Chapter 3: Unexpected Guest (Galactic Journey)

Authors Note: Vaiduria was originally named Cymophane, but after suggestion from a fellow writer here on the wiki, her name was changed, and will be kept the same for the future of the series.

## Chapter 3: Unexpected Guest

Chrome Diopside was pacing up and down the corridor, nothing but her own footsteps audible. The Andalusite had sobbed for a long period of time before her voice was so weak she couldn't even speak. Chrome Diopside had been pacing for so long to keep her mind off the monotonous boredom that she swore she started to wear down the metal under her feet, until she heard another set of footsteps.

At the end of the hall, a door opened to reveal Yellow Diamond's Peridot. She was slowly making her way toward Chrome Diopside, muttering something about the Jasper under her breath. She stopped next to Chrome Diopside, and spoke. "Jasper has informed me that we are to take...shifts, while watching the prisoners. Your shift ends now, and I shall alert you when it is time to switch again." Chrome Diopside breathed a sigh of relief, at least now she could go take a break that didn't involve walking the same hallway for what seemed like months. Although this didn't matter because she was ageless, she still didn't like wasting any more time than she could help.
She had been walking for some time now, when she stumbled upon a corridor of the ship that had seemed to lose power, as it was darkened. Chrome Diopside decided to go down this hallway, hoping to possibly find the reason for the power outage. Continuing down the hallway, she quickly found herself at a dead end, nothing but empty cells and further darkness. That is, until she noticed a small, huddled figure in the corner of her eye, stowed away in one of the cells. She saw the figure peak her out of the cell, and immediately drew back, knowing they'd been seen. Chrome Diopside walked very slowly over to the cell, and inside found a bright yellow gem. The gem was still covering her face, not knowing she had been seen, until Chrome Diopside finally spoke. "You know I can see you right?" The yellow gem lowered her hands to respond. "I thought that maybe if i kept my face hidden, you'd go away?" "I don't think it works like that" Chrome Diopside replied with a small chuckle. She crouched down to speak directly to the gem. "So, uhh...what are you doing on this ship?" A look of despair went across the yellow gem's face. "Why I'm on this ship Well... that's a long story, so I'll try my best to sum it up. My facet-mates want me to become a part of Yellow Diamond's space exploration group, mainly because of my existence as a vaiduria." Chrome Diopside cut in. "Vaidurias have a natural aptitude for navigation, right? Oh, my name is Chrome Diopside, I should've mentioned earlier."

Vaiduria gave a nod in agreement. "My name is Vaiduria, and yeah, that about sums it up. Anyways, my facet-mates are always trying to get me to go into space exploration, but it's never been what I wanted to do. Ever since I first formed, I've always wanted to be a diplomat, but that job is often reserved for azurites and obsidians. So, I decided to flee home world. If I couldn't be what I wanted to due to stupid gem bias, what was the point of going into main service under the Diamonds? I noticed this ship in the Great Gem Hub, so I decided to board, thinking it was a cargo ship. Soon after boarding, I realized this was a prison ship, but it was already too late. We had already left home world. I thought about getting off at the previous planet, but then I noticed you capturing those to other gems, and realized I'd eventually face the same fate."

Chrome Diopside took a moment to process Vaiduria's story. She certainly couldn't deny her logic from a scientific point of view. What was the point of sticking around if you didn't want to fulfill your main purpose? "You-you aren't going to tell the jasper, are you? I know that if she found me, I'd certainly be reported directly to Yellow Diamond, and most likely shattered for treason." Chrome Diopside's thoughts went back to Andalusite, who at the sheer mention of Yellow Diamond's name broke down in tears. "*Jeez, I'm glad I was formed under Miss White Diamond's care, Yellow Diamond seems terrifying*." Chrome Diopside had thought, before speaking "Don't worry, I won't tell them about you. In fact, after we go to this next planet and check on this experiment, I'll personally get you a ship off home world." Chrome Diopside smiled as she said this, and Vaiduria smiled back.

Suddenly, almost if by magic, the power snapped back on, bringing light to the darkened hallway, and over the intercom, Yellow Diamond's Peridot's voice rang out. "Hey, science lady, it's time to take your...shift." Chrome Diopside sighed, and stood from her crouched position and gave a smile to the yellow gem, before heading back to her post. "Will you hurry?" The peridot's voice rang out again. "The red prisoner won't stop bawling, and it's getting really annoying." Hearing that, Chrome Diopside felt a pang of sorrow for the electrician gem. Chrome Diopside finally reached her post, and the peridot went back down the hall she had came from. "*Back to the monotony I suppose.*" However, she couldn't have been more wrong.

Suddenly, a glow of bright gray light began emanating from the cell next to Andalusite. A small gray figure emerged from the triangular shaped gem. Falling to the floor, the zircon looked upwards, and with a small voice simply said "Hey, I know you!" and pointed straight at Chrome Diopside.

**\*\*\*END OF CHAPTER 3\*\*\***

**Prev>>> Chapter 2: Held Captive Next>>> Chapter 4: Touchdown**

**Back to main page>>> Galactic Journey**

## Characters

* Chrome Diopside
* Andalusite
* Peridot (debut)
* Yellow Diamond (mentioned)
* Jasper (mentioned)
* Vaiduria (debut)
* White Diamond (mentioned)
* Zircon (debut)