18 18 Ruby’s Greed

The oasis was beautiful. There were palm trees and lovely flowers in bloom. Encasing the body of water was tall grass blades. It was as if the desert plants decided to met here. The scenery danced in Joon's eyes and enriched his soul.

He settled in and began rehydrating himself to capacity. Ruby observed him as she swam through the dark blue water. Many small creatures scurried amongst the brush and moved haphazardly. Lizards ran out of hiding for small drinks of water. So many insects lingered lazily around the waterhole.

Joon was unbothered by any of the minimal activity around him. His focus was purely on the water. He swam and drank; just letting it run over his skin. He had learned a hard lesson today. He was not invincible. He needed to look after himself from now on and remain in flying distance from water during high temperatures.

"Are you done playing?", Ruby interrupted his personal thoughts.

"I was not playing. I was rehydrating.", Joon answered shortly. Something about Ruby was unpleasant. He did not know quite why, but her energy seemed incompatible. She had helped him, so he pushed the feeling aside.

"You look like you need a friend.", Ruby tried to bate Joon into an invitation.

Joon responded, "I will be alright. I just need to keep my mind attentive towards my travels."

"I could help you. I have strengths in this plane that come in handy." Ruby smiled.

After little conceiving they decided to travel together.

———————

Ruby enjoyed talking about gloomy topics. She constantly asked probing questions about Joon's parents, and animals whose lives Joon had taken for food. She never talked about her own experiences from the rock or the surface. Joon became increasingly uncomfortable with her as a traveling partner. Every time he began to relax she would bring up another unpleasant topic.

"Tell me again about growing up without your mother.", a twinkle of excitement would shine in her eyes.

At first Joon thought she may have been just interested, but as the days dragged on he grew tired of the hoax.

One particularly rainy night, Joon decided to play Emerald's game with Ruby. He allowed himself to look melodically the whole evening. Ruby was in good spirits and become comfortable. As she moved closer to Joon pretending to console him, he initiated the game.

She know her host would catch on if she did not follow reciprocate the actions. In her logic it was a small price to pay for such ample prey. She matched Joon's movements and found herself getting lost in a different sensation. As her energy climbed Joon maliciously ready himself to follow. She climbed, peaked, and Joon devoured Ruby.