//------------------------------// // Puppy Love // Story: My Little Universe // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// While summer was usually the main time for sunshine, clear skies and calming waves. As with everything, a little rain must fall ... Literally. For that night back at Steven's house, thunderstorms were forecasted, giving freshwater rain to Beach City. It'd been a rather uneventful evening, though they'd kept themselves busy with other activities as of late. For the moment, even right before bed, Steven was a bit up and about thanks to the thundering storm going on just outside. He kept himself busy with some late-night reading, looking over some of the Daring Do books he'd got thanks to Twilight and Rainbow. The only other thing with him for the moment was Lion, who was already fast asleep at the foot of his bed. After going through the latest chapter for the night, Steven placed the book by the side of his bed, next to his alarm clock, before looking outside as he heard another thundering boom from the night storm. Looking out, he couldn't see very much on what was outside, though he did see one thing: the sparkling water wings of Lapis Lazuli. It wasn't the first time Steven saw Lapis outside in the rain since first meeting her, and he knew she'll be back inside at some point. For Lapis, being a water Gem, the feel of the rain was refreshing after a long time of sun, especially on her water wings. Like a bird drying his wings, but only in reverse, Lapis took in the water in her wings with a smile, refreshing smile. Steven, although not seeing her too well, could tell that Lapis was enjoying it, and didn't want to bug her on it. So, with a tired yawn, Steven got under his covers, and went right off to sleep. As for Lapis Lazuli outside, she felt ready to head in after a few more minutes, her body soaking wet from the fresh rain. While it would annoy some people, Lapis felt pretty good with it, adding the rain to her water wings before beginning to go inside. Lapis went back in with her body refreshed. Upon entering, Lapis made sure to dry off; the water entering her Gemstone, before heading off back to her room. Steven wasn't awakened by Lapis' entrance, so, nothing really seemed to be bothering, as the night storm raged on ... For the next morning, the storm had passed through the coast, and Steven woke up to a nice morning. Lion was still by the foot of his bed still asleep, even with the sun shining in his face. Steven still felt ready for the day and did his usual morning routine. After finishing up, and getting dressed, Steven happily went off outside. He didn't have very much to do today, so, he figured a visit to the Big Donut for a morning cookie cat. "Good morning world!" Steven called, breathing in the morning air. After putting on his dry sandals, he went right out to the beach, humming a little tune as he went off down the coast. As he went, however, he was whistling his tune when, all of a sudden, something fell on his head from above him. It was nothing more than a rock, though after he picked it up, another rock fell down on his head. Steven looked up from his spot, thinking it might be an annoying seagull or something, but something else showed up. It was hard to tell, but he could've sworn he saw a sort of canine up on the side of the cliff! He heard some barks, and howls from where he was, just loud enough so he could hear. Steven couldn't believe it! After just a minute, Steven got the Gems outside, looking up to see the small pup on the side of the cliff, obviously stuck. It was too high up for the dog to climb up, and too steep for him to get himself down. As for help, Steven quickly got the only Gem that can get up there easily: Lapis Lazuli. "Up there, look!" Steven said, pointing up to the dog on the cliff. "Oh my. Don't worry, I'll get him," Lapis said. Her water wings came out of her Gem, and she immediately started flying up the cliff towards the dog. The little canine wagged his tail on seeing some help, as Lapis got to the cliff where the dog got himself stuck. When she got there, she got a better view of the dog. The dog had white fur, soaking wet from the night storm, about the average size of a large dog. However, some details made the pooch different from normal dogs. For example, its right leg and right ear were actually a sky blue. And once more, on the forehead, Lapis saw something amazing ... A Gemstone! The gem was in the shape of a diamond, shining in the light. Lapis couldn't believe her eyes! "Lapis! Is he okay?!" Steven called from the beach, reminding Lapis what she was doing. "I think so," Lapis called back. The dog barked down to the ground before Lapis tried to go for him. With a gentle hold, Lapis began to carry the dog back down, safely down onto the sandy beach. The dog was happy to be on the ground, running around the place for a bit. His fur was wet, and slightly dirty, though the pup was happy none-the-less that he was down from the cliff face. Still, the Gemstone on the dog's head was something worth noting. Sure, it was kind of understandable with Steven being a half-Gem, but a dog with a gemstone? The pup sat down, panting, looking to his saviors with the Gemstone shining back at them. It had a dull blue color to it, and reflected their faces as they looked it over a little closely. It was obviously indented into the dog's cranium, no signs of any transplant, surgery, or it simply being glued or painted in. The dog was a bit confused by their behavior, and the two were so distracted, they didn't even hear someone come over. "Looking at something, you two?" The two turned around to see Garnet standing there, revealing the dog sitting in between them. Garnet didn't need any more time to see the Gemstone on the dog's forehead looking back at her. Intrigued, Garnet kneeled down to get a better look, going as far as to even remove her shades to get a clear view, in case the shades were messing with her eyes for the moment. On her face, the Gem had not two, but three eyes, much to the pup's shock. It was enough to make the puppy back up, Garnet taking the view in of this dog with a Gemstone on its forehead. "Where'd he come from?" "We found him on that cliff up there, must've fell during the storm," Lapis said, pointing up to where Lapis got the pooch. The dog got back up, panting again, as he scratched his light blue ear with his back leg. As Garnet was thinking on what to do, the other Gems then noticed them outside with the dog and came out to see for themselves. "What's going on over here?" Amethyst asked. "We got a situation," Garnet said, pointing to the pup. They were surprised to see the Gemstone on his head. "Is that ... a gem?" Pearl wondered, touching the dog's gemstone. Upon doing so though, the dog suddenly yelped, moving away, and scratching the Gem as if he'd just got a headache. Many of the Gems weren't sure what to do about this sudden new pup showing up, as the puppy stopped after a bit, saw his tail, and tried to catch it. However, Steven immediately got an idea, starts in his eyes as he looked to him. "Can we keep him? PLEASE?!" "No," Garnet said, almost immediately. "AWW, why not?" "Steven, I seen many people taking care of dogs for thousands of years. It takes a lot of work, lot of care, and we already have plenty to do as it is," Pearl explained, as the dog nearby stopped spinning after his own tail, dizzy enough to fall in the sand. "I can take care of him, really! I took care of Lion." "Steven, Lion is uh ... more self-reliant, than a dog is. Compared with all of the missions we have to do; we don't have much time to take care of a dog." "But we can't just leave him, look at him," Steven said, hugging the dog as the dog licked Steven's face in response. Even if the dog was half-Gem, they couldn't just ditch the pup but, they couldn't keep him either with what they do anyway. "He's got a point there, guys. He doesn't have a collar, or anyway to say who he belongs to. We can at least keep him until we figure out who the owner is," Lapis said. The others looked to the pooch, Steven not letting him go. It seemed only reasonable for the dog to stick around, at least until the owners were found... Next thing they knew, the dog was inside the Beach House, sitting in the empty bathtub, with Steven, and Lapis around him. First order of business for the dog: cleaning the dog. Lion was watching from up in Steven's bedroom, not expecting a dog to be in the house. With his messy fur, although short, was covered in sea salt, rain, dirt and sand. For the first minute or so, it was a bit of a task to get the pup clean, the task left for Lapis and Pearl to do, while the others waited outside the bathroom. Lapis, because of her water-qualities, and Pearl, for her talent for cleaning up. The pup waited for something to happen. "Okay, stay still," Lapis encouraged, as Pearl turned on the water. However, the water didn't turn hot right away, ice cold water immediately going on the dog's head. he tried to get out, but Lapis and Pearl tried to keep him still. Eventually, the pup wiggled free, and hopped out of the bathtub. "Back in the tub," Pearl demanded angrily. However, he didn't want to get in the tub with such cold water. Pearl tried to get the pup into the tub again, but he wasn't going to cooperate, shaking himself free from her grip. Time and time again, he kept on causing trouble for Pearl, her anger boiling. "In the tub!" Pearl yelled, picking him up and ready to throw him in the tub! "Pearl, stop! Let me try," Lapis insisted. Pearl, angry, just settled the dog on the floor, and Lapis tried her best. "Come on, it's okay," Lapis insisted. However, the pup refused to move, giving Lapis a bit of a cold shoulder. Lapis stayed calm, though didn't appreciate the tone. "Please, just get in the tub for a few minutes," Lapis said, being friendly to the dog. The dog instead turned around, and had his back to Lapis. Both of the Gems were starting to lose their patience with him, Pearl turning the water to hot rather than cold. "Now try it," Lapis said, the dog seeing the steam from the water. the dog tested the water with his front paw, only to find the water boiling hot! It didn't help the mutt out. Both girls got hold of the mutt, and tried to push him into the water, but the dog got his legs fixated on the rim of the tub, robust and sturdy, too firm to move. After Pearl and Lapis tried pushing the dog in the water. Suddenly, the dog bolted up, the two gems falling forward into the tub, and the mutt landing on the bathroom floor as the two were wet in the tub together. They couldn't tell, but it sounded as if the dog was laughing at them in a doggy way. They both had enough of this. "You want to play, huh?" Lapis groaned. Lapis, rather than getting the dog to the bath, worked her water wings so the bath would come to the dog. However, that was quickly forfeited when the dog did something else. He did jump into the tub, but he grabbed the showerhead with his teeth, and blasted the cold water at Pearl and Lapis, full blast. they both ended up on the floor, soaking wet, but they didn't give up. From outside in the main room, it sounded like a fight was going on in there, banging coming up time and time again. Steven, Amethyst and Lion were watching Steven's TV, feeling the bangs from the bathroom under them. That went on for a few more minutes until, finally, the three got out of the bathroom. Pearl and Lapis were soaked, head to toe, as the pup came out squeaky clean, all dry. The two, by the look on their faces, didn't had any fun time ... Next came the second objective: feeding him. None of them really fed a dog before, so, they didn't have much answer at first. Steven ended up pacing back and forth thinking on what a dog needed for food. The Gem hound waited for some food to eat, feeling his stomach rumble, and his empty bowl in front of him. "Okay, let see ... What do dogs like to eat?" Steven wondered, trying to think. The pup waited for a bit, wagging his tail eagerly. The other Gems thought for a moment before they figured anything out. First one to come up with something was Pearl, as she got the bowl, and began to make some food for the dog. Despite the whole bath thing, at least feeding didn't sound like too much trouble ... maybe ... "Now let's see ... potassium ... some of this for calcium ... some iron ... and there you go!" Pearl, of all the nerve, placed a bowl full of leaves, chalk, and some nuts (and not the seed kind). The dog had a look of bewilderment, that anyone in the right mind would actually consume this stuff ... "Food of high vitamin, for a healthy growing animal," Pearl said, proud ... The initial response was the bowl being chucked at her head. While funny to look at, it was clear the dog wasn't that desperate for food, especially if it involved bolts and lettuce leaves. Next one to try it was Amethyst. "You kidding me, dogs don't eat that kind of stuff! You said you saw people take care of them, didn't you?" Amethyst said. "Not too much! Like you know any better anyway!" "Yes. I do." Next thing they knew, the dog's empty bowl was filled with a garbage bag Amethyst got from the dumpster. The garbage was full of tin cans, rotten fruit, and who knows what else. Seriously? The dog backed away, a bit scared, as the others tried to get the smell out of their noses. "You can't feed a dog trash!" Pearl snapped, pinching her nose so she wouldn't smell it. "What, I see dogs eat from garbage cans before, obviously there is something they eat in there!" The dog's response from that was getting the garbage in the bag, grabbing the end with his teeth, and throwing the garbage bag at Amethyst. While amethyst was in the right direction on that, there are limits. While Pearl and Amethyst had to deal with the garbage, the dog waited for something else to be fed to him and see if it's actually tangible. Lion, among the others, was starting to get a bit annoyed with this pooch. For one thing, he's a dog ... go figure. And second, he hadn't been in this place for more than an hour, and he'd already caused a battle in the bathroom, and was getting picky over food. Next one to try: Fulgurite. Among the arguing, she saw the skeleton of a fish in there, and thought that's what the dog can eat. "Hold on, I got an idea, be right back!" Fulgurite said, getting up, and going outside. After a little bit, Fulgurite came back. She was a little wet, but she had a live, shaking sea bass in her grip. "Try this, pup!" Fulgurite insisted, forgetting for the second Lapis was there. The dog found the fish a little more tangible than the other option, but he'd prefer an already dead fish at the least, not only that still had fight in it. in fact, the fish kept whacking the dog every time it tried a bite. Soon, Lapis had enough of it, taking the fish away from Fulgurite. "Are you mad, you're not feeding him a living fish!" Lapis yelled, getting the fish in her water wings so it can breathe. "Why not, I'm sure this dog has eaten at least one fish." "No!" Lapis retorted, keeping the fish away from her. Fulgurite, though, tried to get the fish with her hair grip, though it wasn't easy. Seeing all this, the Gem dog laid down, not any closer to any meal. They tried a live fish, garbage, and whatever the heck Pearl was thinking, but nothing seemed to really come through too well. Finally, Lion had enough of their fails, and decided to work out in his own paws. After a little bit, the dog was suddenly barking, getting everyone to be quiet, and look over. Lion then dropped an open back of Steven's potato chips, which the Gem dog happily took over what everyone else had to offer. not the exact food for a dog, but at least he's eating something. When the dog was finished, the bag was still on the dog's muzzle, which was quickly shaken free. ~~~~~~ For the whole day, things were pretty much busy when it came to the dog, and what they had to do. While feeding was handled with less difficulty, and bath time was out of the question, the next main thing that Steven worked out was making signs for whoever the owner was for the dog and put them around town. Steven was in charge of that, the others a bit busy cleaning up the mess Amethyst brought in with the garbage. Along with that, since they needed the dog out for a bit, they got Steven to get the dog for his walk. Course, the dog didn't fancy the collar and leash attachment, though at least he can roam around a little bit. So far, his stops around town were pretty enjoyable, and the dog didn't try anything crazy. As night approached, Steven had put up about fifty different posters around town with the picture of the dog, the dog in question enjoying the walk around town without much trouble. Upon their return, the place was cleaned up, mostly by Pearl, and for the moment no one was there except for Lion, who was resting on the couch when Steven came back. Steven was tired, giving a yawn, as the dog got the collar and leash off himself, sticking his paw to open the collar wide enough to get his head out. He'd done that while they were walking if he knew where else to go. "We're back, Lion," Steven yawn, heading upstairs to his bed as the pooch sat down by Lion. The pink cat didn't bother too much with the Dog, as the pup sniffed near his face. Lion shook his head, the mane ruffling against the Dog's body to get him to back up. Steven went right off to bed, getting his PJs on, and got himself to bed. Lion went over to the bed, laying by the foot of it. While Steven needed stairs, Lion just needed a reach, and pulled himself up to the second floor. The dog got himself up the stairs, as Steven went to sleep. Even after an hour, the dog didn't feel tired yet, and still wanted to play. While Steven was sleeping, the dog nuzzled his face to wake him up. "No, no, time for bed," Steven said, turning away. all the dog did was move around the bed, and tried to wake him up again Steven groaned, and turned away again. Before the dog could try again, he looked outside through the window, seeing some birds going around the night sky. He also looked to the beach, seeing some odd bit of something there too. You can guess what the dog did for most of the night ... ~~~~~~ Next morning, the dog was finally found asleep, and quiet. However, by the look on Steven's face, it wasn't for a long time. Steven's eyes had the pure look of exhaustion on them, as the tired kid crawled out of bed. Lion was no better off, giving a good lion yawn from a rough night thanks to the dog. When the Gems started to come through, they easily saw Lion and Steven both trying to wake themselves up, the dog sound asleep for the moment. "Gees, you alright dude? What's with your eyes?" Amethyst asked. "The dog kept us up all night," Steven replied tiredly, with Lion giving a tired moan, before going asleep himself. Even if Steven wanted to keep the dog, he wasn't so sure anymore. At least there was a moment that it was quiet enough that it wasn't too much trouble. "Don't worry Steven, I'm sure someone will call, and have him back home soon," Lapis encouraged. Though, she hoped someone was going to call, and get the dog a better home than where he was for the moment. If that kind of drama yesterday was going to be a regular, then it might not be something anyone can get used to by this point. While everyone was simply going through their morning, the dog actually did wake up at a point, looking outside from Steven's window. At first, it seemed a little bit calm, but the dog, all of a sudden, began to bark up a storm, waking up the tired Lion and Steven. As if a full night of barking wasn't bad enough, they had to deal with morning barking. "Someone shut him up!" Amethyst said, covering her ears while the dog kept barking like mad, trying to get their attention to outside. Lion growled, his paws over his own ears as the Dog went to the door, trying to open it. "We'll let you out later," Lapis assured through gritted teeth. The dog growled, seeing they're not getting the hint. Garnet, the only one not annoyed by the barking, looked where the dog was trying to get their attention to. When Garnet looked out, she quickly saw what the dog was barking at just outside. Sighing, Garnet opened the door, the dog rushing outside seconds after. Garnet then moved outside, and saw what the Dog was getting their attention for ... "Gems! Outside, now!" Garnet said, getting the others up, and they then saw the dog begin to dig in the sand. The place the Dog was digging was, to their own surprise, glowing! It wasn't over-the-top, giant beamer light, but more of a small glow, just enough for it to be noticeable from where they were. While most of them were curious, Steven was a little too tired to notice at first. Soon, the Gem hound dug up what was causing the glow, and picked it up with his teeth, bringing it over like it was a ball or a stick. What he really got in his mouth. looked like a sort of egg-shaped object, a little bigger and rounder than an actual egg. As for color, it was a bit wavy in colors, like when someone would smear colors together, but not enough for a true mix color. The colors they saw looked like a mix of blues, purples, greens and whites. The glowing parts were the areas of pure white, the other colors remaining inactive comparing. The dog sat down in front of the other Gems, tail wagging, and set the object down gently on the ground in front of them. "What's that?" Steven asked, though his enthusiasm wasn't as high as it was normally, rubbing his eye from the light. Garnet picked up the thing, unsure of it herself. None of the gems ever saw anything like it before, as the Dog simply barked happily on finding it. "Not sure," replied Garnet, looking it over. The dog gave it a quick sniff, and all of a sudden, he took off! None of them knew why he raced away, but the dog didn't go far before he started to sniff the ground again. It was a little bit out of nowhere for the time being, but, the Gems more focused on the object the dog already brought rather than what the dog was still doing. Before they could even go inside, suddenly the pooch ended up barking loud again. When they saw him, he was trying to pull something out of the sand, pulling and yanking until it got free. The object he got that time looked similar to the first, only in a larger disk shape, with a few indents in it. That time, Lapis flew over, and got the disk piece from the dog too. The other Gems went over, looking at the disk piece, realizing that the glass egg actually fit inside the indents. Before they even reacted, the dog was already at another spot on the beach, barking for them. "How's he doing that? Gems don't have any scent to them," Pearl wondered. "Being half Gem, probably. You think there's more parts on this beach?" Fulgurite added in. "We're going to find out." After a few minutes, the dog had been running up and down the beach, digging up other objects that matched up to the previous items. Throughout the morning, the dog gathered up about five other eggs, a pointed robe like piece, and a much larger, half-cut rounded piece about as big as a volleyball. After getting everything together, and with Fulgurite getting the whole thing put together properly, it looked like some odd sort of odd artifact, or some weird plant made of glass. The dog sat down by Lion, who was still asleep from a whole night of barking. They didn't know how the thing worked, how it got there, or why the dog got them in the first place. Either way, it was there, it was put together, and nothing seemed to happen apart from the glowing one egg piece. "So ... now what?" "Hold on, maybe it's not on," Fulgurite pointed out. Apart from the one part, the object didn't look anything but active. Nothing seemed to give it any power source either, but, Fulgurite decided to try her own power to it, her hair stretching, connecting to two of the eggs on the object. Soon, electricity suddenly flowed into the object, and it quickly began to become more active, white light signifying the energy in it. Soon, all six egg objects glowed bright, and the rode piece suddenly shot something out. It didn't harm anything, and instead showed a sort of hologram. The hologram itself showed, yet, another Gem! At least, it appeared to be, the exact appearance of it harder to tell. Captain's log: Our establishments on earth had gone far worse than any of us had expected. It started off fair enough, but recently, it began to act more, and more viable, to the point where we can't even make any more Gems off of it. We're still able to make more here at Home, but we're unsure of what to do about Earth at this point. I'll update this once we've come up with a solution. End log. After that, the message was basically blank, as Fulgurite removed her hair from it, as such, stopping power. It was clear it involved the Gems somehow, though what exactly that meant was still up for debate. Nearby, the dog went over in between Steven and Amethyst, sitting down in sight of them all. "What was she talking about?" "We'll work it out," Garnet said, looking to the dog in question, kneeling down. The dog was a little calmer when Garnet rubbed the dog's head. "Good dog," Garnet said. He happily replied with a good lick on her face. Garnet didn't expect the lick, but, she took it anyway. Without the dog getting it in the first place, they would've never known a message from another Gem was right under their feet... Seemed he was gonna stick around for a while longer.