Rocky Shores

Things look different in the morning (Pt 1)

I am so sorry I didn't update for so long! I hit like, MEGA writers block. It took me forever to figure out where to go from here, and im still not quite sure where i want this to go. Now that summer's here though, you can expect more frequent updates!

Songs*: Adelaide by Daughter In The Choir, Human by Rag'n'Bone Man

(*Idk if these are even super relevant but i'm mostly just goin' for vibes here)

~Zuma's POV~~

Something tore through his peaceful rest and shook Zuma into harsh consciousness. He pinched his eyes against the glaring sun peeking through the pup-house entrance. Another light, significantly less vibrant flashed at the bottom of his vision: His pup-tag. He quickly slipped outside and pressed his paw to the tag to end the vibrating and flashing. A small
camera unfolded and positioned itself in front of Zuma's face.
"Zuma, we have a situation down at the beach. A whale has washed up on shore, and we need your hovercraft to help pull him back out to sea," Ryder informed. "Where are you?" He asked, trying to peer around Zuma with the tiny camera.
"No-nowhere," Zuma answered quickly, "Im on my way." He placed his paw over the camera and it folded back in and disappeared inside his collar.
"Why aren't you in your pup-house already?" Ryder tried to say, but Zuma ended the call before he could finish.

~~Rocky's POV~~

His eyes where closed, but he fealt Zuma get up and walk away. Did he want to get away from me? Rocky wondered worriedly. He sighed.
I hope he enjoyed himself last night as much as I did.

The sun slowly crawled towards the center of the sky as Rocky shrugged off the hands of sleep and lumbered over to his food bowl. He chewed over his food and last night's events. He was still not fully convinced that last night's events actually happened.

He perked his ears at the sound of an engine kicking into gear. Curious, he trotted towards the sound. He just managed to spot Zuma's hovercraft disappear over the hill.

~~Zuma's POV~~

Zuma arrived at the beach quickly; traffic was sparse this time in Adventure Bay. Zuma didn't expect to find himself back at the ocean so soon. With his paws in the wake, the small waves splashing his pelt, he realized he wasn't as confident as he normally was. The sea no longer felt like home to him. Instead, it felt wild and unknown. He didn't know if he could do this.

"Zuma!" Ryder called, "Drive your hovercraft out behind our whale friend. We'll need you to swim out and wrap your rescue line around his tail as gently as you can and use your craft to pull him out."

Zuma barked an affirmative and returned to his hovercraft. Hesitantly, he edged onto the waves and let them drag him out until he could drive freely. He did as Ryder asked and began to pull out. Ryder gave him a thumbs up and, alongside some other people at the beach, started to push from the front of the whale. All was going well until Zuma looked up from the whale to see Rocky's truck roll onto the beach.

"What are you doing here?!" Zuma shouted.

"I can help!"

Zuma gave an anxious half-smile.

"Thanks, but Wocky, we already have the situation under contwol!"

"I'll help push!" Rocky said, ignoring his warning, "I'm not afraid of water anymore, look!"

Zuma glanced nervously around the whale's bulk as Rocky charged towards the front of the pushing effort.

"Why've you stopped?" Ryder called.

Zuma blushed with embarrassment.

"Sowwy Wyder! I got distwacted!"

Zuma resumed reversing his craft with renewed vigor, startling the whale. The animal thrashed suddenly and whipped Zuma's craft sideways, breaking the rope.

"Oh no!" Rocky cried.

"This is taking too long, I'll call Marshall to keep the whale wet while we work." Ryder announced, "You okay Zuma?"

"Uh, yeah, I think," Zuma responded shakily.

Rocky ran up to Zuma's hovercraft as it made its way back to the sand.

"I was so worried!" Rocky wailed.

"Get youwself together dude! We do this all the time! We've done this before! This is our job, wemember? Why'd you come anyways? You distwacted me."

Rocky flinched.

"I- I'm sorry. I just wanted to help. I wanted to prove that I'm not scared of water anymore and I can be useful."

"You can be useful Wocky, just not here. I can't work when you're distwacting me."

"Oh... okay. I'm sorry."

Rocky trudged back to his lift with his tail drooping. Zuma was too busy trying to reel in his broken line to notice.

.

.

.

Zuma returned, fur dripping and a towel hanging over his shoulders yet to be used. He sought out Rocky to tell him the mission was a success, but didn't find him in his pup-house. His rig was still there, so he had to be somewhere nearby. Zuma was confused, but not worried. He went to his own pup-house instead, shaking before entering and laying his towel down over his bed so he didn't get it wet. When he sat on top of the towel, he felt something poke his side. He sniffed and picked up Rocky's scent. He dragged the towel off again and sniffed once more. The scent strengthened. Zuma tested the edges of his bed with his paw, trying to feel for whatever poked him. Maybe Rocky was pranking him? But when Zuma finally pulled out the object of discomfort, he dropped it in shock. No, this wasn't a prank. Rocky wouldn't have left this as a joke.

Rocky wouldn't have left his collar.