Chapter V
~Backups~

Back at the kindie where Calypso and her dazed comrades stood by, the reparation of their precious kingdom was almost completed through the teamwork of everyone involved. The damage her students had to endure wasn't entirely severe to most, but they powered through. Alter after alter, and reset after reset, they were understandably upset, let alone caught by surprise.

Calypso was disappointed with everything that happened, but Honey was more riled up than her. "Darn dragon, destroying our precious land," she said.

Indy dusted herself free of any debris, by that, she meant any dust and broken toy pieces. "I really wish we could've had more time to give that foul beast a piece of my mind!"

Coco sighed briefly, caressing her fingers together. "I really hope Princess Chloe and Bluey are okay…"

The Aussie shepherd stepped in. "Let's try not to underestimate her, Coco." She joined her hands together confidently. "I'm definitely positive that she's going to be just fine. She's one of the most intelligent students I've ever met. Deep down, I know she can fight off any problems she could ever encounter."

Just above her, the television monitor started flashing static, before it projected a clear shot of Bandoot's face, laughing it up as if he was really a hyena on the inside. The group of pups gasped, observing him express his laughter. Calypso turned to the large heeler, putting her interrogation skills to work.

"Alright you," the shepherd spat, her arms crossed. "What have you done with her?"

Honey, the assistant, irately tapped in as well. "Why have you snatched our beloved princess from our kingdom?"

"Wait, when did we get a TV?" Coco genuinely questioned, her finger scratching her chin.

As some static rolled in on the screen, the devious blue heeler father figure spoke his mind. "Ah, I just love the sweet stench your vulnerable kingdom is in now-"

"Oh please," Honey spat, dismissively waving her hand. "You've probably been smelling yourself."

Bandoot's eyes squinted as his vision focused on Honey. "I don't have the time to get sassed by a puny little protege like you," He spat. "On to more serious matters now, your precious princess is in a safe and secure place."

"Okay, but where is she?" Coco uttered.

The heeler rolled his eyes. "Goodness gracious, do I have to repeat myself?"

"Well!" The poodle crossed her arms.

The Afghan hound stepped in, enraged to speak her thoughts. "You haven't done anything to our princess have you?"

"Why no! She's wrapped up nice and tight in the bed we had installed just for her!" Bandoot ducked to reveal the dalmatian, strapped tight on the bed, all while unleashing his laughter. The sounds of her struggling grunts had the students worried. With the vulnerable, defenseless state she's in now, there's no telling what was going to come to her.

"Let me out of here this instant!" Chloe yelled, getting a grunt in. "...Y-you darn dirty dupe!"

Bandoot laughed once again. "Oh struggle all you'd like, princess. There ain't no way you're gettin' out of those ropes."

When his head popped up back into the screen, the leader of the kingdom spoke to him. "You still haven't answered our questions!" Calypso spat.

"We demand you confess to us why you have taken our beloved princess hostage!" Honey added.

Bandoot scoffed. "Oh, fine. You want your darn answers so bad, I'll give 'em to you."

Calypso had her hands on her hips. "Yes. Right. Now."

The heeler's eyes squinted tight. "Whether or not you realize it, this involves you."

The shepherd glanced around, her head tilting ever slightly. "Me?"

"Yes, you!" Bandoot rubbed his paws together, his gaze locked securely on the fluffable hound. "The reason she's being held hostage is because of something you've refused to relinquish to me a long time ago."

Her students took a good look at the shepherd. "Oh, what are you on about?"

The heeler answered casually, his hand pointing at the screen now. "That shiny artifact that glows from your behind!"

Calypso took a glance back, staring directly at the said item, which was a glowing gemstone made from jade. The students gazed at it in awe. It was so bright and polished to the point that it had Honey's eyes dilate for a brief moment. She turned back to Bandoot. "Well, how on earth were we supposed to know this shiny piece of solitaire was originally in your possession? One of our proteges found it fair and square."

"Yeah, it's not our fault that you have such terrible places to hide stuff," Honey said.

"And something as valuable as that?" Indy added.

"Come on now. Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe this is all just a coincidence?" Calypso reassured, asserting her dominance.

Bandoot's head shook slightly before he showed off his own ascendancy, his anger getting visible to the shepherd along with her students. "Even so. If you ever want to see your puny little dalmatian again, you are to deliver that artifact to me as soon as you can! You have forty-eight hours to complete this task, or else you can officially construct your valediction to your sweet little princess!"

Everyone's mouths were slightly agape, witnessing the heeler vocalize his monstrous laugh. The last thing the students and the shepherd heard was Chloe's loud grunting and failed attempts at breaking free from her bed before a static filled the screen, shutting itself down almost instantly.

Coco, Indy, Honey, and the others were worried sick about the dalmatian, some audible murmurs being exchanged between them. Calypso had to be quick on her mind to construct their next move.

"What are we going to do, Calypso?" Indy asked.

"Are we really going to give up the artifact that's rightfully ours to begin with?" Coco added.

Calypso lifted her head up, her hands clenching to make fists. "I'll tell you exactly what we're going to do," she said. "And that artifact's not going anywhere."

"But Calypso, the mean heeler's demands, we can't just discard his desires!"

Honey nod her head. "Yeah, that belongs to us, and you know it too because you were there when it happened!"

A flashback showed Coco observing Pretzel and Gruber dig a hole near the woods. Calypso walked towards the two with Honey by her side.

"Coco and Pretzel were just near the abundance of trees when they saw something strange hidden in the grass," Honey uttered.

"Keep digging you guys!" Coco said. "I can practically see it glistening!"

The more they dug, the more they revealed a sparkling item from down below. It was eye-catching for sure, almost unfeasible to even look away from the artifact. When it was fully revealed from the tiny depths of the dirt, Gruber grabbed it without any sort of irresolution whatsoever.

"And that was when we found it sitting there, all green and shimmering. It's almost like it's something rare that doesn't come around very often!"

Honey slammed her fist into her hand. "We've got to think of something interesting and new, something that might actually work out for us."

"Right Honey," Calypso agreed. "While we have our backup planned, we need to construct our primary plan…" The shepherd's foot tapped repeatedly on the floorboards, her arm resting below her chin. "But how..."

Deep into the entrance of the forest, there stood two army recruits, enduring the grey skies with light gusts of wind causing their fur to move. One jack russell terrier and a red kelpie stood side to side with their bags, their backs turned to each other as they scoped their surroundings. Their task was to help guard the base they've claimed ever since their arrival, which happened to be a pair of trees with branches all tangled up with one another.

"Anyone sneaking up on your side, Private Jack?" Rusty asked, glancing at Jack.

"It's all clear, Sargeant Rusty," The terrier responded, his sights turning back to the kelpie. "What about you?"

The red pup received the same result as his partner. His response was just as immediate as his. "All good here."

Jack let out a little yawn. "It's been a few hours," he said. "When exactly are the backups going to arrive?"

Rusty's eyes narrowed. The terrier's words were being processed by his mind. As he stood there to think, his eyes glanced around the empty fields. His own curiosity began to peak as his hand cupped his chin. "I have no idea, Private. They should've been here by now with the care package we're supposed to retrieve." He let out an inevitable sigh before he looked up at the gloomy skies. "Well, so much for our time on duty."

The jack russel terrier shrugged, his sights glancing over to a disappointed compadre. "Well, it's not a total loss…" He reached into his bag for a tube of condensed milk. "We're still good on all that we have left here." Noticing that his partner was reaching into his bag as well, his curiosity would spark in his head. "Eh, what are you doing?"

Extracting the item from his bag, Rusty answered, "I'm getting the transceiver out so we can get an update on what the hay is going on with these guys." He tampered with some of the knobs until a connection finally occurred. "I'm getting pretty sick of just waiting for them to arrive."

Jack nervously rubbed his hands together. "Well Sargeant, if you want my input, I feel the same way as you. But maybe they're close. You never know!"

"I'm going to ask for one anyway just to be safe." By the time Rusty finally connected to the base, he spoke his mind. "Status report! Demanding current position on the care package, and hurry!"

Out of the deep blue for the two boys, someone spat in the distance, catching their undivided attention, "We're coming!"

Around a quarter of a mile away from crossing paths, Zeus was tired out of his mind just storming most of the forest. "How much… (pant) longer… (pant) until we're out of this… (pant) abundance of trees?"

"We're almost there," Hercules said. "It's just up ahead!"

The terriers, along with Winton, took this moment to commence a light cheer for themselves. Finally, they were receiving some type of progress. They just hope that it'd be all worth it when they finally reach the castle to save the princess in time before anything happens.

"Finally," Maximus said. "I'd never thought I'd see the day."

"The day's literally all around you though," Rufus uttered.

"That was a…" the light terrier decided it wasn't worth the time, so he dropped it. "Oh forget it."

After a tiny snicker from one of his brethren, they all stopped dead in their tracks after a voice came to them right off the bat. "Halt!"

Some silence interfered until one of them did the exact same. "Who said that?" Hercules asked.

"It wasn't me," Winton said.

The three terriers responded simultaneously, "It wasn't us either."

"Affirmative," a dominant Rusty uttered, revealing himself alongside Jack. "That would be us!"

One terrier silently gasped, watching the two pups approach them. What could they want from them? Were they going to attack? The three brothers huddled up, left wide in the open with whatever the jack russel terrier and the red kelpie had to throw at them all. The dark gray terrier's eyes locked on the kelpie as if he was some sort of target he intended to aim for.

"Wait… Rusty?" Rufus said. "What are you doing out here in these parts?"

"I'm on duty right now," Rusty's hands folded and placed on his sides. "What are you all doing in there? You do know that it's an off-limit premise for anyone not part of the Army, right?"

The terriers alongside Winton uttered in confusion. "Wha?"

"No one told us that!" Maximus spat.

"I wasn't aware that there were certain parts we weren't supposed to wander around," Zeus said.

"We're just trying to find our way out of here is all," Rufus uttered.

"We need to hurry up though," Rufus said, his gaze focusing on Rusty. "We've already lost a good amount of time trying to aimlessly wander around these parts trying to get to the other side."

"Well, you could've just walked a straight line?" Rusty suggested.

"I don't think that's always the case, Sergeant," Jack said, to his partner.

"Darn, you're right, Private." The kelpie snapped his fingers. "Anyway, we've got to wrap this up as soon as possible because we have bidness to take care of, so march your little dirty paws out of this forest at once, or else!"

Something sparked in Maximus' mind. "Wait, Sergeant-"

"No waiting!" Rusty stomped his paw down, asserting himself once more as he pointed to the open fields. "Now!"

He was dead serious, he wanted the entire party to evacuate. Reacting quickly, one by one, everyone bolted out of the forest. Rufus tripped on a low branch along the way, losing his grip on his sword before he got back up on his feet to take off once again. With everyone out, Jack and Rusty resumed guarding the path they just exited.

The kelpie looked down at the ground, observing a sword that one of the terriers unintentionally discarded. He walked to it and grabbed it. He took a second to examine the weapon before Jack curiously asked him a question.

"I wonder what they're doing with weapons like these?" Jack asked.

"No idea, Private." Rusty said. Just as he was about to discard it, he noticed a peel under his grip. With one raised eyebrow, he pinched the tip and extended it, which revealed a letter from Calypso. "Huh, that's strange."

Before the sergeant, himself can read what's on the slip of paper, a young border collie, donning a postal shirt with his tufts all over above his waist, approached the two recruits on duty with a large box in hand. He walked irregularly, struggling to keep the box in hand without it slipping from his grasp.

"Care package… is here!" Mackenzie uttered, setting the box down before catching some air.

Rusty pumped one of his fists. "Finally! It's about time!" He said.

"What took so long, Mackenzie?" Jack asked.

"Honestly," the collie panted. "You really don't wanna know. I'm just surprised I got it here without it falling out of my sweaty hands." His gaze locked on the kelpie, holding a slip of paper. "Anyway, what's that you're reading?"

"No idea," Rusty shrugged. "It came from this sword someone left behind. I was just about to read what it says." And with that, the kelpie read along what the paper entailed, while Jack and Mackenzie gathered in to look as well, given their curiosity.

Just at the corner of the field now, the party had scoped around their surroundings once again. To all of them, scaling the area was a completely new experience. They've never been that far out before, let alone storming the fields. There was a first time for everything after all. As they continued walking, the party ha broke out into a conversation.

"Has anyone here ever been out this far before?" Rufus asked. The other had shrugged and softly murmured back to him in response, as Hercules continued digging through the tall patches of grass.

"I wonder how far away is this castle anyway?" Winton asked.

"I just hope it's not too far away from us," Zeus answered. "I don't know if my dipstick legs can endure a bunch more of this land."

"Oh, can you lay off with the complaining?" Maximus said, facing the dark terrier. "No matter what happens, we're not going to throw in the towel just yet." His eyes shut all the way, a finger pointed up as he resumed walking forward. "Whether we're at our darkest hours, defeat, or any sort of downfall-"

Right at the edge of the field, as Hercules paid no sort of attention to what was in front of him, he yelped along with Winton as they slipped off the edge, grabbing a hold of the ledge to the best of their ability. The three terriers let out a short shriek, witnessing this, as one had their hands over their head.

"Oh no!"

"Oh my gosh!"

Reacting quickly, almost like on impulse, Zeus and Rufus rushed in to grab ahold of Hercules' arms, while Maximus rushed in for Winton. With all their might, they tried their best to pull them back up, but with just barely any bit of success for both of the brothers. A bit of strain added into their next attempt wasn't of any assistance.

"Come… on…" Zeus said, his arms trembling from Hercules himself pulling him down. "I've... got you…"

"It's… okay… Win...ton..." Maximus barely uttered. "I can… do this!"

Winton gasped, noticing that his foot was almost on the ledge. "Keep going, I'm almost there!" he yelled. His foot acted as if he was riding a bicycle, trying to reach the edge of the cliff. With just one more tug, the bulldog's foot just barely reached the tip of the edge.

But unfortunately, the edge was cracking. Before the two were finally safe from their fall, it collapsed. Both Maximus and Winton fell off momentarily.

"Winton!" Rufus yelled, alongside Zeus.

"Max!" Zeus yelled, alongside Rufus.

The two fallen dogs exerted a bloodcurdling scream until the latter had caught hold of Hercules' lengthy tail.

The bernard jumped a bit, feeling a bit of sensation from his fluffy duster. "Hey!" he angrily exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Maximus yelled. "We didn't have any other choice at such short notice!"

"I didn't think that was going to happen!" Winton added.

Rufus and Zeus were their only hope from this point. Despite that they've been given some extra weight to try and pull up, they had to give it their all this time. There was no turning back from this situation. It may be hard, but it'd be worth it for their tests of strength.

Zeus was getting extremely worried. "Guys, I don't know about this…" Given that he's already exhausted from all that walking, he wasn't completely sure if he still had the strength to pull them back up to safety. "My legs are starting to give out!"

"Noooooo!" Maximus, Hercules, and Winton spat simultaneously.

"You can't quit on us now!" the light grey terrier gulped nervously. "We're... so close!"

Hercules looked at Zeus' trembling legs, they were struggling hard. "Uh… Go legs! Go!" Maximus and Winton were extremely baffled with the bernard's words. They were curious about where was he going with it. Whatever helped them from getting their bums saved from a lengthy drop, they'd go for it, no matter how bizarre or strange. "You gotta want it! You gotta want it!"

A small bit of fortune smiled down at them all when Rufus and Zeus got to pull back a small step or two. Upon realizing this, a satisfied expression registered in the party. "I have no idea what that was all about but it's working!" Zeus said. "Come on! We can do this!"

"Keep holding on tight!" Rufus commanded.

"You don't have to tell us twice!" Maximus yelled.

With the two terriers in position, they began pulling once again. The English bulldog himself took a glance down out of curiosity. His heart jumped upon finding out how high he was to reach the ground again. "Oh, dear!" He hugged Hercules' tail tightly, not willing to release his grip from it anytime soon.

Hercules' irritation was starting to get to him. "Hey, cool it with my tail!"

Winton quickly jumped to another apology. "Again, sorry!"

"Is there anyone out there that could lend us a hand in this horrible predicament?!" Maximus uttered, leaving a beat for at least someone else to answer, but no response. "...oh who are we kidding? We're all done for!"

An abundance of dogs struggling to get out of a serious situation was at an all-time high. With no one around them, stranded and all, meaning they were practically goners. The party just hoped there was at least one person out there that could turn to in order to get out of it. But nope, it was all just an empty field. There wasn't any chance they could ever obtain. It seemed as though a failure was their one and only suggestion here. There wasn't any other way out of this. Maybe the fall they're possibly going to endure wouldn't be as bad as they think it would be. It could be like a little skydiving session for them.

Just as if things couldn't get any harder for them, cracks started to form underneath Rufus and Zeus. Just hearing it was enough to get the terrier's hearts racing. They took in a big gasp, noticing it all happening at this moment. Before they could even think of something else, the dark terrier uttered "Nature sure loves to kick us while we're down huh?"

"Yeah," Rufus agreed, before everyone's eyes closed. "It was nice knowing you all..."

The edge collapsed, taking everyone down as they all screamed.

.

.

.

Until by chance alone, a light had shined down on the party. Two hands reached out, grabbing the two terriers by their feet.

Jack and Rusty pulled as hard as they can with Mackenzie assisting the two comrades. "Keep tugging, Private Jack!" he yelled.

"No problem, Sergeant Rusty!" Jack spat, standing his ground along with the kelpie.

Upon hearing those names, Rufus felt a sensation through his chest, causing his eyes to open wide without hesitation. Although he was at the least, mildly confused, he was grateful that someone was willing to help their aid. "Rusty? Jack?" He said.

"You guys good?" Mackenzie asked, still tugging on the two boys.

"Yeah!" Jack swiftly nodded.

"Lend them a hand!" Rusty motioned.

Registered in his head, the collie rushed in, pulling the two terriers back up to safety before the russell terrier and the kelpie released their grip. "Don't worry, I got you!" After Rufus and Zeus sighed heavily, thanking the heavens that they're safe, their next target was indeed, Hercules. Mackenzie pitched in as well, lending them an extra hand. "Alright, pull!"

And so they did. Despite that it may have taken them a brief moment of their time, they managed to pull the saint bernard back up to safety, along with Winton and Maximus, still holding down on his tail. With all that done and out of their way, everyone took their time catching a breath. It was mighty intense for them to experience something like this, to say the least.

The saint bernard stood up on his feet before he turned around to gaze on Winton and Maximus. "Guys, you can let go of my tail now."

Winton's eyes opened up. "Oh, we're safe!" He did what Hercules wanted him to do, and stood tall alongside the light grey terrier.

The whole party faced the two army recruits, along with their great samaritan post worker, all out of breath and relieved from the events that had occurred.

"Thank... you..." Zeus uttered.

"Don't mention it," Rusty said, smirking. "Just be lucky we'd be willing to be your safety nets in your little rescuing operation!" That alone sparked a smile out of everyone, knowing that Rusty, Jack, and Mackenzie were willing to join their party to save the damsels in distress.

..-. - .-.