Chapter 10: Locked Out
Ruby cried into her pillow. She heard Peter call her down for lunch, but Ruby ignored it. She was too depressed to do anything.
She knew some people would taunt her about this. She looked down when her tail whipped something. She saw it was the article she was supposed to give Josie.
She heard Josie knock on the door and say, "Ruby?"
"Josie, did you know what you put down on that article?" Ruby asked her.
Josie nodded and said, "Yes. You told me to."
"And you didn't do anything? You didn't argue with me?" Ruby asked her.
"No," she said simply.
Ruby narrowed her eyes and slammed the door shut. Josie slapped her paw on her forehead and said to herself, "Way to go, Josie. You just gave you and your friends a one way ticket to torture town."
Ruby opened her closet and took out a book. She went to the fifth page of the book filled with fairy tales and there was a dark piece of paper. She took it out and unfolded it.
She smirked. It was a blueprint of her house. She could plan everything out on that. Both Ruby and her brother had one of these.
She began plotting, but nothing seemed horrible enough! She then got an idea. She put the paper back and flipped to page twenty-seven. She took out another folded piece of paper. It was a blueprint of the area around her house.
She grinned. "Perfect," she said.
Valerie whacked Josie on the head with a towel after Josie told her what just happened. "Why didn't you do anything?"
"I don't know!" Josie said.
"Stop fighting. That won't make Ruby forgive us. Now, let's just go up and try once more to talk," said Peter.
The two girls were unsure about this idea, but followed along. Ruby came out of her room as they reached the top of the staircase. "Do you mind going out for a walk with me?"
They all looked at each other. They were all nervous, but agreed. "Alright, we'll come with you."
Ruby nodded and they went outside. As the three walked ahead, Ruby locked all the doors and windows. She locked the entrance and then caught up with the others. "So, where would you like to walk to first?"
"Maybe we could go into the city and go out to eat?" Peter suggested.
"Sure. We'll have plenty of time," Ruby said. Valerie could tell she was up to something.
"I'm going to go inside and get some money to go eat," Josie said running back to the mansion.
She tugged on the doors, but they wouldn't open. "Uh, Ruby. Why is the door locked?" she asked.
Valerie looked at Ruby who just smiled. "Did I do that?" Ruby said in a taunting voice.
"Not funny, Ruby. How are going to go inside?" Peter asked her.
"We don't. We stay out here, until I say so," Ruby said crossing her arms. Peter and Ruby glared at each other and Josie was in a panick.
"What do we do?" asked Valerie.
"I suggest you make camp and find some food before it gets late," said Ruby.
Valerie wanted to tackle the fox, but knew Ruby would only torture her more. Valerie and Peter went to go look for a good place to sleep while Josie and Ruby went into the city.
Josie kept a distance from Ruby. "So, w-what did you want to d-do?" Josie asked nervously.
Ruby saw her shaking. "Will you stop shivering and decide a place yourself?" Ruby growled. She was mainly angry at Josie for writing the article.
Josie swallowed hard and looked around. She had never been in a big city like this before. The building towered over here and there were so many people and shops. She saw a jewelery shop and insisted on going there.
Ruby nodded and the two went in. She looked around for something to do to Josie. Josie thought that Ruby might like jewelery. She got a pair of earrings and held them up to Ruby. "How about these?"
"I don't know, Josie. Those green ones over there really bring out the idiot in you," Ruby growled.
Josie just gave her a look and said, "These are for you. How about it? Do you like them?"
"There are two things wrong with that, Josie. One, I don't like that color. And two, I don't have my ears pierced," Ruby said.
Josie put them back and continued looking for something to give Ruby. Ruby rolled her eyes as Josie kept showing her necklaces and bracelets. Ruby just got tired of it.
Then, as she was about to ask Josie if they could go somewhere else, someone called out, "Hey look, it's Ruby the romantic!"
Ruby turned around. It was her rivals, Eloise and her group. Ruby just said back, "Leave me alone, Eloise."
The sheep grinned. "Why? Do you need some time alone to think about Miles?"
Ruby tried to ignore them and their comments. Josie saw all of them picking on Ruby. "Hey, leave her alone," Josie said.
The group looked at the tiger. "Who are you?" asked one of the group.
"I'm the newspaper writer, Josie," she said proudly.
Ruby facepalmed and tried to act as if she never met Josie. Eloise just sneered, "Where's your brother, Ruby? Did he finally get tired of you and left you?"
Ruby felt her fur stick out from anger. "I told you to leave me alone!"
Eloise and her friend just continued to laugh at her and make fun of her. "Miles and Ruby sitting in a tree," they sang.
But before they were able to finish, Ruby tackled Eloise and tossed her aside. The others fled from the fight, afraid to get hurt. Ruby gave Eloise a round house kick and she landed on the counter. The cashier, barely noticing anything, just looked at Eloise and called out, "Price check on four!"
Meanwhile, Zenghui still walked around in the forest. He hadn't heard Ruby's voice in a long while. He thought he saw the city up ahead. He smiled. He raced towards it, but when he got there, it seemed to fade away like a mirage.
He leaned against the tree. He sighed. "How am I going to get out of this forest?" he asked himself.
He thought of chopping down all the trees, but he thought of how long it would take for them to grow back. He began to walk around again. Then, he heard it again, "Zenghui! Help!"
"Ruby? Ruby, are you okay?" he called out running towards the voice.
He ran through the forest and stopped once he saw the red fox. "Ruby, what happened?" he asked walking towards her slowly.
The red fox seemed to be injured. Then the fox just grinned and said waving, "Good-bye big brother!"
Zenghui hurried his pace and reached out to her, but she faded just like the city. Zenghui looked around desperately for his little sister. "Ruby answer me!" he said looking around.
He stopped and covered his face with his paws. His head was spinning. He panted and shook slightly from all the stress. I need to get back to Mother and Father, Zenghui thought to himself.
He got to his feet and felt a little shaky when walking. He trudged around, feeling weak and tired. He stopped and realized he needed to find some food or water. He hadn't had anything since yesterday.
Zenghui couldn't find anything. He searched high and low. Then, he finally looked at the bamboo trees. He cocked his head. Well, Po says that they taste good, he thought. He used his sword to cut down a bamboo tree and sliced up some small piece for himself.
He took a bite and cringed. They tasted awful to him. He threw them aside and walked on. He thought he saw a pond and ran to it. He dove into the pond, but hit the ground. Grass and dirt were all on his head.
He brushed it off and felt like banging his head on the bamboo trees repeatedly. Then, someone tapped his shoulder. He looked behind him, hoping that someone had found him, but instead it was a croc bandit.
The croc bandit raised his club and whacked him on the head. Zenghui was knocked out and the croc bandit took him away.