"So, Diamond, what is it that you do for fun if you're not lying down in between the docks?" Rubble asked. The Rottweiler pup cocked her head to the side, eyeing the bulldog from the corner of her eyes.
"Um...nothing, I guess. I'm usually napping throughout the day." She said, causing Rubble to scoff.
"All day? Come on, you have the entire beach to yourself! Didn't you ever make a sandcastle or plash in the ocean?" He asked, giving her a look of skepticism. Diamond returned that look with a scowl on her face.
"I told you, I only go out when I'm needed. If I'm too hot, of course I'll go into the ocean to cool off." She said.
"I hope you don't drink the water. I heard it from Marshall that that's not a good thing." Rubble said, and Diamond nodded.
"Of course. Salt water doesn't taste good anyway," She paused. "Although I am curious as to how your friend knows about that."
Rubble gave her a small grin, eyes twinkling.
"Help me build a sandcastle and I will tell you all about my friends." He said, smirking as Diamond rolled her eyes.
"Sneaky, sneaky. And here I thought you were the kind one in the group."
"I am, but if you don't know what fun is, I will show you," Rubble paused. "Or rather, spell it out for you. F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me, N is for anywhere and anytime at all, down here in the deep blue sea!"
Diamond felt her lips twitch, but maintain a blank look.
"Was that suppose to be funny?" She asked, but there was amusement in her tone that Rubble could clearly hear, and he smiled.
"Ah, so you DO know the reference!"
"Not really, I just thought you were trying to cheer me up." Diamond shrugged her shoulders.
"Yeah, well, I got it from SpongeBob. Now, come on, let's go build a sandcastle!" Before Diamond could protest, Rubble began pulling out from the docks with a gentle grasp on her front paw. Eventually, with Rubble trying to pull her, she began to humor him and made it easier for him to carry until they were centimeters away from the dock, and the sun was beaming down on them. "First, we'll need a bucket, so we can put the wet sand in!" He said.
The two looked around until Diamond spotted something that while may not be a bucket, it could still be useful.
"What about that?" She asked, pointing towards the container. Rubble grinned and rushed over, picking it up with his teeth and began running towards the ocean.
"Come on!" He said, and Diamond followed him closely, curiosity sparked in her brown eyes. Sitting the container down, Rubble began placing wet sand into it. He did this for a couple of seconds before realizing Diamond was just sitting there, head tilted, and he couldn't help but smile. "Don't just sit there, help me with the sand. We want to fill the container up until it reaches the top."
Diamond blinked, but did what she was told and with the two helping, the container was filled with sand. Picking it up with his teeth, Rubble began to scoot away from the water and sat the container down. "We don't want the ocean to knock down our sandcastle, so this spot will have to do."
"Aren't you going to tell me about your friends?" Diamond asked, watching as Rubble placed the container upside down, pat it for a minute, before slowly lifting up the container to reveal a sturdy block of sand.
"Well, what do you want to know?" He asked, rushing to get more sand.
"Who's your leader? How did you guys form? And why does this Marshall guy know that salt water is bad for you?" She asked. Rubble continued to build the sandcastle as he spoke:
"Our leader is Ryder, we were created when Ryder had decided to pick most of us off the streets or from the shelter, with the founding leaders being Marshall and Chase, and as for how Marshall knows, well, he told us that he had a very bad experience with salt water." Rubble winced. "Said he had been vomiting for days because of it."
"Oh," Diamond said, rolling her eyes. "Of course."
"Hey, Marshall only been maybe two months old at the time. He didn't know better." Rubble said, rushing back to get more sand for the sandcastle. "In any case, do you want to know the members? I'll be happy to talk about them."
"Sure, I have always wanted to know more about the PAW Patrol." She said. Rubble grunted, but talked anyway.
"As you know, Ryder's the leader of the group, and is mostly Marshall's owner. He's the one we all turn to for directions, and honestly, one of the coolest person I know. He's only ten, but he has so much more experience with stuff like mountain climbing than most ten year olds. Marshall had told me it's because his own dad had been rescuer too, and when Ryder had taken interest, he had trained him for any kind of situations, and most of all, he told him to never panic. Panicking never solves anything, and he had to think with a clear head. Ryder's father had been his role model, which is why Ryder is who he is today," Rubble paused before continuing with the sandcastle. "I admire Ryder a lot. Not only because he's brave, but also kindhearted and selfless too. As the PAW Patrol crew, we love him dearly and we won't let anything happen to him! Not after everything he's done for us."
"Ryder sounds like a terrific owner." Diamond said, brown eyes shining with earnest. Rubble looked at her and blushed.
"He is, and I'm sure if I took you to him, he would have adopted you too. Then, you can live with us, and we'll play together all the time, and you'll never be alone anymore." He said, and Diamond couldn't help but blush at the thought. "Anyway, then you have Marshall, one of the founding leaders. Like I said, Marshall's mostly Ryder's owner since he was the first of the pups to join the PAW Patrol. He's a Dalmatian, the fire/EMT pup of our group, and yeah, he's as clumsy as you'd thought he was," Rubble and Diamond snickered. "But, Marshall has a golden heart. He, like most of us, loves to help people and is always there to lend a paw when you need. In his past, Marshall wasn't very energetic as you see him to be today, at least not from what I heard from Ryder and Chase."
"Oh? What was wrong with him?" Diamond asked.
"He got bullied, by his parents and other dogs alike. With his parents, they didn't like his eye color, didn't like how he has fewer spots than his siblings, he was too clumsy, and most of all, he was the runt of his litter. He had been small when he was born, so his parents didn't think much of him. His siblings besides his older sister didn't like him much either, since, once again, he wasn't like them. The other dogs bullied him too, for his spots, for his behavior, and for being smaller than him. In short, Marshall had been neglected and abused, so when he was much younger, he was kind of like you; shy, didn't speak to anyone, and had a lack of confidence within himself."
"I wasn't abused!" Diamond bristled, glaring at the bulldog. Rubble held his hands up in false surrender.
"Didn't say you was, just said what you are now, was kind of like Marshall. Plus, I doubt you were abused - that scar on your face tells a different story. Looks like a claw mark." He said.
"Like I said, I got into a fight," She muttered. "Doesn't matter how, just know that because of it, every time someone sees a Rottweiler, they immediately think of the worst."
"And so what?" Rubble asked, causing Diamond to look at him, startled. "You know you're not the only breed on the Watch List, right? Chase, a German Shepherd, is on there too. So is Pitbulls, Boxers, Doberman, heck, any big dogs that are scary-looking is on the Watch List."
"Watch list?"
"A.K.A considered harmful. Which I have always found funny, seeing how smaller dogs are more than likely to cause trouble than a bigger breed." Rubble snorted, glaring at his sandcastle. "Seriously. The things humans finds scary and unnerved is so freaking ridiculous, I'm in tears from laughter. I'll never understand humans and their fear of something they don't understand - if you can't understand it, why fear it?"
"Well, I mean, with big breeds, it's understandable," Diamond started. "They are big breeds. They can cause damage and such, and yes, there is a chance that they will attack someone - but that goes for every other animal on the planet. People fear big breeds and wants to put them down, yet show them a tiger and it's consider cute? Unlike dogs, you cannot train a tiger. I know you think you can, but you can't. The instinct to hunt is still there, and it only takes one wrong move before you wind up as food for that 'cute little kitty' that you'd thought you could train. Humans annoy me, mostly."
"I don't understand humans, but I like Ryder and I like Katie, Mr. Porter, Mayor Goodway, Alex, and the like. They are good examples of what a human should be, verses what they are." Rubble said, shrugging his shoulders. "But what people say about your breed shouldn't matter. If a person likes you, they are looking pass the 'how many people have been attacked by a Rottweiler' question and just sees you as you are - a cute, little puppy that needs a home, is well-taken care of, and is the happiest dog all because you gave it food and water."
Rubble paused, and then looked at his sandcastle, and smiled. "Done!"
Diamond blinked.
"Wow," She gasped, looking at the all the walls and the shape of the castle. "That's amazing! I didn't even realize you finished the castle!"
"What can I say? I love to dig." He smirked, only to frown as Diamond looked down at the sand.
"I didn't even do anything." She muttered. He gave her a small smile.
"That's okay, you can help me decorate it instead!" He said. Diamond looked up and smiled at him, her tail wagging. Seeing her happy made Rubble's gut squirm a little, and the two sat out for some pretty shells to decorate the castle with. When they found some, Diamond tilted her head.
"You got a lot of pink shells." She commented, making Rubble blush.
"Yeah...I use to build sandcastles for Skye all the time, and her favorite color was pink." He said. Diamond frowned.
"Who's Skye?" She asked. Rubble quickly shook his head.
"Ah, just a teammate of mine, nothing special. Come on, let's decorate the castle!" But just as they were about to, Rubble's pup tag went off.
"PAW Patrol, to the lookout!"
"Ryder needs us!" Rubble said, before looking at Diamond who had a confused look on her face. "I have to go, but um, you can come with me if you want."
"Um, I don't know. If you're needed to the lookout, wouldn't I be in the way?" She asked. Rubble shook his head.
"Nah, I think it'll be fine, but if you don't want to come, that's fine too. Um, see ya when I get back!" He said and before Diamond could say anything, Rubble began rushing towards the lookout tower. She watched him go, before glancing down at the shells and other pretty things to decorate the castle with, and placed a particular pretty yellow shell on top of the castle.
She smiled.
