Tammo, Sapphire and Pearl went back inside. They came upon Amethyst and Joshy sitting at a table in the barracks. "I say, have either of you seen Ruby?" Tammo asked.
Joshy nodded. "Yes, she came in here an' asked me for a pen an' paper. Why?"
"Because she ran away!" Sapphire cried. "Did you see where she went?" Joshy and Amethyst both shook their heads.
Sapphire began sobbing. Pearl knelt down and held her hands, saying, "There, there. It's going to be okay. She's going to come back. She's got to come back. If she doesn't, then there would be no more Garnet. And what on earth would we do without Garnet?" Suddenly she began crying as well.
"No, no, it's okay!" Tammo said. "Don't worry, Sapphire. I'm gonna jolly well go out and find Ruby. I'll be back with her in no time. Quick's the word an' sharp's the action, wot wot!"
"Yo, I'm coming too!" Amethyst said.
"An' me," said Joshy Stag Hare.
Tammo, Amethyst, and Joshy went outside. "Surely such a small Gem can't have gone very far," Joshy said.
"We just need to figure out which direction she ran in," Tammo agreed.
"So how do we do that?" Amethyst asked.
Tammo considered. "Uh... let's try putting ourselves in Ruby's shoes."
Amethyst shapeshifted into Ruby. "Heheheh, now what?"
Tammo wasn't amused. "Amethyst, be serious."
"I never thought I'd hear a hare telling another creature to be serious," she muttered.
Tammo said, "Seems to me there are only two directions she could've gone. Either east into Mossflower, or into the ocean."
"Can Gems breathe underwater?" Joshy asked with interest. "I mean, I knew that Lapis chick could, but I didn't think it was somethin' you could all do."
"Oh, yeah." Amethyst nodded. "Gems can breathe anywhere."
Tammo activated his bubble shield and marched into the sea. Amethyst waded in after him. "Ruby! Ruuuby!" they called, their voices muffled by the water. Joshy didn't know any magic that would allow him to breathe underwater so he just stood on the beach and waited for them.
After a few minutes, Tammo and Amethyst exited the ocean. "Okay, so she wasn't underwater," Tammo said dejectedly.
Joshy rubbed his paws together. "That means a major search in Mossflower is under way, wot wot!"
The three friends set off east into the forest. Joshy began to recite one of his rhymes.
And then that slim, poetic guy, he turned and looked me in the eye:
" . . . It's overland and overland and overseas to — where? "
" Most anywhere that isn't here, " I says. His face went kind of queer:
" The place we're in is always here . The other place is there . "