Chapter Text
The island was quiet, a subtle breeze blowing through the grass and sprouting trees. Winter had passed many moons prior, and now it was the time of warmth – of flowers and gentle waves. Marialite’s first winter had been over in practically a blink, his rest uninterrupted due to his new forming. The rest of the cluster had welcomed him with the same warmth the sun seemed to provide, eyes alight with joy and cheers escaping them.
He turned, resting his gaze upon the playing cluster. The twins were chasing Rose Quartz, who was running while laughing oh so brightly. Peach Eosphorite was a few feet away, carefully collecting new plants by their roots to transfer them to something else, later. Apatite, as usual, was attached to its hip, humming a soft tune as it helped Peach Eosphorite.
Black Opal had retreated to the library, as it usually did when it was awake. Always eager to learn and search – maybe it had missed something, it would often say. Onyx was nowhere to be found, but that wasn’t uncommon, and Red Beryl was spending its time alongside Master, trying to learn the things it hadn’t been taught over the winter.
All was at peace. All was calm and content.
Marialite rose from his perch upon a windowsill, feet gently clicking upon the school floor as he headed towards the library. He was often eager to spend time with the third eldest gem, soaking in the information he was taught like the jellyfish themselves.
As he walked, Marialite took in the different bits and pieces of gemstones that were collected and scattered about the school. Their purpose? Who was to say. It had simply become a habit of the cluster to take the random pieces of gem and keep them. A low sound escaped the gemling, who pushed inside the library with as much of a smile as he could muster.
“Black Opal?”
He called out gently, voice a low hum,
“Are you in here?”
A clatter from further inside the library, and then Black Opal’s head popped out from behind a bookcase, its lips turning upward at the corners.
“Ah! Marialite, just who I wished to see,”
Black Opal ushered Marialite inside, sitting him down on one of the stools scattered about the school. It stepped back, gesturing at the only bookshelf full of books,
“Marialite, I am missing something! We are missing something!”
Marialite tilted his head, though he remained quiet. When Black Opal got like this, it was best to simply let it ramble on and on.
“Our language is so complicated that none of us have ever explored simply… writing,”
Black Opal continued, pulling a book free from the shelf and flipping it open. It was full of both drawings and writings of plants and bugs scattered about the island, the older gem thrusting it forward for Marialite to examine.
“Master tasked me with an encyclopedia, and I have done so!”
A pause,
“But, beloved Marialite, I have a task for you.”
Marialite’s eyes crossed as Black Opal reached out, gloved hand tapping Marialite upon his nose gently. He watched, wide-eyed, as Black Opal turned and pulled free a new book, this one fully empty with nothing written or drawn inside.
“I want you, dear Marialite, to write whatever you want,”
It smiled then, holding out a small pencil that had been worn down by its incessant scribblings and the book, waiting for Marialite to take them.
Marialite blinked, peering at the items being held out for him to take. Slowly, his hands extended, cradling the two objects to his chest as he stared down at them. So strange, so new. Master hadn’t taught him much of the written language, but Marialite also knew a simple question was all he needed to ask the kind being.
“What do I call it?”
He asked at last, head tilting upward to meet Black Opal’s penetrating gaze, manic excitement gleaming in its eyes.
A wave of its hand, and Black Opal was disappearing behind the numerous bookshelves once more,
“A journal, of course! You write whatever you want, and once it’s full, return it to me for safekeeping!”
With that, Black Opal returned to its never-ending sorting, books pulled from their shelves and read and reread before being placed in a new spot. Marialite couldn’t help but admire Black Opal’s tenacity, even if he found it… aggravating at times. Before he could stop himself, Marialite felt his lips twitch upwards, pulling himself to his feet as he moved to exit the library.
A journal, huh? Write whatever he wanted? He could, surely, do something so simple; so fresh and inviting.
Marialite moved through the school, returning to his quarters with nary a step off-balance, an undeniable eagerness spreading through his body at the very idea of being able to write whatever he wanted. His hopes, fears – likes and dislikes – the possibilities were endless.
Collapsing onto his bedroll, Marialite grinned despite himself, opening his journal to the first page. Blank. Of course it was blank, but one day – one day – it would all be full. He twirled the pencil he’d been given between his fingers, considering long and hard what to write. So many options, so many possibilities.
At long last, the gemling pressed bark to paper, his smile never-ending.
I am excited to play with the cluster.
A shiver of pure joy raced up his body at the first sentence he’d written, his eyes widening at the form of excitement he’d felt. It was a wonderful feeling.
Marialite continued, his fingers twisting around the pencil as the words tumbled free onto paper.
The cluster is nice to me. They let me ask questions, and do not scold me. Master has taught me many things. Many nice things. It makes me smile.
His chest felt heavy with the radiating spread of happiness inside of him, Marialite moving the pencil to doodle a small drawing of Master at the bottom of the page. It was poorly done, but it didn’t matter.
It was his.