Paw Patrol: Castle of Sand

Chapter 3

I assured Iris that I was fine. She didn't believe me but trusted me to say I was fine and that I was. I saw her grab her bag and head for the sub.

"Where are we going?" I asked, walking next to her.

"Out to the library, I want to read today. Kinda see the sights." She said. I nodded and hopped in and she drove up to the surface. I walked to the library with her. She went to the back and the librarian gave me a look.

I whined, knowing the rules. But I didn't want to leave Iris alone. After a while, Iris showed me a book. It showed an old picture of a mer-pup sighting.

"Those were the rangers. They kept the area around town safe and secure so young pups can learn how to swim quick." I explained to her in a low voice.

"We knew of human existence, but since you were on land and we were in the water we figured we wouldn't interact much." I told her. She listened intently, very interested. I then got up and left, announcing I'm gonna go look around town and that she should stay close to the library.

Walking out, a pup was at the front and it looked like he was waiting for me. He looked like a mixed breed, black and red, an unusual color combination but I assumed it was dyed. He also looked like a stray but wasn't as dirty as you think a stray would be.

"Hey, your Sapphire right?" The mixer breed said. It sounded familiar. My mind thought back to when I was here the other day, he was that voice that was calling me. He then stepped closer, which made me anxious a bit.

"Yeah, that's me. Why?" I asked, sounding skeptical. I knew word got around for me but I can't help but feel it might get around to people who don't like the paw patrol and since I'm the only one here it would take a while for the pups and Ryder to get here to help me.

"It's alright, I'm not out to hurt you. But I heard you talking about that picture as if you knew what happened." He said as I took a step back. Biscuits, did they figure it out? I got into a position to run if I needed to but he hasn't given me a reason to just yet.

"Hello, my name is Scorcher." He said with a smile. I nodded.

"Let's talk somewhere else." Scorcher said, leading us to an alleyway. It was old but well taken care of.

"So what's this all about? How do you know me?" I said sitting at a makeshift table. It was really was a rectangle brick facing long side up with a thick piece of wood on top. It wasn't even bolted down or anything.

"I'm on together on a journey looking for underwater treasure. I sail around, exploring the waters, living the pirate life. But I've found some mer-pup stuff as well and we heard recently about mer-pup sightings here." Scorcher explained, smiling at me. He seemed nice but I felt he was beating around the bush from something.

"Sapphire, are you a merpup? I'm looking for them and trying to find out why there are so few of them. Maybe a way to bring them back from being rare. Besides, the people here whisper how you're different from the rest of the pups who visit here." Scorcher explained. He seemed to know what I was feeling.

Did scorcher find some merpup stuff? If he's trying to return it, then that makes me happy! Though he hasn't given me a reason to not lie to him yet we (merpups) tend to keep our existence a secret. Not even the people here in barkingberg know completely I'm a merpup, it just wasn't needed information.

"I....I am." I said quietly, somewhat unsure if I should be saying what I said. He looked extremely excited at my answer.

"So there not all gone for good. That's good! Yes!" He said while giving me a hug.

"Sapphire? Saphire where are you?" I heard Iris call from the street. I looked towards that direction, making Scorcher frown.

"You have a owner?" He asked. He seemed to not like people as much, at least, that's the impression I got. 

"I wouldn't say "owner", I would say "partner". I have to go, we should meet again sometime. Your a good pup scorcher, keep doing what you're doing." I looked around the alley.

"Though maybe someplace more suitable for your needs?" I said laughing before leaving for Iris on the other side of the street.

"I'm here Iris." I called out. She smiled and came up to me.

"I read up some more. Merpups like deep water cause of the less temperature fluctuations caused by the sun." She explained and I nodded. My puptag beeped, meaning I was being summoned to the castle.

~

Sweetie was heading back to the library. But then she heard my voice when I was replying to the princess. she was asking for an extra paw in tonight's city dinner. Every once in a while she liked to have a night where the people of Barkingberg come together and eat.

"You can help deliver the food. If that's not much trouble." She told me. I nodded and told her it wouldn't be any trouble and that I was glad to help. We loaded the food onto my jeep and slowly made our way with the other vans to the town center where tables were everywhere.

Sweetie laughed, this was perfect for her. She would be able to go back to the library without anyone bothering her. She looked for the book she stopped at last time, seeing it on the floor where it landed after hitting her on the head.

She read the page it was opened on. Sweetie gasped at the story told in mouth writing. It told the story on when mythical creatures named Merpups fought a sea dragon that threatened all the life in the ocean. Using the magic they possessed and advanced sciences at the time they sealed the dragon into a place they called the unknown.

What if she did both? Get the merpups to come from hiding and get the crown? Sweetie didn't know was that she was reading out loud, so into the story as it unfolded in her mind. And that I was listening with an upset look.