On the rocks The view that jumped them warranted that remark. They stood at the start of a wide open area, filled with pebbles in many colours, and red, yellow, blue and white prevailed. Randomly across the pebble plain, small green plants with tiny yellow flowers has sprouted. About two hundred feet from where the group stood, a calm river floated along. Beyond the river, mountains rose up. They were not impressively high, but they were covered with shrubs and something that looked like insanely large patches of red and brown moss. Low trees grew at the foot of the mountains. The travellers stared at the scene for a while, as the serene beauty overwhelmed them all. "This is just plain pretty," Rebel said. She picked up a red pebble and examined it. "Tell you what, folks. This pebble… isn't a pebble." The woman, her leather outfit quite smudged by now, closed her hand around the red rock for a moment. A dim light shone through her fingers for a moment. "Look." Rebel held out her hand, and on her palm lay a shiny rough ruby.
