Black Opal pivoted quickly, leaping towards the enemy. She blends in too well here... Her sword came up, the edge catching onto the haft of the weapon and digging in slightly. Her thoughts raced - she couldn't likely beat this Gem in raw strength, not quickly, so she needed to be strategic. Her Gem glowed briefly for a moment, before a burst of brilliant, blinding red light flashed straight into the enemy Gem's face.
Citrine 'oof'ed all the same, and grinned at Smoke. "Hey, not bad for your first try! You got the positioning right, and you just gotta practice more to get the force behind it. Did you get any hurts when you did that? Sore knuckles are normal, sore anything else means you might have messed up a little on your line-up." At Lavender's outburst, she laughed some more and held out her other hand for the purple Pearl to try punching. "Okay, you give it a shot. If you wanna use axes in the future, though, we have to build up your natural mass - shifting to give yourself better reach and strength is alright but it burns you out fast and it's better to fall back on what you've really got, okay?"
"Sore knuckles, and my hand hurts a bit. I might have been squeezing too hard?" She looked up happily. This was the last thing she'd ever thought she'd be doing. And yet, now that she was, she wished she'd gotten to try earlier.
Red Topaz shifted her weight, weighing whether she should also attack the Gem. She didn't even recognize the Gem - it wasn't a terribly common one, she thought. Her vision was still not steady, and she didn't want to risk attacking Black Opal. It had been a long time since she'd fought on her own, and that big Gem was no joke. As much as she would have preferred to stay aloof and out of the fighting, she hated disincorporation, and this was a worthy enemy. She was certain that Black Opal would eventually take it down, but truly the last thing she wanted was to fight this thing on their own. She strafed off to Black Opal's left and behind her, watching carefully. If she could get behind the big Gem, she might be able to whack it in the back of the knees, give Black Opal a better shot. Or, she could taunt the Gem, distract it. That might be a better option, considering her lack of practice in the arena. "Hey you big brute!" she cried out, "over here, you dumb clod!" Best to use small words. Gems this big that weren't fusions - and she only saw one gem - weren't usually too smart. And yes, she included Quartzes in that. Jaspers, in her opinion, were far too often dumb as dirt.
"Yeah, that can happen." Citrine told her. She had never thought of herself as much of an instructor - too scared to really hurt someone or be mean in the drill-sergeant way the older Agate had been - but she was enjoying this immensely. "Show me your fist again? Yeah, that's a bit too tight, and you need to really tuck your thumb in some more."
Hematite ignored the taunts, and studied the Black Opal instead. She sensed tension in the other gem, a longing to help but confusion as to who best deserved her aid. She stepped a pace or two sideways so that the Opal was no longer between her and her target, then raised one eyebrow at the Topaz. "You are well outnumbered here, Lady. It would serve you well to submit quietly."
Lavender nods eagerly, forming a fist with her hand, but she frowns, looking at her fingers. "uh... M-my fingernails dig into my skin..." she tried again, squeezing less and threw a frankly pathetic punch at Citrine's hand. At Citrine's explanation she blushes slightly and clarifies, hesitantly. "I-i meant th-that Fusing w-with someone m-m-might make that easier!" She was just a black hole for propriety today wasn't she? Oh shards...
Red Topaz narrowed her eyes. A well-spoken Gem. So strange. "I'm not outnumbered," she replied, "you are. Black Opal is a highly-trained combat specialist: I doubt you'll survive long."
Citrine took the punch with a smile, then blinked a little, blushing herself, then grinned again. "Well yeah, of course, but you can't stay fused forever. It's good to have some kind of backup." "Yeah, exactly!" she laughed, pleased. "Okay, try again?"
Smoke turned to Lavender, and said, "If we both know how to punch, and we fuse, we'll probably better better at it for knowing about it." Smiling, she turned back to Citrine and gave another punch.
Gold was sitting in the corner, staring at the floor, when she heard shouting. She immediately tensed up and looked around, not wanting to interrupt but very anxious that someone else was out there. "U-um. D-did you hear that?"
"We shall see." said the Hematite with her gem on her wrist, and watched the Opal to see what she would do. Meanwhile, her gem sister was watching Citrine give Pearls their first lessons in combat. She unfurled from the wall and finally came to sit by their little troop, closest to Rose, and held out her palm. "Citrine only has two hands, for now. Did you hear what she said when she instructed your friend to make a fist?"
"Th-that's true!" When Gold spoke she sat up straighter. "U-uh yeah..." She stood up, rushing to a window and looking out.
Red Topaz was confused. This Gem didn't seem eager to fight, despite having whacked her in the back of the head with -- what, a shovel? And now she was just staring at Black Opal. This made no sense at all, and she was beginning to tire of it. "If you are hiding disobedient Pearls in this shipyard," she said, "that is a breakable offense. You will be punished. But if you hand them over, perhaps I can arrange for you to be spared. Where are they?"
Rose nodded. "Yes!" She made a fist, tucking her thumb under her fingers and doing her best to do what Citrine had said, though it was apparent she hadn't quite grasped making a proper fist yet, but she did the best she could. "Like this?"
"I have been punished for longer than you have been mined," Wrist Gem said, mouth twitching. Amusement, perhaps, or the memory of guilt. "I am well aware of consequence. But I have seen no Pearls, and you will find none weak enough to bow to you here, madame. Come here so I might make your ending swift." "Almost. Hold a little tighter," said Head Gem, covering Rose's dainty hand with both of her own big square miner's paws, correcting her grip and positioning gently. Then she withdrew and held out her palm. "Now hit me as hard as you can."
Melon is somewhat amused by the sight of Red Topaz, mostly because she is standing there talking to the Ruby and obviously completely unaware how surrounded she is. She summons her weighted net and catches the dark red Gem in it easily, pulling it tight so that the Topaz can only crouch. "Seems a bit premature for you to be talking about breakable offenses when we could break you so easily." She glances at the Opal, trident held in her other hand. "You can fight for her if you want but I wouldn't if I were you. I can't think being a slave is much better for you than it is for the rest of us. And really we're all slaves to the Diamond Authority...unless we choose not to be. Doesn't it seem odd to you that we all submit so easily when there is so little we actually need?"
Red Topaz jerked in surprise when the net surrounded her. She struggled briefly, but recognized the futility - her weapon is not made for slashing, and there's no time she's ever been more frustrated by this fact. "You," she said, glaring at the Watermelon Tourmaline. "I knew it was you. Black Opal, disincorporate these Gems!"
