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Post by Phantom on Mar 1, 2016 17:15:41 GMT -5
Was she okay with it?
Star thought about that much for a beat, and she glanced back in the direction they had initially come from. There honestly was nothing to really keep her tied down here anymore. Azurite had never been a friend - just a superior - and she had no other companions to speak of. It wasn't as though she had any reason to want to stick around. Chalce cared about her for some bizarre reason, and apart from maybe missing the potential of seeing other servant class Gems that might have considered her a friend if she had the desire to attempt to befriend them there really was no reason to hang around. Green eyes flicked back to Chalce, and it looked as though she finally had come to some sort of an answer.
With no one there to really care, and no reason to head back to her own home to retrieve any personal items, it was plain to see that she wanted to go with Chalce. She would much rather be with a friend than in a place where she would only be put down for mistakes and mocked without any real knowledge of it. So, at last, she nodded.
"Yeah," Star answered. "I'm okay with this. I... I'm tired of being here, anyway. I mean, before I just thought... I just thought that there was no way out because I was bound to Azurite. I hated how she treated me... Especially today. So... I want to go with you." She didn't know where they were going, and frankly she didn't really care. Azurite would probably have some other Gems trying to hunt down Chalce for taking her anyway. The sooner they got away, the better.
"So let's go. I don't care where. I... I trust you."
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Post by Angel on Mar 1, 2016 18:06:01 GMT -5
That...
After the emotionally-charged last hour or so, that was the best thing Chalce could have hoped to hear. She's been worried that Star would be too attached to her life, even as badly as she was treated, to give it up; or too loyal to Azurite; or maybe that she would just be too scared of the uncertainty that was bound to await the two of them now. Chalce certainly wouldn't have been able to fault her for that much. But to hear that Star, though clearly still rather stunned by all this, was happy to go along with it--
And more, that Star trusted her so completely--
It filled the taller gem with warmth. She was still a messed-up tangle of emotions inside, from all of this, but right now she didn't have the energy or the desire to stop and untangle all of that. It just felt good to know that Star thought so highly of her even now, to know how much the smaller gem trusted her. It was all Chalce needed to keep going.
"Thanks. Really."
Rather than saying anything more she stepped fully onto the warp pad and let it carry them away. It might have been a random teleportation to throw off the inevitable pursuit, it was true - and Star might assume that was the case - but in reality, Chalce had somewhere in mind. Not a place she would have gone even a day or so ago, but one that she couldn't help but feel was exactly what they needed.
As soon as the warp stream spat them out again, Chalce gently set Star back on the ground. The other gem wasn't exactly a parcel to be carried around, after all. It had been the easiest way to leave Azurite's presence, it was true; and she hadn't put her down immediately because... well, she could give excuses, such as her own longer-legged strides making it easier to get away quickly, but the simple fact was she hadn't thought of it. Now, though?
Well, Star was probably happier on her own two gravity connectors, anyway.
The sight before them was an unfinished spire. There were many around Homeworld, and the vast majority were finished and in use, but this one... Chalce remembered reading that it had been plagued by unusual design flaws from day one. The rest of the surface around it wasn't the most stable, anyway; and as the spire had grown taller and taller, it had become clear that it couldn't reach full height without risk of being too heavy for the unstable crust beneath. It was habitable as it presently was, but it didn't look anywhere near complete, so the elites had balked at putting it to any use. But it hadn't been demolished, either.
Work around it had simply stopped, leaving the cracked and uneven ground around it - a rarity to find anywhere on Homeworld, with the polished surfaces everything else was paved with - abandoned to move onto a place where a spire could be built safely. The area was entirely abandoned, and most gems simply liked to pretend that it didn't exist at all; it was a blight on their ideal world that not much could be done about.
Perfect, in Chalce's opinion, for her and Star to occupy for a while. Lie low, so to speak. She didn't mention that right away, though; rather, she picked a different thought as she looked back at Star, shoulders lifting in a small shrug.
"I guess we're outlaws now, though. But as long as you're going to be happier than you were back there, that's what matters to me."
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Post by Phantom on Mar 2, 2016 11:47:20 GMT -5
The warp wasn't too unexpected. After all, that was the whole purpose of a warp pad. If it hadn't warped them she would have been more surprised than anything else. The place they warped to, though, wasn't at all what Star was anticipating. Not that that was a bad thing, though. She was glad to be somewhere far away from where she had been before, and everything in this particular spot just looked... Well, kind of cool. When Chalce set her down, Star took a few steps forward and looked around the general area. The little historian within her was fascinated, if she was being honest. This was something that Homeworld had abandoned, no doubt, and she kind of wanted to know why. Green eyes flicked from one thing to another, and soft little hums escaped her as she looked around. She almost didn't hear what Chalce had said about them being outlaws by that point. When it did register, though, she looked back at her and nodded.
Honestly? Being an outlaw didn't sound quite so bad by that point. The worst that it meant was that they wouldn't be able to settle if someone found them there... Right? That was what she imagined, anyway. But for the time being, this particular spot was just perfect for her. She didn't think it would even be possible for her to be happy. One might have wondered if she would have been allergic to the emotion. But there she was, undoubtedly looking happier than she had prior to that point. Her eyes still were what gave away that she had been through a lot. Even if Gems didn't need sleep like humans or any other creature did, Star wouldn't have been opposed to doing just that. But not right then. Right then... She wanted to just be with her friend.
One might have thought that she wouldn't have been willing to leave the world she knew behind at all. After all, she had been stuck with Azurite for quite a long time. Nothing had really been easy in that regard. But Star had still attempted to remain strong through the whole ordeal. But in recent days it had been more difficult. This whole day had just been enough to push her over the edge of wanting that freedom. But Star had never anticipated gaining it in this way. She'd thought that there would be no way out of working with Azurite. Chalce had proven her wrong.
"Yeah," Star said at last. "I'm... I'm way happier here. Like, I never thought I would be able to get away from her. I thought I was gonna be stuck there forever... Or at least until she got fed up enough to shatter me. But you pretty much saved me."
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Post by Angel on Mar 2, 2016 13:02:17 GMT -5
She was watching Star carefully, waiting for her friend's reaction. Chalce honestly hoped that the smaller gem was going to be okay with this all - though if need be, it could serve only as a temporary measure rather than anything permanent - but she didn't know for certain. Even for as often as they'd hung out together or talked over the years, there was still a lot she felt she didn't know about Star; and so she could only hope that this was going to get a good response.
And, indeed, it looked as though that was becoming the case. Star seemed quite interested in the setting, rather than repulsed in the way some gems would have been. That was a good start--
And when the small ruby looked at her and nodded, and Chalce could see the genuine happiness on her features... that was the moment the certainty set in. For the initial little while, Chalce had found herself feeling rather unsure about what she'd done. Sure, she'd rescued Star from her servitude to Azurite, and that was good by either of their counts, but she had also been aware that she might not have handled it all ideally. But now, seeing Star looking so happy - if still in a bit of an emotional tangle over all that had happened - was all it took to convince her. She'd done the right thing, Chalce was certain of it.
She smiled back.
"You're safe now, Star. You don't have to worry about being shattered anymore. We don't have to worry about any of the elites and their rules anymore. Even if they search for us, they won't come here; this place is an embarassing failure to them, they've wiped it off most maps altogether. We're safe."
Chalce stepped down from the warp pad herself. After a moment's hesitation, the taller gem held out a hand towards Star; a silent offer for the other to hold it. Not that she thought the small gem needed her hand holding, of course she didn't - but rather, because she herself wanted the touch. This still felt half-unreal to her; and the physical contact, of her friend's much smaller hand in her own, would be enough to remind her that this wasn't just a wistful fantasy.
Only if Star wanted to though, of course. Chalce was leaving the choice entirely up to her.
"Well... should we head inside?"
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