"Theodore and the New Tugboat"

Summary: Skylar and Foduck assume their normal patrol. Or maybe it's not so normal after all..?

Chapter 3: Chased by a Sea Monster and Find Out

That an Oil Rig got loose

Every morning started the same. Skylar and Foduck would wake up, attend the work meeting, and head off to patrol the harbor. Every day it'd be the same thing. They inspect the docks and their bumpers, inspected all of the ships and made sure that they were tied down to their docks, checked to see if the bell buoys were in their correct places, made sure that nothing dangerous was floating around in the water, and confirm that the weather was clear and safe for sailing. Every single morning always started out like this.

Skylar was still sleeping when she felt like someone was watching her. Slowly and sleepily she opened one eye.

Foduck was hovering above her, wearing a goofy grin that made him look like a crazed seagull.

"Can I help you?" Skylar grumbled.

"Do you know what day it is?"

"Thursday?" Skylar said irritably.

"Yes! And what else?" Foduck's grin stretched across his face. His eyes sparkling with glee.

Skylar sighed. "I don't know. What's today, Foduck?"

"Today," said Foduck excitedly, "is coast inspection day!"

Coast inspection day happens every Thursday. The coast would be inspected for any dangerous objects that could fall in the water and make its way into the harbor. On this day Foduck always wakes up early to get a head start on his safety patrol. He does this so that he has plenty of time to start his coast inspection.

Skylar knows this and dislikes it. A lot.

She moaned, "The meeting doesn't begin for another ten minutes." She tried to go back to sleep.

Foduck nudged her repeatedly. "Get up, get up! We don't want to be late!"

Skylar shot him a look that said 'go away now or I will hurt you'.

He nervously backed away.

The second the work meeting was over, Foduck rushed past Skylar. "Hurry, we don't want to be late!" he said excitedly.

Skylar followed along after him. Their first job for the day was to inspect the docks.

"Isn't this a great day!" Foduck hummed as he checked the docks.

Skylar just rolled her eyes and continued examining the docks for anything dangerous.

"In fact," Foduck continued, "this is one of the best days I've ever had!"

How could this be his best day ever? Skylar thought to herself. I can think of plenty of other exciting things to do instead of dock inspection.

All throughout the morning the two tugs patrolled the harbor, Foduck happily humming to himself and proclaiming how great the day was, and Skylar who mumbled and murmured about why she bothered to get up that morning. It's not that she didn't like doing patrols. She just didn't like doing them with another safety tug. At her old harbor, Skylar did the patrols by herself; she wasn't used to being with another safety tug. A safety tug with a weird name and an even weirder love for safety.

Finally, after all their jobs were done, Skylar and Foduck traveled up the coast for the coat inspection.

Foduck almost blew his funnel, all his excitement and anticipation just boiling over. A little along the coast he looked up at the rocky cliffs. "Those rocks are safe. Nothing dangerous here."

"Good." Skylar said sarcastically, gazing up at the rocks. "Wouldn't want any cliffs floating into the harbor."

Foduck didn't hear her. He was now busy scanning the water. "Nothing dangerous floating in the water." He stated.

"Really?" She scoffed, "I'm pretty sure I just saw a cliff making its way into the harbor."

Foduck stopped and turned to face Skylar. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong." She sighed. "That's kind of the problem."

"What do you mean?" asked Foduck.

Skylar looked around. "Every Thursday we come out here to find something dangerous in and or around the water; we check the water and surrounding area for dangerous items; we don't find anything bad in the water and or the surrounding area. Nothing exciting ever happens!"

Foduck looked at her with disbelief. "What's wrong with everything being safe? It's part of our job."

"I'm thankful that nothing dangerous has threatened the harbor." Skylar assured him. "But is it too much to ask for a little excitement around here?"

"Plenty of exciting things happen in the Big Harbor," Foduck said as he turned back towards the coast, "you just have to look for them later. Right now, we are inspecting the coast for dangerous objects in the water." With that, he continued with his inspection.

Skylar also continued with her inspection. She wondered why Foduck was always so serious. Bet he never loosened up before and had fun. The more she thought about it…

A mischievous smile slowly appeared on Skylar's face.

"Nothing dangerous in this part of the coast." Foduck sang happily. "Today is a perfect day!"

The sun was shining. The weather was gorgeous. The inspection was going well. Foduck smiled to himself, this really was a perfect day. He wondered why Skylar wasn't having a good time. He stopped short. Skylar haven't said anything sarcastic within the last five minutes. She always says something sarcastic every two minutes every patrol, he knew because he counted.

He looked around. "Skylar?" Hmm, he thought to himself, she must be patrolling a different part of the harbor.

As if on cue, Foduck's radio crackled to life. "Foduck? Can you hear me?"

She sounded almost nervous, and why was she panting like she was all out of breath? "I hear you. Are you alright?"

"N-no," she sputtered, "I-I-I-don't know? There was… I saw..!"

"Just calm down! What are your exact coordinates?"

"I'm down at the dreary, old, gloomy part of the harbor."

"Where!?" Foduck asked.

"You'll know it when you see it! Just hurry!"

Without a moment to loose, Foduck hurried off to find Skylar.

It took a while, but Foduck eventually found the dark, dreary, gloomy part of the harbor. Everything about this cove was exactly like its name: dark, dreary, and gloomy.

Foduck turned on his search lights so he could see his surroundings. "Skylar, are you here?" he radioed. Nothing but static came from the other end.

Several branches stuck out from between the cliffs like gnarled arms reaching out for their next victims. Dark shadowy figures loomed across the rocks, making the whole place mysterious and ominous. The soft sounds of growling slowly filled up the cove-

Foduck stopped in his tracks. He waited; listening for the strange growling sound.

"Grrrrroowwll…"

"Skylar?" he called out, "where are you?"

The first thought that came to his mind was' what if a sea monster got her?' He then remembered that there were no sea monsters in the big Harbor, and no such things as sea monsters even existed.

"Grrrrrooowwl…" That growl sounded awfully close.

There was total silence. "Sk-kylar..?" Foduck squeaked in a voice that he barely recognized as his own.

A loud and sudden whoosh whizzed by behind him. Foduck spun around so fast he could only see a blur.

"ROAR!" came a voice in front of him.

"AAAHH!" Foduck screamed and blasted his whistle and turned back around so fast he nearly toppled over.

Skylar laughed so hard, her engine hurt. "Eh, what's up doc?"

Foduck took a moment to regain his composure. "Skylar!" he roared. "What you did was wrong, I thought you were in real danger! Why did you do this!?"

"Relax," Skylar said, catching her breath, "this was exactly what you needed.

"Needed?" he asked "What I needed was for you to help patrol the coast with me, not scare me with your cruel joke! I'm going to have to report this to the dispatcher." Before Skylar could say another word, he promptly headed back to the Big Harbor.

Foduck was still fuming about what had happened at the coast by the time he made it to the harbor entrance. Skylar, he fumed, of all the irresponsible, childish, dumbest things…

A familiar whistle was heard close behind him. Skylar raced up beside him. "You didn't give me a chance to explain myself." She said.

"What's there to explain?" Grumbled Foduck. "You took an important job and turned it into some silly joke."

"Yeah," Skylar agreed, "to make you laugh."

This made Foduck slow down a little.

Skylar went on, "I did this all the time back at my old harbor. It helped lighten the mood and made my patrols easier to do. I like to have fun, and I shouldn't have tried to change how you do your patrols here at this harbor."

Foduck kept moving towards the Dispatchers dock. He didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry for scaring you. Thought you needed a good laugh. I'll just go to my dock now." Skylar turned toward the direction of her dock.

Foduck still didn't say anything. Then, a tiny smile emerged on his face. "I was pretty scarred, wasn't I?"

Skylar chuckled," Your whistle just about blasted off of your mast like a rocket."

They both chuckled. Foduck slowed down a little more. "I will let this incident slide," Foduck stated," if you don't do it again."

Skylar grinned a mischievous grin. "I can't promise you, but I will try."

Foduck watched as she happily made her way back to her dock. She is a one of a kind tug. He thought to himself. A one of a kind tug.

The next morning Skylar and Foduck were conducting their regular safety patrol around the harbor. "What a crazy night." Skylar recalled. "I didn't think that an oil rig could move so fast!"

"I'm just glad he didn't crash into Willy's Island." Foduck said, relieved. "And that Sigrid is ok, and nobody got hurt."

Skylar nodded in agreement. They both floated along, watching the harbor come to life with ships and boats coming in and heading out to sea.

"I think I was wrong." Skylar said.

Foduck looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Exciting things do happen here. I just 'gotta keep my eyes open for them."

Foduck smiled. "Just as long as there aren't any sea monsters hiding in the coast."

Skylar and Foduck laughed and whistled together.