Last chapter! I hope you liked this story. Sorry about the rushed plot and how long it took me to update. Anyway I'd still love advice on how to improve my writing, so if you have any don't be afraid to tell me!

Dipper immediately broke into a sprint after Steven. Steven had dropped the sword when he ran into the woods, and he passed the lion grabbing it in his mouth. But no matter that, he had to catch Steven. He had a lot of practice running through these woods (with all the monsters and stuff), and as far as he knew Steven did not. So probably all the younger boy had on him was about a 20 second head start. Sure enough, he could hear Steven crashing though the woods ahead of him. Dipper sped up, leaping over logs until he could see the back of Steven's shirt.

Gathering up every bit of strength he had, Dipper leaped on Steven, tackling him to the ground.

"Aack!" Steven gasped, struggling to break free.

Dipper did his best to hold the squirming tween still. Steven was certainly stronger than he looked. "I'm not letting go till you tell me what just happened!"

"Well, I won't tell you what happened until you let go!" Steven responded before wildly flailing in an effort to get Dipper to release his hold.

It worked. His elbow slammed right into Dipper's gut, launching him off and back several feet until he crashed into a tree headfirst.

"Ow"!" Dipper sat up, dazed. He looked as Steven stood up and appeared as if he was going to run off again but then looked back at Dipper. He was surprised as the tween stepped back over to him. Dipper felt a sharp pain above his eye and he raised his hand to it only to feel warm liquid on his fingers.

"Careful," Steven said, "you cut your head, and it looks pretty bad." His voice was laced with worry. "Okay. Ummm. I don't know much first aid. But, uh, I can take you back to the Shack. Or there's..." He shook his head, cutting himself off.

Steven extended a hand to Dipper, who took it. "I'm fine. But you still need to explain."

"Later. But now we need to patch you up." The half-gem pulled Dipper up. This was quite a predicament he was in. He needed to somehow tell the boy the truth without actually saying it. An idea popped into his head. Yes or no questions- Dipper would ask them and he could answer with yes or no. That made sense- plus he wouldn't be saying the details, so he technically wouldn't be breaking his promise to the Gems.

"How do I know you won't run off once we reach Stan's?" Dipper questioned. "Heck, how do I know you'll bring me back as opposed to just dumping me in the forest?"

"Wow, you need to be more optimistic." Steven said. "But you can trust me. I didn't mean to hurt you and I'm really, really sorry. I want to make sure you're okay."

Reluctantly, Dipper walked with Steven out of the forest.

"Okay I can't really tell you why what happened did happen. But you can ask yes or no questions and I'll answer them as truthfully as I can." Steven trodded along beside Dipper.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Anyway, what's your first question?" He ignored Dipper's inquiry.

The twin sighed. "Fine. Do you fight monsters a lot?"

"Yes." Steven answered.

"I think I already know the answer to this, but is the lion your pet?"

Steven paused. "Yes, but he does what he wants."

"Okay. You did summon the bubble, right?"

"Yup."

"So are you a wizard or something like that?" It was a long shot- wizards weren't real as far as he knew. But it was something.

"No."

"Didn't think so... Hm... Is magic involved at all?"

"Yes."

"Are you even a human, then?"

Steven thought for a moment. "Kind of?"

"What does that mean?!" Dipper exclaimed

"Ummmmmmm." Steven shut his mouth. He wanted to explain but he knew he couldn't. He continued walking.

"What does it mean?" Dipper pressed.

"Mmmmm..." Steven gave in. "It means that I'm half space rock I guess but I'm not gonna say any more!"

"Half space rock?" Dipper stopped walking, ignoring his stinging eye.

"Yeah. But I won't explain any more." Steven turned back toward Dipper. "Come on! I want to fix up that cut."

Dipper planted his feet. "Maybe I won't go until you explain." He knew that Steven seemed to care an almost unnatural amount that he wasn't hurt. He could use this to his , it was kind of mean, but half space rock? You can't just say that and not explain. Really.

"Nooo come on, please."

"Nope."

Steven looked conflicted for a moment. He looked around, thinking about what to do. He could, theoretically, just heal Dipper with his spit and run, but he knew that Dipper was a lot faster that he was. Unless he could get lion. But lion hardly even responded to his name unless there was some sort of threat to Steven's life, and Dipper wouldn't really kill him. Even then, he wasn't 100% sure his healing would even work. It didn't work last time.

"Maybe I'll just leave you here." Steven said as he crossed his arms.

"Fine."

"Fine." Steven turned and began to walk away but found it difficult to leave Dipper alone. What if there were other gem monsters roaming these woods? What if it hurt Dipper even more? Steven stopped walking and turned back. Why did he have to be so nice?

"Ughhh fine. But you can't tell anyone I told you. My mom was an alien that was called a gem, which I guess means they get their power and form and stuff from a gemstone somewhere on their bodies. She gave up her form to be able to have me with my dad, who's a human. There. Can we go back to the shack now?"

Dipper stared at Steven. Then he remembered something. "Wait, what happened to the sphere that had turned into the dragon?" It wasn't in Steven's hand, and it sure wasn't small enough to fit in his pocket.

Steven looked at Dipper, a pained expression on his face. "Please can't we just fix you up? Pleeeeeeaaaase?" He gently grabbed Dipper's hand and tried to pull him along but Dipper stood his ground. Steven felt himself getting frustrated. "Come on!"

Dipper finally relented. He didn't want Steven to hate him. Steven had that sort of feeling to him- the kind you trusted after only a few minutes of knowing him. That's why he'd brought Steven to the see the orb and structure, and why he automatically trusted his explanation of liking the unknown, despite many unanswered questions. Steven was the kind of person you didn't want to hate you. Not because he was mean or could hurt you, but because he was the kind of person that if you hurt, you would feel really bad about. And Dipper didn't need that kind of guilt.

Steven looked back at him. "You can still ask the yes or no questions as long as we keep moving." He released Dipper's hand.

"Thanks." Dipper smiled. Okay, he just learned that Steven was half alien and he was calm? Wow. This must just be a weird day for him. "Okay, well, did you drop the sphere somewhere?"

Steven pushed aside a few bushes. "No."

"Does it involve magic?"

"Yep."

They approached the shack.

"Should I get the stuff? Your family might be a bit concerned if you come in with a big gash over your eye."

Dipper shook his head. "Nah, it happens a lot. They'll be fine. Besides, they'll see it eventually."

The two boys walked into the shack from the back door and quickly ran up the stairs to the bathroom.

"Okay, I can do this." Steven sat Dipper by the windowsill and quickly found the medical kit. "I don't know much about first aid but I think you clean it off first, right?"

Dipper nodded.

Steven got to cleaning the wound. Aside from many apologies when he was using hydrogen peroxide (he didn't like the fact that it stung) and using a bit too much gauze on Dipper's head (he did it just like Pearl did that one time!) the work was easy enough.

"Steven, we need to stay another day." Pearl gently shook Steven. It was late, about 11:00. "We found what we needed, but we need to stay."

Steven groggily opened his eyes. "Wha' was it?"

"It was an old gem structure, but the gem it housed was missing." Garnet answered. "We need to track it down to stop it from hurting anyone here."

Steven shot awake and sat up. "Was it a platform with a circular gem in the middle?"

"Yes..." Pearl responded cautiously.

"I found that."

The gems looked shocked. "Really?" Amethyst asked.

Steven nodded. "The boy that lives here showed me it. I fought a dragon! And then I bubbled it and sent it back to the temple." His chest swelled with pride.

"Well. I guess we are done here." Pearl looked slightly concerned at the thought of Steven fighting the gem, but he did beat it.

"Good job Steven. We can head back to the temple tonight." Garnet patted Steven's head.

"But wait! Can I go explain stuff because he's really confused and he got hurt and I really need to explain things."

"Who got hurt?" Amethyst questioned, slightly intrigued. "Did the dragon get 'im?"

Steven shook his head. "The boy that showed me it. Dipper. He's right upstairs and I'll be quick. He was chasing me down cause he hunts monsters and he saw me fight the monster. I accidentally hit him."

Pearl looked taken aback. "Steven!"

Steven appeared noticeably upset, one step from tears. "It was an accident!"

Garnet spoke. "It'll be better if we just leave."

"But-"

"Please, Steven." Garnet said.

There was a moment of silence.

"Fine."

Dipper had been alerted of the stranger's presence's several minutes earlier when he came down to get a glass of water. He could hear quiet female voices coming from Steven's room. He leaned up against the door to listen.

"The boy that showed me it. Dipper. He's right upstairs and I'll be quick. He was chasing me down cause he hunts monsters and he saw me fight the monster. I accidentally hit him." Steven's voice drifted through the door. They were talking about him!

He heard another voice, this one light and feminine. "Steven!"

"It was an accident!" It was Steven again, sounding slightly upset.

"It'll be better if we just leave." Another voice, this one deeper (but still female) and near emotionless was heard. How many people were in there?

"But-"

"Please, Steven."

"Fine." He heard footsteps, and he tried to turn down the hall, but the door opened too quickly.

Dipper slowly turned around, hoping they wouldn't notice him. But they did.

There were 3 woman, the tallest at least 7 feet tall. The tall one had a huge square afro and sunglasses (even though it was dark). The next one was even more odd, still tall but shorter with ghostly pale skin. She was extremely skinny, unnaturally so. She had a rock in the middle of her forehead. But she wasn't the weirdest one. There was another woman, who was, surprisingly enough, purple. She wasn't as tall or thin but she was purple. Also, she had a half-exposed gemstone in the center of her chest.

This must be the rock aliens Steven was talking about.

But these guys looked so odd, and Steven looked so normal! But there was no time to question that now. The trio had pulled out weapons.

"Who are you?" The purple one asked loudly.

Steven rushed over. "No! This is Dipper! He's nice!"

The women relaxed. "Well why is he here?" The thin one dropped her arm holding a sword.

"I-I heard voices." Dipper stuttered.

Steven looked back and forth between the gems and the boy. Dipper still had the bandages on. He brightened up. "Can I explain now?"

The thin one sighed. "I guess, but make it quick."

"Okay! Dipper, this is Garnet," Steven gestured to the tall one, "Amethyst," the purple one, "And Pearl." The thin one. Garnet and Pearl remained silent while Amethyst feebly waved.

"We are the crystal gems, and we protect humanity and stuff! Mostly from the creatures like you saw today. Or yesterday, I don't know what time it is..."

The next day, Dipper was sitting in his bed, reading the journal.

"Hey, where'd Steven go?" Mabel walked into the room. "He left overnight! And he didn't even say goodbye!"

"It's a long story, but he did what he needed to do." Dipper said.

"Ooh! Was he magic after all!"

Dipper nodded. "I'll tell you later. For now, I need some more sleep."