(It had taken me longer than anticipated to take back everything I lost for yet another unexplained reason. My computer hates me, such a shame it took so long to notice...)
Chapter 3
Ruby's eyes went wide and he opened his mouth to scream. "Stop struggling Ruby! I just need to talk to you… in private." He heard and was brought into a shaded spot, not lit by any of the scattered torches. In front of him stood the same blue Squirtle he talked with earlier. "Weren't you just-?" Ruby started, he thought he saw him and Topaz arguing before. "Look Ruby... I can't stand this place! They told us in another two years and we'll finally be able to leave... Two more years and I'd probably off myself before then." Lapis said to Ruby through a whisper. "But why? We've already gone through-" "Stop right there and let me... ELEVEN YEARS RUBY! That's pretty much childhood!" Lapis interrupted him "We've been trapped here for too long and I can't survive another two years!" Ruby agreed… somewhat, it was hard. Years' worth of scars, burns, berating comments, and boring history lessons. "I don't know, maybe it'll go by faster this time?" Ruby tried. "Aren't you at least the slightest bit curious on the outside?" Lapis asked him. Ruby couldn't quite answer that question, he'd always wanted to venture out and smell the fresh grass. However, none of them would be able to get past their minders. (Although not to say they hadn't attempted...) But maybe Lapis was right, Ruby doubted that he could take another year of Jade explaining why Water Pokémon can breathe underwater. The two stepped away and back into the light of the dorm room. Now it seemed Topaz was at verbal war with Jade, the former's tail flame nearly blazing and the latter calmly flipping through pages, not even looking up. "The Veins think they're in charge of us, but we still have to make the choice who to fight alongside with." Topaz bristled, "They still know what's best for us, and the Nowhere Islands. So we could still listen to a suggestion." Jade told her, causing Topaz to groan. He was very close to getting his tail set on fire.
The sound of heavy footsteps had caused all of them to quiet down and turn around towards the entrance of the room. Ruby wasn't very surprised finding Terra's cold, angry stare directed at the six children. "Why can't you ever do anything quietly?!" He asked, still annoyed from earlier Ruby assumed. "Because if it's quiet, it's boring." Topaz answered rolling bher eyes. "Not n-necessarily, since it's a little more immer-" Jade added, but Terra gave him a glare so sharp it could cut through a whole mountain, the former immediately stopped talking."I'd better not hear a peep out of any of you for the next hour, understand? Especially you." Terra pointed at Topaz and stomped away. The latter stuck her tongue out at her minder's back. A minute had passed before the children heard the sound of a boulder rolling back into place. "Say, isn't now usually the time when they have their meeting?" Jade wondered, a grin began to form on Lapis' face. "Well, aren't you guys gonna come?" He asked, quietly slipping out of the dorm. Topaz followed him and Ruby's curiosity took over. Jade shook his head and moved behind Ruby, together the four moved silently throughout the caverns. Jade and Topaz stopped and moved towards one of the walls. They couldn't get too close with Topaz' tail flame, Ruby's fur color allowed him to slip in further. Lapis leaped into the small river without a sound and dove under the surface. Gerard never bothered to check that, so it was a favorite spot for Lapis. He even had a way to surface into the room their minders closed off.
"He's coming tomorrow!?" Shouted Terra's voice. "He gave us the Dragon egg and left, 10 years later and suddenly he wants to come back!?" "It's all that I heard, I didn't know of it!" Ruby heard Gerard and wondered just who they were talking about. 'Dragon egg? So that was Opal?' Ruby asked himself. "Perfect, just perfect, so now we're going to find out just how spectacularly we failed to do our job." "These kids? Then he'll be quite disappointed with the results." sighed Drake's voice. Ruby could hear the sound of his cane tapping against the wall. (Ruby did always think it was a little ironic, a Blaziken that couldn't kick.) Drake lost everything below his left knee so he needed a cane to walk around with stability. If a few lasting scars and a missing lower shin hadn't been any more obvious, Ruby figured he must have been through some fighting or maybe even a war. Ruby snapped to attention and leaned closer to the voices, finally catching Gerard ask "What will he do about..." "It'll be taken care of, we'll have a proper six. You'd better not blab about it to them." Terra instantly cut Gerard off. "...My lips are sealed, that is all." The latter replied as their meeting concluded. Ruby shivered and some flames broke out of his back. When Lapis came back and resurfaced, he had the same look on his face. The two quietly made it back to their room followed by Jade and Topaz. Opal had neatly sorted the pile of books Jade left by him and gave the other four a look of curiosity while Hematite hadn't even moved. Lapis had taken a deep breath to speak, by they were cut off by Terra yelling "LIGHTS OUT! I"D BETTER NOT SEE ANY OF YOU OUT AT THIS TIME!" from halfway across the caverns. The torches lighting the room had stopped burning. The only sources of light were a bright orange and blue flame burning from Topaz and Hematite respectively. Nobody had wasted a single moment, they quietly stumbled to crude cuttings of flat stone jutting out of the wall. Hematite at the top, then Jade, Lapis, Topaz and Opal. Ruby jumped up onto the bottom and faced the wall. The words he'd heard in the meeting circled around him '...Proper six ...taken care of, tomorrow.' Maybe Ruby could give Lapis' words a thought.
