A/N: Just a reminder to read this as if Pups Save a Flock and Take My Paw were never posted. If you didn't see the build-up to the stories being removed and are in any way confused, you can PM me for an explanation.
I know I said I wanted to chill things down, but this is about as close to canon-typical as I can get.
Wisp crouched behind a pile of bean bags, grinning to herself as the sound of more pups joining in the search reached her. She squirmed a bit, then made herself still before she bumped the bean bags.
"Come on, now is not the time fow games," Zuma complained. "It's bedtime."
Wisp pressed her paws to her mouth to muffle her giggles. Maybe it was the weeks of laying around resting, but she was really restless tonight. She was tired of resting, even though she knew she needed it.
A snuffling sound made Wisp catch her breath. Chase was on her trail! She froze, but the German Shepherd rounded her hiding spot a few seconds later.
Chase halted at the sight of Wisp, who did her best at puppy eyes. She tried to silently tell Chase to not say-
"I found her."
That.
"You're no fun," Wisp grumped as she reluctantly followed Chase out of hiding.
Zuma ran over, wearing a stern frown. "How many times do I have to tell you, Wisp? You need west, not to be wunning awound."
"I'm bored of resting!" Wisp said. "You made me stay in bed all afternoon!"
Wisp was so frustrated, she forgot to keep her voice level. As soon as she'd finished the shout, her breath seized. Her whole body jerked with a harsh cough that knocked onto her rear.
"That is why," Zuma said, his worried eyes betraying his blunt statement.
Wisp scowled at her paws. It had been a month and a half since she had caught pneumonia, and her lungs were still giving her trouble. She rarely got as tired in the day, at least, but Wisp couldn't run or yell without collapsing into a coughing fit.
Marshall kept telling her it was only a matter of time before she would be back to normal. Wisp couldn't help but think he was keeping something from her, though, when he said that. He wouldn't quite look her in the eye.
"We'll do something fun tomorrow," Rocky said, joining Zuma.
"I'm pretty sure we've exhausted all the indoor games," Wisp said, glancing at the snowy outdoors.
"Well, you can't go outside," Marshall said. The dalmation went up to Chase. "You either."
A tired expression crossed Chase's face before he went blank. Wisp knew how much Chase wanted to insist that he was fine, but he had agreed to let Marshall coddle him for as long as he needed.
Because, eventually, Chase and Wisp were going to have to convince the Paw Patrol that Geo -a pup most assumed had died three years before- was indeed alive. The last time Chase had tried, it hadn't ended well. Marshall, assuming that stress had gotten to him, had confined him to the Lookout until he decided all was well with him.
"Let's just go to bed," Chase said instead. "We'll figure out what to do tomorrow in the morning."
"Fine," Wisp said with dramatic reluctance.
Wisp finally let Zuma lead her over to where she had a bed made up in the Lookout. Chase and Marshall slept nearby. The rest of the pups headed to their puphouses, and Ryder headed upstairs.
Despite her protests, Wisp was asleep in seconds.
The next day started off pretty well. It was so cold outside, that no one even entertained the thought of playing anywhere but inside the Lookout.
Wisp convinced everyone to help her in her favorite pastime: gathering everything possible and making a series of tunnels and caves in the Lookout's main room. Marshall always insisted the she didn't do any major moving, but she could usually convince the other pups to let her help build if Marshall was out of sight and as long as she didn't start coughing.
An hour into the build, however, the pups' tags blinked, and Ryder called for them.
"Ryder needs us!" everyone yelped.
Rubble took off from his spot beside Wisp, and Zuma walked with Wisp as they weaved through the half-built tunnels. They reached the elevator behind Chase, Skye, Rocky, and Rubble.
"Wait for me!"
Wisp couldn't see Marshall, but she did see when the closest pillow wall collapsed. Marshall came flying into the elevator, accompanied by a pile of pillows that half-buried the pups.
Wisp calmly looked around at the mess before saying, "That was some cave-in."
All the pups laughed as they kicked pillows out of the way of the elevator doors. They were whisked up to the top of the Tower, and leaped out.
Wisp and Chase were both without uniforms. Marshall wore his EMT uniform, and Rocky wore Chase's police uniform. All the other pups had on their usual.
"Paw Patrol ready for action, Ryder, sir!" Chase said, slightly lacking his usual enthusiasm. Ready, sure, but two of the team knew that they would be staying behind.
"Thanks for hurrying, pups," Ryder greeted, smiling at the pups. He turned as a screen descended from the ceiling, animating the situation as Ryder narrated. "Katie, Cali, and Alex were ice-skating earlier. Cali wandered onto too-thin ice, and it broke! She's safe on a piece of ice, but she currently floating in the middle of the lake!"
All the pups shivered sympathetically.
"For this mission, I'll need… Zuma! You'll use your hoverboat to get close to Cali and get her to safety."
"Let's dive in!"
"Skye, your copter might stir up the water too much, but I'll need you there in case we need someone to swoop in quickly."
"Let's take to the sky!"
"Marshall, I'll need you to check Cali after we get her back, to make sure she isn't hurt."
"I'm ready for a ruff, ruff rescue!"
"Rocky, you'll be standing in for Chase. You'll need to make sure everyone stays off the ice with Chase's cones and megaphone."
"Green means go!"
Wisp shared a look with Chase, and Rocky gave them a sheepish grin. Until Marshall was ready to let Chase back on the field, the others had had to fill in for him on missions.
Most of the other pups had given up treating Chase like a frail, sickly pup a week after his "nervous breakdown." Ryder and Marshall were the only ones who didn't see that Chase was just fine.
Wisp turned her attention back to Ryder as he scrolled through the Pup Pad once again.
"Rubble, I'll need your bulldozer at the lake as well. The south side of the lake never freezes well, so we might as well build a rock wall to keep people from accidentally going onto the ice."
"Rubble on the double!"
"Alright! Paw Patrol is on a roll!"
Wisp leaped to her paws and howled as Ryder slid out of sight, and the chosen pups leaped onto the slide. She fast-walked to the window and peered out as Ryder and the pups raced away, then turned to Chase.
"So… what now? It's just the two of us." Wisp asked.
In response, Chase barked and said, "Screen!"
Wisp turned to the large screen, then saw in image appear. It took her only a moment to recognize the front of Chase's vehicle, and that the view was from Rocky's collar.
"You want to watch a mission you can't go on?" Wisp said in disbelief.
"That's what I've done for the last two weeks," Chase said, not taking his eyes from the screen.
Wisp sighed and sat beside Chase, having nothing better to do. She quickly decided that watching someone drive was much more boring than actually driving. Luckily, the Paw Patrol soon reached the lake.
Katie, standing beside Alex, waved Ryder and the Pups over and pointed toward the ice, directing the pups to where Cali was floating.
Ryder nodded and waved a hand. Zuma drove his hoverboat onto the ice and slowly made his way to the stranded cat. Meanwhile, Rocky jumped to the ground and started setting up cones while Rubble drove to the other side of the lake to start the rock wall.
"Zuma's cautiously making his way across the ice…" Wisp said in a low tone. "He pauses, then continues. Oh, what's that! The ice is breaking out from under him! Zuma backs away, and again pauses to find a new route."
Wisp stole a glance at Chase. He gave no indication of hearing the commentary, so she shrugged and continued.
"With a new path in mind, Zuma makes his way forward once again. He inches past what must be a weak patch, then pauses at the edge of the ice. With slow, deliberate motions, he drops softly into the water with barely a splash. I give it a nine! Would've been a ten, but the slight ripples has disturbed our distressed kitten."
"He's in the water, but he's… not moving. Zuma's head moves back and forth, and now he is standing and calling back."
"Thewe's too much ice!" Zuma yelled to Ryder. "It might punctuwe my floats if I try to go through it."
"And the route is simply to treacherous! No matter where Zuma looks, it's jagged ice just waiting to send him to the bottom of the lake!"
"What are you doing?"
Wisp jumped at Chase's question, then turned. Chase had looked away from the screen, and had an eyebrow raised at her.
"I'm, uh… livening it up a bit?" Wisp tried.
The other eyebrow raised. After a moment, though, Chase turned forward again without protest. Hesitantly, Wisp turned back as well and started up again.
"Ryder gives the reluctant order to come back. Looks like it is up to Skye to handle this delicate-"
"Ex-cat-tion," Chase interrupted.
Wisp blinked. "What?"
"Extraction. Ex-cat-tion," Chase repeated.
Wisp gaped at the German Shepherd. Slowly, the shock turned to smugness. "Is that why you've been so quiet? It took you all this time to come up with that?"
"I don't hear any wordplay from you," Chase said with a superior sniff.
"Wordplay or wordflop?"
"Just watch the mission," Chase huffed.
Snickering, Wisp focused back to the screen. Skye was currently attempting to reach Cali with the harness, but the water -true to Ryder's prediction- was getting too stirred up to do so safely. Cali simply huddled against the ice, refusing to go after the harness when it dropped close.
"And the latest plan goes up in waves!" Wisp said as Skye veered away.
"And you say that I can't use wordplay?" Chase teased.
Wisp swatted Chase's side with her tail. "Just watch the mission," she repeated.
"They need a better way to get to Cali," Chase said, having taken Wisp seriously. "Marshall's ladder could reach easily, but he needs his ambulance once Cali is back to shore."
"Maybe the wrecking ball on Rubble's bulldozer?" Wisp suggested. "If he moved it close enough, Cali could climb on."
Chase was silent for a moment, eyes flicking around the screen. "No. She's too far out."
Wisp watched the screen. The rest of the pups were standing helplessly around while Ryder tried to come up with a new plan.
"But…" Without explanation, Chase tapped his collar. "Ryder, come in."
Wisp saw Ryder pull out his Pup Pad. "Yes, Chase?"
"I know how you can rescue Cali!"
Ryder frowned in confusion, then he turned to Rocky and smiled. "What's your plan?"
A bit later, all the pups were in position. Rocky, Zuma, Marshall, and Ryder were all standing beside a pile of stones on one side of the lake. On the other side, Rubble waited with his bulldozer backed to the edge of the lake. Skye, Katie, and Alex were beside him. Wisp and Chase watched through Rocky's collar that had been set aside on the police cruiser.
"We're ready here," Ryder said. "Skye, get into position."
Skye yipped and climbed onto Rubble's wrecking ball, aided by Ryder's coat and a couple of scarves wrapped around the ball and cable. She perched at the top, clinging to the cable.
"Rubble, your turn. Nice and easy."
Craning his head around, Rubble began to work the bulldozer controls. He slowly extended the bar as far as it would go, and moved the wrecking ball as close to Cali's ice float as he could. Still, Cali floated five feet away.
"We're going to have to move fast," Ryder said. He called across the lake, "Katie, make sure Cali stays calm! If she gets too startled, she could fall in."
Katie nodded and began to talk soothingly to Cali. Wisp was relieved to see the cat's fur lay flat, and she turned toward Skye with Katie's prompting.
"Everyone's in position," Chase reported. "Now!"
As one, Ryder and the pups beside him threw their shoulders to the pile of stones. The pile wobbled, then the stones started to rattle into the lake. Suddenly, the whole pile fell free. Ryder and the pups leaped free.
The resulting waves swept across the water, slapping against Cali's ice float. The cat mewled when she was splashed, but the force was enough to drift Cali beneath Skye.
"Go, Skye!" Ryder called.
Skye clambered into a scarf that had been hooked to form a sort of large pocket. From there, she leaned down and reached out her paws.
"Cali, go to Skye!" Katie said.
Cali gave a tiny huff and turned her head up to Skye. She stepped closer, then balanced up on her hind legs to reach up. Skye quickly wrapped her paws around the cat, and swung them both up to the scarf.
"I have her!" Skye yipped happily. "You can take us back now!"
Everyone cheered as Rubble brought the pair back. Cali wasted no time in jumping to Katie's arms, and Ryder helped Skye down. In short order, Cali was checked and cleared by Marshall. Katie, Cali, and Alex left, while Ryder and the pups went to finish the lake's stone wall.
Wisp turned to Chase. "Well. Saving cats even when you aren't there. How did anyone ever think Paw Patrol could function without you?"
Chase smiled slightly. He reached up to tap his collar, causing the glow to vanish.
"Chase?" Wisp asked when he didn't say anything.
"Paw Patrol needs all of its pups," Chase said. He stood and stalked away, muttering. "Every last one."
A bit later, Wisp went to find Chase. She had found him messing with the makeshift tunnels in the main room, and they had built mini forts until the others returned. By then, Chase had been back to his smiling self, and ran outside to greet them.
"Chase!" Marshall complained.
"I'm fine, really!" Chase insisted. He nudged Marshall when the dalmation leaped to the ground. "I could've come with you today."
Marshall shook his head. "Not yet, Chase. Come inside, it's too cold out here for you. And you, Wisp!"
"I'm inside!" Wisp protested from her spot at the door.
"But the door is open!"
Wisp couldn't help but laugh as Marshall made her and Chase move away from the open door. Ryder and the other pups were close behind.
"I'm glad the mission went well." Wisp said to Zuma. "A very successful ex-cat-tion."
Zuma blinked, then laughed. "How did you come up with that one?"
Chase gave a yip of protest. "That was mine!"
Everyone laughed at the offended look on Chase's face. After a moment, even he joined in.
A/N: Okay, everyone, I'm going to need some help with the Mini-Ventures. Any of you readers know that I love drama and build-up. What I have a hard time doing is simple, basic stories with no ulterior motive. The Mini-Ventures will be filled with hints toward Wisp and finding Geo, but I also need some simple story lines to build them around.
So! I'm looking for suggestions! The Mini-Ventures won't have a primary focus on any one character (pulling Wisp a little out of the spotlight) so if you have an idea for a story to revolve around any of the pups, feel free to let me know! Honestly, the more suggestions I get, the longer the Mini-Ventures will go. This story will be covering a six-month period, after all. Right now, I am looking for a story idea or two that can be accomplished with Chase still being confined to the Lookout. After that, it can be pretty much anything you like, as long as it is between canon and my normal in terms of drama. Sorry, but no new OC's or mercenaries.