AN: So the next few chapters we'll be seeing will be flashbacks that explain the backstory of what happened with Zuma as well as a look of his life before Paw Patrol. Most of it will be from Zuma's point of view while others will be from Ryder or Detective Shaw. Now as a warning, I may have to bump up the rating to an T+ or M depending on what happens when we get to the gory scenes of this story. We don't have to worry about that now, but I do want to warn you guys.

I also might be working on a second story while doing this one. Most likely a one shot, but I don't know if it's going to be comedy or romance. I wanna try something positive since my other stories have been sad stuff.

Disclaimer: I don't own Paw Patrol

For as long as he could remember, all Zuma wanted to do was live by the sea. To him, it was like being at home despite not having fins, gills, or fish scales. He sometimes wondered if he was a fish in another life, before being born a dog. His earliest memories of his life were watching the sea outside of the pet adoption center in Costal City, seeing the waves crash against the beach and feeling the cool sea breeze against his face. That's why he was so excited to be adopted by Greg and Marsha when he learned they lived by the sea.

Floating in water, not too far from the beach, Zuma sighed and wished he could sink into the deep ocean floor and feel this sensation forever. Unbeknownst to him, a figure was swimming silently underwater straight on target. The chocolate labrador was all but deaf to the small paddles making its way toward him. His smile slowly began to disappear when his instincts began telling him something was amiss.

By the time he realized it, it was too late. The figure emerged from the water and tackled him. "Ha! You're dead!" shouted a female chocolate labrador that looked just liked Zuma, only she was female and had a bang of hair covering a bit of her left eye. She also had a necklace of seashells around her neck, each of them pretty and unique.

"Hey, we stopped play shawks and guppies ten minutes ago!" pouted Zuma, as he glared at his grinning sister.

"Shelly the Shark never stops when she's on the hunt!" proclaimed the other pup with a howl. The two pups laughed before they started splashing water at each other. "And it's 'sharks' not 'shawks', bro."

"Dude, come on," said Zuma as he pounded a big splash of water into his sister's face. "Hitting my speech impaiwment is a low blow. Want me to stawt dissing you for sleeping with a night light?"

"Okay, sorry dude," apologized Shelly with a smile.

Watching the pups play were swimmers, surfers, and even a few dogs that were out in the ocean with their masters. Everyone who came to this area of the beach knew of the two pups, and we're often seen as friends to everyone. It wasn't just them being playful and adorable that made them popular. Everyone knew their owners who were in charge of the Tiki Snack Shack in the middle of the beach which was a great place to hang out.

"Dudes! Look over there!" shouted some surfer as every guy and girl with a board turned to the ocean and saw a big wave building up. "Surf's up bros!"

Zuma and Shelly both looked at each other and grinned. "Belly surfing, yeah!"

The two pups began to lightly dog paddle as the wave got closer and bigger with each second. Most of the surfers were already gearing up for the experience while swimmers got ready to be carried away. Soon enough, the two pups cheered with everyone else as they were carried up by the big wave, riding their bellies with their paws up in the air.

The wave drove them down back towards the sandy beach where they landed with others in a happy shout. "Dude, that was a totally awesome wave!" shouted Zuma, barking with joy.

"Totally!" shouted Shelly, wagging her tail. She then turned over to the shack her owners owned. Despite looking like your average tiki shack, it was as big as a diner and was fit for tables both outside and in. The place was also growing more crowded than the last time they had seen it. Turning to her brother, she said, "Hey, Zuma? Let's got help out Greg and Marsha at the shack. Looks like it's getting crowded."

"Sure thing, Sis," said Zuma, following Shelly towards the Tiki Snack Shack.

A few of the customers greeted the pup duo, who barked hello back, as they made their way to the counter where Marsha was accepting orders and handing out change from the bills. Marsha was a red head with a ponytail and a firm surfer figure while wearing a white T-shirt she got from Hawaii and shorts that reached her knees. Behind her, working on the grill, was her husband, Greg. He didn't have anything on his tattoo swimmer packed chest but a chef's apron while worked on a pair of burger patties. Unlike his wife, he wore his swim trunks all the time which were yellow just like his short haircut.

Noticing the pups, Marsha smiled at them. "Thank goodness you two arrive. We're getting swamped. Mind taking orders, and delivering food?"

"You got it, Marsha!" said the siblings who were always eager to help their owners. They were the closest thing to parents that they had, and had been with them since they could first talk. Putting on their own pet sized green waiter aprons, the two headed out to the tables.

Pretty soon the two were working like a machine. They quickly gave the orders to Marsha while accepting any food from Greg and balanced it back to the respective table. Along the way, they chatted with locals, regulars, or visitors to the beach while getting a few scratches on the ear or back as a reward. Those who were visiting for the first time were amazed to see such a sight, but a local would quickly tell them that the two had been doing this for a long time.

"Hey, Greg? Table thirteen needs an extra order of fries!" shouted Shelly, rushing over while dumping the dishes she had on her back into a grey tub. "Also, we're running low on ketchup for tables six and nine."

"Got the spare bottles in the back. Also, catch!" shouted Greg as he flipped a chopped piece of tomato into the air. Shelly caught it in a jump and licked her lips.

"Me too! Me too!" said Zuma, jumping up and down. Greg chuckled before tossing another one into the air which Zuma caught with easy. "Hmmmm."

"Nice catch you two," complimented Greg with a smile.

"Greg, pups, I know having fun while working is nice, but let's save it until after lunch hour?" asked Marsha with a stern look yet a smile was decorating her face.

"Right, honey, I hear ya," chuckled Greg before pointing to a fried chicken wrap with bacon and ranch dressing. "I got this wrap and fries here for table fourteen. Can one of you send it over?"

"I got it!" said Zuma, walking over so that Greg could put it on his back. "Be wight back!"

Zuma exited out of the kitchen and made his way through the shack, making sure not to bump into anyone. When he reached table fourteen, he smiled and handed it over a young boy who was all alone and smiling at him. "Gotcha owder, dude. Enjoy."

"Thanks," said the boy with spiky brown hair and a strange red and white outfit. He reached down and began to scratch Zuma's ears. "What a good pup."

"Oh, yeah. That's weally good… I bet you got dogs, right? They must really love your scwatches," commented Zuma.

"Yeah, they really do," he said before something of his started beeping. "Speaking of which." The human then pulled out a large blue digital pad that at first looked like a cellphone but after pressing the call button he saw a the face of a young blond haired girl. "Hey, Katie. Everything okay at the Lookout?"

"Everything's fine, Ryder. It's been a bit of a hassle getting Rocky to take a bath, and Marshall's accident proneness…"

A large crash was heard from the other line which made Zuma, Ryder, and this Katie girl wince. "I'm good!" cried out a voice.

"But everything's fine. How are the interviews for the potential additions to the team?"

"Doing okay, I still have a few days left before I head home as well as a few candidates to still interview. Say hi to the pups for me, okay? I'll call again tonight," said Ryder with a smile.

"Will do, see ya," said Katie waving goodbye.

"Cool phone," said Zuma as he saw it get put away.

"Thanks, but it's actually more of a tablet then anything. I call it a pup pad," said Ryder as he grabbed a fry and ate it. "Hmm, extra crispy. Thanks."

"No pwoblem, dude. Enjoy," said Zuma as he made his way back to work. Along the way he saw Shelly talking to two pups dressed in lifeguard packs. The first was a male black furred newfoundland dog with a backwards combed looking haircut and had impressive muscles. The other was a shorter golden retriever with pigtails and a pink bow on her tail.

Walking over, he greeted the two with a high five that they returned in kind. "What's up, Samuel and Reggie? You guys on break?"

"No, but Sam here wanted to see his 'future interviewer', the one you were talking to a while ago," said Reggie, rolling her eyes.

Zuma raised his eyebrow upon hearing the words "future interviewer" and Shelly, seeing his confusion, giggled before explaining. "She means that human, Ryder? He's the leader for some sort of rescue team."

"Not just a rescue team! A fully staffed pup rescue team called Paw Patrol! All of them are pups, and he's looking to recruit more. One of them being a water pup," said Samuel with excitement as he puffed his chest and flexed his front legs. "And I'm going to be that pup. I am one of the best life guard's dogs we have on the beach." He kissed his muscles. "Just look at my guns, ain't I right, Shelly?"

Shelly ignored his flirty look and instead turned to her brother. "Wouldn't it be cool to be part of a rescue team?"

"Yeah, but I'm happy just working here in the shack," said Zuma before turning back to Reggie. "If this is such a big deal, why haven't I heawd about this Paw Patrol group until now?"

"It's only just really started getting mentioned in the news. They've done a few rescues here and there while assisting other local rescue responders in Adventure Bay and surrounding towns. According what I learned, he wants to have at least one more member before going full time," answered Reggie.

"And I'm going to be that pup!" said Samuel, wagging his tail.

"Maybe if they need an ego pup," muttered Reggie, earning a glare from her partner and a laugh from the siblings. "Anyway, we wanted to know if you wanted to watch the interview later today?"

"Sorry, but I just got my new surf board and I'm going to go try it out later," said Shelly, yipping with excitement.

"And the only weason you're doing that eawly is because you conned me into taking your cleaning shift today," muttered Zuma, with a glare.

Giving an 'innocent grin', Shelly responded, "That's only because you suck as poker."

"Well, if you change your mind you know where to find us," said Samuel as he turned away. "Come on, Reggie. I need go over my speech again."

Reggie grumbled, "I swear if I hear that speech one more time I'm going to shove seaweed down his throat."

After the two waved goodbye, they turned back to work. However, Shelly then stopped Zuma and bit her lip. "Hey, you're not upset that I'm skipping out on my chore for you to do, are you?"

Zuma gave her a smile and nuzzled her. "Welax, Sis. I'm okay with it. Just be safe, okay?"

She grinned back before speeding ahead, "Race you to the kitchen!"

"Hey!" laughed Zuma before chasing after her.

By the time the lunch rush was ending, Zuma felt his entire paws go near numb from all the walking around he did. His sister had already left an hour ago to go try out her new surfboard while Zuma had to deal with the rest of the customers. Now that the rush was over, he could relax for the rest of the day since the dinner rush was usually handled by his owners and the teenagers from various schools who had part time jobs here. He wasn't needed unless necessary.

"Great job, Zuma. And it was really nice of you to take Shelly's shift," said Marsha as she counted the money from the lunch shift. Greg was making himself an ice cream sunday while the rest of the place was filled with customers drinking soft drinks or finishing their paid meals. "I think somebody has earned a special extra set of treats tonight for dessert."

Zuma licked his lips at the thought. Okay, now it was worth it.

"I'm going to see how Shelly is doing," said Zuma, as he took off his apron and tossed it to Greg who fumbled around trying to catch, only to slip and land with ice cream all over him. "Oops! Sowy, Gweg!"

"It's okay," chuckled Greg, licking the strawberry off his face. "Just be sure to tell Shelly not to surf near Glazing Rock Point."

Zuma shivered upon its mentioning. Glazing Rock Point was a dangerous place to surf with the high intense waves, pointy rocks, and the stories of how many people had gotten injured when attempting to beat it. He didn't think Shelly was foolish enough to do that, but still his sister had always been a daredevil. Like the time she tried surfing that tropical storm. Man, was she ever grounded.

Yet as Zuma made his way to the beach he paused. Going down Glazing Wock Point with a new board would be something cwazy that she would do. Maybe I should just double check to be sure.

With as fast as his little paws could carry him, Zuma made his way towards the west end of the beach.

The west end of the beach was an area nobody really went to unless it was to look at the centuries old lighthouse the town still used. It was always colder and mistier in this area, plus there were tons of rocks and cliffs that made swimming and surfing here dangerous. Occasionally, a foolish human would be dared to do so, but then that was followed by an immediate trip to the hospital.

"Shelly?!" called out Zuma, shivering a cold breeze made his fur stick up. "Shelly?! You're not here are you?"

"… help…"

Zuma's ears perked up. "That sounds like…"

"…help…"

"Shelly!" shouted Zuma with fear as he headed into the shallow part of the water. Narrowing his eyes, he saw, on the rocks, was his sister far away, shouting for help and waving. Waves smashed into her as she would be swallowed up one minute and then resurface the next, holding on to the rock for dear life. Fear gripped Zuma's heart as he began to panic. "Oh, man what do I do?! What do I do?! High tide is coming in soon!"

As much as he would love to praise his swimming skills, he knew that this was too much for a pup like him. I have to get help!

"Hang on, Shelly! I'm going to get help!" Rushing as fast as he could, Zuma could only pray that he would make it to the lifeguards in time.

"I can hold my breath for two minutes. I once rescued a cat during high tide. And I was the best doggie paddler in my class. Did I mention I work out every day?" said Samuel, grinning to an amused Ryder who was typing something in his pup pad. Reggie was sitting nearby on a rock by one of the piers on the beach, looking bored out of her skull. Their human partners had to deal with a drunken disturbance on the other side of the beach and left her in charge of watching Samuel, unfortunately.

"That's very impressive, Samuel," said Ryder as he then turned to Reggie. "What about you, Reggie? Do you wanna be interviewed as well?"

"Thanks, but I think I'm fine with my job here," answered Reggie with a smile.

"So, when can I expect my move to Adventure Bay?" asked Samuel with eagerness.

Ryder chuckled. "I'll let you know my decision in a few days, Samuel. For now I'm going to-"

"Help! Arf! Arf! Help!"

Ryder turned his head as the other two pups noticed the yelling. Running down on the beach by the pier was Zuma, shouting for help and looking like a ghost was after him. Curious, Reggie barked loud enough for Zuma to notice them. When he did, his eye lit up with hope and he rushed over. "You guys gotta help me!"

"What's wrong, Zuma?" asked Reggie, getting up.

"It's Shelly! She surfed at Glazing Wock Point and is stuck on some wocks! The high tide is coming and I don't know how long she can stay above the water!" shouted Zuma.

The two pups gasped as Samuel began to shiver. "G-G-G-Glazing R-R-Rock P-Point?! That place is dangerous! Even we're not of the level to do rescues there!"

"We need to radio in the advance level lifeguards if we're going to save your sister, this too much for us!" shouted Reggie, reaching for her radio.

"But we don't have time! Shelly needs us! I'm going to save her either with you guys or not!" shouted Zuma, who looked ready to bolt, but was stopped by Ryder.

"Hold on, Zuma. We're going to save your sister together. No job is too big, no pup is too small!" shouted Ryder as he rushed over to a nearby ATV that was parked. He placed his pup pad in a holder for it up front, and put on his helmet. "Get in!"

"Um, okay," said Zuma who rushed over and jumped on the back.

"Life jacket deploy!" shouted Ryder pressing his pup pad. Zuma yipped as Ryder's vest seemed to pop out a bit, feeling like an actual life jacket. "Zuma, I'll need you to guide me to Shelly! Let's go!"

Zuma hanged on as Ryder drove down the pier before making a turn towards a docking area where the water was straight ahead of them. "Wyder! We're gonna head into the water! Awe you cwazy?!"

Ryder just laughed. "Don't worry, just watch this." He pressed another button on his pup pad as they flew off the edge. "Jet ski mode!"

Jaw dropping, Zuma watched as the ATV began to transform like those robots on TV he watched with his sister and Greg. It began to turn into a real jet ski in a matter of a second before landing on the water. When he realized they were actually water skiing on the transforming vehicle, Zuma howled. "That was so totally awesome! Where did you get this?!"

"I made it!" shouted Ryder.

"Dude, you must be a super genius or something!" complimented Zuma, who couldn't help but wonder if he made stuff like this all the time.

"We can discuss it later. Right now, we need to save your sister. So point the way, Zuma!"

"Right!" said Zuma as he told Ryder the directions. Hang on, Sis. We're coming to get you.