white gem. Yes, they should get out of there as soon as possible. For all they know those spiderbots could come back at that exact second. So really, there's no time to set up camp. Not like this was a camping trip in the first place. Zircon watched some introductions be exchanged before she silently went over to the statue Emerald and started assisting the white gem and the Johnny by lifting from the side, cause you know what, the more the better.

[Akayaofthemoon]

"Those weapons are probably dull anyway from laying here so long. She can't do much more to them by pushing them around on the ground." Aquamarine stated with a light shrug. Johnny, could you lead the way for us to this 'van' of yours? she asked politely, helping take the other side of Emerald's statue form across from Zircon. The more people they had, the faster they would all be able to move and with the group rounded up they were truly ready to head out. She couldn't wait to be as far away from this place as soon as possible, the Kindergarten dragging up bad memories of friends lost and so much more.

[pyroman]

"Of course not." Sodalite shot back rather quickly. In the short time that she had been in possession of these weapons, she had grown fond of them. She would take the time to learn most to all of them, to be capable with any sort of weapon at her disposal. Of course, she still had her personal weapon that she could call on, but having an additional armory wouldn't hurt at all. If they were going to be some sort of group, then the other Gems would have access to the weapons as well if they wanted to use them. She wasn't going to be selfish about it. She glared at Aquamarine griefly for insulting the weapons, but she had to admit that she was right, they had been there for longer than she could think, and were extremely dull. However, she would do her best to restore them.

Evenkite made sense, though. The weapons would get damaged being pushed on the ground all of the time, and the noise it caused was a fair bit louder than when she shuffled around with them in her arms. "I like the weapons." Sodalite spoke again. "I'll take care of them and keep them sharp and you can all use them if you need too. We'll be prepared for anything and everything." She smiled at her weapons, but did not pick them up. She would come back for them later, as she had said before. First, they had to get Emerald to whever Johnny would be taking them.

[Pathfinder]

Johnny was in the mood, meaning nearly everything was blocked out of his mind. It was just Johnny, and the task. No noise, no smells, nor awareness besides one foot behind the other as he pulled Emerald along. The time he registered the others was when Aquamarine helped lighten the load some more, with three people doing this than they were sure to make some great time. As they others talked, argued, and what not, Johnny was busy remembering every detail of his walk. To be honest the way to his Van was kind of a maze, if he wasn't careful he would lead them all into circles.

It took a bit longer than expected, there were some troubles along the way but all in all it was a fairly uneventful trip. The Gems did their thing while he did his, peaceful in some focused and working way. Eventually he began to recognize the area and found that his Van was just beyond the bend. "Look alive people, the Van is just around the corner." and with that he and the two helpers propped Emerald against the Van while Johnny fished his keys from his pocket and slid the side door open before jumping in, clearing room for the talking weight.

[21308]

Spinel thought for a moment. She had been asked for a name, but she didn't actually know what her's was. A couple of the other gems seemed to have already determined what their names were on their own. She looked down at her elbow as much as she could without dropping Emerald by lifting it, and saw a clear gem. Would she be able to come up with a name for herself simply by thinking hard enough, as her new companions seemed to? ...No. In her mind, a name had to be more than just a random word. It had to mean something, help highlight her best qualities. She felt she had a good thing going with the naming conventions she'd been using, and didn't plan to stop now. "I've been going by Canyon Spirit for most of my life, but I can see now that that name isn't very suitable. You may call me Perceptive Clear." Spinel said.

"Also, Johnny, since you don't seem fully aware of this, it seems that Knowledgeable Aquamarine is the only one among us who can remember anything from very long before the recent battle." Spinel then faintly smiled and nodded at Zircon. "Thank you for helping us, Unassuming Black." Spinel slowly lowered Emerald into the van when they reached it. "Well, there you are. I suppose this is goodbye for now, Annoy-" no, she was making a concentrated effort to be more friendly, remember? "that is, Sturdy Emerald."

[Loony]

"Perhaps you're right, Aquamarine, but there's no need to put them in worse shape. Plus, the noise is quite painful on the ears."

Evenkite turned back towards Sodalite, the flail-like weapon now under her arm as well. She bent over to pick up another weapon -a baton- and clutched it in her hand, decided that these three would be enough for the first trip.

"Well, first we'll have to learn how to use them properly. Except maybe her," she said, trying her best to motion towards the now axe-wielding Howlite with her arms full, "And that's a very kind offer, but of most of them are too big to be much use for me. This sword should be okay, though."

Taking a few steps back towards Johnny and the others, it seemed as if Evenkite was going to leave, but something made her decided otherwise. Instead, she turned towards Sodalite once more and whispered, "I suggest you keep a few hidden and on your person. I still don't' know how to feel about this Aquamarine lady, and it might be better to do so, you know."

And with that, she made her way back towards Johnny and the group, letting him lead the way towards this 'van' he spoke of. Having never been too far from her hole, never mind farther away from Kindergarten, Evenkite walked in awed silence, taking in the new sights. For a moment, she almost felt good about leaving, almost felt as if this were for her best, and not just Amber's.

Don't get ahead of yourself.

Now at the van -and what a curious looking thing it was-, Evenkite stood looking at it for quite a while, before being snapped back into reality.

"Excuse me, Johnny, sir, but where should I place these?

[Pathfinder]

It didn't take too long to clear everything for the glorified paperweight, as a person with a penchant for collection he had a nice setup with limited space he liked to keep the Van a neat and organized machine. With a help from Perceptive Clear, apparently, Johnny and her had situated Emerald in such a that he took up a small amount of space. Happy with the duo's organizational ability, Johnny idly grabbed a small towel to soak up the sweat that accumulated from the walk back. After placing his hiking pack where it belonged he also fished a small paper box and gave it a several taps before a small white stick shot out. Deftly he brought the stick up to his head and tucked it behind his ear for later.

as he did this he absorbed Perceptive Clears words and thought on them, sitting down on the lip of the side door while he waited for the others to catch up. "Hmmm, now that you mention it...it is pretty weird. I know that the Crystal Gems at Beach City have been there since before anyone can remember so Aquamarine could just be like them, old." Johnny finished his words with a shrug and stood up as more of the Gems showed up. Taking his knife out, Johnny gazed at his reflection in the blue blade. "Maybe these guys aren't Crystal Gems after all...well at least Aquamarine is one. Maybe these guys are just young? The don't seem to know much of...well anything." It was a slightly disconcerting thought but he soon forgot about it as the small one, Evenkite asked him about her weapons. "Oh uh I'll just put them on my clothes, they should stay safe there. And please, just call me Johnny. Sir was my father."

[HaltingBlooper]

"Well, all of us were born today. What do you expect?" Emerald asked Johnny. He could hear pretty well from the back of the van, especially considering his ears weren't covered. "But what are these Crystal Gems? What makes them different from us?" Emerald was waiting for the rest of the people to get moving. "What do you know about them? Sorry for all the questions, I thought it might be nice to talk a bit since, well, that's all I can do for now." As he said this, small cracks started forming around his shoulder areas, and small pieces of stone fell off and...vanished. Emerald supposed that would be a good way to put it.

[Akayaofthemoon]

Aquamarine hardly spoke as they moved through the Kindergarten as she found herself lost in thought, just following Johnny's lead and every so often checking to make sure that they were all still together so no one was left behind or lost. She knew that letting her mind wander was the worst thing for her to do at the moment considering she would have to bring up the past to explain everything to these new gems which was hard enough without the added memories now trying to come to the surface. She happy to be brought out of her own world when Johnny spoke of this mysterious 'van' was just around the corner. What she had been picturing in her mind was no where near close to the contraption before her. She gently helped the others place Emerald down next to the van before curiously looking over the vehicle, her hand gently brushing across the design of an ocean before stepping back.

"Johnny, are you sure we are all going to be able to fit?" Aqua asked softly before looking to Emerald, "My guess is they are not different from us at all. I think they don't want to associate with home anymore not that I blame them cause I don't want to either. Earth is our home now..."

[pyroman]

As Evenkite had suggested, Sodalite did her best to hide some of the smaller blades in the event that Aquamarine was actually some sort of evil-doer. She needed to know for a fact that Aquamarine was on the right side of the fight, but had to go along for now until she could be fully convinced. It was rather difficult to hide them, but she did her best.

As they approached the metal shell sitting atop four round pieces of rubber, Sodalite looked at Aquamarine once more. If they couldn't all fit in there, then they could just sit on the top, or hang on the back and just hope that they didn't fall off. She said nothing yet, as she didn't believe that she was required to say anything just yet.

[Pathfinder]

Johnny only heard the beginning of what Emerald had said and ducked his head in to hear the important bits of it. "Um...basically the Crystal Gems are the good guys as far as I can tell but you should talk to Aquamarine, she would no more about it than I would. I've just gone to places that the Gems have left behind."

However his little talk was inturrupted by Aquamarines voice asking a really important question, could they all fit? Hypothetically yes. They were all relativly small but there were like... 7 of them? It would be a squeeze but it yeah...he could fit them. Well, only if big man decided to stay tucked in his shell, gem...thing. "It would be a squeeze but all of you could fit inside. Unless one of you would like to ride on the roof, I've got straps. Running his hand through his hair, messing up the uniformity of it, Johnny gave a sigh before answering. "The only thing I'm worrying about is if the big guy wants to pop out of his shell. I couldn't fit him and everyone else."