Author's note: I do not own the characters Ruby or Skullboy or any of the characters in Ruby Gloom, all rights go to their rightful owners.
I do however own Doom Puppy.
It was a normal rainy day over in Gloomsville, the dark clouds hid the sky from the residents below and the constant rain tapped on the ground. Many of the residents were rushing around the place, some trying to avoid the rain, others rushing to get home and others were out for a stroll, and one of the residents was on his way back to the big Victorian-like mansion he lived at. He was humming a tune that had been in his skeletal head all day as he strolled. As he passed a looming alley he heard a faint high pitched squeal. The skeleton immediately cast his shocked gaze to the alley, when he heard it again, this time, he could identify the sound. It sound like a cry, no a whimper coming from an old tatty box that lay ahead of him. He carefully placed his feet into the alley and pursued towards the box. The whimper came again, only much louder, which let the boy know he had found the source. He slowly opened the box and peeked inside. His eyes widened when he saw a little grey dog curled up in the box, the fur was all matted and the dog looked lethargic. As he picked the small dog up, he saw that on the back of the canine were two small dark grey wings, this was highly abnormal the skeleton thought. He also saw that the puppy, as it looked young, had dark grey markings, such as a muzzle, chest, belly, paws and tail. He noticed that the markings on the paws and tail were strange, instead of having just sock markings on the paws and a tip on the tail, the dog had thin lines of dark grey before the actual sock and tip markings. The pup's eyes slowly and wearily opened, they were bright blue, looked almost white and the boy couldn't help but gaze at the wonder of the pup's eyes. The pup's eyes couldn't stay open any longer and they dropped shut. The skeleton decided there and then that he would take this back to his home and care for this helpless animal. He quickly ran out of the alley, desperate to get this pup better quickly. As he ran he thought of being related to a long line of animal rescuers, but discarded that thought when he took a quick glance at the frail pup in his arms.
"Ruby! Ruby!" The skeleton shouted as soon as he burst his way into the old house, he panted heavily while waiting for his friend to come down. A short girl, with bright red hair, a black dress and stripped stocked rushed towards the skeletal figure before seeing the bundle in his arms, she was panting as well. "What is it Skullboy? And what is that?" She panted, tilting her head to indicate the grey creature resting in his arms. "I found it in an alleyway; it was all cold and whimpering. I think it's hungry, and dehydrated, we need to help it Ruby" Skullboy panicked before setting off up the long stairs that stood in front of him. Ruby charged after him, unsure of what Skullboy had saved. "Where are we going?" She shouted as she jumped up the last couple of steps and continued following Skullboy. Skullboy didn't look back but answered his friend. "My room, I need to keep an eye of this little dog, it needs help!" He shouted before entering a big room. It had a huge skull shaped window, with a telescope sitting beside it. Skullboy was glad he was finally in his room. He found a cushion that had been thrown on the floor and placed on a stool in front of him using his only free hand. When he was happy with the result he placed the sick dog on the cushion, and grinned when he saw the pup wriggle around to get comfy, smiling at the sudden comfortable surface. Ruby arrived not seconds later, panting heavily as she walked over to Skullboy, who was quietly watching his discovery get a nice sleep. Ruby finally got a glance at the puppy and smiled at the thought of Skullboy being all heroic towards this little dog, which made her cheeks turn crimson at the very thought of it. She then saw how thin the dog looked and immediately went to get something for the new 'patient'.
Skullboy was alone with his dog, if he could call it that yet, it might already have an owner, but he couldn't remember seeing a collar on the frail animal. It also may not like him; he was worried about that most of all. He had always wanted a pet; he had constantly watched Ruby and Doom Kitty play in the garden and had often wondered what it was like to have a pet. Sure he had the fleas, but they weren't enough, he needed something like Doom Kitty, but better, more suited to him. His thoughts stopped when he saw the tiny pup wriggle in its sleep before opening it's beautiful bright blue eyes. The pup focused on Skullboy and its eyes' widened to see it was not in the alley any more, had it been saved? It seemed to remember the skeleton from before and immediately sat up with glee. Skullboy knelt down so he was at the puny dog's level and started talking. "Since you're awake, I'd like to know, are you a male dog or a female dog?" He asked before slapping himself when remembering that dogs couldn't talk, but maybe they could nod. So he rephrased his question. "Are you a male dog?" He asked and awaited the dog's answer; the dog understood him completely and finally shook its head. Skullboy gasped. "So…So you're a female?" He enthusiastically chimed and the little dog smiled and nodded her petite head. Skullboy couldn't believe his luck! A dog who could understand him? Maybe he could go one better, maybe he could teach her to talk! He glance at the female pup again and said "Can you say 'Skullboy'?" he hopefully asked, his mood sunk a little when the dog gave a little shake. He was determined though, he would teach this dog to speak. "Don't worry little one, Skullboy here will teach you how to speak, but we'll save that for tomorrow" He explained and the dog stood up excitedly. She had never been taught to speak before, she was too excited to wait, and she wanted to speak now! She lightly barked a few times and Skullboy's grin went wide. "You will speak my dear….Uhh" He stopped, he then realized that his own pup didn't even have a name. He filed through his mind for a perfect name, but none of them fit. Finally he snapped his bony fingers and looked at his pup. "My dear…Doom Puppy" He exclaimed and Doom Puppy's wings started flapping excitedly, she loved her new name, she loved her new owner, she loved her new home. Skullboy looked at Doom Puppy again and smiled "It's going to be so confusing having two Doom's in the house" and as he finished his sentence, he saw his frail girl tilt her head to the side, she didn't understand what he meant. Two Doom's? Where was this other 'Doom' he spoke of? Skullboy chuckled lightly and moved closer to Doom Puppy. "We have a cat called Doom Kitty, but you'll meet her when you're better." He explained quickly before hearing rapid footsteps behind him. He turned to see Ruby rush into his room with a plate of juicy melons and a shiny bowl full to the brim with water. As she entered, she gave a small smile to Skullboy before placing the plate and bowl by Doom Puppy's paws. Doom Puppy's tongue drooled and she immediately gulped up the melons and lapped up the water in a matter of minutes, making Ruby and Skullboy chuckle. "Boy, you were hungry Doom Puppy" Skullboy chimed, seeing Doom Puppy nod her head excitedly before looking at the red head, as if she was asking for more. "Doom Puppy? That's her name?" Ruby looked at Skullboy confused. Skullboy and Doom Puppy nodded at her before Skullboy replied with "I know it's going to be confusing with two Doom's but the name suits her!" He squeaked, before clearing his throat, realizing how high his voice just went. "I'm thinking of nicknaming her Pup, since we really don't want both Doom's confused." Skullboy suggested before looking at his little dog, who was barking and nodding even more excitedly. A nickname. She had a nickname! She was bouncing with glee at the very sound of her new nickname. Ruby chuckled quietly before giving Doom Puppy a small stroke on her head, which resulted in Doom Puppy cheerfully lick Ruby's hand. Ruby shook off the slobber and walked out of Skullboy's room, feeling quite happy about today's events. Skullboy waved quite nervously after Ruby before giving his new friend a small hug. Doom Puppy grinned before smothering Skullboy's faces in slobbery licks. Skullboy laughed as his shook off the spit as he made his way to his bed, shouting goodnight to Doom Puppy before falling asleep swiftly. Doom Puppy barked back before curling up on her cushion, her eyes drooped, threatening to close and as they dropped completely, Doom Puppy had a smile of her face, feeling like the luckiest dog in the world and fell asleep, with no more being scared of any dangers that would happen to her in that dark, scary alley.