Its up! I didn't think I'd ever get round to doing it. I am the queen of the procrastinators. Anyway, only one more chapter to go. And to be honest I'm pretty glad. I thought I had a good idea, but as I wrote it, it sorta lost its touch. Not to mention I found out a few days ago that ruby has 'folks' so I've had to find a way around that. Either way, its nearing an end!

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Chapter 5



"Rally ho Ruby!" Dermit shouted to the girl walking up to him.

"Rally ho!" Ruby replied in Gwendelle's voice. "Have you seen Gwendelle?"

Dermit nodded. "She went down to the sea. Wanted to be alone me thinks."

Ruby smiled. "Thankye Dermit" she answered, and walked out the entrance of Condie Petie. She had woken up that morning to find Gwendelle missing. And after last nights talk, Ruby really wanted to know the meaning behind her friend's words.

"Ye're like a parrot, stealing words from others, and using them to your own desires."

* * *

Ruby knew what she was talking about, but Gwendelle had never mentioned it before. Besides, Ruby couldn't find her own voice. Every time she tried to say something, it came out as a voice she'd heard before. She was starting to wonder if she even had one . . .

As she reached the beach, carefully watching for monsters, she stared out at the large ocean in front of her. But she couldn't see Gwendelle.

"AHHHHH!!"

Ruby whirled round in time to see Gwendelle limping towards her, running from some unknown enemy. Suddenly, the ground beneath her green friend ripped open, revealing a sandworm.

The girl gasped, and ran towards her friend. As the worm submerged again, Ruby knew she had to act quickly. If she could get Gwendelle off the beach, then the sand worm couldn't attack again.

Fortunately, Gwendelle wasn't too heavy, and soon, both were on the ground. Panting heavily, Ruby turned to her friend, who was gasping for breath, covered in cuts and bruises.

"R-ruby" she gasped. "G-go to Co-cond-condie Pe-Petie an-d ge-get help."

"But ah can't leave ye like this!" Ruby cried.

Gwendelle smiled. "Ah'll be o-okay. G-go."

For a minute, Ruby looked ready to argue, but silently, she nodded, and ran back to Condie Petie.

* * *

Ruby paced the floor of her house, glancing at the clock every five seconds. The minute Gwendelle had been carried to Condie Petie, they'd taken her to the healer's house. And now all Ruby could do was wait.

Finally, there was a knock at her door. Tearing towards it, she ripped it open to reveal Dermit, looking incredibly upset.

"Ruby. Ah'm sorry, but . . ." his voice trailed off.

For a while, Ruby just stood there. Then, silently walked back into the house to cry.

* * *

A week after Gwendelle had been buried; Ruby slowly began to notice that the villagers of Condie Petie were avoiding here. Walking to the other side of the road, or leaving the shop when she was in it. Even the Moogle seemed edgy around her.

Finally, she couldn't take it any more. After a busy shop emptied when she asked for something, she stormed over to Dermit, and shouted.

"Why is everyone avoiding me? What did ah dew wrong?"

Dermit looked incredibly uncomfortable when he answered.

"Nothin' Ruby" he said. "It's just, that . . ."

"Jus' what?" she demanded.

Dermit turned to look in her eyes.

"You sound so much like Gwendelle. Every time someone hears yer voice, they thinks its her. That's no good. We hafta accept she's gone."

Ruby stared at her friend, then slowly turned her gaze to the floor. "Dermit" she said.

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

* * *

Ruby lay on her bed, unsure of what to do next. Now that she knew the problem, she just had to figure out how to fix it. But Gwendelle's voice was all she had to remember the green woman. Voices were all she had to remember everyone she'd ever met.

She flashed back to Gwendelle's words. So she was a parrot. But a parrot could get its own voice, right?

~But I don't have my own voice~ she thought. ~I've collected hundreds of others. People from Alexandria, the Moogles, Condie Petie . . . that's it!~

She bolted upright as the answer revealed itself to her.

~I can imitate voices, so why can't I mix them?~ she thought. ~That way, I have a piece of everyone I've ever met with me all the time!~

Her eyes glittered at this new revelation. ~I'm not a parrot~ she thought. ~Not any more~

* * *

Dermit sighed as Ruby came towards him. She was probably still upset about last day. However, there seemed to be something wrong. Ruby was carrying a heavy bag, and it didn't look like she'd got much sleep.

"Rally ho Ruby" he called.

Ruby smiled. "Rally ho!" she shouted back.

Dermit almost fell over. Ruby's voice. It most definitely wasn't Gwendelle's, yet had a faint trace of the late woman's accent, along with several other villagers of Condie Petie.

"Ruby. When?" he started.

Ruby giggled. "Yew like? Ah've bin up ah'll night workin on it."

* * *

" . . . So that's when ah decided ah should leave" Ruby finished to her friends. "After saying hi to Dermit, she rallied everyone in Condie Petie together, and explained her story. "Now ahm gonna travel around, and see if ah cant become an actress like ah wanted."

The eldest villager nodded. "That's brave of ye Ruby. But don't ever be shy te come back here anytime."

"Wait, ye said ye came threw that weird tunnel yes?" asked Dermit.

Ruby nodded.

Dermit smiled, and gathered up some of his friends. "We'll try te clear a path for ye Ruby. Don't go anywhere jus yet."

Ruby smiled, unable to contain her gratitude. "Thank yew. Yew don't know how much this means."

As the group left, several members of Condie Petie gave Ruby items to use on her journey. The most valuable was the 'superslick'. An oil that people in Condie Petie made. Ruby had wanted to use some on her hair for ages.

"Thank yew!" she shouted, as she left the village, waving goodbye. "Ah hope we'll met again!"

With that, she took off down the rocky slope, and headed for Fossil Roo.





To be continued . . .