Sky the Exile

The land of the Rubeki was pungent and dark. Red skies and black clouds, with barren lands and dead trees. No grass at all. I only walked forward for ten minutes and the atmosphere had already changed so much. This would be my first time seeing Rubeki in the flesh. Since I was only taking care of myself, I could effectively strategize against them.

The climate here was colder, like death. I kept my clothes on and nothing wrapped around my body. I could summon my saber, but would it be able to kill a Rubeki?

I slowly crept up a cliff and looked down below me to see a Rubeki analyzing some rocks. The Rubeki seemed to mimic a cow, which meant it was probably pretty strong. This would be perfect practice.

I saw a narrow ridge I could fit through and the Rubeki couldn't, so I wanted to try and fight it and see what kind of damage I could do to it. This was a good experiment, but for safe measure, I wanted to bring a rock with me. I picked up a small stone in my hand and kept another close by my feet, planning out a strategy against him.

…Okay, I have an idea now.

I threw a small rock over to distract the Rubeki. As the Rubeki turned around, I jumped from the cliffside with a saber in hand. I pointed it directly down at its head as it investigated the rock. The Rubeki was impaled with my saber and I slammed the small stone into its side as well.

Before I tried to slam the rock into his side, he already dispersed into a cloud of smoke from my saber strike. I threw the rock against the wall while trying to put it into the vanished Rubeki and stood confused.

He died so fast... really, that was it?

I thought it would've been an animal, but it was just smoke. With a Rubeki as big as a cow, it died so easily. Was that really it? Was that the horrors that nobody could deal with?

I shouldn't be so cocky. It's possible I have an ability that's strong against the Rubeki, but I still wouldn't so brazenly fight them like my life didn't matter. I first needed to find a source of food and water that I can get to.

From an obscure fact my dad told me, I knew that water pooled at the lowest part of any land, so I wanted to find the lowest point possible.

I fit through the narrow ridge and peered through the rock formations, looking for any low parts of the land or moisture.

The rock formations were dripping with condensation, so at the very least I knew I could find water here. I needed a bucket to collect some of it, and with the barren state of land, I wasn't sure there would be anything left behind.

I pushed through the thin rocks and made it back to the stable ground where I felt my boot sink into the floor.

Right underneath me was some sort of sand, but the interesting part about it was the moisture. There was water here somewhere, but where exactly?

I started digging in the wet sand until I saw a puddle of water start to form at the bottom. I didn't need it right now, but to know that I have access to it was huge... now for food... what next?

Some small animals were roaming around, but Rubeki don't need meat so that means bigger animals also existed as well, only killed for fun and their meat left behind. I could become a scavenger and live like that.

Using some sticks and fiber from nearby barren plants, I was able to make a roof by a tree. I needed a lot more than just a simple roof, like real coverage and hiding spots so I wouldn't die in my sleep from a Rubeki.

I tried my hardest to stay calm because I knew that in the heat of the moment, we all make mistakes. I couldn't afford to even make one right now. As long as I stayed calm and didn't think about my friends or family, I could make it. I know I could.

Looking at my surroundings, I was in a pit surrounded by rocks with a lone tree in the middle. I wanted to make a surface with wood and solid ground so I could live underneath the Rubeki world, but I didn't know if I had enough materials. I also needed a plan for silently taking them down and separating them. I could outsmart them, but for how long until I made a mistake?

I knew for a fact I needed this shelter, so this was definite, but maybe the water source would change. Does it even rain here?

How could I use these strands? There were so many things to think about, so I decided to handle this shelter first, peeling off the bark on trees all around my location to start weaving covers for my new shelter.

When creating my saber, I could shorten the distance and change the shape into a knife, but could only hold it for so long. I had to make sure not to overdo it here as well... this kind of life was going to wear me out eventually.

It was just about the evening as the sun was setting and I didn't have much more time without a safe shelter. I used the weaved-together strips of wood and covered myself in a small indent within the rocks. I had to leave it up to chance tonight to sleep, but I also wanted to make a bucket of some kind to collect rainwater, if I was lucky enough to get any.

My Dad showed me some survival strategies when I was younger, but this is the extent of my knowledge. How I was supposed to survive until I made it back to MTG by killing enough Rubeki left me clueless, but I knew it had to be done.

Just as Mom said.

Being a Deity is doing things others wouldn't want to.