Rocky slowly woke up in his bed, opening his eyes and seeing the ceiling above. He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes before looking around his pup house. He was sitting in his bed in the far right corner of his room, he was looking towards the far left corner where there stood his desk and chair. The desk he had modified himself so that he could angle it to allow him to make his blueprints for his inventions. Around the desk was what looked like a mess of components and scraps he had collected, and above that were shelves with small gadgets, blueprints, and some tools.
Rocky sighed before kicking his bedframe causing a drawer to automatically open from it, he reached into the drawer and pulled out his green cap placing it over the messy patch of fur on his head. He stood up from his bed and stretched out before heading towards the door, before walking outside he grabbed his pup tag from a hook he installed next to his door. He opened the door to the sound of birds chirping and the wind rustling the leaves, the warm sun shone in his face as he smelled a sea breeze blow past. He started walking towards the orange pup house to see if his friend was still in there, as he arrived at the door a wide smile formed on his face, he slid the door open as fast as he could causing it to slam in to the top of the doorframe creating a horrible loud metal bang. Zuma flew out of his bed landing on the floor next to it with a groan.
"You gotta stop doing that dude." Zuma groaned as he stood up and looked over to the giggling Mixed Breed standing in his doorway.
"Well consider waking up earlier so I don't have to wake you then." Rocky said with a big stupid smile on his face.
"So what's happening today?" Zuma asked as he grabbed and put on his pup tag from his nightstand.
"I don't know, guess we'll just grab some breakfast and figure something out." Rocky said as he walked out of the pup house followed by Zuma who was catching up to him. They walked into the lookout and grabbed their food, but as they were walking to their usual spot they noticed how Skye and Rubble were still eating their food alone in silence as the day before. Rocky and Zuma sat down at their usual spot.
"They still seem to be worried about Chase, we should tell them that he isn't mad at them." Rocky leaned over and whispered to Zuma.
"No dude, they gotta talk to Chase themselves." Zuma whispered back.
"Why? We know the information they are wondering about, why shouldn't we tell them?"
"Because that's just not how welationships work, they've gotta figuwe it out themselves. You can't use logic to solve this one."
"Alright I suppose you would know better than me. Life would be so much easier if everyone just used their brains instead of... emotions." Rocky sighed.
"Yeah maybe, but it would also be so much mowe bowing." Zuma replied
"I'll take boring over confusing any day." Rocky replied as he finished the last bit of his food and stood up.
"Alright well since nothing seems to be happening here let's see what's going on in town." Rocky said before he started walking towards the lookout door. Zuma quickly took the last bite of his food before hurrying after him.
"I'll dwive!" Zuma yelled as he ran past Rocky and transformed his hovercraft and hopped in. Rocky hopped in the passenger seat behind before Zuma accelerated down the driveway, as they were driving over the bridge with the sea wind blowing through their fur, Rocky looked out towards the ocean. Although he was scared of water he always thought the ocean looked so peaceful from land, the waves calmly crashing against the rocks and beach was always a welcome sound. As they got off the bridge Zuma quickly found a parking space and pulled in.
"Alwight, let's see what thewe is to do." Zuma said as he jumped out of the hover craft followed by Rocky. They both scanned the area for anything interesting before Zuma saw something that caught his attention.
"Hey Wocky, that place is new." He said as he pointed towards a store just down the street.
"Harmony House Instruments, yeah I think you're right Zuma." Rocky said.
"Let's go check it out!" Zuma yelled as he ran ahead.
"H-hey wait!" Rocky yelled as he tried to catch up to the speeding Labrador. After a minute Rocky finally caught up to Zuma who was waiting for him outside the store.
"Hey, no fair, you know I'm slower than you." Rocky said between breaths. He looked up at the store and saw a grand piano in the display window and next to that was the door.
"Come on slowpoke." Zuma said as he pushed open the door to the store. Zuma seemed very excited to go inside so Rocky didn't protest. As Rocky entered he looked around analyzing the store, he saw a bunch of different instruments hanging on the walls and on racks placed around the small store. Zuma saw a man in front of a computer by the register, He walked up to the man.
"Excuse me siw." Zuma said looking up at the man behind the counter. The man looked up from his computer with a puzzled look before looking down and seeing Zuma stand there.
"Oh hello there, how can I help you?" The man asked with a smile.
"Do you any instwuments fow dogs hewe?" Zuma asked.
"No sorry I don- wait actually, come here." The man said and stood up, he walked past Zuma and was headed to one of the corners of the store.
"I'm Zuma by the way." He said as they were walking.
"Nice to meet you Zuma, I'm Richard, Richard Hale." He said.
"I haven't seen this stowe befowe, did you open wecently?" Zuma asked curiously.
"Yeah, I opened just the other day. I'm new here in town, I moved in last week." The man said before they stopped in the corner of the store, Mr. Hale picked a small guitar from the wall and placed it next to a chair.
"There, you can see if that one works. Just call me over if you need anything else." He said as he went back to his computer. Zuma nodded and sat down in the chair and grabbed the small guitar that was perfect size for the small pup. He knew how to hold a guitar so he just placed it in his lap and looked over to the side where there was a music sheet of chords, he attempted to play the simple chords but struggled to place his 'Fingers' in the right spot when switching. After some attempts Zuma stood back up and placed the guitar leaned up against the chair, when he turned back around he noticed Rocky closely inspecting the mechanics of a guitar a little distance away.
"Hey Wocky, come here dude." Zuma said getting the focused pups attention. He walked over to the lab.
"What's up?" He asked.
"The guy by the wegistew said we could play on this one, you should twy it." Zuma said.
"No, you know I'm not in to music." Rocky said as he preferred silence over some emotional lyric he had a hard time understanding.
"Yeah I know you don't, but playing and listening awe diffewent... Playing comes with instwuctions." Zuma said with a smile on his face as he knew exactly how to entice his best friend. Rocky's ear perked up.
"Okay... I guess I can give it a try at least." Rocky said as he grabbed the guitar and sat down in the chair. After a minute of Zuma explaining all the chords that were on the paper. Rocky began playing near perfectly.
"Whoa dude." Zuma said in amazement causing Rocky to stop playing, He looked up from the guitar at the amazed Labrador whose jaw was hanging slightly ajar.
"What? It's just simple instructions." Rocky said with a confused face.
"Bwag much? Anyways see I told you you'd like it." Zuma spoke.
"Yeah I guess you were right... I wonder if he has any books on guitars." Rocky asked looking around for any books.
"*sigh* Of couwse." Zuma said mockingly.
"What! I just wanna expand my knowledge." Rocky responded. He stood back up and placed the guitar back next to the chair.
"Let's ask the guy by the weigstew." Zuma suggested as they both made their way back to Mr. Hale who was again staring in to his computer.
"Excuse me sir, do you have any books about guitars?" Rocky asked Mr. Hale
"Uh, yeah there should be just on the side here." Mr. Hale said without looking up from his screen. Rocky looked over where the man pointed out and he saw a small shelf with books, he looked over all of them but one caught his attention. He stood up on his hind legs and grabbed the book of the shelf and inspected it, The front read Strings Unleashed: Mastering The Guitar. After skimming over the summary on the back Rocky brought the book over to the register and placed it in front of Mr. Hale.
"Excuse me how much is this one." Rocky asked.
"Oh that one is..." Mr. Hale said as he looked up from his computer at the Mixed Breed. "... oh hey it's you, you fixed my breaker box the other day." Mr. Hale continued.
"Oh yeah." Rocky said as he remembered how he had passed by Mr. Hale's house and saw that he needed help a few days ago.
"For you, It's on the house." Mr. Hale said as he placed the book in a plastic bag and handed it to Rocky.
"Oh, Thank you so much."
"No worries, have a good day you two." He said as he went back to looking at his computer.
"You too." Rocky said as the two pups turned around and walked out of the store. They started walking back to Zuma's hovercraft, the two best friends were just happily chatting as they were making their way there. Zuma hopped in followed by Rocky who placed the bag in front of himself on the seat, shortly there after Zuma accelerated over the bridge back to the lookout. Both pups were quietly enjoying the wind blowing through their fur, but as they neared the lookout the hovercraft engine began whining.
"Uhh, That can't be good." Zuma said in a worried voice while glancing back at Rocky.
"No, no it is not." Rocky said seemingly unphased as his mind ran through all the possibilities of what could be wrong with the vehicle.
"Hey wocky! My lights awe going out, I think I'm losing powew!" Zuma said worriedly in a hurried voice.
"Reach under your dash and feel for a turn switch and turn it to the right, it should disable electrical steering. You're gonna have to push extra hard now without the hydraulic support." Rocky said in a fast but calm voice.
"I think it's wowking." Zuma said now in a calmer tone.
"Alright, just take it slow we're almost there." Rocky said before falling back in to his thoughts. Zuma focused back on the road as they were making their way up the driveway of the lookout, the engine was still making a horrible whining noise. Zuma drove over to his parking space and backed in before turning off his engine.
"Zuma, was there anything else besides the electricity that was different?" Rocky asked.
"No, I don't think so." Zuma said as he looked behind him towards his friend in the backseat, he saw him act the same way as he did when they were going to apologize to Chase.
"What do you think is wwong?" Zuma asked.
"I'm pretty sure I know, but I can't be sure." Rocky said as he jumped out of the hovercraft and walked around the back of it.
"Hey Zuma! Can you open the engine compartment?" Rocky yelled from behind the vehicle.
"Yeah suwe!" Zuma said as he reached down and pulled hard on a small mechanical lever causing a big panel in the back to open. Rocky pulled it open and used the hood prop to keep it open. He took a step back and looked over the engine he and Ryder had built specifically for Zuma's hovercraft, he made sure it was as easy as possible to service in case it failed during a mission so that he might be able to fix it on the spot.
"Hey Zuma, can you go into my pup house and grab a flathead screwdriver, a ratchet, and a wrench." Rocky asked as Zuma came around the back of the vehicle.
"Uhh..."
"They are labeled in my desk drawer for organizational purposes." Rocky said knowing exactly what Zuma was thinking.
"Oh okay." Zuma said as he started sprinting towards the green pup house. Zuma opened the door and stepped inside locking his eyes on Rocky's work station, he carefully stepped around the pile of stuff around the desk. He opened the big drawer in the bottom right and read the labels and picked up a wrench and a ratchet but there was no label for the screwdriver. Zuma closed the drawer and opened the smaller one above it, he looked inside but there was only a small unlabeled notebook. Zuma stared at it in disbelief, this couldn't be what he thought it was... right? Zuma hesitantly reached out and flipped over the front hardcover revealing the first page.
"Rocky's D̶i̶a̶r̶y̶ Logbook" Zuma read in his mind before quickly closing the book and slamming the drawer back closed, Zuma stood frozen staring at the closed drawer thinking about the book the line was written with in two different colors 'Rockys diary' was written in blue ballpoint whilst the line across Diary and Logbook was written with a gray pencil. He never expected Rocky of all pups to have a diary. Zuma moved his gaze and opened the big drawer on the left side of the desk and found the screwdriver Rocky needed, he quickly walked back to rocky who was inspecting something in the engine.
"Hey Wocky, I got the things you needed." Zuma said as he placed down the tools next to the open hood. Rocky immediately got to work without a word. Rocky took the screwdriver a loosened one end of an intake hose and pushed it to the side revealing the alternator, after a quick look Rocky noticed that the alternator was completely busted.
"Mhmm" Rocky quitely muttered.
"What does that mean? Do you know what's wrong with it?" Zuma asked but he received no answer. Rocky just continued on the engine, he removed the negative terminal from the battery. He then grabbed the ratchet and attached it to the tensioner pulley and pulled hard loosening the drive belt before removing it from the alternator. After that he grabbed the wrench and loosened the alternator taking it out, he inspected it closer before putting it down on the ground and closing the hood behind him.
"Alternator's busted." Rocky said.
"What?" Zuma asked confused what he meant.
"The alternator is broken, that's what is wrong with the engine."
"Oh, can you fix it?" Zuma asked looking at his friend.
"Of course I can fix it, I just need a new alternator. It's an easy fix." Rocky said as he grabbed his tool and the broken alternator and began walking back to his pup house.
"Oh Zuma grab my book." Rocky said as he was walking away. Zuma quickly jumped in to his vehicle and grabbed the plastic bag, and sprinted after the encumbered pup. Rocky struggled through his door and as he got to his desk he just dropped everything in to the pile. He picked up his tools and placed them back into their respective drawers.
"Hewe dude." Zuma said as he handed his friend his book. Rocky took it and placed it on one of his shelves.
"Alright, let's go ask Ryder if he has got a spare alternator in his garage." Rocky said looking back from his shelves.
"Okay sounds good." Zuma said as Rocky walked past him towards the door, Zuma eyed the drawer he had accidentally gone it to earlier for a second before turning and following Rocky into the lookout. As they walked through the door they saw Skye, Rubble, Marshall, and Everest watching TV, but Zuma saw something else as well.
"Hey dude look thewe." Zuma whispered pointing over towards the beanbags where the pups were sitting.
"What?" Rocky asked as he didn't see anything out of the ordinary
"Ovew thewe, eh I'll tell you later." Zuma said giving up on trying to whisper to Rocky. Both their eyes were drawn to Ryders room as the door opened as Ryder walked out.
"Ah good you're back, now everyone is here." Ryder began as he saw Rocky and Zuma just come through the door.
"Everyone can I please have your attention. After all the rescues in Adventure City I've decided that a vacation is well overdue, especially now that Chase can't participate in missions for a while. Everyone that want's to go somewhere please talk to me and I'll book train tickets to wherever. I will be visiting my parents with Chase, and if you don't wish to go anywhere else would you like to come along as well Marshall?" Ryder announced.
"U-uh yeah sure, but what about Everest?" Marshall asked.
"She can come along as well, if you don't wanna go elsewhere." Ryder asked shifting his eyes over to Everest.
"Um, yeah sure that sounds fun!" Everest said excitedly, Marshall was trying to hide his excitement as he celebrated in his head.
"Alright, and the rest of you just talk to me when you decide." Ryder finished, before heading back towards his room. Rocky quickly ran up to Ryder before he closed his door.
"Ryder, hold on." Rocky said as he came up to Ryder.
"Oh, hello Rocky, What's up." Ryder said as he turned around and faced the pup.
"I need an alternator, have you got any spare?"
"No, I don't think so." Ryder responded.
"Oh okay, can I go to the repair shop and buy one then?" Rocky asked.
"Yeah sure, I think they are closed today though. What do you need it for?" Ryder asked.
"Zuma's Hovercraft needs a new one."
"Okay, tell them to send me the bill as usual."
"Alright sounds good." Rocky said.
"Also sorry I forgot to ask you, do you wanna come along back to my parents as well?"
"I'll think about it." Rocky said.
"Okay, well we're leaving around lunch tomorrow, so get back to me before that."
"Will do." He said before Ryder closed his door and Rocky walked back to Zuma.
"Did he have a spawe uh... thing?" Zuma asked forgetting the name of the component.
"Alternator, and no we'll have to go buy one. But Ryder said they are closed today so it'll have to wait until tomorrow." Rocky said.
"But what about my pup house?" Zuma asked concerned.
"Well since your battery is basically dead you'll have to wait till tomorrow to transform your vehicle."
"*sigh* Guess I'm sleeping at youws again." Zuma said both sad that his house was inaccessible but at the same time also happy that he got to sleepover at Rocky's again.
"Yeah, I'll have to get the mattress again." Rocky said as they both went to get some food from the dispenser. They sat down in their usual spot in the corner of the room far away from any listening ears.
"Alright what was it you wanted to show me earlier?" Rocky asked as he was eating his food.
"What? Oh yeah, Mawshall and Evewest awe totally togethew." Zuma said looking at the two pups on the beanbags.
"What? Why do you say that?" Rocky asked confused as he wondered how the Lab made that connection.
"I could see how they wewe twying to hide theiw paws holding each othew befowe when we came in to the lookout." Zuma responded as he looked back at Rocky.
"Huh, I guess that is evidence enough. You're probably right." Rocky responded seemingly unphased by the revelation, much to Zuma's confusion.
"You don't seem like you cawe at all."
"Yeah I guess you could say that." Rocky said looking down at his food.
"What do you mean by that." Zuma asked curiously as he rarely heard his friend speak in such unspecific words, usually every time he spoke it was like looking straight in to his mind.
"Nothing really, I just never understood love I guess." Rocky said before taking another bite of food as if to brush off what he just said.
"What do you mean you don't undewstand love. Awe you telling me you've nevew loved anyone?" Zuma asked as he stared intently at Rocky slightly concerned.
"I guess not, not romantically at least. I don't know what it means to love, it doesn't seem to have any logic to it." Rocky stared back up at Zuma.
"*sigh*Yeah sometimes it can feel that way, you just need to listen to youw heawt."
"Listen for what?"
"When youw heawt tells you: that is the pewson you want to spend the west of youw life with."
"And how do I know that."
"Love is diffewent fow evewyone, but it's someone you feel safe awound, someone who let's you lowew youw walls and welax." Zuma said as Rocky looked down at his paws deep in thought, but this time it wasn't the emotionless face Zuma was used to. Zuma saw how his friend wasn't only thinking in ones and zeroes but now in white, black, and gray. This sudden difference made Zuma uncomfortable as his friend almost looked sad.
"Hey dude! Let's go pwepawe youw pup house" Zuma said which made Rocky snap out of it.
"Yeah, good idea." Rocky said in his usual tone as if nothing happened. They both took their bowls back to their proper place and headed back to Rocky's pup house. As they both entered Rocky walked over to his bed and opened a compartment in his bed frame that ran the entire length of his bed and pulled out a mattress the same size as his bed and placed it on the ground. He then opened the a drawer at the foot end of his bed and pulled out a pillow and a blanket.
"It's been a while since we did this dude." Zuma said as he took the blanket and pillow from Rocky.
"Yeah I don't know why we don't it more often." Rocky said as he went and sat down in his chair in front of his desk. Zuma saw rocky reach in under the desk and shortly there after there was a click and Rocky tilted his entire table top 45 degrees towards himself ending with another click. Rocky reached up and grabbed the book he had bought earlier and opened the first page. He ran his 'finger' down the table of content before stopping and turning to a page in the book with multiple pictures of a guitar and all the parts names and their functions. Rocky then placed the book on the slanted table and opened a drawer and pulled out a big empty piece of paper and a pencil, and then he was away he quickly started drawing something that Zuma couldn't see from the mattress on the floor nonetheless he sat there in amazement just looking at the pure focus on his friends face as he drew away on the big piece of paper. Every now and then Rocky would look around and pick up something from the floor and inspect it before putting it in one of his drawers. As Rocky bent down to pick something up he caught Zuma's eyes.
"Oh sorry, Am I boring you." Rocky said sincerely as he had completely forgotten Zuma was there as he was lost in his own world.
"No no, please continue." Zuma said as he was fascinated with how the pup's mind worked. Zuma could stare at Rocky for hours when he was in his focused mode and not see a single emotion, it fascinated him as he couldn't go a second without emotions lighting up his face, although Zuma could hide his true feelings, that would be behind another emotion, Rocky's face was just blank.
"Okay just wanted to make sure." Rocky said before returning to the piece of paper on his desk looking like he forgot about Zuma as soon as he looked back at the paper. After what felt like just a few minutes Zuma heard a happy sigh come from Rocky, as Zuma looked at him he saw him hold out the big paper in front of him inspecting it before he placed it back on the table. Rocky then reached under his desk and with a click he flattened the desk and placed the book back on the shelf.
"What awe you making dude?" Zuma asked getting Rocky's attention
"A guitar."
"A guitaw?! That's weally cool dude." Zuma replied
"Mhmm" Rocky quietly responded as he was never good at accepting compliments. Zuma always hated how Rocky could never be of himself without making it a joke or self derogatory.
"Actually Zuma can you put away my cap?" Rocky asked.
"Yeah suwe dude." Zuma said as Rocky took off his cap and threw it to Zuma.
"Whewe do you want it." Zuma asked as he knew rocky liked organization, even though it doesn't look like it due to the scrap pile. Zuma knew that Rocky knew exactly what was in his scrap pile and exactly where it was. He was the most organized pup he knew.
"Just kick my bedframe."
"What?" Zuma asked confused at what his friend just told him to do.
"Just do it." Rocky affirmed.
"Uhh. Okay dude." Zuma said before hesitantly kicking the bedframe causing an inline drawer opened up.
"Whooa dude, that's sick. When did you make that?" Zuma said as he looked inside the drawer at Rocky's folded spare uniform and pup pack.
"A couple of days before we left for Adventure City." Rocky answered as Zuma put the cap inside on the neatly folded uniform, Zuma closed the drawer revealing it to be almost completely seamless with the bedframe when closed. Zuma felt his stomach rumble as a looked back at Rocky.
"What time is it?" Zuma asked.
"7:22 PM" Rocky said looking at the clock made of scrap on his wall.
"Seven!? I must have fallen asleep while you wewe wowking." Zuma said again feeling his stomach.
"Dude I'm stawving I'm gonna go gwab some food, awe you coming?" Zuma asked as he stood up and began walking towards the door.
"No sorry, I wanna start this as soon as possible." Rocky said as he picked out some of the parts he had collected in the big drawer.
"Alwight, you want me to gwab somethin fow you?" Zuma asked as he knew Rocky had to be hungry.
"Yeah sure, thanks." Rocky said with a smile as he turned back around and started fiddling with the parts on his desk. As Zuma walked out towards the lookout his mind fell upon the book he had found in Rocky's drawer, for some reason he couldn't get it out of his mind. He obviously couldn't look in the book that would be completely wrong... right? As he entered the lookout he saw Marshall now sitting alone smiling to himself, Zuma decided to go grab his food and go sit with Marshall so he could be distracted from these thoughts.
"Hey, What's up Mawshall." Zuma said as he placed his bowl next to Marshall and sat down. Marshall turned his head with a smile looking at the Lab.
"Nothing much, You?" Marshall said in a happy tone.
"No, me neithew." Zuma said with silence following.
"Awe you gonna tell me what's got you so excited then." Zuma asked breaking the silence even though he already knew the answer.
"What do you mean?" Marshall asked as he hadn't realized that he had been smiling from ear to ear the whole time he sat there alone.
"Well I mean you awe a usually a giddy dally, but you don't just sit alone smiling to youwself fow no weason." Zuma asked causing Marshall to become aware of what he had been doing dropping his smile immediately.
"U-uh no reason." Marshall defended trying to get out of answering any questions.
"You suwe?"
"Y-yeah."
"Oh alwight then." Zuma said causing Marshall to sigh to himself in relief as he calmed down.
"I just thought It had something to do with you and Everest holding paws." Zuma said with a smug smile across his face. Marshall's entire body tensed up hearing the words leave Zuma's mouth.
"N-no!" Marshall accidentally yelled out loud.
"No what, it didn't happen ow that's not why." Zuma asked with a growing smile.
"T-th u-uh-"
"It's fine Mawshall I am not gonna tell anyone, I was just messing with you a little." Zuma said chuckling to himself.
"You're the worst Zuma." Marshall said playfully punching Zuma in the shoulder.
"You promise to not tell anyone?" Marshall asked now looking straight into his eyes.
"Yeah dude... although you should know that both me and Wocky saw you so."
"You gotta make him promise not to tell anyone."
"I'll see what I can do." Zuma said taking a final bite from his food and walking away from Marshall with a smile. Zuma placed his bowl back and grabbed Rocky's bowl and filled it before walking back towards the green pup house.
"Hey, dude I got you some food." Zuma said as he closed the door behind him.
"Look at this." Rocky said and turned around on his swivel chair revealing a crude-looking guitar made from many different materials and items he could recognize. Zuma doubted the quality of the guitar before Rocky strummed it sounding out a perfectly tuned hum from all the strings vibrating.
"Dude you did that way too fast." Zuma said amazed at what the Mixed Breed had accomplished during the relatively short time he had been gone.
"You wanna try it instead of just standing there staring?" Rocky asked in a confused tone as he thought the Lab was acting weird.
"Yeah obviously." Zuma said excitedly breaking out of his stare and walking over to Rocky. Rocky got out of the chair and Zuma excitedly hopped on grabbing the guitar and strumming it.
"This thing feels gweat." Zuma said as he was admiring the unique guitar.
"Mmm." Rocky mumbled in response as he shoved his face into the food bowl.
"Dude you gotta leawn to take a compliment." Zuma said looking up from the guitar at Rocky with a frown.
"Okay." Rocky said quickly wanting to avoid the subject.
"Come on dude say aftew me, Thank you Zuma I know I am supew smawt and talented."
"Thank you Zuma..." Rocky started.
"Aaannnd?" Zuma said in a long drawn-out voice.
"I know I am... smart and talented." Rocky hesitated before he sighed and finished.
"Supew smawt and talented, but close enough." Zuma said as he looked back down at the guitar. A small smile crept up on Rocky's face upon hearing the words Zuma said about him, but he quickly forced the smile away as he continued eating over the sounds of Zuma attempting to play the guitar.
"Man it's hawd to keep twack of my fingews on these stwings." Zuma said as he put down the guitar resting it against the side of the desk, he sat down on the mattress on the floor and laid down with a yawn. He put his front paws behind his head and closed his eyes.
"Hey Wocky?" Zuma asked with his eyes still closed.
"Yeah?" Rocky said as he sat down on his bed.
"Mawshall wanted me to tell you not to talk about him and Evewest to anyone." Zuma said remembering what the Dalmatian told him earlier.
"Yeah I won't, he should know by now that I don't care about some love gossip." Rocky said as he lay down on his bed.
"Yeah I think he does, I just weally fweaked him out I guess." Zuma said as he chuckled a little.
"Hey Zuma, Where are you going tomorrow?" Rocky asked.
"Imma stay hewe and catch some waves while the summew is still wawm. How about you Wocky, you gonna go with Wyder?"
"I'm not really interested in going back there and talking, I'd rather stay here with my inventions and tools. I've already called Ryder about it." Rocky said with silence following
"So you wanna hang out tomowwow then?" Zuma asked breaking the silence after a minute.
"*snore*"
"Weally dude?" Zuma said as he sat up and looked at the now fast-asleep Rocky laying on top of his blanket. Zuma just sighed and laid back down on his mattress and as time passed by he found himself slipping away into his dreams.
Sometime Later
He woke up from a knock at his door, he groaned before sitting up in his bed.
"Yeah, come in." He yelled before his door slid open revealing a bright light as the morning sun was just rising above the mountains behind the pup in his doorway.
"Chase, can we talk for a second?" Rubble asked closing the door behind him.
"Yeah of course." Chase said
"I just needed to apologize before I caught my train." Rubble said as he didn't want Chase on his mind the whole vacation.
"No, it's all good. I overreacted, it's not that big of a deal."
"So are we good?" Rubble asked sincerely.
"Yeah of course, I couldn't stay mad at you little guy." Chase said as Rubble was the youngest pup on the team.
"Thanks man I'm glad I talked to you, but I gotta catch my train." Rubble said as he started walking towards the door of the pup house.
"Hold on, have you seen Skye?" Chase asked.
"Yeah she has already left, sorry I really gotta go." Rubble said in a hurried voice.
"Oh Okay. Have fun on your vacation." Chase said in a saddened voice as he had hoped Skye would come to speak to him before she left as he could not leave his bed without help, and he didn't want Marshall listening in on his conversation with Skye.
"Maybe she hates me for what I did to Marshall" Chase thought to himself as Rubble quickly walked out and closed the door behind him. Rubble sprinted towards his bulldozer, he quickly started it and with a loud roaring engine he was off towards the train station.
Zuma woke up from a loud roaring sound as he opened his eyes as the sound was quickly going further and further away slowly being replaced by the sound of... a guitar? Zuma turned over to see Rocky sitting in his swivel chair with his back paws propped up on the desk as he was reading the book about guitars while playing a simple melody on the guitar.
"Dude awe you suwe you haven't played guitaw befowe?" Zuma said in a hoarse voice as he had just woken up. Rocky looked away from his book and down at Zuma while he was still playing the guitar.
"Yeah, why?" Rocky asked as he was confused by the sudden question.
"You wewe litewally weading a book and playing the guitaw, and now youw talking to me and doing it." Zuma said as he sat up on the mattress.
"Well yeah I told you it's just simple instructions, it's like walking just take it step by step and you'll be fine." Rocky explained simply as he didn't understand what Zuma was talking about.
"Fow a pup that can't take a compliment you suwe as hell can bwag." Zuma said chuckling at the apparently clueless Mixed Breed.
"You wanna go replace your alternator?" Rocky asked as he didn't have anything else to do as he had woken up way earlier and was just waiting for Zuma to wake up.
"Yes! I want my stuff back." Zuma said as he excitedly stood up and started walking towards the door with Rocky following behind. Rocky transformed his truck and they both hopped in.
After some time of chatting they arrived at the repair shop that was almost on the other side of the town. Zuma looked up at the building as he jumped out of the vehicle and saw a sign that read SwiftShift Auto Repair. Rocky walked in through an open garage door followed by Zuma, he walked toward a counter where a younger man was sitting with his feet on the counter and his eyes looking at his phone. The man heard the two pups walking and looked up at them.
"Heyy! Rocky what's up man." The man said as he stood up and walked around the counter.
"Hey Matt! Nothin' much, You?" Rocky asked.
"Nah, slow day so far. You lookin' for some parts?"
"Yeah I've got a busted alternator 'needs replacing."
"What strength we talkin'?" Matt asked as he and Rocky began walking, Zuma was very surprised at how quickly Rocky's way of speaking changed as soon as he started talking to Matt.
"'Need a one thirty." Rocky responded.
"DB as usual?" Matt asked as he reached for a small box on a shelf.
"You know it, best there is." Rocky confidently replied
"Alright, Ryders account as usual?" Matt asked as he placed the box in a bag and handed it to Rocky.
"Yep."
"Alright, pleasure doing business with ya, take care."
"You too." Rocky said as he and Zuma began heading for the exit.
"What was all that?" Zuma asked in confusion over Rocky's sudden change of vocabulary.
"What do you mean?" Rocky asked in confusion, he had gone back to his usual way of speaking again.
"You wewe speaking completely diffewent just a second ago with that Matt dude." Zuma said.
"Oh uh, I guess I was." Rocky said thinking back on the interaction.
"You'we weiwd dude." Zuma said as he started laughing, causing Rocky to laugh as well as they were walking back to his truck. Rocky was driving and chatting with Zuma who was resting his head on the side of the truck looking at the buildings pass by as they drove through the town. Zuma spotted a familiar store Harmony House Instruments But there was a sign on the window that wasn't there before Instruments for dogs and pups.
"I guess he got some instruments for dogs now." Zuma thought to himself, the store disappearing out of view as Rocky turned and started driving up the bridge. As they reached the lookout again Zuma excitedly jumped out and sprinted toward his Hovercraft while Rocky went and grabbed his tools. Rocky was out of his pup house a short time later now carrying the alternator and his tools. He opened the hood of the hovercraft and quickly went to work, He cleaned up the connection where the alternator was mounted to make sure it would be properly grounded. He then picked up the alternator and fastened it with his wrench before plugging it back in. He then grabbed the screwdriver and reattached the loose end of the intake hose, he grabbed his ratchet and pulled it to loosen the drive belt making him able to place it back on the alternator and then finally replugging the negative terminal on the battery. Rocky closed the hood with a slam making sure it was properly closed before turning around and facing Zuma.
"There we go all done, you should still have enough power to start the engine." Rocky said.
"Yes!" Zuma cheered with a smile as he jumped in his hovercraft and turned it on hearing his engine roar to life beautifully. Zuma drove it around the lookout once before parking again next to where Rocky was standing, Zuma hopped out of the vehicle and transformed it into his pup house before walking inside for a minute to look around. Zuma came out with a happy smile on his face being very happy about having all his things back.
"So what now?" Rocky asked as he had no idea of what else to do today.
"Well I don't know about you but I'm getting weally hungwy, it's basically lunchtime."
"Yeah now that you mention it, I am hungry too. Let's go grab some food." Rocky said as he began walking to the lookout.
"Yeah definitely." Zuma said as he followed his friend. Just as they were arriving at the lookout door it opened revealing Ryder, Chase, Everest and Marshall walking out.
"Oh good there you are." Ryder said as the rest of the pups walked past Rocky and Zuma.
"Me and the rest are leaving now, are you guys sure you want to stay here alone?" Ryder continued.
"Yeah wewe good Wyder." Zuma answered with a smile.
"Okay just making sure." Ryder said as he bent down and pulled both pups in for a hug. Zuma felt warm as he was embraced by Ryder alongside Rocky. Zuma always enjoyed hugs but something was different about this one, but before he could think about it more it was over.
"Wow Ryder really knows how to make a hug special." Zuma thought to himself.
"Alright pup's take care, me and the rest have a train to catch." Ryder said as he caught up to the rest of the pups who were walking towards the train station.
"Why awe they walking instead of dwiving?" Zuma asked himself quietly.
"To avoid parking fees." Rocky answered having heard the Labs question.
"Oh, that makes sense. Anyways I'm starving, I need food wight now." Zuma said as he ran inside followed by Rocky at a walking pace.
Ryder, Marshall, Everest, and Chase were walking and they were just about at the train station. Chase had insisted on walking with Marshall's support the whole way but Ryder carried him all the way anyways. Chase was finally allowed to stand once they reached the train station where they were waiting for the train to arrive alongside some other citizens of Adventure Bay. Chase was sitting next to Ryder as he was looking around the area, Chase saw Marshall and Everest sitting a few benches away from him and Ryder, giggling about something.
"They are definitely together, I don't care what Marshall tries to convince me of." Chase thought to himself as he heard the tracks start vibrating, he looked to his left and saw the train coming towards the station.
"Ryder, the train is here." Chase said as Ryder was busy looking at something else and failed to hear the train.
"Thanks Chase." Ryder said and scratched Chase in the back of his head.
"Marshall! Everest! Train's coming, come here." Ryder yelled to the faraway pups. They quickly came running over, as they got there the train stopped by the platform and shortly thereafter the doors opened. Only a handful of people got off and even fewer got on, the group found four seats and sat down. Chase sat down next to the window and Ryder next to him, Everest and Marshall sat down across from them with a small table between them. Chase could hear Everest and Marshall talking as he rested his head against the window, looking outside he saw the now gray sky. As the train started moving Chase looked at the trees quickly passing by outside his window. Ryder looked over at the sad-looking pup by the window.
"Don't worry buddy I know exactly what you need, just hold on for a few more hours." Ryder thought to himself before he heard a little snore come from the police pup.