names & near death experiences | short story

hello! This is a little story about two of my OCs, Azura and Pyrite. I hope you like it :)

there is a bit of violence in this story, please be aware!

_____

    Azura had always hated it - being a pearl, that is. It showed through in a myriad of ways, some more humiliating than others. The obvious one was his name. He’d never been Light Blue Pearl, number sixty-five hundred something. He’d always just been Azura, that little name he claimed for himself a week after he’d been “born” of earth and dirt, spat out by the universe.

    He was defiant too, resisting his supposed nature of submission. It felt nice to resist orders, pushing back against the frame he was born to fit. Unfortunately for him, this was an entirely undesirable trait that led to him being tossed from owner to owner. The roulette of shitty, overconfident, entirely self-inflated elites had never really gone well for Azura. It led to his own issues, to be honest. The man was… Temperamental, to put it lightly, and lashed out at others with little thought. He didn’t put much effort into connecting with others, too used to being shot down for his low status and bad attitude.

    Which was why Pyrite was such a special case to him. This young gem, a fraction of his lifetime and with only a sliver of his perpetual ennui, actually came to him for advice. Help, even, which was honestly even stranger. To come to a pearl of all gems and ask for backup in combat was absolutely unheard of, which made Azura nearly take up arms on a whim. That “nearly” became an “absolutely” when the kid actually cared about him as a person, sat and listened to his stupid war stories, and put some token effort into learning his half-forgotten blade techniques.

     To make a long story short, that was also why he was currently pinned behind a half destroyed console in a stolen Homeworld vessel. Damn his bleeding fucking heart, because there was a solid chance he’d die helping out some random gem he met a month ago.

    The story wasn’t all that interesting, to be honest. Pyrite, after a few weeks of studying her “teacher’s” (Now wasn’t that epithet something, Azura thought.) tactics and weaponry, she had a little… Quest of sorts, for the duo. Evidently, when she ran away from Homeworld just as Azura had millenia ago, she left behind friends. Friends that would benefit from Azura’s teachings, she said. Friends that would carry on his legacy. Bah, what was the point of legacy when your own life was on the line?! Azura wanted to hit himself for even considering a plea like that. Unfortunately for his current situation, he had felt compelled to listen a week ago. He heard out her well-planned (batshit), secure against all obstacles (crazy, absolutely unachievable) scheme. Steal a jail ship chock full of her old classmates, sure. Eliminate the guards on board and free the prisoners to help, of course. Safely steer the ship back home without crashing and burning in the limitless expanse of space, perfectly fine.

    With maybe a single second of forethought, maybe Azura would’ve realized this plan would instantly go wrong. So it was, with Azura on the hook for any future damages. Here they were, halfway between Homeworld and his home world (haha.) with little to show for it. It was moments like these Azura considered the possibility he was worse for being a pearl, at least when it came to durability. Beyond the major issue of his form on the verge of destabilizing, he had lost Pyrite somewhere around here and was completely alone.

     So, the first order of business. Obviously, it’s finding Pyrite.

    A shot rang out a few inches from his ear, and Azura amended his game plan. The first order of business - shatter this sorry Homeworlder before they blow his head off. The problem with Era 2 really was all this advanced nonsense. Who let a common gem have a gun?! With a light exhale of frustration, Azura reached upwards and re-summoned his polearm. With its glimmering blue color and custom built enhancements, it was really something to envy. Not like most of Azura’s enemies had a long time to consider it. The gem huddled behind cover for another few moments, waiting for one more shot to leap out with practiced grace and sheathe his weapon in the body of his enemy. As they reared back, gemlight spilling forth from the stab wound, Azura yanked his spear out and slashed it straight down, slicing their form cleanly and letting it shatter into little splinters of light. As their gem clattered to the floor, Azura took care to dig his heel into it, cracking, cracking, splitting - and gone.      There’s one dispatched soldier. Some gems took issue with his willingness to extinguish another’s light. Sure, maybe if you put in the time you could make every single Homeworlder realize their innate biases and change their ways, but Azura really didn’t have the time to commit to another executioner’s redemption arc.

Azura decided against calling out to Pyrite, instead making his way further into the bowels of the ship. He’d find her, certainly, but he didn’t want to put a target on himself by yelling like a fool in a pit of snakes. He was also mixing metaphors, but stress will do that to you.

    As he found himself in one of the holding bays looking over tired revolutionaries, he made eye with a familiar face.

    “Azura!” She looked over with a blindingly white grin.

     “Pyrite. I see you’ve found new lodgings.” He replied, considering his student.

    “I followed everything you told me. It’s not my fault, since they fought me two on one. It was my first time fighting a real battle, okay? Just get me out of here already!” She whispered with a pout.

    Azura sighed obligingly, looking for some kind of switch to flip. As he was searching, another guard walked down into the jail with a wicked look on her face. Azura winced, waving off Pyrite for a moment and readying his weapon once again. The agate pulled a wicked looking whip from her gem, lashing it at the ground before sending it slashing out towards the other gem. Azura jumped back - too slow, he realized a moment late - and felt it wrap around his ankle and drag him closer, the embedded thorns prying into his form and making his leg itself unwind under pressure. He breathed unsteadily, his inhales and exhales out of pace and heaving. The only good thing about it was that she was pulling him towards her, and he was eventually in range to slash at her form in an attempt to free himself. He stabbed at her leg, knocking her down to a kneeling pose over top of him. While the other little duel he’d gotten into was the picture of poise, this was messy and vicious and dirty, the weapons being scattered to the side of the hall and a primal fight of knees and fists and elbows ensuing. Azura SHOULD have a core disadvantage. Despite that, he really doesn’t. Sure, his form is weaker, but they’re both wounded now and at this point it comes down half to desperation and half to a willingness to fight dirty. When he feels that coil still wrapped around his ankle, he roughly pulls it away and wraps it around the agate’s neck, pulling it taut. Logically he knows that an injury like this won’t stop a gem easily, but at this point he’ll take what he can get. He secures his makeshift murder weapon in one hand and blindly feels around the floor for his spear, fingers straining outwards to get a hold on the hilt and yank it towards the other gem. He pierces through her with it, finally feeling a little pressure over him loosen before the agate’s form pops apart and her gem clatters to the ground like her ally.

    Azura let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, making eye with Pyrite from across the room. He quickly looked away before he could see the look on her face, too mortified - by the brutality? by the near loss? - to gauge her reaction. He picks up the gem, pressing it against the lock and opening the cell doors. Pyrite wraps a hand on Azura’s forearm, tugging him away.

    “Come on.” She says, neither of them really willing to meet eyes. “We still have to pilot this thing home.”

Azura nods, using her to move forward while his form is still healing.

     “We do have people to save as well, my disciple.” Azura said with good humor.

      As they prepared to depart, Pyrite pulled Azura to the side, away from the other revolutionaries. Away from prying eyes, Azura’s mind supplied.

    “I’m sorry you had to see that.” He preempted, but Pyrite shook her head.

    “I’m sorry I made you. I shouldn’t have - Well, I don’t regret the mission. I don’t regret saving all these people. If I could have done it another way, I would’ve.” She frowned, looking away for a moment before continuing. “I’m happy, you know? That I get to follow in the footsteps of someone like you. I want to be able to do things like you. I don’t want to,” The gem huffed, struggling to find the words. “I don’t want to be a burden on you. I don’t want to get locked up in some jail cell like a damsel in distress and watch as you bloody your hands for the crusade I made you go on.”

    Azura’s eyebrows raised. “It’s good that you made me. If it wasn’t for your influence, I would be sitting at home doing nothing like I’ve done for the past thousand years. I… Think of you like a daughter, in as much as we can have a family. We both just want to be more helpful, so don’t be shy about coming to me in the future. You’ll get better with time anyways, Pyrite.”

Pyrite let out an involuntary sound at that, wrapping her arms tightly around the other gem. She sniffled away her tears, looking up with shining eyes.

    “I do have one more thing to ask about.” She said.

    “Ah? I was hoping there would be more of a delay, considering…” Azura joked.

    “Could you name me? Like yours? I don’t want to just be a Pyrite either.”

    “...I’ll think about it on the way home.” He smiled, squeezing her tighter before releasing her and turning away.

_____

thank you for taking the time to read! I hope you enjoyed. the cover is some art of azura by ehwarrior :]