Rule of the Rubeki

I woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night.

I didn't even cover myself?! How stupid could I have been?! I could've died...

But it's weird that I didn't.

I got up out of my hole and peered around, searching for any signs of Rubeki. Everywhere was completely empty. Not even a sign of any roaming around.

'What the hell...' I thought to myself. Rubeki aren't anywhere near me? Were they eliminated? Does this mean I'll be rescued soon?

That's wishful thinking, but their absence is making me uncomfortable.

Are they asleep too?

I crawled out of my hole and boldly started to walk around at my own discretion. Not a single one in sight, not even on the highest peak could I see a Rubeki.

Mom always said the Rubeki are the embodiment of evil human emotions, so when humans are asleep, that means they would be too?

That actually made a lot of sense...

But if I was up, wouldn't they be awake as well?

I guess it would require a culmination of emotion, rather than just one.

I enjoyed my time in the field, looking around for animals and other sources of food I could capitalize on.

I saw squirrels and foxes all around. There are plenty of opportunities, but do I have the guts to do something like that? I couldn't kill a fox...

What am I saying? I could kill it... but bad memories started to awaken when I thought about it.

Like my old nightmares, I remember seeing a man who killed a fox and was soon eaten alive by other animals. Maybe it was a strange coincidence, but his smile and directed speech toward me told me it wasn't. He even knew my name, who was he?

I've never heard anybody like that in my life, so why was his voice so clear?

I decided to ignore the thought and just focus on the food.

I summoned a small saber and started to sneak up on a squirrel. He was quietly searching the ground for something and didn't even see me coming.

A regular squirrel would've heard me coming from far away, but he didn't know up until the point my saber was stuck through the back of his skull. He died instantly and I grabbed him by the tail and dragged him back to my hole.

I didn't have any fire-starting equipment, but the strands to my saber could heat things up and cut through them, hopefully, my idea would work.

I set a log up against two and cut it in half. The melted charred half of the wooden log fell to the ground and I quickly picked it up to throw it into my circle of fires. I didn't have a chimney to this fire, which I knew was dangerous, but the smoke filtered out of the room thanks to the wind current.

I tore its guts out and skinned it, setting it to the side as I tore into its cooked flesh. I felt... terrible. I killed it, but why did I care more about the squirrel dying than Richie and Dyna?

I tried to rationalize it... maybe it's because the squirrel didn't threaten my friends.

I could be considered borderline psychotic, if not completely at this point. What the hell was wrong with me...

I didn't feel like a Deity at all...

I heard footsteps above me and the anger settled in. Why am I out here? To hide from the Rubeki for the rest of my life? Like hell I will.

I stepped up out of my hole with a saber in hand, stepping forward toward a group of two Rubeki. They must've been alerted by sound. Right now, I felt stupid fighting head-on as I have already ruined my pledge to play my journey safe, and ran in toward them.

The Rubeki showed their fangs and ran over to me with spit flying everywhere. I swung widely toward the first one, cutting through the corner of his elongated mouth and then in half. He dispersed into smoke instantly and as I kept the momentum from my first swing, I came down on the other Rubeki's back with a quick stab and killed it as well, flipping my saber around my hand and letting it fade away.

'Oh, that looked cool.' I thought to myself. I felt like a person worthy of the title 'Deity', at least in style points.

Two Rubeki fell easier than I thought, maybe it's because of the strands? Either way, I had strength that was undeniable. Their size didn't matter, all that mattered was I was stronger and could take them out regardless of how strong they were.

Finally... I was strong.

I continued to walk around, looking for other Rubeki, but those were the only two I saw. They must've woken up for whatever reason. I guess that means they don't all sleep at night, but now I have time to explore.

My stomach was filled and I had collected a small sum of water while I was sleeping. I was slowly becoming self-sustainable. That feeling of doubt floated around in the back of my head, however, and continued to do so.

I figured I should sleep for the rest of the night and wake up early tomorrow to hunt the Rubeki and get more food. I was confident, almost stupidly confident, that I could fight any Rubeki left walking this plane.

Yeah... that's what I'll do.

I won't come back, I'll kill all Rubeki here. I'll keep everybody alive and let them live lives empty of combat and save millions for my efforts.

I just wish I could tell my parents what happened... I wish I could know if what I did was right or wrong.

I wish Shike and Belle and Alexia were here with me...

I wish I could show Boo and her friends that I was okay...

I wish that Illya could see that I'm alright.

I wish that Zach would realize how stupid he was giving me up. I'm the strongest kid there... maybe that's not true yet, but I will be the strongest kid there. I'll stun him, I'll make him regret sending me out here.