Diamond's Determination

"Your Grace! There's an emergency!" Raja announces as he barges into the duke's office.

"What could be going on that causes you to rudely enter my office?" Duke Stoneborne questions as he takes off his reading glasses.

"Princess Diamond, she's missing in the forest and possibly in danger!"

Surprised, the duke snaps his pen under the pressure of squeezing his hand. "What?"

---

"Expand the search past the game barrier!" Norman yells, directing the knights. "Keep an eye out for any and all small holes! Princess Diamond could have slipped into one!"

"What kind of knights are you?!" Duke Stoneborne yells from a distance once he spots Norman. "I don't care what you were playing. How can you not multitask and guard my daughters while you are playing this ridiculous game?!"

"Your Grace, we have tried to search for Princess Diamond before we called for your assistance, but our Heightened Senses don't work on the Young Ladies," Norman explains as soon as the duke was close to him.

"I leave my daughters in your care for thirty minutes. THIRTY MINUTES! And now my youngest is missing?!"

"Father, please calm down," Ruby pleads, grabbing onto her father's sleeve. "Getting angry won't help the situation."

Realizing that Ruby is doing her best to keep calm, Duke Stoneborne takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I was just worried."

"I thought Stoneborne's don't apologize?" Ruby smartly remarks, trying to ease the tension.

Duke Stoneborne scoffs at his daughter's statement as it gets thrown back into his face. "You're right. We don't. However, I am worried."

"Don't worry, Father," Ruby assures. "I have Rouge also out looking for Diamond. He should be able to find Diamond faster than the knights since we are jeweled children."

Just as Ruby finishes her sentence, she hears Rouge calling for her from deep in the forest. "Ruby! Ruby! I found the child of water, but you better hurry here quickly! She's not going to be able to hold on much longer."

"Where?! Where is she?!" Ruby shouts.

"She's hanging on a branch off of the side of a ravine. There are some big monsters at the bottom that are trying to jump and eat her."

"Father! Where's the ravine?"

"It's past the sunflower meadow. Is Diamond there?"

"Rouge said that Diamond is hanging off of the side of the ravine and that there are monsters trying to eat her!"

Clenching his teeth, Raja immediately runs in the direction of the ravine with the most frightening look in his eyes. "Princess Diamond! I'm coming!"

However, no matter how fast he runs, Ruby is faster by a long shot, dashing past him with only a flash of red being seen.

-Diamond- Ruby cries -Please hold on just a bit longer. I'm not losing you again.-

---

"Help! Ruby! Father! Ple-" In the middle of her cries for help, Diamond's grip slips, and Diamond starts to fall into the ravine. "I'm going to die... not again..."

"Diamond!!!"

Without a single ounce of hesitation, Ruby lunges into the ravine and catches Diamond in her arms. With her free hand, she reaches for her wooden sword that she keeps at her sides. As soon as Ruby grabs onto her sword, a red aura manifests around the sword and then a blast of fire launches from her sword as she swings at the monsters that are trying to eat them. Ruby hugs tightly onto her sister when she sees that they are about to hit the fast moving stream just below them when a pair of fiery wings sprouts from Ruby's back and flies them back onto the edge of the ravine where Duke Stoneborne and the knights are watching in pure astonishment.

Raja and Norman rush over to the girls and pick them up before they could fall off the edge again. The duke meets up with the knights and gazes down at his daughters who are currently passed out in their knights' arms. "Take them to their rooms. We will talk about this later when they wake up. For now, you two are not allowed to leave your masters' room."

"Yes, Sir," Raja and Norman immediately answer.

The duke turns to the knights who are all now frozen in fear. "It appears that my own soldiers are actually incompetent fools who can't even find one little girl. You all are to triple the practice exercises until the two girls wake up."

"Y-yes, Sir!" the knights respond.

---

"Mmmm..." With a loud groan, Diamond stretches as she sits up on her bed. She rubs the sleepiness out of her eyes then notices that she's alone in her room. "Ruby? Father? Raja? Is there anyone there?"

Shortly after hearing his master's whispers, Raja hesitantly stands up from his seat in Diamond's room. "Yes, Princess Diamond? Are you in any pain?"

"How did I get home? I was falling in the ravine?"

"I don't have the answers to your questions, but I can say that Princess Ruby saved you," Raja relays, kneeling down at Diamond's beside and holding out his hand. "Let's get you dressed. You haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday, so let's get some food in you."

"Okay..."

----

Sitting quietly at the table, Diamond eats the lunch that the cook prepared for her. It isn't long until the duke enters the dining room to join her.

"Diamond, do you feel okay? You aren't hurt anywhere, right?"

"I'm okay, Father. I'm not injured anywhere."

"That's good." Duke Stoneborne glances over at Diamond and notices that she has a slightly bothered expression. "I understand that you may have a lot of questions. I have the answers to some of them, but right now, I'm curious to know what is on your mind."

Diamond chews on her food a little more before setting her silverware down and swallowing. "I want to learn swordsmanship now, Father. I do not want to wait until I'm bigger."

Stunned at Diamond's suddenly louder voice, the duke clears his throat and properly faces Diamond. "You just woke up from a traumatic event. What has spurred such an idea?"

"If I was just a little stronger or had a faster reaction time, I would have been able to avoid falling into the ravine."

"Diamond, you've only been here for a few days. How do you know how to make such a statement?"

"I've been watching Ruby and the knights train since I don't have anything to do. I listen to their conversations and learn new words and phrases. I observe the things that they do and understand them." Diamond stands from her chair and walks over to her father, standing firmly in front of him. "I am the child of water. I am weak and soft-spoken but that doesn't mean that I can't get stronger. I want to learn swordsmanship so that I won't need saving next time."