Carrying on a legacy
An Oliver and Company fanfic, starring Dodger, Oliver, Francis, Tito, Einstein, Rita, Georgette, Jenny and many others.
Note: This takes place a month after "A New Dalmatian on the Block".
Chapter 1: Museum visit.
Relief. That's what filled a certain Dalmatian's head one September day at the vet. He was finally able to walk properly again now that his cast he wore was coming off. It wasn't fun wearing a cast day in and day out, and limping around like a goof. Things were getting better ever since Ryan moved in with the Foxworths.
"Ryan Dalmatian" announced a doctor.
"Right here!" Mr. Foxworths said. He gently picked Ryan up and followed the doctor to an empty room. The grown man was glad to have a male dog around the mansion the day the Dalmatian came home with him and his family. Though he didn't understand Ryan's autism at first, he did manage to figure it out with help from Jenny and her friends, along with several societies that help spread autism awareness.
As soon as they arrived in the empty room and the X rays showed Ryan's injured leg was OK, Mr. Foxworth, his real name is Charles, held Ryan still as the doctor began to cut the cast open. Ryan did his best to remain perfectly still as the doc cut his cast gently. He didn't want any bit of fur or his leg "cut off", but that wasn't possible with the special saw the doctor was using. It wasn't Ryan's fault he overreacts or thinks about something bad that'll happen in situations like this, it was his autism at work. He was glad when the cast was cut open and was removed from his leg. It smelled like crap when he sniffed the ripped open cast.
"Yuck!" he shivered, "Why did my curiousness get the better of me?"
The doctor then began to examine Ryan's leg again, just to make sure it was still OK. Ryan's leg was a little darker and thicker than usual, but it was completely normal when someone's cast comes off.
"Ok Ryan, try moving your leg a bit for me please" the doc said.
Ryan barked and moved his leg a little. It hurt just a little bit, but not too much unlike when he hit his foot against a rock by accident one day. He winced a little as he felt the pain a bit.
The doctor noticed Ryan's wincing of pain, "Alright, just a little bit of pain is still left in there. You'll be fine there, boy. But, for now on until it is healed, you have to treat your leg with care. It may take a few days or so, but it'll heal."
"Thanks doc!" Charles Foxworth said as he carried Ryan out of the room.
Ryan smiled with relief. He was glad to have that dumb cast off and ready to do his normal thing without limping around like a goof. Not to mention going out with his love Rita again without the cast.
After 30 minutes of signing papers, going through traffic and such, Ryan was in his room at the mansion, watching train documentaries on his own tv. He loved watching train films on his tv while reading his books. The history being told on tv while showing films of both new and old trains educated him like a smart kid in class. Speaking of class, Jenny was now back in school with summer break over, leaving Ryan, Oliver and Georgette by themselves with either Winston or Jenny's parents. Oh well.
"Ryan baby!" Rita barked outside the mansion.
When the autistic Dalmatian heard her voice, his ears perked up excitedly and he hurried downstairs to the main door as careful as he could. Once opening the door, he gave his sweetheart tons of kisses, making her giggle. "Hi sweetheart!" he said with joy. He saw Dodger standing right behind him, "Hey Dodge!"
"We've come to see how you're doing" Rita said with a smile. She then noticed Ryan's cast was gone, which made her smile even more. "You finally got that cast off!"
Ryan nodded, "Yes I did! Although I have to be careful for a few days now, I can finally enjoy myself without that cast dragging me back!"
"That's good Dodger fan" grinned Dodger.
"Yeah. Now that Jenny is in school, I guess I gotta find something else to entertain myself or to keep me occupied" the Dalmatian replied. Even though he doesn't mind sitting around the mansion like a cat, Ryan does wanna try and maybe get a career or something that'll keep him busy.
"Like what honey?" asked Rita.
"Well it can't be stealing stuff anymore" shrugged the autistic dog. "But, I'll think of something."
Rita smiled at her mate warmly. True she was kinda sad that her lover won't be sleeping with her anymore, but she was glad that he was in safe hands and he was happy. However even after Ryan moving in with the Foxworths as a birthday gift in early August, things have worked out well. Ryan still gets to date Rita, Rita and the gang can stop by to visit the Dalmatian and Ryan's allowed to go out with Rita on dates. But recently, there was something different about Rita that made her blush from head to toe as she looked at her mate's body.
"Why don't you become a railroad dog, like your father?" said Oliver as he walked into the room.
Ryan smiled at his kitten friend, "Oliver man, I would love to do that, but you know how it is to get in right?"
Oliver shook his head "no".
"Well, in order to become a railroad dog you have to go through school where you have to go through tons of training and exercise. You gotta learn the basics of railroading such as flipping a switch manually, telling the crew if something's wrong with the engine or track, guarding a locomotive, stuff like that. It's pretty hard work and it'll take weeks or a whole month to be completely ready to graduate from dog training. I know all that stuff thanks to my father, so it shouldn't really be a problem for me to get a diploma since I was born with a famous father."
Dodger, Rita and Oliver were surprised. That's what railroad dogs have to do in order to be a qualified railroad dog?! It almost sounds like college or an actual school like Jenny goes to.
"Seriously man?" Dodger exclaimed, "You should pass the tests in flying colors with your brains of yours."
"Well actually" Ryan said with a frown, "there's some other things I don't about being a railroad dog. Plus even if I could, I would still have to go through training in order to be a railroad dog. It's the rules of the Federal Railway Administration."
Rita snuggled against her boyfriend softly. "But we would have faith in you honey. If your father was a railroad dog, then you will be one too!"
"I don't want to be pushed or forced to do something you guys. It gets me a little tense." As much as he would love to be a railroad dog, Ryan didn't like to be forced to do it or anything. Being forced or pressured to do something was not to his liking at all. It stresses him out and makes him worry that he'll screw up or something.
"We're not pressuring you Dodger fan" Dodger chuckled as he gave his Dalmatian friend a pat on the back, "we're encouraging you. Your father would be real proud of you carrying on his legacy."
Ryan thought over for a minute. True his father would be very proud of him carrying on his legacy of being a railroad dog, but all that training he has to do to become a railroad dog sounds pretty hard. It's like going to school like humans do, but no homeworks or papers for him to sign. At last, Ryan made his decision: "I will think this over and it'll be MY decision. I make the decision and nobody else does. I just need time to think this over by myself. I will let you all know when I've made my decision!"
Oliver, Dodger and Rita nodded, understanding Ryan's decision.
A little later, Rita was out at the Locomotive Preservation Society's museum in Brooklyn just to pay a visit to some of Ryan's train friends since she had some extra time to kill. It has been a while since she last been to the museum, mostly because she was busy stealing stuff as always or just didn't feel like visiting the engines. The last time she came to the museum was when Ryan was invited to participate in a special event involving the engines and Ryan invited her to come with her and the Foxworths. Not much has changed besides the museum receiving new engines from railroads that didn't want them anymore or bought by the museum itself. She wasn't alone however, for Dodger and the others decided to come with her to see more parts of the museum since they've only seen a few parts of it.
As they wandered towards the museum, they could see a huge crowd of people looking around the museum while there was a massive group of engines doing all sorts of activities. Apparently they came at a busy time, judging by all the crowds of people and engines. It would be an opportunity to steal some people's wallets, but the canines figured it wouldn't be worth it since the engines would notice or they'd get caught.
"Mira lo this place, check it out!" Tito said as the gang looked around the yard full of engines and people. Compared to all of the trains, the canines felt small compared to the size and length of the engines, both steam, diesel and electrics of all types and shapes.
Francis was marveling at two large steam locomotives that were displayed near the turntable. There was a large Grand Trunk Western U-1-c and a Union Pacific Big Boy, both of which were standing proud and tall, even taller than him. "U-1-c. Big Boy" he muttered, reading the signs placed beside the engines. "Huh, odd names for trains like you two."
The engines just rolled their eyes as the Bulldog walked away to catch up with the others. "Noob!" they hissed.
"I can see why Ryan loves this place. It's like heaven on Earth to him" Einstein said. He was quite impressed at how big the museum was up close and how many trains were displayed.
Tito chuckled as he laid against a New York Central Shay. "Hey man, if this is heaven, give me a big bowl of hotdogs!"
Soon a familiar whistle was heard as a certain Canadian National U4a rolls up alongside the canines. It was Foxworth the Royal Train engine, who was just returning from a demonstration run. He smiled happily as he spotted the mutts nearby. "Hello hello hello dear chaps" said the 4-8-4 with a big warm smile, "what brings you by here today? Where's our dear dog Ryan?"
"He's staying home today" Rita replied as her friends gave the streamlined engine a cheerful "hello" back. "His leg has been cured and now he's walking on 4 legs again. But I bet he smelled the inside of his cast and it didn't smell pretty!" She laughed a little at the thought of Ryan sniffing the inside of a cast after wearing it for a good while.
Foxworth laughed, "That's good to hear! I'm just glad he's still around rather than being dead. Sweet dog he is, let me tell you. The only thing that keeps him going is us, you guys and all of his friends. Especially you Rita!"
Dodger and the gang blushed, feeling quite flattered. While Ryan was recovering from his injured leg, Jenny, Winston, Mr. and Mrs. Foxworths would take him to the museum to see his friends and to make himself feel better, especially from his injured leg. Though it wasn't his fault he had broken his leg, it was those bullies and Estelle that made him injure his leg, along with Wild Devil. Speaking of them, the gang heard that the surviving bullies recently died "mysteriously", while Estelle was no longer a threat to Ryan since she has no idea where he is. Secretly, Rita knew how the other bullies met their demise, but she had other things to worry about.
"Hey Royal Blue?" Dodger said to Foxworth, "Ryan told us about this dog training program here. Is it really hard to become a railroad dog?"
Foxworth nodded anthromorphically. "It is hard actually. You have to be properly trained in order to be a railroad dog. There's so many tricks and techniques you'll learn as you get trained. You gotta learn how to tell the signalman to change the points, manually switch the track incase of emergencies, manually brake a freight car, keep on guard, all sorts of tricks! I know, I have to teach one several years ago and he passed."
Tito shook his head, feeling bad for the dogs that would probably have a hard time going through all that training just for one career! "Man that sounds like military training or something out of a boxing match. What happened to the dog you helped with?"
"Well he became famous, and traveled across the country. Sounds familiar doesn't it?"
The whole gang's eyes lit up with surprise, wonder and shock. They knew who Foxworth was talking about, Shaun. "You trained him?!" they asked.
"Indeed I did" grinned Foxworth, preparing to leave. "And I know for a fact, that a certain spotted friend will be just like his father." With two toots of his whistle, the 4-8-4 slowly rolled away and disappeared in a parade of locomotives.
But Rita wasn't done talking to him. She rushed into the crowd of locomotives, wanting to talk to her friend and learn more about him training Shaun. "Hey!" she shouted, "I have more questions to as..." Her voice was drowned out by the sound of a loud whistle from behind her. She was walking in front of a Grand Trunk Western U4b's path, and he wasn't looking happy about it.
"Get out of the way!" he snapped and pushed Rita to the side, making her yelp in surprise. "Why don't you look where you're going, stupid dog?!"
Rita growled furiously at the engine. "I'm not the one who has anger problems" she muttered to herself. Giving up on trying to find Foxworth again, she joined Dodger and the rest of the gang on the journey back to the barge with their loot. The sun was starting to go down, and the gang knew that it wouldn't be long until Fagin arrives back at the boat. But the fact about Foxworth training Shaun, Ryan's dad, overwhelmed her and it only gave her so many questions rather than answers. Was it true he, the Father of Railroading, was trained by an engine? Why was he trained by Foxworth? The answers just weren't there! Ryan probably wouldn't know it since none of his train friends told him about it, nor has his mother told him about it either!
Please review this.
More chapters coming soon.
Oliver and Company belongs to (C) Disney.
Estelle belongs to SegaDisneyUniverse. I have permission to use his character.
Ryan, the Locomotive Preservation Society, Shaun and Foxworth belongs to me.
Note: Sorry for the long wait folks! There was some things I had to take care of, such as getting ideas, real life stuff, stuff on Deviantart and so forth, but here's the 3rd story of the Ryan and Company stories!