Card StatsVignette
I Just Want to Be Helpful (Part One)
Main Street
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Twenty minutes until mornin' homeroom. He should be here any minute now. |
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What are you doing standing outside the school, Jack? If you don't hurry, you'll be late. |
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I've got some important business. You go on ahead. |
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Whoa, you look as scary as a corn snake in a field o' freshly tilled— Uh... I mean, you look rather intense today, so...I'll leave you be. |
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No lint on my uniform. No wrinkles in my shirt. Shoes perfectly clean. Ears and tail brushed. This should be respectable. Okay! I'm ready. Come at me anytime! |
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Leona, wake up and get moving already! If we miss first period again, Coach Vargas is gonna— |
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Grrr... Quiet. Five more minutes... |
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There he is! Good morning, Ruggie, sir! I see you're hard at work already this morning! |
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Ugh. HE'S here again. Don't yell like that, Jack. Some of us are still wakin' up. |
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Yes, sir! |
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Ix-nay on the ir-say, man. And quit waitin' for me outside of school every mornin', wouldja? |
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But I can't go in without greeting you. That'd be rude. |
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It ain't rude at all. In fact, you're bein' a pest, so just go on by yourself and— |
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That's the ten-minute warning. You should hurry up and get in there. |
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But you haven't entered yet, so... |
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For the love of— Look, I stepped through the gate. That means I'm at school! Happy now?! |
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Yes. Please have a good day. |
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Finally deigning to join us, are you? Anyway, there's nothin' "good" about it. Jack's so stuffy and irritating... There's gotta be some reason why he's obsessed with me all of a sudden. Gives me the creeps. |
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Hey, maybe if you feed him and take him for walks, he'll be a nice guard dog for ya. Just don't slack on the discipline. Heh. |
Exterior Hallway
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Ruggie, sir. Your next class is Flight. I've brought you your broom and a towel! |
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Forget about me and get to your own class. |
Cafeteria
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Ruggie, sir, what do you want for lunch? Please sit here while I go get in line. |
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Who d'you take me for, Leona? I can line up for my own food, thanks. So just leave me alone, wouldja?! |
Main Street
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Ruggie, sir. I commend you on all your hard work today! |
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Uuugh. There he is again. |
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It may rain soon. I'll hold the umbrella up for you, so just let me know when you need it. |
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I can hold an umbrella, man! You don't know when to quit. I dunno what you're after, but you ain't gonna get anything by suckin' up to me. |
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There's no ulterior motive here. I just want to be helpful to you. |
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Why me?! Wait... I've got it! If you're so desperate to be helpful, you should go serve Leona! He's always lookin' for people to do stuff for him. And he's someone you admire, yeah? That'd be a MUCH better use of your time than followin' me around everywhere. |
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I'm not sure I'd say I "admire" him. I do wanna surpass Leona one day, but... I've got no intention of breakin' the pack's chain of command. |
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In Savanaclaw, it's just the boss and then everyone else. There ain't no "chain of command." |
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It's true Savanaclaw's only got a housewarden. There's not even a vice housewarden like in other dorms. But you help the housewarden with everything, above board or below. So you're basically our number two. At least, that's what I think. |
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Below board, sure. Can't say the other is really my thing... |
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I can't even begin to measure up to you yet, sir. So I wouldn't dare attempt to go around you, and upset the hierarchy of the pack. I will serve you, the second-in-command, just as you serve the housewarden, sir! |
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A proud wolf like you is gonna obey a lowly hyena? Well, I ain't fallin' for that. |
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If you don't believe me, then that means I haven't been working hard enough. I will do everything in my power to earn your trust, sir! Starting tomorrow! |
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Nooo... You ain't listenin' to me. Why do you strait-laced types gotta be such a pain in the neck? |
I Just Want to Be Helpful (Part Two)
Sports Field
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Now that those boooring classes are over, let's hurry up 'n get back to the dorm, [MC]. |
| Someone's on the grounds. | I wanna make a detour. |
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Huh? Izzat Jack and Deuce standin' out there? Whaddup, dum-dums? Why so serious? |
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...... |
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Oh, [MC] and Grim. Jack was just venting to me. |
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I wouldn't call it venting. I just... Ruggie once again called me a pest and sent me away today, so I was thinkin' about what to do. |
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This has been going on for a while. Apparently, he really wants to help the guy out. |
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I woulda thought that Ruggie'd be like, "Sweet!" if you offered to do stuff for him. What gives? |
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I don't know. I'm just trying to stay by his side at all times so that I can back him up if another student picks a fight with him. And every time he goes somewhere, I check to make sure it's safe first. Plus, when a ball came flying at him today, I shielded him with my body. Is there something else that I should be doing? |
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To be even MORE ridiculously overprotective, you mean? |
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Havin' a huge guy like you following him around would be totally obnoxious! |
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What?! But it's a subordinate's job to protect his superior with his life, if it comes to it. |
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Yeah, but this school is pretty safe. What are you even protecting him from? |
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Say again? |
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No, I mean, I'm just surprised to hear that you put so much stock in dorm hierarchy and that kind of thing. |
| Yeah, it's weird. | Seriously. |
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I thought you'd be more like, "I gotta work out. I ain't got no time for you, punks!" |
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I just wanna earn the respect of those I admire. I haven't forgiven 'em for their cowardly tactics in the interdorm Spelldrive tournament. But... I was impressed by the way Ruggie never abandoned Leona and did everything he could to serve him. I aspire to match that level of dedication. That's why to improve myself, I wanna start putting more importance on what I wanna be, and who I look up to. |
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You really meant every word of that. Could've sworn I even saw you tearing up there. Anyway, I can definitely tell how much you respect Ruggie. |
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I ain't tearin' up! |
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You so are. You seriously looked like you were moved at just the thought, or something. |
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Shut it! I am NOT! |
| You're like a kid idolizing an older brother. |
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Am I really? |
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Is that how sibling relationships go? I'm an only child, so I wouldn't know. What about you, Jack? Do you have any siblings? |
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Just younger ones. I'm the oldest. Still, an older brother, huh? I've never thought about what it'd be like to have one, but now that you mention it... I guess this kinda fits. |
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Oh, hey—speaking of which, here comes Ruggie. |
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Sir? |
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Shoot! This is bad. Sooo bad! |
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What's the matter, sir? You seem frantic. If you're in trouble, I could— |
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Sorry, but I ain't got time to talk to you. Bye! |
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And he's gone. He looked like he was in a rush. |
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He's usually pretty carefree, so it's weird to see him panicking. Wonder what's up. |
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...... |
Courtyard
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I chased it back to the school, but there're so many crows here that I can't tell which one grabbed the necklace anymore. I gotta get it back! I can't lose Leona's trust over something like this. Seriously, I can't even begin to imagine how much a royal's necklace might cost. *shiver* |
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...... I heard everything. The time has come when I can finally be of use to you, Ruggie, sir! |
I Just Want to Be Helpful (Part Three)
Cafeteria
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Oh, Deuce. Have you seen Jack today? |
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Jack? I haven't seen him since track and field yesterday. Why? |
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He didn't come to school today. And he won't answer his phone, so the professors are worried. |
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La la la... Fooood tiiime! |
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Hey, [MC]. Grim. Have you seen Jack at all today? |
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Sure have. He was up in the tree outside Ramshackle Dorm this morning. |
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Why would he be in a tree? Are you sure you didn't mistake a white trash bag for him, thinking it was his hair? |
| Who would make a mistake like that?! | Yeah, now that you mention it, maybe we did. |
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Oh, Ruggie's coming this way. |
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You and Jack hang out a lot, right? Do you know where he is right now? |
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Jack? Huh. Guess I haven't seen him at all today, now that I think of it. |
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You seem really out of it. Did something happen? |
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It's nothing. Give a guy some space, wouldja? *sigh* |
Savanaclaw Dorm
After class...
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Ugh. Man, I was usin' everything I learned in animal linguistics class, but all those crows did was make fun of me. If it isn't vultures or hornbills, now it's crows. Why do all birds hate me? I never did find Leona's necklace, either. I'll just have to avoid him until he forgets all about it... |
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Hey, Ruggie. |
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Eek! L-Leona. What's up? |
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You know that necklace I wear a lot? |
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N-necklace? Yeah, wh-what about it? |
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I can't find it anywhere. Did you see it while you were cleaning or anything? |
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You never care about any of your jewelry, so why NOW of all times...? |
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Huh? |
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Sooo, uh... About that... |
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Sir! |
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GAH! Jack! Don't grab me from behind like that. I thought my shoulder was gonna get ripped off! |
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I brought that thing you were talking about. |
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What? Waaait a second...! |
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That's my necklace. Why do YOU have it? |
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Ruggie asked me to polish the inlaid jewels, sir. |
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Oh yeah? Nice thinkin', Ruggie. You did good work on it, too, Jack. |
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Yes, sir! Thank you! Be careful on your way back, sir! ...... Phew... Close call. I'm glad I made it in time. |
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How'd you know I lost the necklace? Actually, no, more importantly... I'm an expert in animal linguistics, but the crows still didn't gimme a lick of info. So what kinda magic did you use to find that necklace?! |
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I'm only a freshman, so I'm not nearly as skilled at animal linguistics or magic as you are, sir. I just climbed all the trees in school and checked all the crows' nests. |
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You checked EVERY SINGLE TREE?! Like, one by one? Seriously? Shouldn't you be dead on your feet? |
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Crows can be pretty mean-spirited. They didn't want to show me their nests, so it took a while. But I've got the scent now, so the search should go a lot faster next time. Just call me if you're ever in need of— Whoa... |
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Steady there! No fallin' over. |
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I'm just a little sleep-deprived, that's all. I usually go to bed early, so. Sorry 'bout that. |
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Geez. You look like a racoon with those bags under your eyes. Were you searchin' all night? You didn't have to go and do that. Wait... Don't tell me you wanted ten percent of the necklace's value as a reward for findin' it! Well, you can forget about that! I mean, that thing is a royal necklace covered in jewels. Even ten percent of that is way beyond my pay grade. |
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No, that's not it! I just figured you were in trouble. It's like I said before. I wanna help you. That's all. |
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Yeah, but... Nah, I can't trust you. |
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You're that suspicious of me? ...Oh! In that case, I have one request. Would you hear me out, sir? |
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Hmmm... I guess I WOULD feel better if you wanted some kinda compensation, so yeah. Go for it. I'll do anything, long as it's in my power. Shoot. Want me to be your gofer for a week? Spot you for lunch three times? Or I can spill last year's test questions. Those're all pretty cheap compared to ten percent of that necklace's value! |
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Well... Will you take me under your wing, like an older brother? |
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Uh... What? You want me to like, mentor you? Seriously? |
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Yes, sir! |
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That sounds miserable. Hard no. |
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What? But I thought you said you'd do anything that's within your power! |
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Yeah, but I don't need some protein-addled muscle freak nippin' at my heels and beggin' for advice. A little brother? Nah. I could probably put up with an "underling," though. That's my best offer. Shyeeheehee! |
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An underling... Huh. I should've known you wouldn't make it that easy for me, sir. But someday... Someday, I WILL earn your respect! |
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