Everest Meets a Mer-pup

It was a mild spring evening in the town of Adventure Bay, and Everest, a young husky, had decided to do some night watching. To her, this night seemed like any other, except that the moon had risen exactly as the sun had set, and was a pale yellow colour. But Everest wasn't concerned about the moon, and was only worried about where each paw-step landed her. Seeing in the dark wasn't really that hard for her, but she still wanted to be careful. As she walked, she had a feeling that something was watching her, and she started to look around her, and forgot to watch where she was going. She tripped over a rock, and was thrown into a nearby tree. Dazed, she laid there against the tree, hoping that whatever had been watching her wouldn't hurt her. As she laid there, she heard bushes rustling, and held her breath. The rustling moved from behind her, to beside her, to in front of her. She was too scared to move. As the rustling paused, Everest braced herself for an attack, and closed her eyes, silently praying her end would be quick and painless. The creature crept out of the bushes and up to her; but instead of attacking her, it whispered a word in her ear.

"Surprise." Everest opened her eyes, and saw who she least expected to see: her dalmatian friend, Marshall.

"Don't scare me like that, Marshall! I thought I was going to have a heart attack!" Everest told him.

"Sorry," he said, extending his paw to help Everest up. She took his paw, and pulled herself up back on her feet. "What are you doing out here so late, anyway?"

"Night watching. And you?"

"I was heading down to the beach to see if the mer-pups have come out to play yet."

"Mer-pups? What are mer-pups?" Everest cocked her head to one side.

"A mer-pup is a magical creature with the head and body of pup, but has the tail of a fish. They have an amazing singing voice, and only come out during the magic mer-moon," Marshall told her, pointing at the yellow moon with his paw. "And the best part is that the touch of a mer-pup can turn you into one."

"Wow! Forget night watching, I'm coming with you! That is, if you're alright with it."

"Of course, come on. Last one to the beach is a rotten fish egg!" Marshall said, before taking off.

"Oh, you're on! And the beach is this way!" Everest called to Marshall before running in the opposite direction.

Marshall realized his mistake, and skidded to a halt. He quickly turned around and sprinted after Everest. Marshall, being an extremely fast runner, was able to quickly catch up with Everest; and upon catching up to her, he slowed to match her speed. The two pups ran side by side through the forest. However, upon reaching the edge of the forest, and trying to jump over a root, Marshall tripped and rolled into Everest, causing both pups to roll a few feet, before stopping in a cloud of dust.

"I'm good!" Marshall said, before looking over at Everest who was lying on her back, a smile on her face.

"Me too."

Marshall stood up, and reached out a paw to Everest, who accepted it and pulled her up.

"Sorry about that, again."

"That's okay."

"Alright, let's get going again. "

"Alright. Three, two, one, go!" Everest called out, and both pups took off, the right way this time, and ran down the hill toward the beach.

When they the beach, both pups slowed to a stop, to catch their breath. Once she had caught her breath, Everest started to walk toward the old dock, until Marshall stopped her.

"Why don't we use Zuma's paddleboard, and go out to meet the mer-pups?" Marshall suggested, pointing toward the board that was half floating in the water, half resting on the sand.

"Alright."

So Everest turned away from the dock, and walked to the paddleboard where Marshall was waiting for her. Everest walked onto the board and up to the front, and Marshall followed her onto the back. Stretching out his paw, Marshall pushed against the sand, and pushed the board out into the water. He then laid down on the board, feet hanging over the back, and paddled out to open sea. Marshall stopped paddling once they were out to where they couldn't see the shore. Soon the board came to a stop, and both pups looked down into the water, waiting for their magical friends to show themselves. At first, all Everest could see in the water was her reflection, but then she saw something, no, two somethings swimming under the water's surface around the board. Everest was about to ask Marshall if what she saw in the water were the mer-pups, but was interrupted by singing from the creatures.

"That's them," Marshall told her. "That's the mer-pups." As Everest continued to watch the mer-pups, she was able to make make out some distinct features, yellow tails, floppy ears, one mer-pup being larger than the other. Everest figured that the two were a mother and daughter.

"Hey Mama mer-pup, hi little mer-pup." Marshall called out to them. The mer-pups surfaced and sang their greeting.

"Can they talk?" Everest asked Marshall.

"Nope. They just sing and bark."

"Ohhh, okay. So, didn't you say that they can transform us into mer-pups?"

"Yep. You ready to be a mer-pup?" Everest nodded yes. "Well, then follow me." Marshall said, before jumping off the board and into the water. Everest followed. As Everest and Marshall resurfaced, the mother mer-pup swam up to Marshall, and touched her nose to his, and the little mer-pup did the same to Everest. A tingling sensation went through Everest's body, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw Marshall with a red fish tail, and looked down where her hind paws should have been, and saw a lavender fish tail.

"Wow!" Was all Everest could say, as she admired her new tail.

"Cool, isn't it?" Marshall asked her.

"Not just cool, this is amazing!" Everest said, jumping out of the water, and splashing down beside Marshall.
"That it is," Marshall said, smiling. "Another question for you: would you like to see Puplantis?"
"What's Puplantis?"

"Puplantis is the mer-pups' home."
"Can we see it?"

Marshall turned to the mer-pups. "Can you take us to Puplantis?" The mer-pups barked, and swam under the surface. "Come on, let's go."

So Marshall, Everest, and the two mer-pups swam down toward the ocean floor, and toward the middle of the ocean. After a few minutes of swimming, Everest noticed a strange purple glow in the distance.

"What's that glow?" She asked Marshall.

"That is the luminous, lustrous lights of Puplantis," Marshall told her, remembering what Cap'n Turbot had once said. The four pups approached a hill, and upon swimming over it, the castle of Puplantis was before them. Everest was left in awe. Never had she seen anything more beautiful in her life. The purple walls of the castle, the light illuminating everything, and the other mer-pups swimming around were just so mesmerising.

"A...ma...zing!" Everest squealed. Marshall chuckled at her reaction.

"That's not all, Everest. There's more."

"More? I can't wait!" Everest swam in a quick loop, before Marshall led her inside the castle. Everest had been amazed before, but this was beyond that. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. In front of her was a circular room literally lined from floor to ceiling with pink pearls. And what really caught Everest's eye was in the center of the room on a pedestal where a giant shell was sitting. As Everest watched the shell, it spat out a pearl, which floated toward the spot where another pearl had just faded out. "What is that?" Everest asked, pointing toward the shell.

"That is the magic shell and heart of Puplantis. Without it making new pearls to replace the old ones, Puplantis and the mer pups would lose their magic, and Puplantis would collapse. And after Sid Swashbuckle and his pup Arrby tried to take it, the mer-pups have increased their security," Marshall told her.

"I can see why."

"Yeah. When Sid and Arby took the shell, the castle started to collapse. Rocky and Rubble had to work their tails off trying to keep this place standing until Chase could get the shell back. That was one close call."

"Thank goodness Chase was able to get the shell back."

"Yeah."

Marshall was about to say something else, until one of the mer-pups tapped his shoulder, and pointed up to the surface.

"Is the mer-moon about to end?" Marshall asked her. The mer-pup barked yes. "Well then, we had best get going," Marshall said, turning his attention back to Everest. "We do not want to be down here when the mer-moon ends."

"I'm guessing because when the mer-moon ends, we'll turn back to regular pups."

"You guessed right."

"Then what are we waiting for? I don't want to become a water balloon."

So the two set off toward the surface, swimming as fast as they could. But it wasn't enough. The pups' fish tails disappeared and their hind legs returned, as well as their ability to breath underwater long before they reached the surface. Time was running out as they struggled toward the surface without their fish tails to propel them. Marshall managed to reach the surface just as his oxygen ran out, but Everest however, wasn't so lucky. A few feet below the surface, her mouth slipped open, and water rushed in. Panicking, Everest gave one last shove, and broke through the surface to fresh air. Coughing and gasping for air, Everest looked around for Marshall, and saw him paddling over to her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just not used to almost drowning," Everest put her paw over her pounding heart. "But it was still worth it."

"Glad you enjoyed it," he said, turning out to sea. That's when he noticed the sun starting to rise, and laid back, floating on the water.

"Want to watch the sun rise with me?" Marshall looked over at Everest who was admiring her paws at the time. She smiled at him.

"You bet!" So Everest swam over to Marshall, and laid, floating on her back next to him, watching the sun slowly crept over the horizon.

"Did you enjoy meeting the mer-pups?" Marshall turned to look at Everest who was still intently watching the sunrise.

"Best night ever."