author's note:
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the support, suggestions, and reviews. Your encouragement keeps me motivated to write more, and I appreciate you all taking the time to hear me out and keep up with the story!
I prefer to write when I feel motivated to do so in order to prevent creative burnout or produce something that feels forced, so I thank those of you who have been patient enough to stick with me.
from here on out, the story will deviate completely from the original version (although it's arguable that we did that already), with new characters, new factions, new locations, and all new adventures, so let's get started!
special thanks to BoltDMC, Loz, and Lshishi.
your positive reviews and inspiration keeps me going!
on with the story!
Bolt groaned again as he smelt the smell of sweet, dusty, Earth. It was hard to open his eyes, and he wanted to rub them. it felt like he had something in them. was it sleep? The super dog tried to move a paw, but for all the super strength, he just couldn't. he felt hot, and there was bits of something in his fur. come to think of it, he could feel bits of something all over him; under his collar, in his ears, even his throat was dusty. The super dog coughed and opened his eyes. the bits of something was sand. Lots and lots of sand. As Bolt looked down, he saw he was completely buried up to his neck, his limbs trapped under the tightly packed substance. It was heavy and thick. Even with his strength, he couldn't find it within himself to move. what's worse was he was in the middle of nowhere it seemed. "…Mittens?" he whimpered, noticing she was nearby, buried up to her neck in the sand like him. the cat gave a delirious groan.
"Bolt…?" she murmured, opening her eyes and looking around. "where are we?"
"I don't know." The super dog replied, still trying to get free. His head throbbed, a dull persistent ache.
"it's hot." Mittens complained, staring at the landscape in confusion. Bolt stopped struggling to escape the sand and panted a little, getting tired.
"we're in the middle of the desert." He pointed out.
"I can see that!" the cat hissed in agitation, struggling to get free of the sand herself. Bolt's chest heaved as the super dog panted, coughing weakly at the dryness in his throat, lacking the energy to continue struggling. "where did you think I thought we were? The beach?!" she hissed irritably, her eyes darting about.
"I wish we were on the beach." Bolt smiled a bit, trying to focus on the cat as his head spun. "at least we'd have the ocean." Mittens stopped struggling then, her head hanging limply. "…Mittens?" Bolt called in between a cough. The cat groaned.
"I'm tired, Bolt." She said quietly. The super dog panted, his tongue hanging a bit.
"me too, but we can't fall asleep." He insisted urgently.
"it's hot. I need to sleep Bolt." The cat insisted.
"no Mittens, don't sleep." He barked hoarsely, trying to struggle again, but his super strength seemed weaker all of a sudden.
"I'm sorry Bolt." The cat coughed dryly before going quiet.
"Mittens!" the super dog barked, wincing through his headache, but the cat only coughed a little in response. The American White Shepard panted, dizzy from the effort of trying to get free and rested his head on the sand. Slowly, his eyes started to droop. Faintly, through the rising heat, he thought he could see that dog again and bared his teeth, seeing it come closer every time he blinked. "you…" he snarled weakly, gazing up at it as it grinned above him.
"your time is running out." He said sinisterly, lifting a paw above Bolt's head. Sand from his paw pad drifted down to land on Bolt's head, like sleep dust. "and you're never gonna get it back."
"you… you…!" Bolt closed his eyes, embracing the darkness once more.
The hot sun bore down on the desert as Gus padded across the featureless plain, paw tracks leaving an imprint of his passage in the sand. He must've travelled several miles out to the middle of nowhere just to put the super dog and his right hand cat in their graves. But it would be worth it. he sure hoped it would be worth it. if not dehydration then surely heat stroke. He approached the train station, his tail involuntarily drooping a little at the sight of ill activity. The train had already left and he wasn't sure how much longer it would be until the next one came through. It would take him ages to return to Calico. Gus made it to the small building that served as the station and padded into the cooler interior of the wooden building.
"hey, it's the dog…"
"WHERE?!" Gus glanced over in time to catch a Calicorp solider slap his companion in the face. Well, more accurately his helmet.
"not that dog you idiot. Him." he pointed down to the wolfdog. The soldier who'd just been smacked shied a few steps away nervously.
"what's he doing here? Thought he was with Calico…"
"well… dogs can get lost, can't they?" the employee who seemed decidedly less scared approached him carefully, crouching down a few metres away.
"…should you be that close to him?" the other one asked nervously as the super dog came closer. "what if he… does something?" the soldier in front of Gus turned around to look at his companion.
"why would he hurt me?" he questioned, turning back to the super dog and placing his hand on his head, running it gently back and forth. "he's on our side, isn't he?" Gus shut his eyes, smiling as the Calicorp member patted him. his companion behind him tried to bite his nails, then remembered he was wearing a helmet as his fingers hit the protective glass.
"well… what are we going to do? Calico won't be happy if he's lost his super dog." The other soldier stood up.
"we take him with us!" the man declared with perhaps a little too much zeal, turning on his heel. "he'll be useful for extra protection. And besides, we're heading to that professor base as reinforcement anyway. We can return him to Calico. Maybe get a promotion."
"…if… you say so." His companion replied hesitantly, although he was drowned out by the other man walking away, calling as he went.
"Thorin! Ready the supplies and move out! We're heading into the wastes!"