[] Offense and Defense: She should convince 9XG, 9XH and 9XI to fortify the Carnelian Encampment. They might only be able to stack basalt on top of basalt to form huts and walls, but its better than nothing.
Settling In 2.1
It takes hours. Ruby had assumed that it would not be hard to stack the loose basalt bricks that the Carnelians had stored in their encampment into a wall around it and because of that it wouldn't take long -- but there were rules that she had been unaware of -- and building a wall turned out to be more than just stacking basalt bricks one on top of another. Her lungs burned in her chest and her arms felt sore and shaky: she had never worked so hard in her life. She was painfully aware of how little progress that she had made to her section of the wall compared to how much progress that 9XG had made, but she couldn't build as fast as 9XG could while she was adhering to all of the building rules that 9XG had taught her.
She often find herself having to be reminded of the rules or forced to tear down a section of wall because she had forgotten to follow the rules.
By the fourth hour, an exhausted, mutinous, part of her wonders if she should have just decided to do something else. There were a surprising number of other things that she could have decided to do. She would not have the peace of mind she thought that she would have once the wall had been built, but at least she wouldn't have had to do so much work. She hadn't even known that her physical form could ache this much.
But then, when Ruby turned toward 9XG and started to open her mouth to ask her if she could stop and rest, 9XG turned around to look at the section of wall that she had been working on. There was an emotion in her expression that she had a hard time placing. She had expected to see the slight disappointment or the resignation that she had seen in 9XG's face the last time 9XG had looked at her work, but neither of those emotions were on 9XG's face now.
It took Ruby a long couple of moments to realize that the emotion in 9XG's expression was pride. 9XG was proud of the work that she had done.
9XG walked over to Ruby to clap her on the shoulder and to tell her that the base of the wall would be complete before 9XH and 9XI returned if the two of them continued to work as hard as they had been. Her physical form ached, her arms were sore and shaky, but she somehow found the strength to pick up the next loose block of basalt and place it like 9XG had taught her.
Hours later, the two of them completed the base of the wall.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Welcome back!"
Ruby blinked and opened her mouth to ask 9XG who she was talking to before she saw something that she had thought to be a rock lift higher into the air as 9XH crested the hill with it above her head. 9XH twisted around until she was facing the hill that she had just climbed, lifted the worn down pillar a little higher, and started to walk backwards. 9XI came into view a couple of minutes later, holding the end of the pillar, before 9XG moved to help 9XH and 9XI carry it into the encampment.
Ruby couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. It was a pillar of a communication hub, but it was in a similar if not worse condition than the pillar that 9XG and the others had planted in the middle of their camp. It had no trace of the faint triangular markings that she had seen on the other pillar and, unlike that pillar, this one had long, shallow, scrapes along the sides that led toward a broken, jagged, end on one side.
Ruby didn't know if she would be able to use it.
9XG looked at the pillar and frowned before she stepped toward 9XH and 9XI. 9XG said something to 9XH and 9XI that she couldn't her and her frown lightened at their response. 9XG pointed out of the encampment toward something and said something else that she couldn't hear, smiled, and then turned around and motioned for her to approach.
"It took a little while for 2XG to learn how to build things using the materials that we have available on this planet -- and she made a couple of mistakes here and there -- but I wouldn't have been able to make as much progress on the wall without her." 9XG said before she gently punched in the shoulder. It hurt, but she didn't say anything. "Butt, once 2XG has something down, she works super fast.."
Ruby blinked and then blushed when she realized what 9XG was talking about. Her blush deepened when 9XH and 9XI turned to look at her with an emotion she couldn't place. She ducked her head in a futile attempt to hide it. "... It was ... a lot easier when I could remember what 9XG had told me. Rubies.... Rubies are made to follow orders."
"It's good to hear that." 9XH looked at her. "Especially since you were the one that suggested we build that wall in the first place." She turned and looked toward 9XG. "How much more time do you think it will take until it is done? It'll be a lot easier for us to transport those things if you two could help us."
9XG seemed to consider it for a moment. "It shouldn't take 2XG and I more than four hours to finish it. 2XG and I could finish it sooner than that, but we want to make the wall as strong as we possibly can."
"That's -- " 9XH started.
"That's fine." 9XI interrupted 9XH. 9XH whirled around toward to look at 9XI, but 9XI merely met 9XH's frustrated look with her own even look. "We can continue to collect the pillars while you two continue to build the wall."
Ruby don't know what 9XH saw in 9XI's look, but whatever she had seen made her shut her mouth and nod. She opened her mouth to question them about it, saw the look on 9XI'ss face when 9XI turned toward her, and then thought better of it.
"That's a relief." 9XG said before she turned around. "Now, come on, I want to pull out the rock that 2XG and I will be using to build tomorrow."
Ruby winced.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The sun is setting. But then, of course it was: the battle against 10TN and 10TR, her second reformation, the hours upon hours she spent building the wall -- its the second day since she crash landed on this planet, confused and alone. Today had been one of the longest days in her life. She was tired in a way that she had never been tired before, but full in a way that she had never quite been full before.
The sun was setting and the sky was painfully similar to the sky that she had seen on the Earth. She stared at the sun -- less bright and two thirds smaller than it had seemed to be from earth -- surrounded by a pale bluish glow. She thought about the earth, the rebels that lived there, the platoon that the rebels had forcibly separated her from.
But then, someone sat down next to her. She turned around to see 9XI settle down on her left. She felt someone knock her on the shoulder and turned to see 9XH settle down on her right. Someone ruffled her hair before 9XI moved a couple of feet to the left so that 9XG to settle down next to her.
There was a feeling inside of her. She didn't have a name for it, but it filled her up until the feeling felt as if it was bigger than her, like her physical form hadn't been made to hold it. The size of the feeling should have scared her, but it didn't .
For the first time that she had been separated from her platoon, she didn't feel like she was alone.
[X] She should look into what happens when she uses her powers to heat basalt.
[
X] She should attempt to learn more about Carnelian Facet-1M4R Cut-9XG while the two of them are building the wall around the Carnelian Encampment. She doesn't know much about her, except that she is apparently the leader, and thinks that now would be a chance to fix that.
[
X] She should attempt to learn more about the planet that she is on from Carnelian Facet-1M4R Cut-9XG while the two of them are building the wall around the Carnelian Encampment. There are more Gems here then she thought there could be on this planet -- even after meeting the carnelians. Maybe 9XG can tell her why?
