Chapter XLV: Dog Days
Rain poured down as a storm set in. The party decided that it'd be best to break for the night. Anchoring the house, the five retreated beneath to get shelter. Sitting around a small fire, they relaxed.
"Well, thanks for keeping us dry, Ellie." Carl said, looking up at the house.
"Which one's the front?" Russell said, messing with the tent set up.
"I don't really know?" Ushio commented, looking at all the parts. "I haven't really set up a tent before."
"Is this step three or step five?" Russell continued messing with the poles. "There." Pushing with all his might, he tried snapping it into place. Walking over to Carl, he closed up his book. "All done! That's for you."
Ushio looked over at the tent. It seemed haphazardly set up and wrong looking. Just as the others looked back at the tent, built up pressure in the poles released, sending the tent flying into the darkness of the night.
"Oh. Tents are hard." Russell said as he sat next to Carl.
With nothing to help with and nothing to do, Ushio took up a spot across from them. Grabbing a stick, she tossed it into the fire to keep it going.
"Wait, aren't you super wilderness guy with the GPM and the badges?" Carl spoke.
"Yeah, but…can I tell you a secret?" Russell replied.
"No."
"All right. Here goes." began Russell. "I never actually built a tent before. There, I said it."
"You've been camping before, haven't you?" Carl asked.
"Well, never outside."
"Well, why didn't you ask your dad how to build a tent?"
"I don't think he wants to talk about this stuff."
"Why don't to try him sometime? Maybe he'll surprise you."
"Well, he's away a lot. I don't see him much."
"He's gotta be home sometime."
"Well, I call, but Phyllis told me I bug him too much."
"Phyllis? You call your own mom by her first name?"
"Phyllis isn't my mom."
With those words, Carl immediately understood the situation for what it really was.
"Oh."
The three sat in silence for a moment. Having listened in on the conversation, Ushio knew it wasn't her place to but in. If there was one thing she'd learned on her journey, it was to not interject when someone was begin to speak from their heart. She could tell Russell was starting to do so.
"But he promised he'd come to my Explorer ceremony to pin on my Assisting the Elderly badge." Russell started up again. "So he can show me about tents then, right?"
"Hey, why don't you get some sleep." Carl told him. "Don't wanna wake up the traveling flea circus."
"Mr. Fredricksen, Dug says wants to take Kevin prisoner. We have to protect him. Can Kevin go with us?" Russell said, yawning.
"All right, he can come." Carl said.
"Promise you won't leave him?"
"Yeah."
"Cross your heart."
"Cross my heart." Carl stated solemnly.
Ushio brought herself to the ground as Russell seemed to head off to sleep. Turning away from the others, she could hear Carl say one last thing before she fell asleep.
"What have I gotten myself into, Ellie?"
—
Morning broke as everyone awoke. As Ushio got up, she looked around as the others looked for Kevin. Spotting him in the roof, she joined the others in looking up at him.
Off in the distance, distinct bird chirps could sounded out. Hearing these, Kevin called back.
"What's it doing?" Ushio asked.
"The bird is calling to her babies." Dug replied.
"Her babies." Russell responded before the realization hit him. "Kevin's a girl?"
"Her house is over there in those twisty rocks. She has been gathering food for her babies and must get back to them." Dug explained.
"Wait. Kevin's just leaving." Russell said. "But you promised to protect her. Her babies need her. We gotta make sure they're together."
"Sorry Russel. We've lost enough time already." Carl stated.
"So we can't…" Ushio said, almost verifying his claim by looking at the balloons.
"Yeah, we need to move."
Hearing rustling noises a bit off, the three turned towards the noise. Familiar with the possibility, Ushio quickly brought out her Keyblade.
"Whoa, what's that!" Russell said, taking slight attention in what she'd done.
"I'll explain later. Just keep watch for now."
At that moment, two dogs jumped out. Barking, they approached the trio as they were taken aback. A third dog jumped up and seemed to be in command. Walking over to Dug, it began to speak in a high pitched voice.
"Where's the bird? You said you had the bird." Alpha spoke.
"Oh yes, oh yes. As I said that, I can see how you would think that." Dug responded.
"Where is it?"
"Uh…Tomorrow. Come back tomorrow and then I will again have the bird. Yes."
"You lost it. Why do I not have a surprised feeling? Well, at least you now lead us to the small mailman and the one who smells of prunes. Hm, it appears you've gained a girl holding a strange object as well." Alpha said, observing Ushio. "Master will be most pleased we have found them and will ask of them many questions. Come."
"Wait." Carl spoke up. "We're not going with you. We're going to the falls."
The two other dogs began barking as they ran around the trio. Ushio kept her Keyblade readied, yet she was mentally unable to do anything to the animals. Being pushed back by them, they began to make their trek to wherever the lead dog was taking them.
The group was led through the rocky terrain, carting the house the entire way. As they continued their walk, more dogs began to join in the parade. With nothing to really do, Ushio let her Keyblade disappear as she continued walking.
After a while, the three reached a canyon spotting a huge crevice that even more dogs sat in front of. The lead dog stopped in front of it, turning around and facing the group. At that time, all the dogs surrounding them started to converge on their location.
"Stay!" a voice called out, stopping the dogs. Stepping out of the crevice's shadows, a figure started to emerge.