The next morning, the Rubies gathered at the large bolder again.
The twig-Ruby looked nervous at all the glaring eyes. "Erm-h-hi everyone! Uh...I'm not-not sure how to choose the next leader for tomorrow...so...erm, I thought it would be best to just...I don't know...flip a coin or something?
"Are you kidding me?!" Holly Blue screamed from the distance.
Because there were no coins in the area, everyone flipped flat rocks to decide the winner.
The resulting Ruby cheered in triumph!
The twig-Ruby piped up again, and stated that she would be quite happy just watching the clouds today.
The others nodded in agreement, before lying in the dirt and attempting to visualize shapes in the sky.
Holly Blue could not believe how much time she was wasting as the days went by.
If she tried to reason her superiority, she would be shunned as being hostile.
If the Agate attempted to fight back- the Rubies would simply overpower her in numbers, and believe her to be brawling for fun.
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the entire situation though, was the lack of communication with the outside world, and the way a new leader was chosen on a daily basis.
Whoever won the brawl would be leader.
Whoever could stand on one leg the longest would be leader.
Whoever was the shortest would be leader.
Whoever could stare the longest would be leader.
It was infuriating! Holly Blue could NOT wrap her mind around the abstract way these soldiers functioned...
Hope began to dwindle for the Agate. She figured she would be trapped on this forsaken rock for a LOOOOONG time.
The Gem felt a sense of frustration. She was currently sitting on a rock...as far away as possible from the massive crowd of idiots.
Today's activity was chasing a lizard-looking creature anyway. Holly knew she wasn't remotely fast enough to catch it, so why bother?
As the Agate huffed to herself, remembering the good 'ol days of power and prestige, a small Ruby turned the corner of the canyon.
The red Gem spotted Holly, and ran toward her with relief! "There you are Dumb Blue! The animal was caught! When we did a head count, you had disappeared! Everyone is looking for you!"
"Leave me alone."
The Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "What's wrong Dumb Blue? You look sad!"
"Of COURSE I'm upset! I'm stuck here, on this miserable planet, with all you clods, and no contact with the outside world! No one here will listen to me, or respect me...STARS!" Holly Blue moped to herself.
The Ruby felt rather deflated for being called a "clod" again, but perhaps she could do something to cheer the Gem up? The soldier approached Holly Blue and (without warning) decided to hug her leg.
The Agate was surprised by this gesture, and was going to kick the little moron into next Tuesday...but decided to let the Gem be. This was the most anyone had listened or sympathized with her during this entire fiasco.
"There!" The Ruby let go and smiled up at Holly. "Whenever I feel sad, I always get better after a biiiig hug!"
As much as the Agate hated to admit it, it did feel nice being cared about again.
"Now come on Dumb Blue! Everyone's worried about ya!" The small Ruby beckoned for the Agate to follow her.
Sure enough, once they regrouped with the rest of the crowd, there was an immediate din among the soldiers.
"Hey look! She found Dumb Blue!"
"Where were you Dumb Blue?! We were worried!"
"Don't do that again!"
"We thought you had been hurt!"
"Yeah!"
"Dumb Blue is found!"
The Agate felt slightly overwhelmed as she was surrounded by the shorter Gems- whom were all displaying relief and sympathy. She hadn't really realized it until now, but the soldiers seemed to put a great importance on doing a head count after each day's activity.
Despite her nasty and overly-negative attitude, the group of Rubies still seemed to count her as part of the herd. They still cared about her...even if she did call them names...or smack them...or yell at them...
She had always felt that fear was her best friend to control the Gems around her- but not even her own Diamond had ever displayed this level of empathy.
For the first time in a LONG time, Holly Blue smiled.