Chapter 7
The Cruise
"Now this is a party!" Lex laughed as he was dancing with a group of girls surrounding him on the cruise ship, and most of those girls had men of their own, all scowling and sneering at Lex. It was amazing that none of them made a move to stop this to Ruby who was leaning against the railing next to Cowboy Blade.
"What do you think of him?" she asked the bounty hunter.
Blade looked to her, then to Lex.
"A bad idea to bring him along." Blade sighed.
She laughed. It felt good to laugh sometimes. What was shocking was that she was actually laughing at what this dark warrior had said.
"You like him." came from the bounty hunter, clearly not a question and clearly directed at her.
Ruby's smile faded into a blank expression. It was all he needed for an answer.
"Your emotions are your weakness." he said as he looked back to the sea.
Her head snapped in his direction. "And what would you know of emotions? From as long as I've known you, you could give a real crap about what anybody cares!" she said hotly.
The bounty hunter didn't respond, nor did he look angry.
But at that moment, Ruby had quickly regretted what she just said immediately. "I'm sorry."
"No, how you judge others is none of my concern." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed she was laughing.
"What?" he asked.
She cleared her throat as she was still smiling and looked up to him. "Oh, it's just…well, you're talking. You're actually holding up a conversation."
Blade growled.
"I answered your question. The truth is that Lex is going to be a bad sign for this mission."
Ruby hung her head and sighed in frustration.
Sometimes this guy was impossible.
He sounded like a guy who…
Her eyes went wide in realization. He sounded like a guy who didn't care to…live anymore. A guy who regretted of being born.
It was in his tone.
Guys like that turned out into bad guys. But from the time she had known him, which was for only two days now, the bounty hunter didn't seem like such a bad guy. He did help her with the Paradise user and his friends.
Then suddenly, Ruby's eyes fell on the sword on his back. It was truly a magnificent sword. Japanese, or Oriental-made it seemed. It looked like that you needed to be hulk-like buffed and have the use of both hands to actually lift it.
"Blade?" she began. "Your sword. Do you ever use it in fighting?" she curiously asked.
That was when Blade fell into his silent state again.
Ruby looked away and sighed. "I'm sorry. I know it's none of my business. I was just curious is all."
But the bounty hunter suddenly spoke. "I was an Eco-Warrior. One of the very best."
She looked back up at him surprised. She had heard of the Eco tribes. People who lived life in the wild as their ancestors once had. Robin Hood-like people without the whole thieving thing and they were clothes that could blend them into their surroundings.
"I was not tribe material, but…it was a someone who made me stay." he admitted.
Amber, Ruby thought, so they are old friends!
"Then, I killed a man with this sword. Everyone found me to be dangerous, untrusting. So they cast me out."
Ruby looked sympathetic at him. "I'm sorry." she had said again.
"I don't need sympathy." he told her sternly. "I didn't even really care about them."
Blade looked down at Ruby again, and this time she nearly did see his eyes under his hat's long brim.
They were full of coldness. Dead as she had seen them. It looked like he didn't even blink.
"I killed my emotions long ago to survive like others have, Ruby. One day, you might understand."
With that, Blade walked away and headed for the sleeping quarters of the cruise ship.
She watched him leave.
A man full of hate and anger, and yet he didn't even show it.
But was she not a warrior herself? Yes, she was. How else had she managed to keep her and her saloon alive?!
When she first came to Liberty, it was completely corrupted. When she moved in and bought the old run down pub, fixing it up into her saloon, she had also helped make the town a nice place to live.
But being a warrior didn't stop her from having feelings. It didn't stop her from searching for that special someone.
Lex fell against the railing next to her, laughing his guts out.
"Hey." he panted. "Why aren't you dancing?" he asked.
"Cause nobody asked me." she gave him a stern look and tried to walk away.
Lex suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor.
She could've just pushed him off or punched him in the nose, but she didn't. Instead, she felt something surge within her the moment his hand touched hers.
And from the look in his eyes, he felt the same way too.
"No Lex. I'm not going to sleep with you." she gave him a look.
"I just want to dance with you." he told her, returning the look.
The fast-pace music ended and turned into something slower, something more romantic for the evening.
Both Ruby and Lex looked away from each other, staring off at the crowd of boys and girls, some younger, some the same age, and some older than her and Lex, get close together as they danced to the rhythm.
Lex finally looked to Ruby and held out his hand.
"Dance with me?" he asked in a soft voice.
Reluctantly, she fell under the spell of his eyes and sighed heavily as she put her arms around his neck.
Lex got rather too close.
"Keep your distance, pal." she warned.
"What if I don't?" he gave her a challenging smile, not a grin but a smile.
"Then I would do this." She pushed away from him and began to walk away. But again, Lex had grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him.
She expected him to put his arms back around her. He did, but he put in something extra.
And soon, Ruby found her lips pressed against Lex's in a passionate kiss that she had never seen coming.
"Ooohhh. These are very nice controls. Everything is exactly perfect with the wiring."
Blade had left the device with the strange voice to make sure the cruise ship got them to their destination.
Quiet frankly, it was freaking out the crew members on board as they all huddled to one corner, looking around fearfully as if the place was haunted by ghosts.
"Hmm. Tough crowd."
The orange orb in the sky beamed down all light onto the earth. Part of it beaming onto the cruise ship, and directly in Lex's eyes.
He adjusted himself on the bed.
"What time is it?" she asked.
Lex looked to the clock hanging up on the wall. "Seven o'clock in the morning."
Ruby smiled rather sleepy, though it looked rather sweetly to him as he looked down at her head resting on his chest.
"I thought you said you weren't gonna sleep with me." Lex grinned and raised an eyebrow.
"Well," she sighed, "It was nice." She grabbed her shirt and tossed it on. She got up to grab her panties, her pants and her shoes.
Lex just stared at her with a puzzled look. "Where are you going?" he asked.
Ruby sighed as she finished getting dressed. "Lex," she turned back to him, "I had a great time. But come on, isn't that all it was. A great time?" she asked.
Lex looked stunned.
"You know, a one night stand?" Ruby gave him a look. "Come one, I know guys like you. You're not the type to be a one-woman girl…"
"Well you certainly know crap!" he snapped as he got up and grabbed his pants.
She was the one to look puzzled this time. "Um, am I missing something here?"
Lex sharply pointed to her. "Let me tell you a story about my so-called life. I've been married twice. My first was a mistake, and she died with my unborn child. The second was the love of my life, but now she's gone somewhere else. And then, I had a girlfriend, who got jealous of my still caring for my second wife and left me in the cold."
She stood speechless at him.
"Yeah, I use to be like that when the virus struck, but I changed. And just so you know, last night to me was NOT a one night stand. I only have known you for now one day and night, but I like you. I like you a lot. But since it was just a one night stand, I guess it's no use talking about it, eh?"
With that, he grabbed his shirt and stormed out of the room.
"Lex…" Ruby called to him, but the door slammed closed.
Great, Ruby put her head in her hands as she fell on the edge of the bed. Just great.
The Cruise
"Now this is a party!" Lex laughed as he was dancing with a group of girls surrounding him on the cruise ship, and most of those girls had men of their own, all scowling and sneering at Lex. It was amazing that none of them made a move to stop this to Ruby who was leaning against the railing next to Cowboy Blade.
"What do you think of him?" she asked the bounty hunter.
Blade looked to her, then to Lex.
"A bad idea to bring him along." Blade sighed.
She laughed. It felt good to laugh sometimes. What was shocking was that she was actually laughing at what this dark warrior had said.
"You like him." came from the bounty hunter, clearly not a question and clearly directed at her.
Ruby's smile faded into a blank expression. It was all he needed for an answer.
"Your emotions are your weakness." he said as he looked back to the sea.
Her head snapped in his direction. "And what would you know of emotions? From as long as I've known you, you could give a real crap about what anybody cares!" she said hotly.
The bounty hunter didn't respond, nor did he look angry.
But at that moment, Ruby had quickly regretted what she just said immediately. "I'm sorry."
"No, how you judge others is none of my concern." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed she was laughing.
"What?" he asked.
She cleared her throat as she was still smiling and looked up to him. "Oh, it's just…well, you're talking. You're actually holding up a conversation."
Blade growled.
"I answered your question. The truth is that Lex is going to be a bad sign for this mission."
Ruby hung her head and sighed in frustration.
Sometimes this guy was impossible.
He sounded like a guy who…
Her eyes went wide in realization. He sounded like a guy who didn't care to…live anymore. A guy who regretted of being born.
It was in his tone.
Guys like that turned out into bad guys. But from the time she had known him, which was for only two days now, the bounty hunter didn't seem like such a bad guy. He did help her with the Paradise user and his friends.
Then suddenly, Ruby's eyes fell on the sword on his back. It was truly a magnificent sword. Japanese, or Oriental-made it seemed. It looked like that you needed to be hulk-like buffed and have the use of both hands to actually lift it.
"Blade?" she began. "Your sword. Do you ever use it in fighting?" she curiously asked.
That was when Blade fell into his silent state again.
Ruby looked away and sighed. "I'm sorry. I know it's none of my business. I was just curious is all."
But the bounty hunter suddenly spoke. "I was an Eco-Warrior. One of the very best."
She looked back up at him surprised. She had heard of the Eco tribes. People who lived life in the wild as their ancestors once had. Robin Hood-like people without the whole thieving thing and they were clothes that could blend them into their surroundings.
"I was not tribe material, but…it was a someone who made me stay." he admitted.
Amber, Ruby thought, so they are old friends!
"Then, I killed a man with this sword. Everyone found me to be dangerous, untrusting. So they cast me out."
Ruby looked sympathetic at him. "I'm sorry." she had said again.
"I don't need sympathy." he told her sternly. "I didn't even really care about them."
Blade looked down at Ruby again, and this time she nearly did see his eyes under his hat's long brim.
They were full of coldness. Dead as she had seen them. It looked like he didn't even blink.
"I killed my emotions long ago to survive like others have, Ruby. One day, you might understand."
With that, Blade walked away and headed for the sleeping quarters of the cruise ship.
She watched him leave.
A man full of hate and anger, and yet he didn't even show it.
But was she not a warrior herself? Yes, she was. How else had she managed to keep her and her saloon alive?!
When she first came to Liberty, it was completely corrupted. When she moved in and bought the old run down pub, fixing it up into her saloon, she had also helped make the town a nice place to live.
But being a warrior didn't stop her from having feelings. It didn't stop her from searching for that special someone.
Lex fell against the railing next to her, laughing his guts out.
"Hey." he panted. "Why aren't you dancing?" he asked.
"Cause nobody asked me." she gave him a stern look and tried to walk away.
Lex suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor.
She could've just pushed him off or punched him in the nose, but she didn't. Instead, she felt something surge within her the moment his hand touched hers.
And from the look in his eyes, he felt the same way too.
"No Lex. I'm not going to sleep with you." she gave him a look.
"I just want to dance with you." he told her, returning the look.
The fast-pace music ended and turned into something slower, something more romantic for the evening.
Both Ruby and Lex looked away from each other, staring off at the crowd of boys and girls, some younger, some the same age, and some older than her and Lex, get close together as they danced to the rhythm.
Lex finally looked to Ruby and held out his hand.
"Dance with me?" he asked in a soft voice.
Reluctantly, she fell under the spell of his eyes and sighed heavily as she put her arms around his neck.
Lex got rather too close.
"Keep your distance, pal." she warned.
"What if I don't?" he gave her a challenging smile, not a grin but a smile.
"Then I would do this." She pushed away from him and began to walk away. But again, Lex had grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him.
She expected him to put his arms back around her. He did, but he put in something extra.
And soon, Ruby found her lips pressed against Lex's in a passionate kiss that she had never seen coming.
"Ooohhh. These are very nice controls. Everything is exactly perfect with the wiring."
Blade had left the device with the strange voice to make sure the cruise ship got them to their destination.
Quiet frankly, it was freaking out the crew members on board as they all huddled to one corner, looking around fearfully as if the place was haunted by ghosts.
"Hmm. Tough crowd."
The orange orb in the sky beamed down all light onto the earth. Part of it beaming onto the cruise ship, and directly in Lex's eyes.
He adjusted himself on the bed.
"What time is it?" she asked.
Lex looked to the clock hanging up on the wall. "Seven o'clock in the morning."
Ruby smiled rather sleepy, though it looked rather sweetly to him as he looked down at her head resting on his chest.
"I thought you said you weren't gonna sleep with me." Lex grinned and raised an eyebrow.
"Well," she sighed, "It was nice." She grabbed her shirt and tossed it on. She got up to grab her panties, her pants and her shoes.
Lex just stared at her with a puzzled look. "Where are you going?" he asked.
Ruby sighed as she finished getting dressed. "Lex," she turned back to him, "I had a great time. But come on, isn't that all it was. A great time?" she asked.
Lex looked stunned.
"You know, a one night stand?" Ruby gave him a look. "Come one, I know guys like you. You're not the type to be a one-woman girl…"
"Well you certainly know crap!" he snapped as he got up and grabbed his pants.
She was the one to look puzzled this time. "Um, am I missing something here?"
Lex sharply pointed to her. "Let me tell you a story about my so-called life. I've been married twice. My first was a mistake, and she died with my unborn child. The second was the love of my life, but now she's gone somewhere else. And then, I had a girlfriend, who got jealous of my still caring for my second wife and left me in the cold."
She stood speechless at him.
"Yeah, I use to be like that when the virus struck, but I changed. And just so you know, last night to me was NOT a one night stand. I only have known you for now one day and night, but I like you. I like you a lot. But since it was just a one night stand, I guess it's no use talking about it, eh?"
With that, he grabbed his shirt and stormed out of the room.
"Lex…" Ruby called to him, but the door slammed closed.
Great, Ruby put her head in her hands as she fell on the edge of the bed. Just great.