Author Notes - This story got more attention than I thought it would. I'm insecure, so compliment me! (I'm totally not desperate). All kidding aside, I'm quite happy.
If you were missing them, the Paw Patrol start appearing in this one.
CHAPTER THREE - AN ADVENTURE
The road to Adventure Bay from the aptly named Foggybottom wasn't a long one, but it felt so much longer when a kitten's only form of transportation was a rocket-powered cat carrier with three room-mates who weren't doing anything to help.
'I'm telling you, we're lost.' Crumble said, losing her patience.
'How can we be lost?' Drought retorted. 'There is literally nowhere to go in this foggy limbo.'
'All this fog makes everything look the same. We're lost.'
'Fine then. You drive.'
'Me? I have no clue how that dang remote works. You barely have a clue!'
'So l let me drive.'
Flame looked out the window, watching her foggy home vanish into the mist. She sighed, deep in thought.
'You okay Flame?' Trash asked.
'I don't know. What if Thief is right? Ya know, about our owner not caring about us? He was more concerned about his wet socks when Crash got lost.'
'Thief being wight? Ha! She's just a jerky-jerk. If she makes you feel bad, I'm gonna... gonna... AH-CHOO!'
Flame jumped aside to dodge the splash, wanting to avoid any water, especially that from a mouth.
'Ew... are you feeling okay?'
'Yeah, just fine. I think.'
The cat carrier left the foggy air, and just over the hill, stood the town by the ocean, still as bright as ever despite the darkness of night.
'Ah-ha! I told you. I knew exactly where I was going.'
'Grrr... right. Can you see Crash?'
'You mean the pink furball flying around the bridge?'
Crash left the fog behind, pursuing the clear skies of Adventure Bay. He zoomed through the air, loving the feeling of the wind in his fluffy fur.
He gained altitude, and hovered in place. From up high, he recognised the seaside town with the bridge and tower. He dove down, and perched on the highest point on the bridge. He looked over the beautiful area.
It wasn't too late, so all of the lights were still on, including those of the tower. Compared to the typical nights he was used to, he loved it.
'I did it. I actually did it. On my own, by my will, I've flown all the way here. And now I can finally prove that I'm not a ... AARRGH!'
He misplaced a single paw, and now he found the freezing water getting closer and closer.
'Waaater! Mrow, wings!'
His wings gained a burst of speed, flinging him out of his downwards spiral. He flew around, not minding where he went.
'No! I don't need to be saved any - OOF!'
He didn't quite know what happened. All he knew was that his one of his wings hit something, and it threw him off completely. A suspense cable caught him, and he held on.
'What the heck just happened?'
He observed two things. First, the cable he hung on was high, high, up above the road. Scary, but no problem, since he could just fly away and...
Uh oh.
Problem. The impact dented one of his wings completely out of shape. The engine still worked, but spiralling out of control was not on his mind.
'Oh great...'
A car below him pulled over, and an ordinary person stepped out. They pulled out their phone and... Crash knew precisely where this was going.
Within minutes, he heard the sound of vehicles driving closer. He recognised the kid's ATV, closely followed by the blue police truck. The orange hovercraft diverted and splashed into the sea. The pink-and-grey helicopter flew above them all.
If he had to guess, the police dog was there to supply an emergency net, since they seemed more often chosen for their equipment rather than actual skill. The diving dog would've been down there in case he fell to the water. And Skye... her job was obvious.
She left her copter, and now hovered in front of him. Now, he had a good look at her. They had the same pattern across their entire body.
His eyes widened. It was such a coincidence. The only difference between the two was that he was a cat... a male cat of course.
'And just look at me! He only 'saved' me from that pound because I'm just a cat version of the police mutt.'
As Thief's comment came back to him, he realised something. It brought him back to the day he met him, when he adopted him from the pet store.
'Here you go, sir. I'm surprised no one adopted him earlier. He's like a kitty version of Skye!'
'Yes. She's perfect!'
Of course! While most of them did not look identical to their puppy counterpart, him and Thief were just kitty versions of their respective pup, albeit gender-swapped.
Thief was right.
That selfish man didn't want kittens to have loving pets. He just envied these dogs and wanted to look better than them. He doesn't care about us at all!
'Here kitty, I'll get you down.'
Her welcoming smile snapped him out of it. Now, only one thought filled his mind.
I'm not going to be saved again!
He let go of the cable, and dived through the air.
'Ryder, she jumped!'
As he plummeted towards the ocean below, the diving dog leaping into action, another thought consumed him.
I didn't think THIS THROOOUGH!
*SPLASH*
He hated water. Absolutely loathed it. Just being on a floating bouncy castle with the girls was enough to petrify him, Trash's apparent obsession with getting the thing to pop not helping.
'Trash! What the heck-'
'It's a bouncy castle. I have to bounce!'
'Do you WANNA drown?!'
Now, he was surrounded by the liquid, in total darkness. He didn't know where the surface was, and he froze from the bitter cold.
Something came towards him in the dark, and lifted him up. Out of the water, fur absolutely dripping, he lay on the diving dog's back.
'Whoa! You weally took a dive, dude.'
The way he talked reminded him of the grey kitten. No doubt the two of them would get along just fine.
'She's okay Wyder, but her wing's all bwoken!'
'No problem!' The boy yelled from above. 'Rocky will fix it up in no time!'
'DROUGHT!'
Everything was going smooth... until, somehow or another, the girls managed to crash the carrier into a tree. Trash cheered and demanded for a second round, while Flame shrieked and jumped onto a very annoyed Crumble.
'Before anyone says anything,' Drought said, trying to control the situation. 'It was Flame's fault for distracting me.'
'S-s-sorry. I heard a car horn, and it sc-scared me.'
Crumble opened the latch and hopped outside, bringing Flame with her. The carrier had been dented, and one of the rockets lay broken on the ground.
'Ah... litterbox.'
'I-I think we broke it.'
Drought followed them outside, and inspected the broken rocket.
'We're not fixing this without some glue, at least. We need you, Trash.'
The grey kitten approached the edge of the carrier floor, took one step, and fell flat on her face. Flame rushed over and helped her up.
'A-are you sure you're okay?'
'Yeah, I'm fine! The cwash left me a bit dizzy, that's all.'
Crumble picked up the rocket with her shovel, and threw it into the carrier.
'That rocket is more than a little broken. No amount of glue is gonna fix that. We'll have to search for Crash on foot.'
She scanned their surroundings. Conveniently, they had crashed next to the bridge, right by the place with the grooming girl.
'I-Is that Crash?' Flame said, pointing to the pink thing falling to the water.
'Cwash!'
They watched in silence, waiting.
'She's okay Wyder,' They heard the diver yell. 'But her wing's all bwoken!'
Crumble sighed in relief. 'Okay. He's fine.'
The vehicles drove off, across the bridge away from them and towards the tower.
'And they're taking him to the tower!' Trash yelled.
'They'll likely be keeping him with them until our owner comes to pick him up.' Drought said. 'We gotta sneak him out quickly. Come on.'
The four kittens started their trek across the bridge above the water. Of course, being tiny kittens, the road became all the more longer.
'I-I hope Crash is safe.' Flame said. 'D-do you think he's safe, Trash?'
She looked behind her to see the grey kitten, normally high in energy, trailing behind. Her running slowed down to a walk.
'I really don't think you're okay...'
'What? I'm fine! I weally weally am. I-'
She stopped, and stepped over to the edge of the bridge. The water shimmering practically hypnotised her, as it always did. The waves almost spoke to her.
The little grey kitten was weird when it came to water. The other members of her crew hated water, except for Drought, but she merely tolerated it. Trash, on the other paw...
'Aw, that water looks so pwetty! I hafta!'
Flame spun around and charged for her.
'D-don't! We know you love the water around here, but-'
Trash jumped. 'YIPPEEEE!'
Drought and Crumble heard the happy yell - followed swiftly by a small, barely audible splash - and ran over to the panicked white kitty staring at the water.
'Oh my gosh, Trash!' Crumble yelled.
'C-Can you see her?' Flame asked.
'I can't see a hint of green.'
Drought stepped up to the edge, and looked over the water like an eagle.
'Meet me at the beach.' She said. 'Meow, jets!'
'Drought, what are you... Drought!'
The jets on her back grew, ready to go. She leapt from the bridge, diving into the bay and vanishing into the water.
'D-Did she made it?' Flame asked.
'How should I know? We gotta get down to the beach and pray they both make it out.'
Crash had to just sit there, without his wings, while the dogs took care of everything for him.
The recycling pup took his wings away from him, with his metal claw. The cat watched him, to make sure he didn't stash them into his truck. Instead, he hammered the wing back into place, turning them on for a moment to see that they worked.
'Good as new! It was just a small dent.'
'Good. Now give them back.'
As expected, the pup didn't respond. He really didn't know what he was expecting. Why would he respond? Cats couldn't talk like the dogs could. Why did that sentence feel odd?
'You were lucky getting stuck when you did. We were getting ready to go to bed.'
He was given his wings back, and he laughed. How foolish! Now he could just fly away and...
... and the boy just picked him up.
'What are you doing out here so late?'
'Ugh, if you must know,' Crash knew he wouldn't understand, but whatever. 'I've had enough of my owner and want to-'
'I should call Mayor Humdinger first thing tomorrow morning so he knows-'
Crash flinched. That very name shook him to the core. Without even letting the boy finish, the kitty squeezed out of his hands, and flew away into the night.
But he didn't fly away. After disappearing from their sight, he landed on the top of the tower and looked down.
As the recycling pup said, all the pups settled into their houses as all the lights went off. Lights across the town vanished one by one.
Crash himself wanted to sleep, but for once he didn't feel tired. His eyes had been set on the pink-and-grey house, the one containing the cockapoo.
'There she is... mrosh... mrash...'
He jumped.
Author Notes - Don't worry about Trash; she'll be fine. Yes, the kitty version of Rocky loves water. It's ironic on many levels.
So what is Crash planning? Well, you'll find out.
'Thief being wight?' sounds poor said out loud. No one quote that out of context, please.
