CHAPTER 1 – Great minds think alike
The old, vintage electronic clock on the beige, paint-decaying wall ticked, seemingly endlessly, as it created a beat that put alumni in a trance of sleepiness. Students from all across the classroom groaned and some even slept, as they very patiently waited for their teacher to begin the class session. But while these students were zoned off, even sleeping, there was one student who wasn’t... In fact, this student wasn’t even in the classroom at the moment... She was 5 miles away and running as fast as she could to avoid being late. Her ears flapped rapidly in the air as she sprinted through her middle-class neighborhood filled with white-painted houses.
She panted rapidly as time felt like it was flying by, she was gonna be dead if her mom found out she was late yet again. She panted heavily as she ran rapidly. “Nonono I can’t be late again!” She switched her focus to her wrist for a limited time, where her watch was located. She then checked the time. “Fuck, it’s 7:25!” She thought. She had to be there by 7:30, and although her succession seemed like unlikely, she didn’t give up. She was one hopeful puppygirl.
As time progressed, and she ran through a seemingly endless neighborhood, she had almost reached her school. She had to run incredibly fast and could barely feel her legs, but she was nearing the entrance. She stopped to rest for a little and then slowly began walking into the entrance, until she was stopped by a very attractive, deep masculine voice...
“Hey, you look like you’ve been through a rainstorm... Lemme help you with that.” The voice said. Lulu looked behind her and to her surprise, it was someone she didn’t even expect would notice her. Someone she and all the other girls in school fangirl over. It was her crush, Marcus. Lulu blushed as soon as she recognized Marcus and tried her best not to scream from excitement. Marcus noticed this and smirked. “Heh, calm down, I like helping those in a situation like yours. You can’t just enter class looking like you just got out of a hot tub. Wait people don’t go into hot tubs with all their clothes on like that... Ah, forget it!” Marcus said, Lulu listening to every word he’s saying and trying to respond. Marcus proceeded to grab a small towel out of his bag and began wiping Lulu’s sweat off.
“Y-You’re Marcus!! Marcus Crowley, deerboy and leader of the theater club!” Lulu said rapidly from a rush of excitement, almost stimming. Marcus smirked yet again from the excited reaction he received. He loved making his fangirls excited like this. He flexed his antlers, giving Lulu many views of them. Lulu blushed from the sight of them. “Mhm, that’s me... How’d ya know?” Marcus asked, trying to sound nonchalant. “Everyone knows you!! Literally it’s like, such a blessing to even be near you!!” Lulu said from excitement. Marcus continued wiping Lulu’s forehead and hair until he slowly stopped. “Calm down puppy... I’m just a good actor, please don’t idolize me. You puppies are adorable, it’s so easy to excite you...” Marcus said, teasing Lulu in a way.
“B-But you’re practically famous!! And who wouldn’t get excited when talking to someone like y-“ Lulu’s high-pitched and raspy voice was interrupted by the loud ring of the school bell. Period 1 had begun, and Lulu was gonna be late. Marcus had extra time, due to him being a part of theater club. “Well, it’s time to head to your class now puppy... I’ll see you some other time, or not, fate shall decide...” Marcus said in his casual passionate tone as he waved Lulu goodbye slowly. And although Lulu was late, she didn’t care, her crush just had a conversation with her for the very first time ever and she couldn’t be more excited.
Lulu slowly walked into her classroom, which was a history class. But to her surprise, the teacher wasn’t here yet and she was 5 minutes late. Lulu slowly settled into her seat, which was right next to an empty one. Time floated by, and eventually the teacher, Mr. Greenpaws walked in. The humanoid but furry 33 year-old instructor settled in. “I see we’re all full of energy today!” He exclaimed jokingly. Except no one batted even the slightest grin, you could even hear crickets. “Alrighty then, you all know the drill by now, notebooks, I wanna see them out! Turn to unit 7, lesson 3! We’re taking notes today!” Greenpaws instructed. The entire classroom sighed as they barely managed to take out their notebooks, some not even following direction. “Ey! To those of you sleeping! Just know that grades are due this Friday!” Greenpaws announced as he flipped through his own textbook to the lesson page.
But as the whole class was bored and near asleep, there was one girl who was actually actively participating in the class... A girl with a love for learning, and in history in particular... A girl who took inspiration from the past and used those elements in her own works of fiction... A girl with a fascination and love for the world she lives in... A girl with the personality of a cat, a girl named Noelle... Noelle took out her notebook and quickly flipped through her pages, some filled filled with notes, and others filled with romantic drawings of her and Marcus together... She loved Marcus, and she longed to be with him. But she eventually got to the current page.
“So class, if you’ve been following along, which you SHOULD BE, you should see that last time we covered the ancient battle of Pupily, which was the battle that ultimately decided victory for the ancient puppies against the ancient feline empire. But today we’re taking a break from conflict, and I thought that since Valentine’s day is this Friday, we’d cover an ancient legend...” Greenpaws rambled on, but Noelle began daydreaming upon hearing the words “Valentine’s day”. Romantic thoughts immediately filled her head, she fantasized about her and Marcus dancing together on a warm Valentine’s day night.
Greenpaws pulled out a pink, glowing rock with even brighter hot pink and glowing cracks. Smoke came out of the cracks slowly. “Ah, if only I had the real thing... But listen up class! Look at this right here! This right here is a Rockmance! It’s a word play on rock and romance.” Greenpaws said as he proudly displayed his own replica of a rockmance. Noelle instantly stared at it with wide eyes, being captivated by it’s beautiful features and glow. “Many civilizations across ancient Pawnomia believed that finding this rock, would bless them with a very specific wish: The wish that grants them a lifelong and strong romantic relationship with their chosen lover. It is still uncomfired if this genuinely existed or not, but this has had an impact on civilizations for sure... Even then, historians still believe in it’s existence while others doubt it. What do you think? I want you to write me an essay on whether you believe this is real or not, you have the rest of the period, go!” Greenpaws instructed, he opened his book and continued reading it. Meanwhile, Noelle was fascinated and filled with excitement, the mere thought of her finding this rock and gaining Marcus’ love immediately captivated her. She immediately began doodling her finding this rock and wishing for Marcus, completely forgetting about the work she was assigned.
“Rockmance, huh? Well this sounds sound like one of those myths ancient people believed in mindlessly... But it’d be nice if it was real, that way I can get with my babe Marcus...” Lulu thought, immediately getting to work on her essay, she didn’t want to procrastinate this, especially considering this was an essay.
An hour flew by and the bell had just rung. Lulu was ready to go home, and Noelle still had all her supplies on her desk. In a rush, she stuffed everything into her bag and has to carry her papers on her hands. These were the same papers in which she had drawn her and Marcus together. On the way out, Noelle ran straight into wall, making her papers fly everywhere. Lulu noticed this and decided to help.
Noelle noticed Lulu approaching to help her pick up the papers and began panicking. She attempted to grab them even faster to avoid Lulu seeing her drawings which would humiliate her, but instead ended up spreading them more and making a bigger mess. “Woah there, I’ll help you don’t worry, I know what this is like. . “ Lulu said as she bent down and grabbed some of the papers. “Nono it’s fine!! Don’t make me cause you to be late! I got this, just don’t worry about me...” Noelle said desperately, trying to make Lulu go away. “My class is next door don’t worry, plus I have 4 minutes!” Lulu said with a smile.
Noelle tried to pick up her papers before Lulu only to be stopped by her. “Hey, why don’t you want me to help??” Lulu said with an annoyed tone, as she grabbed one of the papers. She took a good look at it and was surprised to see Noelle’s art.
“Hehe...” Noelle said with a nervous smile.
CHAPTER 2 – That boy is mine!
“Wh… What?!” Lulu’s expression dramatically shifted from a happy and calm one to a furious and confused one targeted at Noelle. Noelle was confused due to Lulu’s sudden reaction but she was mainly embarrassed, her private drawings did just get seen by another soul. “Y-You weren’t supposed to see that! J-Just go...” Noelle said desperately, trying her best to avoid any conflict with Lulu. But this wasn’t enough. “Oh I know, but I saw your little fantasies...Trying to take MY man?? I think it’s best you find another man honey, cuz you aren’t taking my man bitch!” Lulu said in a sassy tone. Noelle’s embarrassment slowly disappeared, and it was replaced with anger... Another girl just told her to stop loving Marcus! She was not going to take this lightly...
“Hey watch your tone you whore, aren’t you puppygirls drooling over like twenty men simultaneously?? I only have one crush bitch, unlike you...” Noelle responded in a slightly sassy but mostly angered tone. Now, Lulu has only had one boyfriend in the past and she was the one who got cheated on, so this comment deeply angered her. “Where, the actual FUCK did you get that rumor from?? I’m not a damn whore!” Lulu then proceeded to slap Noelle hard. “What the FUCK bitch??” Noelle responded to Lulu’s slap with a furious tone, then proceeded to slap her back just as hard. The two very soon got into a fight, mostly consisting of slaps. The fight went on for some 20 seconds before Greenpaws intervened.
“HEY, SETTLE DOWN!! What are you two thinking?! This is a learning environment, not a wrestling ring. To the principal’s office, NOW!” Greenpaws slightly shouted at both Lulu and Noelle from the fight they engaged in. They were both soon escorted to the principal’s office.
A few minutes later, Lulu is sitting outside the office waiting for the principal to be done talking to Noelle. She’s playing with her hair to pass the time, but she’s still very clearly upset after the altercation her and Noelle got into. “Fuck that stupid feline bitch anyway, literally nobody likes her, let alone know her...” Noelle thought to herself. In a bit, Noelle did walk out of the office and confronted Lulu again. “Well, it looks like it’s your turn girlie! P.S, that boy is mine~” Noelle said in a teasy tone to get Lulu mad, which did work. “Oh my paws, you just can’t let it go huh?! Tell me, where is your little fanart gonna get ya, huh?? I actually did talk to him, unlike your awkward ass!” Lulu responded in a confident tone.
Noelle did seem to get hurt by this comment, art is her passion after all. Plus she was immediately really jealous that Lulu actually did talk to Marcus. “Wait what the fuck, you spoke to him bitch??” Noelle responded angrily, some of it fueled by Lulu’s comments on her art but mainly because of strong jealousy. “Yeah, watcha gonna do about it?? Dumb feline slut...” Lulu responded, mocking Noelle. “Oh now you’ve done it, mutt!” Noelle proceeded to raise her sharp claws and was about to claw through Lulu’s face before the principal stopped them. “Into my office, now. That includes you too, miss Noceda. It seems my words have had no meaning to you in the slightest.” The principal, Mr. Sabertooth instructed the girls, in a very serious tone. The girls stopped everything they were doing and followed orders. They sighed. “Yes, Mr. Sabertooth...” Lulu and Noelle said in unison.
The three of them walked into the very plain, serious office. Principal Sabertooth’s business shoes clanked against the hard gray floor of the office, which was surrounded with discipline posters and awards. Lulu and Noelle both sat in seats, next to each other. Sabertooth sat in his own chair, facing the girls. “Nothing but utter disappointment...” Sabertooth said in an upset tone was staring into the girls’ souls. “You are in an educational environment. Not a wrestling ring.” Sabertooth said. “B-But she started it!!” Noelle said, trying to pin the blame on Lulu. “Hey!” Lulu shouted in response. “Enough! I would like to know what the cause of this was at the very least, that way we can come to a resolution.” Sabertooth stated, requesting an explanation.
“I guess I should start...” Lulu said, with a frown on her face. Both Noelle and Sabertooth turned to look at her. “Ok well, this girl right here... She like, dropped her stuff... So out of instinct, us puppies are supposed to help, right? And that’s what I did! I went to pick up her papers but for SOME reason, she just scattered them everywhere!! And when I looked, she had made uncomfortable drawings of her and my boyfriend together!” Lulu said, telling the truth but exaggerating some parts. “He was NOT your boyfriend!” Noelle hissed in response, causing Lulu to growl back from instinct. “Alright, enough you two. I’ve seen two fights from you today, I don’t need to see another.” Sabertooth stated.
Lulu and Noelle both instantly calmed down. “It seems you two are in quite the hateful relationship... But whatever, I’m getting off track. I’m a principal, not a therapist, and since you two fought not once, but twice like literal dogs and cats, that would be one hour of after school detention!” Sabertooth said, giving the girls a punishment. They both pouted, then left the room together. Due to both of them still being severely furious at each other, they didn’t utter a single word to each other. They both slowly walked back to their class, but they glared at one another from time to time.
Eventually they both attended all of their classes, and finished the day. They both returned home soon, but both of them wouldn’t forget the encounter they had with each other.
CHAPTER 3 – These myths might be true, huh?
Despite Lulu not wanting to procrastinate yesterday, she did. She was extremely lazy when it comes to assignments likes these. “Mmmmmmmghhhhhh...” Lulu groaned as her morning eyes slowly opened, giving her the first view of a new day. The sunlight penetrated her window covers, and gave Lulu’s room a cozy ambience. It took her a good moment to fully wake up, but when she did she got up, put her fluffy dog-themed slippers on and went to go brush her teeth- It was a pretty standard and nice morning for Lulu, and she was pretty calm
Until...
“THAT STUPID FELINE!!” Lulu yelled, remembering her hostile encounter with Noelle. The mere memories of Noelle were enough to put Lulu into a slight fit. Lulu’s screaming was easily heard by her mother. “LULU LEMONS!! You’re already yelling?!” Lulu’s mother barged into her bathroom in an irritated tone from Lulu’s screaming. Lulu was instantly in regret. “W-Woah mom calm down! I just saw a spider, you know how much I’m scared of them!” Lulu said in a nice tone to her mother. “A feline spider?” Lulu’s mother raised her eyebrow. “Y-Yes! Puppy scientists make new, shocking discoveries, huh?” Lulu said nervously. “Mmmm...” Lulu’s mom said as she walked away. She sighed a sigh of relief.
Lulu tried not to think about Noelle, after all, she wasn’t gonna see her again, right? Anyways, Lulu had 30 minutes to prepare, she could finish her essay. “What did Mr. Greenpaws assign again?...” Lulu thought to herself, as she stared at the one sentence she wrote, which was just a basic sentence about myths. She then searched her backpack for a chance of a clue, and eventually found some notes about the rockmance her teacher had talked about. “Rockmance, huh? Well I only jotted down half of the notes so I would barely know what this...I better do some research!” Lulu thought to herself, pulling out her old laptop from about 15 years ago. It was slow but did what it needed to do.
Lulu began researching on the rockmance. However, what began with her originally wanting to get information for her essay, turned into genuine interest, curiosity and fascination for this ancient artifact. She found herself in a rabbit hole of watching videos about the rock and it’s supposed location. She was so distracted by all this that she even forgot about her essay, investing her time into learning more about the Rockmance.
“This is actually some pretty interesting stuff! It’s a really cool legend, if only it was real...” Lulu thought to herself, being fascinated by the mere concept of it. That’s when a thought that would permanently change her life crossed her mind: “If this was real, Marcus could be mine!” Lulu thought to herself. She did not believe that the Rockmance existed just yet, but this denial filled her curiosity even more, that’s when Lulu decided to look up evidence of the Rockmance and found many images of the artifact in question. Now, these images were in fact works of art, rocks painted and sculpted into the Rockmance, or edited images to make it look real. But, Lulu was a very gullible girl when it came to images, she believed the Rockmance HAD to be real now. She was so excited by this, that she didn’t even question that other people had found it first. Or that Mr. Greenpaws had his own Rockmance, in fact she forgot about it. She also completely forgot about her essay, of course.
“IT’S REAL!!!” Lulu yelled, as she usually does whenever she feels an extreme emotion. Lulu’s mom heard this, and she was not having it this time. “Alright Miss Lemons, head to school already. I am nto dealing with your compulsive yelling.” Lulu’s mother said to Lulu, irritated. “I DON’T CARE MOM!! MY LIFE IS ABOUT TO CHANGE, AND YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!” Lulu shouted to her mom in excitement, she then grabbed her bag and ran out to school, not even waiting for the bus, just straight up running to her high school. Lulu’s mom just stared at her. “I love my weird little girl so much...” She thought, smiling.
Lulu ran to her school rapidly, not even getting tired. She was gonna get through this day, rest, and then go out searching for the rockmance. She was determined to finally make Marcus hers.
Now, Noelle had a different time. While Lulu was really excited over her newfound belief of the Rockmance, Noelle was nervous. You see, Noelle already knew of the Rockmance’s existence. But she was nervous for another reason. Yesterday, her parents checked Noelle’s notebooks as they usually do, Noelle had overprotective parents. And this meant little to no privacy. But Noelle was scolded for her drawings with her and Marcus. Not because her parents disliked the idea of her having a boyfriend, in fact, they wanted that. If it wasn’t a girl, they’d be fine with Noelle’s lover. But her parents were upset for a different reason...
Noelle comes from a famous family. In fact, she’s a descendant of the famous feline family that ruled the ancient nation of Felinia, the empire that rivaled the ancient puppy empire. During those ancient days, the puppy empire had ownership of many priceless artifacts, such as the ancient leash, the golden bone, and most famously, the Rockmance. Contrary to popular belief, the Rockmance was a belief exclusive only to the ancient puppy empire. During those ancient times, happy puppy couples would visit priests and ask them to grant the Rockmance for their wedding, which the priests would always agree to. The Rockmance would grant the couple a lifelong blessing, making their relationship inseparable. The Puppies owned this rock for millennia, until the great fall of the puppy empire... Hundreds of feline soldiers invaded the empire, surprise attacking the puppies and causing the fall of the empire. Many of the puppies’ treasures was stolen, including the Rockmance...
And when this treasure was captured, Noelle’s great ancestors, also known as the rulers of Felania, kept the Rockmance for themselves, using it for arranged marriages and to their advantage. The Rockmance went from an item used by lots of puppies to achieve true love, but the felines turned it into a royal family tradition, and used it to their advantage, gatekeeping the rock from other felines... Now, why were Noelle’s parents upset over her notebook doodles? Well, it is true that they did want Noelle to have a boyfriend...But they were upset she was going to use it freely, and plus they didn’t even know the boy! This escalated into Noelle’s parents burning her drawings and telling her they’re going to find her an arranged marriage. This, was obviously not okay with Noelle. She begged and pleaded but to no avail. Noelle cried herself to sleep that night, and stayed up for hours thinking about what she was gonna do to avoid this marriage. She was not gonna marry some rich old guy, so she had to think fast.
Noelle thought of a plan: She was going to take the Rockmance, and run away with it. She did not care she was leaving behind her famous family, she just wanted to live a happy life. Back to the present, Lulu walked into her usual classroom, and saw Noelle sitting on her desk, laying her face on her arms. Class had not begun yet, and the two girls have arrived unusually early, making them the only students in the class. Lulu was full of excitement, while Noelle was full of gloom. Lulu decided to walk up to Noelle’s desk and take her attention.
Tap tap. These sounds could be heard by Noelle on her desk, in which she checked out via looking up. She saw Lulu. “Well, I guess it’s just us here, isn’t it, feline?” Lulu says with a smug face, wagging her tail. Noelle replied with a low eyebrow frown, saying “What do you want now?? Are you just a stereotypical mean girl?? Go away!!” Noelle said angrily, laying right back down after she says that. This causes Lulu to smirk, and say “No, but I do like to brag... Let’s just say, that hunk Marcus? He’ll be my hubby soon and you can’t do anything about it!” Lulu said, wagging her tail. Noelle replied with an eyebrow raise and a skeptical look on her face. “Oh really? Well bragging like a little bitch isn’t gonna do anything girlie...” Noelle replied, following it up with her own smug expression.
“It sure as paws isn’t, but a certain magical romantic rock will!” Lulu replies as her tail wags more, she follows this up with some giggling. Noelle reacted in quite the different manner. Her eyes widened upon hearing the words “Magical”, “Romantic”, and “rock” in the same sentence. “Ok calm down Noelle, this stupid puppy isn’t gonna find it...Besides Greenpaws lectured about this yesterday, there’s no way she’d go on such a journey!” Noelle thought to herself, fearing the thought that Lulu actually manages to find the Rockmance. Her parents would flip and blame her, especially considering her recent doodles. “No way, you actually believe that pigslop??” Noelle responded, trying to make Lulu stop believing in the Rockmance. “I’ll have you know, I found some pretty solid evidence, and a feline like you can’t take away a puppy’s determination!” Lulu, said pouting. “Oh really? What evidence?” Noelle asked Lulu.
Lulu then proceeded to pull out her phone, showing Noelle the very obviously fake photos of the Rockmance. Noelle giggled. “You believe THAT?? Sure, I’ll let a mutt like you believe it!” Noelle said, teasing Lulu in a mean way. Lulu growled but eventually began walking to her desk. “Just you wait, that rock will be mine!! And once it is, Marcus will be too! On my leash!!” Lulu said, vowing on something extremely special to her. As much as Noelle wanted to shake this off, she couldn’t. Even a cat like her knew how much a leash meant to a dog. “I’ll keep an eye on that girl...” Noelle thought to herself.
Time went by like normal, and eventually the end of the school day had come. When the final bell rang, Noelle rushed to search for Lulu near the exit. “Where did that stupid puppy go??” Noelle thought to herself, rushing to catch Lulu before she leaves. She could not risk Lulu even having the slightest chance of her finding the Rockmance. The rockmance was gonna be hers.
After a couple of minutes of searching, Noelle eventually reached appoint where she caught a slight glimpse of Lulu walking out of the school. She rushed to where she was, but made sure she wasn’t detected. She knew dogs had an incredible sense of smell, so she had to watch Lulu from far away. Luckily, a cat’s hearing is amazing, so she could hear Lulu from a distance. She followed Lulu so carefully and perfectly that Lulu couldn’t sniff her, and Noelle could hear her from hundreds of feet away. Eventually, Lulu stopped inside of a group of trees, and Noelle made sure to listen to what Lulu was gonna plot soon. She knew puppies like to think out loud.
“Alrighty... The story of the rockmance goes that after the fall of the ancient puppy empire, the rockmance was taken by the felines... The ancient Hairball family took it, and it resided in their palace, which is thousands of miles away, and is in ruins... Not a single paw has been able to find it, but this puppy will be the first!” Lulu said out loud, followed up with a smile. “Puppies are so weird...” Noelle thought to herself. "Alrighty, then I’m set! I’ll do this thing tomorrow, 5:00 AM sharp! But for now, puppy needs to sleep...” Lulu said before yawning and then slowly walking home. Since Noelle knew that Lulu was under the assumption that she was completely alone, she knew Lulu was actually heading home. Noelle slowly turned around and went back home, ready for the adventure that would be tomorrow.
CHAPTER 4 – The search begins
Wednesday. Any normal soul with ordinary common sense would say that traveling across the world and returning back home on Friday would be an impossible task, and the thought wouldn’t cross their mind a second time. But Lulu didn’t think this, in fact the thought stayed on her mind, she was determined to find the Rockmance and make Marcus hers. It was 5:00 A.M, and the sun was about to commence it’s rising, illuminating the land of Pawnomia with the gift of light. Puppies usually wake up late, as they love their sleep. But Lulu, as much she loved her sleep, woke up on an extremely early hour, especially for puppy standards. Lulu was careful to not make noise, as she did not want to wake up her parents. Lulu had begun getting ready for her trip, packing things into her bag like food, treats, and water. Lulu was gonna do this, and she wasn’t gonna take no for answer. Once she had packed everything, Lulu thought she may as well take a shot at coming up with an excuse for not being home for a few days. She got out a pen and some paper, and began brainstorming hard...
Noelle on the other paw, had been awake since awake since 4:00 A.M. Despite knowing that puppies loved to sleep a lot, she couldn’t take any chances. She knew that Lulu didn’t even know where the Rockmance could even be, so why was she worried?? Either way, she was gonna make sure the Rockmance would be hers. She was a descendant of the famous family that once possessed the mystical rock, so she HAD to obtain it soon, right? Since early childhood, her parents told her stories of the legendary Rockmance and bragged about how they had it, heck, they even showed her! Noelle knew that there could only be one place the Rockmance would be: Her family’s vault. Noelle was extremely confident it would be here and slowly and very quietly began walking to the vault. She walked downstairs, then opened the electric door to her basement. Once there, she went inside and opened a hidden door her family had, and entered the room. She walked some 100 steps down from that room, and was finally met with the room that contained the ultra-hidden vault. It was during this very sudden moment, that the true gravity of her decision would hit her, thinking second thoughts. Was she really about to throw away her prestigious and private life? Where would she go once she and Marcus start dating, she doesn’t know if his parents would even like her! Noelle began sweating as she deeply began thinking of this... Her soulmate could be just one vault away, one extremely accessible vault. But, would this be true love if she’s using a tool, to ACTUALLY get Marcus to love her?
Meanwhile, Lulu had just arrived to the area of trees where she was planning her heist yesterday. She had come up with the dumbest excuse to not be home for days imaginable, something only Lulu could think of. But this didn’t matter. Lulu was so ready to start this search, her motivation at an all-time high. There was only one problem: WHERE EVEN IS THE ROCKMANCE?? Lulu almost screamed at the thought of this, but rapidly shut her mouth. She rapidly got out her phone, and began searching where to find it but she got nothing. Lulu began whining, until a certain smell had been sensed by her nose...
The smell of a feline, the exact same smell she had been smelling every day in her classroom and even yesterday at this very spot. The scent was faint, but Lulu could pick it up. Investigating further, Lulu found that this scent was caused by fur- Brownish cat fur! The same fur Noelle had... Lulu followed this where took her, as for some reason, she believed this sudden smell was progress to finding the Rockmance. She continued sniffing this fur, which always led her to another piece of fur. This continued for about a mile, until Lulu had finally arrived at a big mansion, the same mansion which was strictly prohibited by anyone in the neighborhood to enter, but the same one that Noelle resided in. Lulu had no clue this was Noelle’s place, however.
As Lulu was really close to the source of the scent, she begun searching for ways to get in. She tried opening the front door, only for it to be locked. She was oblivious to the fact that she was being recorded by cameras on all sides, but she made more attempts. Trying to open windows, looking for side doors, even looking for secret doors on the ground, nothing. This was until, she remembered one place she forgot to check: The back door! Lulu began walking there. By sheer luck, she had found an unlocked back door, which had been left wide open by Noelle due to her rushing to take out the trash before her online game started. Lulu walked into the backdoor, and from here it was really easy to track the scent. Lulu went downstairs, getting closer to Lulu as the smell got stronger. She walked into the electric door which led to Noelle’s basement, she then walked into the basement, then entering the now obvious door that was once hidden, but made extremely visible by Noelle. Noelle was unaware she was shooting herself in the paw, with how easy she unintentionally made it for Lulu to access her family’s extremely hidden vault. Lulu entered the “hidden” door, and then walked down the same 100 steps that Noelle had walked down some 30 minutes ago. The smell was at a peak of strength.
Lulu walked down the steps, eventually finishing them. To her surprise, she was met with the same girl who was a threat to her relationship with Marcus: Noelle.
CHAPTER 5 – An unexpected disaster
Noelle was still thinking about her decision, as she tends to be an extreme overthinker. Yes, she was thinking about this decision for over 30 minutes. “I knew that scent was familiar!” Lulu said slightly loudly, her voice immediately capturing Noelle’s attention. “WHAT THE FUCK?! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET IN HERE?! YOU’RE NYOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!!” Noelle shouted at Lulu out of pure shock, Lulu was one of the very last people she’d expect to be in such a hidden vault. “I simply followed your scent, kitty. A hunch told me searching for this would lead me to the Rockmance.” Lulu said with a serious face, staring right into Noelle’s eyes. Noelle was glaring at Lulu. “You really did plan to find it, didn’t you?” Noelle responded, glaring harder at Lulu as Lulu did the same. “Puppies don’t lie unless it’s for treats, girlie.” Lulu responded.
Lulu’s sudden appearance fueled Noelle’s decision to use the Rockmance to be in a relationship with Marcus further. She was NOT gonna let Lulu be so determined to make Marcus hers, as even without her having the Rockmance, she didn’t like the fact that Lulu too, did have strong feelings for Marcus.
Despite already have found the source of the smell, Lulu didn’t leave. Once entering the room, she sniffed a scent she had never smelled in her life... And dogs are GOOD sniffers. The scent was extremely peculiar, as it smelled like a rock, but divine... Could it be? Lulu’s hunch told her that lying inside the vault, would be the Rockmance. “Hey girlie... There’s only one thing you could be doing in such a room with a vault, you were gonna open it. So do so.” Lulu said, in both a sassy and serious tone. Noelle hissed. “Not over my dead body.” Noelle said, realizing Lulu poses the risk of taking the Rockmance for herself. Lulu scanned the vault quickly, realizing the pawscan needed to access the vault. The paw shape on the device matched up perfectly with Noelle’s paws. “Then I guess it’ll have to be over your dead body.” Lulu said, exaggerating. She wasn’t actually gonna kill Lulu, unless necessary. She was gonna try hard to force Lulu’s paw on the scanner.
Lulu growled at Noelle and rapidly charged at her, tackling her to the floor. Lulu then bit Noelle’s neck, which caused Noelle to blush. Noelle was surprised by this sudden reaction, but she had no time to think about it. “WHAT THE FUCK!! GET OFF YOU FUCKING FREAK!!” Noelle yelled at Lulu before scratching her cheek with her sharp claws, making Lulu whine and leaving a mark on her, causing her to move. “NOW YOU’RE GETTING IT!! THAT ROCKMANCE WILL BE MINE, AND I’M NOT LETTING A FELINE TAKE THAT FROM ME!!” Lulu yelled loudly at Noelle, charging yet again at Noelle. Lulu charged at Noelle at full speed, getting on top of her, causing Noelle to moan slightly. But this was when all time slowed down for Noelle. Lulu was blushing, she stared at Lulu’s adorable face with her wide eyes, admiring her cuteness. She saw Lulu’s sharp teeth, the teeth of a true canine. Noelle blushed as she stared right into Lulu’s mouth, her face, her attractive and beautiful eyes...She didn’t even scream upon seeing Lulu charge at her, she just blushed... She wanted to be bitten.
Time resumed like normal for Noelle again, and just before she could snap back to reality from this nice trance, Lulu bit her neck yet again, this time harder. Noelle couldn’t contain herself, blushing and being as red as a tomato, she let out a loud moan, submitting fully to Lulu. Upon seeing this reaction, Lulu became extremely confused and even blushed upon hearing Noelle’s moan. Immediately, Lulu stopped the bite and just looked at Noelle, blushing and confused. Noelle did the same. The two shared an awkward silence that felt like it lasted for years. Eventually the silence was broken by Lulu grabbing Noelle’s wrist instantly and placing her paw on the scanner. Lulu knew the shocked state Noelle was in, and used this to her advantage.
“H-HEY!!” Noelle yelled at Lulu, realizing her flustered state allowed Lulu to gain access to her family’s vault. “Fuck, why did I just let her bite me??” Noelle thought to herself, watching as the vault slowly opened. Lulu smirked at Noelle as she too watched the vault slowly open, Noelle just stared up at Lulu in defeat, the noise of the vault opening adding an aspect of humiliation to her defeat. However, puppies are known to be quite cocky. And Lulu, in the overconfident state she was in, decided to bend down and boop Noelle’s nose, something dogs infamously did against felines as an insult.
Boop
This instantly angered Noelle, who fueled by the sudden insult, jumped up at Lulu and slashed her face again, this time making Lulu both scream and blush slightly. Lulu was stunned from the sudden slash, knocking her down, allowing Noelle to get up and run to the vault. “You stupid puppies get so confident, thanks for giving me the chance to get up~” Noelle said in a cocky tone. Lulu blushed slightly from Noelle calling her a stupid puppy but rapidly got up and ran towards Noelle. Lulu’s rapid pawsteps were easily heard by Noelle, who just ran faster as a result. “Fuck off!” Noelle yelled at Lulu, Lulu just running faster and faster. “No, you fuck off, Marcus is mine!” Lulu yelled, sprinting right at Lulu and jumping towards her, tackling her to the floor again. Lulu growled at Noelle while Noelle hissed at Lulu, on the surface, it seemed like these two deeply hated each other... But on the inside, both were secretly enjoying this...
“Fuck, her fangs are sooo hot! I mean fuck no, she’s a dirty and stupid dog! Although I wouldn’t mind if she bit me again...” Noelle thought to herself, failing to hold back her blush as she herself hissed back at Lulu’s growling. “Aaaaaa those claws! And fangs! Such a sassy kitty, and a hot one too... No... I can’t be thinking this about a stupid feline who wants to take Marcus away from me! Go away, perverted thoughts!” Lulu thought to herself, making multiple awkward expressions while closing her eyes, all while Lulu was watching her. “Uhhh... I know we’re about to kill each other... But you ok there?” Noelle asked Lulu, raising an eyebrow. “O-Oh I’m just fine!!” Lulu said, laughing awkwardly and getting off of Noelle to make things less awkward. Lulu looked away out of embarrassment. Noelle reacted with a confused reaction, and soon got up and walked more into the vault silently, trying her best not to alarm Lulu. 5 seconds passed though, and eventually Lulu caught on. “Hey wait a minute!” Lulu shouted, immediately turning back to Noelle, noticing her walking towards the Rockmance. This instantly alarmed Noelle and she began sprinting inside the vault. A chase soon ensued, with Lulu chasing Noelle.
The two girls ran past many artifacts and weapons, their paws creating slightly loud noises against the silver metal as they ran. The dim lighting allowing for very minimal sight, but finding the Rockmance in this vault was a maze. Noelle knew it was in here, she just didn’t know where. Noelle ran into aisle after aisle, Lulu right behind her tail. This action went on for 10 minutes, until the girls were both very tired and just walked slowly. “Mmmgh... Fuck off, canine!” Noelle yelled at Lulu, throwing a rare book at her. The girls groaned as they walked further into the vault, looking for any sign of the Rockmance. “Mmmgh... You fuck off, feline!” Lulu yelled back, throwing a golden bone at her. This agitated Noelle, but she didn’t reply.
The girls walked for some 16 minutes more, until eventually they both caught a glimpse of what appeared to be... Light? A golden light! The same aura that the Rockmance had! Immediately, the two girls realized this is what they were looking for, and without a second thought, they both rushed to grab the Rockmance. The two semi-furry girls began a competitive race achieve possession of the Mystical Rockmance, something the two very much desired. This Rock would be the key to their dream relationship. Lulu and Noelle both raced towards the Rockmance rapidly, not stopping for even a moment. At one point, the girls even got on all fours for the best speed possible. The girls raced at the fastest speed possible, fueled by the sight of the Rockmance’s glowing aura growing bigger as they approached it furthermore.
Minutes that felt like seconds passed by, and eventually the duo was some 50 feet away from the Rockmance; they could clearly see it in all it’s glory from this close location. It was the promised Rockmance. It took the appearance of a clean and shiny but rugged golden nugget that emitted a strong, glowing aura that sent chills down any soul who layed their sight on it. By this point, Lulu and Noelle were extremely tired, they couldn’t run if they wanted to; But the mesmerizing sight of such a legendary artifact sent chills down their spines, invoking energy from the sheer motivation they have gained from the mesmerizing sight.
Before they knew it, the two girls found themselves leaping into the air in one giant leap, one big enough to land them just inches away from the Rockmance. But during this, time seemed to slow down for the pair yet again... Milliseconds felt like seconds, and seconds like minutes. This seemingly magical time allowed for Lulu and Noelle to turn and look at each other well again, this time getting yet a better look at one another. The two felt strong emotions, but their minds denied it time and time again... They admired each other’s beautiful eyes, cute faces, nice bodies, could this be... Love?
However, they didn’t have time to truly process these thoughts. Right before they began wondering why they felt these emotions which they viewed as perverted in their stance, time resumed like normal again. Lulu and Noelle hit the ground hard, instantly snapping them back to reality, there goes gravity. Lulu whined upon impact, while Noelle groaned from pain... It took the pair a few seconds to recover. But once they did, they instantly resumed their original mission: retrieve the Rockmance. Noelle was the first to jump up and grab the Rockmance. She gripped it tightly with her paw, feeling the aura glow in her fur. The Rockmance was in Noelle’s possession, however she had to maintain contact with it for some ten seconds. So this was still a battle being fought. Instantly after Noelle grabbed the Rockmance, Lulu noticed this and jumped up herself, tugging the Rockmance hard towards her as she grabbed it.
Lulu’s sudden and forceful tugs forced the artifact out of Noelle’s paws rapidly, but instantly after getting the Rockmance swiped out of her paws, Noelle tugged back with a greater force. This however, didn’t force the Rockmance out of Lulu’s paws, but this created a dilemma; the Rockmance was in contact with two pairs of paws, confusing it.
“FUCKING LET IT GO!! YOU’RE TAKING MY DREAM AWAY!” Lulu yelled while whining, she was in an extra desperate state for the artifact due to the close proximity to her goal. “NYO, YOU’RE TAKING MINE!! YOU BREAK INTO MY HOME AND NOW YOU’RE BREAKING INTO MY DREAMS?? FUCK OFF, CANINE!” Noelle yelled at Lulu in a hateful way, Lulu and Noelle were in a close and desperate fight for their goals. “YOU WANT TO TAKE THE ONE THING I WANT MOST!! I WOULD RATHER DATE YOU THAN TO SEE YOU TAKE MY HUBBY!!” Lulu yelled, instantly shutting up after realizing exactly what she said. “Wait, what??” Noelle responded in an extremely confused tone, yet still blushing.
As the two girls argued, the Rockmance was beginning to confuse itself to death; Who does this wish go to? The artifact tried hard to process, but damaged itself more and more the longer Lulu and Noelle’s paws were touching it. Soon, the Rockmance couldn’t take it. It began cracking, glowing cracks forming all over it. Soon, the cracks became too much and the Rockmance exploded into two pieces.
The pair panicked as they witnessed these sudden events. They immediately let go of the Rockmance, but it was too late. The Rockmance had split into two pieces, and before they knew it, the two individual pieces, disappeared, teleporting to unknown locations across Pawnomia. The girls knew exactly what they have done- Legend of the Rockmance goes, that if two pairs of paws touch the Rockmance without the intention of mutual love, the Rock explodes, and the pieces go to different places across the world. This has happened before, but repairing the Rockmance was a serious challenge... It is said finding these fragments relies largely on hunches.
Lulu whined as she saw the Rockmance disappear, and Noelle began panicking. The two were very sad, frightened, and disappointed...
CHAPTER 6 – Ugh fine, we’re gonna do this together
Lulu and Noelle were in pure shock and horror. They had just done one of things they feared most, and they were still processing the loss of the Rockmance, especially considering they were so close to it. Lulu was whining loudly, something a puppy only does when truly sad. To Lulu, she had just lost a dream which she saw as life-fullfilling; she had no idea how Marcus would date her now. And to Noelle- She not only lost her possible soulmate, but she also was gonna be in a ton of trouble with her parents, and this time she had no excuse to run away. Noelle tried hard to hide away her tears, but failed. The two girls were absolutely broken, and they had no idea how they were gonna recover from this. Their pain continued for a good bit
After some 5 minutes, Lulu got back on her feet. Tears were streaming down her cheek as she got up. “Well, you screwed both of us over.” Lulu said. “ME?? YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TUGGED IT!” Noelle hissed at Lulu, making Lulu growl. She showed her fangs to Noelle, making Noelle crawl back. Lulu then just turned around, and for the first time, displayed sympathy towards Noelle. “Listen... I’m sorry, but I was so hellbent on taking the Rockmance, it was my biggest goal in like, ever! I guess I went too far with like, the biting and stuff...” Lulu said, grabbing her arm. “Well... I see where you’re coming from... But you didn’t have to break into my home and stuff, that was nyot cool!” Noelle said, pouting at Lulu. Lulu giggled slightly. “Yeah, us puppies don’t think about repercussions...” Lulu said awkwardly. “I can definitely see thyat.” Noelle responded. The awkward silence returned for a small bit, until being broken after a minute. “Say... The Rockmance isn’t a lost cause...” Lulu said, still looking away from Noelle. “The Rockmance can definitely still be fixed, and like, with all it’s magic too. We could literally, like, try to find it and put it back togethar!!” Lulu responded, in her usual stereotypical girl voice. “And why should I trust you? You bryoke into my home, bit me, and you cyould just take the Rockmance for yourself for all I knyow!!” Noelle responded, still pouting. Lulu sighed.
“Like, I see...” Lulu replied. “But that won’t like, change the fact that I’m gonna literally find it myself. You wanna like, give up? Then go ahead. But this puppy isn’t giving up.” Lulu responded confidently, frowning slightly. Noelle stayed silent. “Then like, be like that.” Lulu finally said before heading out of Noelle’s vault, then her home. Noelle was left in a state of negativity, anger, and sadness.
Lulu stormed out of Noelle’s home in an upset gait, her spirits and confidence were low now, and she didn’t even have a single hunch to guide her this time. Lulu sat down on a curb, trying to organize her thoughts and figure out what she would do. “Think think think! Where could the Rockmance be?? The legend never named a location for the Rockmance to be in, so why am I so lost??” Lulu thought to herself, pulling her ears down out of stress. Suddenly, faint and rapid pawsteps could be heard in the distance, but they slowly got louder as they approached...
The pawsteps eventually revealed themselves to be Noelle. She ran out of her home to catch up with Lulu, as she had realized that the Rockmance would be considered impossible to find without Lulu. “Oh, it’s you... What do you like, what?” Lulu asked Noelle in an agitated tone. “Listen... I was stunned by what had hyappened, I didn’t expyect that rock to explyode!” Noelle replied. Lulu gave her a low brow. “But lyisten, I figured that it would be worth a shyot to try and find the pieces... My pyarents are out on a business tryip and if they find out that rock is gone, I’m dyone for!! I’ve accepted the fact that neither of us should get the Rockmance... But it would only be fyair if you helped me!!” Noelle said to Lulu, pleading for her assistance as she fisted her paws and closed her eyes. Lulu thought about this for a second...
“Fine, I’ll like, help you... But on your paws, you have to promise me you actually want to return it, and not just like, take it for youself.” Lulu replied to Noelle with a low-brow expression. “Yes!! Thyat’s fine with me!! On my paws!!” Noelle cried. “Like, ugh, fine, we’ll like, do this together...” Lulu replied, putting a smile on Noelle’s face. Lulu kept the same low-brow expression, as she still felt concern over Noelle’s possible ulterior motives. However, it was really late, and the girls decided to settle to sleep in a nearby bush. Of course not together, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t want to...
CHAPTER 7 – Throwback Thursday
Thursday. The concern over the deadline of Friday was no more for the girls, as the two seemed to have accepted the fact that neither of them would date Marcus. The ultimate end goal here was to return the Rockmance to where it was, Lulu was just making up for so suddenly breaking into Noelle’s home with this favor. After all, she was partly responsible for the implosion of the Rockmance.
Lulu was the first to open her eyes. She had forgotten that she had slept inside a bush, but she was still too sleepy to process that. Lulu stretched to warm herself up, then began looking for Noelle, to which she found rather quickly. She was inside of another bush on an upper right side to her. “Like, wake up sleepypaws, we like, have a legend to find...” Lulu said, grabbing Noelle’s shoulders and shaking her in an attempt to wake her up. “Feline... Ughhh what’s like, your name...” Lulu said, still shaking Noelle but to no avail. Noelle was a deep sleeper. Eventually, Lulu got tired of shaking Noelle and grabbed some water from a nearby puddle, collecting it with her paws, and spilling the majority of it on Noelle’s face. This instantly woke Noelle up, as she was sensitive to water.
“NYAHHHHH!” Noelle yelled, being surprised and immediately fully woken up by the water. Lulu giggled at this reaction, finding humor in it. “I hope you knyow how sensitive us cats are to water...” Noelle said, with a pout, drying herself slowly. “And like, I also know that you’re like, a deep sleeper, and water is like, a simple way to like, wake you up.” Lulu said with a smug face. Noelle continued her pout. “Whatever, dyon’t we have to find the Rockmance??” Noelle asked Lulu. “Yeah, but like, we don’t even know where to like, start...” Lulu replied. “Well, it is said that hunches gyuide you to the pieces...” Noelle replied. Lulu was skeptical about this, but ultimately decided this would lead them to the Rockmance, as it did to Lulu last time.
The two began a steady walk around their small town, trying to get any form of hunch that would lead them to the Rockmance in any way. Thirty minutes passed, and they have received nothing. This boredom would lead to a conversation to spark. “So like... I never got your name... I always thought of you as the weird nerd girl who isolates herself...” Lulu said, being fully honest to Noelle, while also requesting her name. “You’re ryight... We didn’t gyet each other’s nyames, and I too did see you as the stereotypical popular gyirl...” Noelle replied. “My nyame’s Noelle, Noelle Noceda. But my real name is Noela. My parents just gyave me the nyame Noelle for immyigration issues...” Noelle replied, putting her hands in her fluffy pockets.
“Immigration issues, huh? Like, I did hear Hispanic cats have it rough in the West Paw area, so that makes sense... My name’s like, Lulu by the way. Lulu Lemons.” Noelle giggled when Lulu mentioned her last name. “Lyemons??” Lulu gave Noelle another low-brow expression. “Shush, I didn’t like, choose it...” Lulu and Noelle were bonding, as they no longer appeared to be rivals, but friends now. They had fun engaging in conversations with one another and got to know each other pretty well. They discussed their lives and even the way they talk for about 2 hours, until progress seemed to have been made...
“Wyait... Lulu... I fyeel, a hunch!!” Noelle said excitedly. “Wait, really??” Lulu asked Noelle, being very excited by Noelle’s claim. “Yes!! It’s tyelling me to gyo to pond puppy, the one in our cyity!!” Noelle said with a warm smile, which Lulu couldn’t help but blush to. “Damnit, why is she so cute??” Lulu thought, attempting to suppress her emotions. “Then let’s like go!! My parents like, take me here pretty often, so I know the place pretty like, well.” Lulu said, bragging a bit. Noelle smiled. “Well, we’ll see if thyat’s true...” The duo began making their way to the famous pond puppy, which is a known pond in their state. Lulu and Noelle also engaged in nice conversations on their way there, which furthermore improved their bond.
Around some 28 minutes later, the girls arrived at the well-known pond. The two admired the beauty of the large body of water, clear and clean water at that. The water glowed and displayed reflections comparable to those of a mirror. The water sparkled, and you could very easily see the many communities of fish and other aquatic entities that reside under the water. Lulu took a sniff of the air and sighed happily. “Ahhh, I love this place so much… My parents always like, took me here as a kid, they say that I always like, loved going into the water and then rolling around in some dirt just to be messy.” Lulu said with a smile, the pleasant and recognizable scent of the pond bringing her many diverse memories that she looked fondly upon.
“Huh, so I gyuess thyose stereotypes about puppies aren’t too fyar off…” Noelle said in response. “Oh like, some are, we don’t like, piss on fire hydrants when we want to like a lot of anti-puppy congressmen state.” Lulu said in response. The two walked around the pond to try and find any sign of the Rockmance fragment. “Nyo hunches yet?” Noelle asked, looking inside of a bush. “Like, no…” Lulu responded, going into the body of water herself to search for it. The two spent some additional 15 minutes, but they seemed to be going nowhere… While searching for any sign of the fragment, Lulu continued her exploration and found herself remembering her youth. She smiled at the thought of her parents teaching her to swim for the first time, her eating a wild fish accidentally, and even once when she fell into the then frozen pond. But this is when she remembered about a fact she learned many years ago…
Fish are attracted to light, and she even saw this once when she threw a firework into a different lake once; young Lulu was a mischievous girl, poor fish… ; the very thought of this memory triggered her to immediately look underwater, where she saw groups of fish swimming towards a specific direction. She followed them, and was eventually met with a very familiar glowing aura- an aura only the Rockmance could have. Lulu saw this and immediately withdrew her head from the water and alerted Noelle. “NOELLE!! I LIKE, FOUND A PIECE!!” Lulu announced excitedly. “OH NYICE! I’LL BE RIGHT THYERE!” Noelle responded, immediately running towards Lulu’s location. She eventually got to Lulu. “So where is it?” Noelle asked. “It’s like, underwater.” Lulu answered. Noelle’s eyes widened. “U-Underwater??” Noelle startled, Noelle hated water, especially cold water. “Like, yeah… Is there like, a problem?” Lulu asked, noticing Noelle’s visible concern. “Oh Lulu… I hate water… I-I knyow you’re kinda doing a fyavor for me but… could you do this one yourself?” Noelle replied, further asking Lulu for favors. Lulu gave Noelle another low-brow expression, as she was angered by this question. “First, you ask me to like, help you with YOUR problem, and then you like, leave all the work to me??” Lulu replied to Noelle with sass. Noelle switched to a nervous expression. “H-Hey!! Lyisten, it’s nyot that I don’t wanna do anything it’s just that…” Noelle slowly began tearing up, and Lulu noticed this quick. “Hey, is everything like, ok there Noelle?” Lulu asked, visibly expressing concern for Noelle. Noelle exploded into tears. “IT’S JUST THYAT I HATE WATER!! IT DESTROYED MY OLD HOME!! AND BECAUSE OF THAT STUPID WATER, I STYILL STRUGGLE TO THIS DAY!!!” Noelle cried loudly. “H-Huh?…” Lulu replied in a visibly concerned tone.
CHAPTER 8 – Bleeding out
It almost seemed like Noelle was having a PTSD episode of sorts. Noelle curled down into the floor and wrapped her arms around her legs. “The water did what?” Lulu asked in a confused, concerned, and curious tone. “I-It destroyed my hyome!! The house I spent my childhood in!! It destroyed all the memories I had byuilt in it, and it mocked when it shyowed me all the bodies floating!!” Lulu’s eyes widened, as she had realized what she had put Noelle through. “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t like know you went through that…” Lulu replied in a guilty tone. Noelle looked up at Lulu with sad eyes. “Look, I’ll make it up to you. I’ll like, grab the fragment myself.” Lulu said. “Really?...” Noelle replied, her expression shifting to a more positive one. “For sure.”
Lulu then dived head first into the water, wanting to take advantage of the opportunity she had to swim. Lulu enjoyed the water, it was relaxing and fun to her. Lulu swam towards the glowing aura of the Rockmance, occasionally poking her head out to catch a breath. But Lulu swam rapidly. To Noelle, it was impressive that Lulu could navigate so well underwater, especially without the need to close her eyes or hold her nose closed.
Some three minutes pass by, and Lulu gets just five-hundred feet away from the Rockmance. Her view was now not limited by the lone glow, she could see the body of the fragmented piece from this close distance. Lulu was having fun swimming, but she did not hesitate to speed up to obtain the fragment. This was too easy. The pieces were basically being handed to them, heck, they even had fun looking for them, at least to Lulu. It seemed like nothing could get in the way of Lulu and the piece, until…
CHOMP!
The fragment was in the grasp of Lulu. A mere two feet, was the gap between her palms and the piece. Noelle froze in fear and shock. Her hands shook. Her shock overlapped over her pain. Time froze, everything just stopped. Lulu’s mouth stood at an open position, ready to unleash the blood-curling scream. Her eyes, wide open. She couldn’t even feel the water.
Lulu turned around, shaking. At this sight, she was looking at a great white shark, one of her biggest fears. How could she not hear it. How could she not see it. But it was far too late now. The great white’s sharp teeth planted themselves into Lulu’s delicate skin. Her blood was a delicacy to the shark, it enjoyed the taste of the pure fear of it’s prey. Before Lulu could even process what was happening to her, she couldn’t hold it in. Lulu proceeded to let out the most horrifying and unimaginably blood-curling scream she had ever let out.
“AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
The scream was harrowing. It surpassed the barrier of water, and was easily heard by Noelle some distance away. This immediately alerted her. Noelle rapidly got up, as this scream raised concern for her- She recognized Lulu’s voice. “L-Lulu?! Where are you?!” Noelle yelled in a worry. Something was wrong. Noelle rapidly ran towards the direction where she saw Lulu swim. “LULUUUUUU!!” Noelle yelled, concerned. She continued running towards the direction. These minutes were terrifying to Noelle- But why? Some days ago, she and Lulu were clawing one another, now, Noelle desperately looks for Lulu, she doesn’t want to lose her… Noelle struggled with these internal emotions. But she had to put these aside for now, she had a much more important assignment that she needed to do right away.
Noelle desperately and rapidly ran in that same direction. She did not stop for even the slightest moment, she was hyperventilating and ran as fast as she could. “LULUUUUUUUUU!” Noelle kept yelling and yelling. Lulu kept yelling for help, which was luckily heard by Noelle. Soon enough, Noelle was finally able to contain Lulu in her sight.
In this disturbing sight, Noelle was able to witness a gruesome sight; Lulu could be seen in agonizing pain, her eyes looking like as if the life was leaking out of her soul. Lulu was barely conscious, holding onto a rock on the land which prevented her from sinking. Time felt extra slow for Lulu, and with every passing second she lost more bits of her grip. What truly sickened Noelle however was the view from the surface; apart from Lulu’s visible agony, Lulu could be seen laying inside a pool of blood, Lulu was losing more and more by the second. Around three feet left to Lulu however, floated her now dismembered leg, with chunks of it missing due to the shark devouring it slowly. It was a miracle Lulu hasn’t yet been fully eaten, but this allowed for Lulu to hold onto life for as much as she could.
Noelle felt anything she had eaten recently rise up to her throat. She was going to throw up from this horrid sight, never in her life had she seen someone so mutilated up close. Let alone someone she knew.
“N-Noelle…” Lulu groaned as she saw Noelle. She lifted her paw, communicating the idea that Noelle needed to save her. Noelle captured the idea. She got closer to Lulu, walking slowly to not alert the shark. “Lulu… I’m gonna help you… Just remain calm, I promise you on my paws that you’ll be ok…” Noelle stated to Lulu as calmly as she could. Lulu groaned in response, she was struggling to form words by this point. Noelle knew what she must do. She gulped and slowly crept towards Lulu’s dying body.
Noelle was within feet of Lulu. Everything was looking good, as Lulu still managed to keep her grip on the rock. Quickly, Noelle managed to grip Lulu’s paws. At this moment, things looked hopeful despite the grim incident. But right when Noelle began lifting up Lulu, Lulu lost her grip and fell into the bloody water. She quickly began sinking as she fainted from blood loss. Noelle felt her heart beat out of her chest as she watched Lulu sink down deep into the bloody waters.
Noelle was panicking. She did not know what to do as she was witnessing most likely the final moments of Lulu’s life. And if she did die, Noelle would have to live with the guilt forever. It was her doing that brought Lulu to experience this grim event.
Noelle was hyperventilating. The idea of going into the water then occurred to her. She brought her shaking paw to touch the water once, but even with the most limited of contact, the touch managed to bring back memories that seemed like nightmares to Noelle. The water destroying her house and memories with ease. All her dead neighbors. This is something Noelle never wanted to remember. She could barely handle hot showers, but to think Noelle would dive into a cold AND bloody pool?
Noelle wanted to just dive into the water. But she couldn’t. Every second was vital, and she was losing them rapidly. Maybe there was no other option but to accept Lulu’s death…
Until…
Memories, despite being recent, flooded Noelle’s head. All the conversations she and Lulu have had, even their fights. It all came back to Noelle. Noelle knew that despite being a feline, she wasn’t going to be a pussy this time. She was going to save Lulu’s life.
Noelle gulped once more and without a second thought dived feet-first into the bloody water. She wanted to scream, it’s like the water was mocking her with the blood of her friend, while reminding her of the trauma it caused her during childhood. Despite the agonizing emotions she was feeling, she wasn’t going to let the water win again. Noelle swam deeper into the water like never before, following the blood trail that Lulu was leaving behind. Noelle swam rapidly, there were many dangers she was aware about.
Soon enough, Noelle was able to find Lulu unconscious and sinking. Noelle sped up her swimming and gripped Lulu’s waist, swimming back up as fast as she could. Right beside her though, was the Rockmance fragment Lulu set out to find. Without hesitating, Noelle grabbed the fragment and resumed her swimming. She was losing her breath. Lulu was losing her blood. Right before Noelle felt like she was about to faint, she managed to poke her head out of the water and take a DEEP breath. She had made it. The shark seemed to be gone, as the only thing left in the water was the huge amount of blood that stained it. Not even Lulu’s dismembered leg remained.
Noelle rapidly got to the surface. She rapidly placed Lulu down on the ground and took off her jacket. She used this as a bandage and wrapped it around Lulu’s leg rapidly. She made sure to tighten it to avoid any further blood loss. She then checked Lulu’s pulse, and thankfully she was still alive. Noelle let out a sigh of relief.
It was a cold night. The two were both very far away from their homes, especially in a walking distance. Noelle laid down. She hugged Lulu’s unconscious body to keep both of them warm. Noelle then began crying, shedding tears rapidly. She sniffled. “Oh Lulu…” Noelle thought. “I hope you’ll be ok…”
Lulu remained unconscious for the night. Noelle looked at Lulu in shock and sadness, Lulu had just lost her leg… Noelle sighed one more time. She then drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 9 – Puppy power
Warmth. Comfort. Safety. Three feelings that desperately needed to be felt by Lulu. Three feelings that she hadn’t felt in years- But finally got to experience after such a long period of time. This was better than being wrapped up in a blanket in your bed, better yet, it was better than hugging your stuffed animals. Lulu felt Noelle’s soft arms hold her waist firmly, yet she couldn’t tell what exactly was happening… It was like a blissful feeling that disabled your thoughts. Lulu relished in this comfort.
Lulu fell right back asleep after initially waking up, as her mind was still boggy and messy. A short nap helped fix her a bit, and soon enough she woke up once more. She slowly opened her eyes, taking in the beauty of the nature that surrounded her, the fresh air blessing her nose. The feeling from before was still here, but this time she was conscious enough to check what exactly was enabling this… To her pleasure, she saw a sleepy Noelle gripping her waist, causing Lulu to blush.
Lulu smiled. She loved this feeling, she didn’t want Noelle to let her go…
“Oh my paws, this feels so nice… I never wanna leave your grasp… I mean no… I couldn’t stay… I’m a girl and you’re a girl, society wouldn’t like us…” Lulu thought to herself, she frowned at the thought of having to be away from Noelle… She was really enjoying their time together.
After a bit, Lulu sat up. She couldn’t recall much from the day prior, she just remembered being extremely shocked and fading into darkness. “What the paws… Why can’t I feel my leg…?” Lulu thought to herself right after sitting up. She then slowly took one good look at where her left leg once stood…
“AGHHHHHHHHHH!” Lulu screamed in shock once more. This loud scream immediately woke Noelle up, alerting her. “LULU! What hyappened??” Noelle asked as she rapidly stood up and inspected Lulu. Lulu was shaking, the sight of her missing leg invoking noticeable disgust and sickness into Lulu, she felt the need to throw up again. Noelle noticed Lulu’s shaking and expression, she could immediately tell what had disturbed Lulu; her missing limb.
Noelle kneeled down next to Lulu and put her paws on Lulu’s shoulders, looking her right in the eyes. “Hey, it’s okyay, you’re alyive and that’s all thyat matters…” Noelle told Lulu. Lulu almost couldn’t understand Noelle from her shock. Lulu didn’t reply, but she resorted to an option that would make her vomit; Lulu gripped Noelle’s jacket which was being occupied as a bandage for her leg. She slowly began unraveling and untying it, as Lulu wanted to fully see what had happened to her. Soon enough, enough of it was taken off, allowing Lulu to take in a good sight of the damage; Lulu layed her eyes on the gorey sight. Lulu saw her torn flesh and bones, she saw so much of her blood, it was surreal to even see this.
Noelle saw Lulu begin to shake and rapidly held her, hugging her closely. “I-I’m syorry Lulu…” Noelle uttered softly. Lulu rapidly moved her head to the left and vomited, a tiny amount of blood is enough to upset Lulu, and this was much more than enough to make Lulu unbelievably sick…
Noelle looked away, as this disgusted her, but she understood Lulu and didn’t say anything. Noelle waited for Lulu to finish, which Lulu soon did. She then turned to Noelle and looked at her in the eyes. “L-Lulu…? Listen, I knyo-“ Noelle spoke, before being interrupted by a tight hug from Lulu. Lulu soon began crying on Noelle’s chest, warranting headpats from Noelle. “Just lyet it all out, I know this is horrible…” Noelle said.
Lulu cried for some fifteen minutes before stopping and taking her head out of Noelle’s chest. She sat down and looked at Noelle, about to speak.
“This is all literally my fault!! I shouldn’t have been so fucking stupid to just enter SHARK infested waters, and yet I did!!! This is why people think puppies are just stupid…” Lulu sobbed, still in disbelief at the loss of her leg. Noelle put her paw on Lulu’s ear and began giving it scritches to comfort Lulu. “Lyisten, it’s nyot your fault… I lyiterally feel syo syo syo SYO guilty for being a pussy and not going into the water myself, please don’t blyame yourself Lulu…” Noelle replied, reassuring Lulu.
“Whatever… I just lost my leg, and with that my ability to walk… My life will be so much harder, what will my mom think??” Lulu said, freaking out at future circumstances. “I knyow that, which is why I think I should take you hyome… You’re in nyo condition to continue the search, I got this myself.” Noelle said. “B-But…” Lulu replied, trying to change Noelle’s mind before agreeing with her… How would she walk? How is she gonna find four more pieces, scattered all across the city with only one leg?? “You kmow what, just take me home…” Lulu replied, frowning while doing so. Noelle nodded. She picked up the rockmance fragment and began the walk.
What followed was Lulu hanging onto Noelle’s back, Noelle following Lulu’s directions as she walked. Now Lulu was not light- but neither of the girls minded being this close to each other. The two even blushed at times.
Some half hour later, Noelle stopped in some nearby trees for a quick rest. She placed Lulu down in a fluffy bush where she would be comfy, and the fragment in another. “I’m syorry Lulu, I just nyeed to rest for a bit…” Noelle muttered before laying down on some nearby bushes of the same kind. The two just layed there, empty-headed and upset. Things were looking hopeless, until…
A spark.
Lulu recognized this feeling. It was a hunch. The second fragment had to be nearby, judging by how hard the hunch was hitting her. Could it be that the last shard was nearby?... A hunch has never been this strong…
“Noelle! I-I feel it!... it’s close!!” Lulu exclaimed excitedly, this immediately alerted Noelle.
“Huh?? What do you myean??” Noelle asked Lulu, being confused by her statement.
“Yes, it’s nearby!! I sense it…!” Lulu responded. Noelle looked at her skeptically. “I dunno Lulu, what are the chyances of thyere being so much space for the shards to get lost in, only for the shards to be so clyose??” Noelle responded.
“Listen Noelle, a hunch has never failed us… You’re just gonna have to trust me.” Lulu said. Noelle sighed. “Fyine, you’re lucky I’m desperate…”
Lulu guided Noelle through a rough path as she carried Lulu, this contributed to significant loss of energy. Eventually though, they both saw what appeared to be a strong glow; it was similar to something they had definitely seen in the past, it was the exact same glow the last shard had.
“Oh my paws Lulu…” Noelle reacted to the sight of the shard, experiencing strong disbelief.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s like, end this shit already!” Lulu said with a warm smile. Despite losing her leg, she still felt joy from reaching the end of this journey.
Twenty-five minutes passed. This was enough time for the girls to finally arrive just feet before the second shard. The two stared at it in awe, they realized that a battle that cost them a leg and so much energy had finally come to an end. Noelle walked slowly towards the shard, and she slowly grabbed it. Rapidly, she pulled the other shard out of her bag and united the two pieces.
Upon uniting, the shards stuck together as they began floating midair; their glow became much stronger, and a loud BOOM was heard as the Rockmance united. The rockmance was back.
The two smiled widely at this, the Rockmance was back and it was back before the return of Noelle’s parents; they had done it.
Lulu giggled. “Well silly, what are you like, waiting for? Wish for Marcus already, I won’t stop you…” Lulu said, accepting that she got over Marcus.
“Are you kyidding me?? I barely know him…” Noelle responded, pouting.
“H-Huh?? But I thought the whole purpose of this was to win him… It’s the reason I was like, reluctant to go, but I got over him…” Lulu responded.
Noelle listened to Lulu closely, as she began feeling emotions again… Emotions toward Lulu. She couldn’t deny them anymore. She blushed before sighing.
“Lyisten Lulu… It was, I’ll be hyonest. However, you showed me that you don’t need some rock to feel love…” Noelle responded.
Lulu blushed. She was confused by Noelle’s statement, she even blushed a little. “Wh-what do you mean??”
“Lulu, it’s just that I-I…” Noelle said, stuttering a lot.
“You what?...” Lulu responded, she too felt strong emotions.
“I-I-I… I LOVE YOU!!” Noelle exclaimed, immediately shutting her mouth and turning as red as a tomato.
“Y-You what?...” Lulu responded, blushing just as much as Noelle.
“I lyove you, I can’t hide it anymore… Throughout this entire thing, I’ve felt these mushy feeling towards you, and I cyan’t explain it…” Noelle responded, playing with her paws nervously and blushing.
Lulu smiled, a tear even rolling down her cheek.
“I think that’s called love, Noelle…” Lulu said, smiling.
“A-And what are you trying to say with thyat??” Noelle responded as a blushy mess.
“It mean I like, love you too, dummy.” Lulu said before putting her paws on Noelle’s shoulders and kissing her lips. Noelle almost fainted from how flustered she was, but slowly began kissing Lulu back. The two were locked in a romantic dance of pure love.
This kiss continued for about a minute. The kiss eventually stopped, and the two had a fun journey back home.
END