After a couple more missions throughout the day, we finally went to sleep, and I had to get ready for tomorrow, since it will be the day I actually learn how to swim, but then it got me thinking about Zuma. How did we become such great friends? And why would he agree to do such a thing as helping me get over my fear? It all brings me back way back to when I was a pup...

I honestly don't like to brag, but I was —and still am— a genius. As a pup, I learned letters and numbers faster than anybody else. I got into reading books at a young age, and by that I don't mean "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish", it was more like mathematics, advanced chemistry, physics and engineering

Though being the smart pup didn't make me acclaimed by others, more like rejected

Back to when I was at the puppy orphanage, the rest of the pups bullied me, saying that I was a freak and no one would ever adopt me, though I really didn't care about anything they said. I was happy being different, and after some time, I had accepted no one would want me, and learned to always be alone; to not need anyone, and to live by that I made up my motto, "do it by yourself", which I gladly followed

I liked observing things, such as people interacting, listening attentively at which words bullies would use, thinking they would have an effect on me, and looking at which preferences or standards people would have when adopting one of us, though I never tried to use them to be chosen, since that would be faking it, and it would mean that in order to avoid being returned to the orphanage or worse, kicked out into the streets, I would have to change myself to live by their standards of a dog, which, by the way, were undignifying

I remember so many people of all kinds coming into the orphanage with generally the same preferences: affectionate and playful, and that was completely unfair!

They didn't even give you time to get to know them, they just expected you to lick them all over the second they walked in. But that doesn't make any sense. I consider licking someone a sign of trust and friendship, which simply cannot be given to anyone without even talking to them once

And as to being playful, it would be illogical to assume all dogs would always want to play. We have feelings, you know?! Though it seemed like the other pups didn't see it the way I did, and they agreed to always be playful, even when they were tired, they still pretended to be wanting to play. It was all simply stupid

So while others were always ready to meet new people and be adopted, I wished to live by myself, and instead focused in reading to expand my knowledge. But it wasn't until I read about this amazing person, Thomas Edison, that I realized what my passion was, inventing

At first, I would sneak out of the orphanage to get materials from a nearby waste depot, which was easy, since there were far too many pups for my absence to be noticed, and even when the bullies couldn't find me they would just assume I was hiding from them

I started by building simple things, such as a toaster, then I studied the orphanage, analyzing everything from pipes and electrical stucture, to building structure

Then I moved on to electrical and mechanical stuff. I rebuilt broken drones, and eventually, built a remote controlled toy car from scratch

It was all going well for me until one day when returning from the waste depot with a damaged electrical scooter's motor to inspect and hopefully fix, that I was caught. Not by anyne from the orphanage, but by a very curious 12 year old boy

"What are you planning on doing with that? 'Cause if you're planning on using that as a chew toy, I got bad news for you"

I was startled, since I was used to going unnoticed by humans, but this kid caught my attention. He was alone, near a waste depot, which was definitely strange for someone his age

"I'm smarter than that, I-I'm just going to inspect this. I've never worked with a motor like this one before" I said, a little shyly

"Yeah, I could see you were smarter than that. Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing. Where's your owner?" He said looking around

"Where are your parents?" I said defensively

"Whoah, no need to get so defensive. They're somewhere near me, I just know to take care of myself. You?"

"They may not be near me, but I can definitely take care of myself" I said before continuing to drag the motor with my muzzle

"Wait, are you a street dog? But, that can't be, your fur has only one layer of dust, which suggests you have had baths but have just gotten dirty from looking for that thing you're dragging"

"Well, I'm not. Good observation by the way, but that 'thing' is actually the motor from an electric scooter"

"Oh, so you're not a street dog, and you don't have an owner... wait, are you from that puppy orphanage over there?"

"Y-Yes"

"Huh, I didn't know they let the pups out freely like that"

"They don't... can you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Umm sure, but I think I got a better idea of what to do with such a unique pup like you. I'm Danny, by the way"

"Oh, I'm Rocky"

Just at that moment, a woman came looking for someone

"Danny? Oh there you are! What were you doing here! I told you to stay close to us!" She grabbed the kid and pulled him into a quick hug before grabbing his hand and dragging him out of there

"Wait! I met an interesting puppy today! His name is... what was your name again?"

"R-Rocky" "Damn it, Rocky, stop being so awkward! "

"His name is Rocky, can we keep him?" He asked as his mom seemed to hesitate

"Come on! He has no home! Look at him, he's a street dog!"

I was confused at first, but I quickly realized what was going on, so I decided to follow along and not interrupt. And that sure got her

"Oh, my! Look at you, little fella, with no home? Here, I guess we can take you in"

From that day on, I lived with Danny and his parents for six months, though I only spent three days with Danny's mom, I still lived happily for the other days up until that day, and afterwards I lived in the streets until Ryder found me

Though I can't lie; being a street dog was easy. I would often grab stuff from the trash and pretend to be eating it near an outdoors restaurant, and that would easily trick people into giving me free food. Other times, I would use a drone I had rebuilt to distract costumers and... well, steal their food

Of course I'm not proud of what I did, but I had no choice, if I wanted to survive it would be by any means necessary

Though one day, while I was using the drone, I noticed a 12 year old eating alone, which to me seemed like a perfect target. I directed my drone towards him and purposely made it crash into the ground so it seemed like it was being used and was lost or malfunctioned, and it managed to catch his attention

It seemed weird that it took him a bit to react. The people around the restaurant didn't mind the crashed drone, but he first scanned the area for almost a minute before getting up to get it

As soon as he did, I flew it to safety and rushed into his seat with the remote in my paw, only to reach an empty plate. But... there was no way. I had been observing the boy for a while and it semed like he was only taking his time at eating his meal, but no; the plate was completely empty, and it seemed like it had been for a while, so then why did he wait?

"Nice drone. Did you make it yourself? I can't see any company name on it and the pieces seem reused"

He acted so calmly to see me scavenging for food, but I was startled and got into a defensive position. I wanted to leave, but he got me curious

"I've seen you before. You use the drone to distract people and take their food, don't you? That seems like a clever plan, but can I ask why you are searching for food? Are you a street dog?"

"M-Maybe"

"Well you seem to have it all figured out, but I think I got a better idea of what to do with such a unique pup like you"

These words brought a sense of déjà vu to me, but the last time I heard those words it all led up to that day, so I ran away

But can you really blame me? Last time I had a family one of them ended up trying to kill me. Maybe I just wasn't meant to have a family, else why would my mom die during labor? Or my dad get captured by animal control? Or father try to choke me to death? So I ran like there was no tomorrow. Even when I couldn't even see him anymore, I kept running. I could not let this happen again

I would not let this happen again

I ran as fast as my legs could take me and dashed into some alley where I had lived for a while. I had no place for refuge. I was alone in the world. But, how is it that after so much time of wanting to be alone, I was for once feeling...lonely?

"No. Dependence is attachment, attatchment is helplessness, helplessness is vulnerability, and vulnerability is weakness. I am neither of those things nor will I ever be, so I do not need anyone. I can do just fine by myself" I would tell myself while trying to feel 'at home' with what was definitely the place that would make me feel the furthest from home I had ever felt

A small, stinking alley full of trash and street cats in search of food where the sun's rays could not reach, making it dark all the time. That's what I called home

But hey, at least it was better than living with father, so I swallowed my pride and layed down on the hard, cold ground and tried to sleep. I hadn't been able to eat at all that day but meeting that boy kinda drained all the energy out of me. But that wasn't the last I would see of this boy

Next thing I remember was being woken up by two curious pups about my age...

"Is this him?" I could barely see the pups with the alley's darkness, but I could hear they were somewhere between curiosity and excitement

"Yep. This is it" a young boy said as he approached the two pups that were looking at me, trying to figure me out. But that voice... that voice was just too familiar to me

I ran from him once more, but the hunger from not eating the previous day kept me from going very fast, and I could see the two pups chasing after me

This time I could get a good look at them. One of them was a Dalmatian with bright blue eyes and a yellow collar with a fire symbol on it. I would say by his looks that he was quite friendly and innocent

The other pup was a German Shepherd with amber eyes and a black collar with the symbol of a star. His body was covered in brown fur except for his paws and face. I would say by his looks that he was assertive; a leader, and a good one

He was also very athletic. I could see him approaching me just before... well, tackling me to the ground. I let a small yelp and tried to break free and run away once more, but he was very strong, and I hadn't eaten for days

"Chase, stop! You're scaring him!" The boy yelled from near the alley

"I am? Oh, sorry, but you have nothing to be scared of! I'm Chase. Ryder had told that he saw an interesting pup somewhere in Adventure Bay. We have been searching for you all around the city!" He said as he got off me

I thought about running, but I knew they would just find me again. There was no escape this time

"So are you some sort of genius? I bet that would be cool, specially since Ryder is also one" said Marshall as he had caught up with us

"Come on, Marshall, you know I don't like that word. After all, I don't believe—"

"That intelligence can be accurately measured, but you still have a high IQ, huh?" I knew what he was going to say, after all, I agreed with it, but I was surprised to see we had that in common

"Well, yes. And you must too, right? I don't think any pup I know can rebuild drones like that, or plan such a clever scheme to gather food. But that was exactly why I tracked you down. I believe your intelligence and experience with mechanical equipment can be helpful to our team"

"A...team?"

"Yes. I have been trying to create a team of pups to go on missions to help keep Adventure Bay safe. So far I have got a fire and police pups, but I am still missing members, such as a mechanical prodigy like you are, and in exchange, you will be given refuge with us at the lookout" he explained

"So, what do you say?" Asked the Dalmatian whose name appeared to be Marshall

"I...I guess it's better than the streets, huh?" I asked a little nervously

"You bet it is!" Marshall acclaimed

"Alright. And can you tell me... what do you mean by 'lookout'?"

"Don't worry", Ryder said

"I'll show you"

Hey, people of FFN! I hope you liked my story so far. This was a short chapter so I will upload the next tomorrow. Also, just a friendly reminder that all chapters made so far are available in wattpad (up to 10 chapters total including 4 which have not yet been uploaded here but will soon). Anyway, I'll see you guys tomorrow when I upload next chapter!

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