Ruby woke up late the next morning, only to see that the room was empty, realizing that she was late for her training. She mumbled to herself "Shit." She hurriedly got up, got ready, and headed to the training room, where the other cadets had already started training.
"Ruby, you are late. Why is that?" A training instructor, commander Cobalt walked up to her, rather displeased with her irresponsibility.
"Sorry, sir, I slept in," Ruby answered, looking down.
"And where's Jackie?"
Ruby shrugs. "I don't know, sir, she'll be here soon, I guess."
Cobalt furrowed his eyebrows over her response "Be more responsible next time." He said passive-aggressively and walked away.
After training, Ruby headed to the locker room along with the other cadets to get some rest, when she saw Lonnie walking up to her.
"Hey, Ruby!"
"Hey." Ruby responded and forced a smile. She didn't want to deal with anyone at the moment.
"Where was that Jackie girl today? She's never been absent before."
"O-oh, she must be busy-" Ruby grinned nervously, unconvincingly.
"She's so busy that she missed training? What is she even doing?" Lonnie tilted her head.
SHIT, SHIT, SHIT- "Uhhh... I have no clue." This was not entirely a lie. She didn't really know what Jackie was doing at this given moment.
"Hm. Weird." Lonnie responded simply, walking away.
Ruby sighed. She already missed Jackie. For how long was she going to hide the truth? It seemed like Lonnie had already suspected something.
The rest of her day went as usual, except that Jackie wasn't next to her like she usually was. That, and there were constant inquiries of "Where's Jackie?". Not to mention, Shadow Weaver's nagging stung more without the optimistic girl around to soften the blow afterward.
After a long, stressful day, Ruby flopped down onto her bunk and was about to try to get some sleep, when she heard one of the cadets calling her.
"Ruby? Are you alright? Where's Jackie? She's still not back!"
Ruby grunted an indistinct response and rolled onto her side.
"Ruby? Ruby?! Ruby!!" they continued.
"I don't know, okay?! Just leave me alone!" She finally snapped at them, getting attention from other cadets as well. She stood up, moving quickly out of the room.
"Yo, what is your problem?" Lonnie joined Ruby as she stormed out into the hall. "You've been acting weird all day and now you're mad at us?! Hey, get your ass back here!"
Ruby kept running and refused to look back. It was a good thing she was faster than Lonnie, otherwise, she definitely would have gotten caught.
She finally stopped at the top of a tower, doubled over as she tried to catch her breath. After about thirty seconds, she straightened up, looking out over the Fright Zone. She could just see the Whispering Woods from where she stood, the dense greenery seeming to give off an eerie greenish glow. Jackie was out there somewhere. And she was going to find her one day.
A/N: Ooh, buildup...
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~Red Renard
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Jackie & Ruby's Story
Fanfiction<<TITLE IS GOING TO BE CHANGED WHEN WE FINISH WRITING>> Jackie and Ruby have been cadets in the Horde as long as they can remember, but there's some underlying conflict. Jackie wants to know about life outside the Horde. Her best friend...
