Never in a million years would she have ever thought she would end up here.

"Welcome to your room, pups."

Skye and Sweetie were thrown into a room, sliding on the floor before hearing the door shut. The girls got up and slowly looked around.

"Oh no... No..." Sweetie heard Skye whimper.

Sweetie, on the other paw, remained still and frozen. This certainly wasn't an outcome she was prepared for. In just a few hours she went from a warden to a jailpup. Something that the Terrier would laugh at had this happened to any other pup. It was almost like something out of a childrens' book about what happened to those who do something bad. How obscene this was! The Princess' pooch of Barkingburg, reduced to an accused wild animal trapped in such a dog forsaken place!?

Sweetie looked back at the heavy-looking door, "I've got to get out of here—"

"I don't want to hear you talk!" Skye snapped, her eyebrows furrowing in anger.

"What?"

"This is all your fault!" Skye growled, seemingly ready for a round two with the Terrier, "If it weren't for you and that stupid squeaky toy, I'd still be in Adventure Bay!"

Sweetie retorted, "If you didn't try that dumb escape attempt, I wouldn't be in here!"

"Typical Sweetie, always thinking of herself!" Skye barked at her, "You've always been so selfish!"

"Selfish?" Sweetie raised an eyebrow, "I'd rather be selfish than a pup who's lived in poverty for most of her life as a stray."

"That was then!" The Cockapoo shouted.

"Exactly, and now, you've become so dependent on your friends and family that you can't even go a week separated from them without having a mental breakdown!" The Terrier glared at her, "So weak and hopeless, commoner pup."

No matter how much the two argued, one fact still stood. They weren't getting out any time soon. Nobody knew where they were, or even if they were still alive. The only other person or pup aware of their location was the one right next to them.

They were lost, trapped, and alone.

They were in the Adventure City pound.

"If you two are going to be here for a while, then I suggest you keep it down..." A deep, gruff voice spoke, startling the girls, "They don't take kindly to whining pups."

Skye and Sweetie turned their heads in the direction of the voice.

A dog stepped out of a large doghouse, using a paw to gently scratch behind his own neck. Skye couldn't help being a bit confused, looking at the dog.

It was a German Shepherd.

"C-Chase...?" The Cockapoo asked silently, looking up at the dog in front of him.

The German Shepherd looked a bit confused, "I'm sorry, I don't know who this Chase fellow is."

Skye took a moment to shake her head. She didn't mean to call this dog Chase, but couldn't help to, recognizing the breed of dog that was standing in front of her.

The German Shepherd standing in front of them was a lot bigger than either of them were, seemingly having already matured into an adult dog. It reminded her of Chase, but upon closer examination, she began to spot some differences between the dog standing in front of her and the pup she so desperately wanted to see again. The German Shepherd's eyes seemed constantly exhausted, a glint of once bright and exuberant eyes that seemed to grow dull with every passing moment.

The aviation pup was off put by this. She tried her best to get Chase out of her head. This wasn't Chase, this was a pup completely different.

"Who are you?" Sweetie asked, "I don't appreciate you talking to me that way, you homeless mutt."

"It seems like we have some unruly new arrivals..." Another voice, questionably more frail than the German Shepherd's voice, spoke, "How delightful."

A Yorkshire Terrier slowly walked out of a separate pup house, sitting next to the German Shepherd.

"Grandpa, you should be getting more rest." The German Shepherd turned to the Terrier.

"Oh come on, Jackson, I'm already one step from death's door!" Grandpa smiled, "I might as well meet the new arrivals before I depart from this world."

"Don't talk like that, Grandpa..." Another dog left a small pup house that was placed next to the German Shepherd's. His voice seemed to be muffled, confusing the two.

Walking out of the pup house was a Labrador Retriever pup, who had a muzzle loosely tied around his snout.

"Does that one actually have rabies?" Sweetie backed away a bit.

The Lab Retriever took the muzzle off of his snout, "No, I just can't control my special talent in my sleep."

"Special... Talent?" Skye and Sweetie seemed confused,

"I can show you if you want—"

"No!" Grandpa and Jack shouted.

"Who are you anyways?" Skye was very confused.

"Just some dogs, with no home to go back to..." A final dog, a female Schnoodle, walked up to them, "I'm Marcy."

Grandpa walked to the girls, "Everyone around here calls me Grandpa."

A silence followed.

"...You know, because I'm so old?"

"Whaaaat?" Skye tried to look away, "You're not old, you're just... Aged to perfection!" She smiled.

"I'm Siren." The youngest of the four, the pup who had just taken the muzzle off his snout, "You want to know why they call me that?"

The Cockapoo smiled kindly, "Sure, why do—"

"Please don't ask him." Marcy interjected, cutting her off.

"And I'm Jack. What about you two?" The German Shepherd greeted them, "What are you two in for?"

"Fighting on the streets..." Skye spoke with embarrassment.

Now that she had finally calmed down from her fight against Sweetie, she realized how bad it looked on her. She was never one for fighting, not even against bad guys like Mayor Humdinger or the Copycat. Tying them up? No problem. Sending them to jail? Perfect. But fighting? She wasn't very big on that.

Siren stared at Skye, squinting his eyes.

Siren was a very young pup, proven by the fact that he was the same height as Skye despite his breed being naturally bigger than hers. He could have sworn that he's seen her somewhere before.

"What's your name, Miss?"

Grandpa looked between the girls, "Siren's right, we never did catch your names."

"I'm Skye, and the grumpy one next to me is Sweetie."

Siren held back a gasp, "Wait... Do you happen to fly a helicopter?"

Jack sighed, "Here we go again... Siren, she's not—"

"As a matter of fact I do!"

"What?" Both Jack and Siren asked, the younger pup seemingly more excited than the German Shepherd.

"I'm the proud aviation and air rescue pup of the PAW Patrol!" Skye exclaimed, puffing up her chest in an adorable attempt to look bigger.

No matter how many times she has said the same statement over the years, she couldn't help the feeling of pride that brewed in her chest every single time she said it. But now, at a time she needed the most, she was more than happy to declare her undying loyalty to Ryder and the PAW Patrol.

Siren, meanwhile, was over the moon. He had been the biggest fan of the PAW Patrol for the longest time. Sure he wasn't sure as to why Skye and this mysterious other pup was currently in the pound, but that didn't matter.

Before Skye could question Siren as to why he was so excited, the little lab rushed off to his pup house.

A few moments after hearing different items clamor within his pup house later, Siren walked out sheepishly with a rolled up piece of paper in his mouth. Jack, Grandpa, and Marcy seemed to already know what this paper was.

"Aww... How adorable!" Marcy cooed, watching Siren timidly walk up to her.

Siren put the rolled piece of paper in front of Skye, allowing it to unfurl.

What the Cockapoo saw made her earnestly smile.

It was a drawing of Skye in her helicopter, flying in the unnatural storm that had been caused by one of Humdinger's most dangerous ideas. He tried to clear the sky of clouds while he was mayor so that the sun could always shine down on Adventure City. Using the aid of a contraption, built to study clouds, he was able to do this for around a day and a half. By the end of that second day, the machine had gone haywire, causing the biggest storm Skye had ever had the displeasure of flying through.

She almost died, Chase almost died, Ryder almost died, it wasn't a fun time for her.

But seeing this picture didn't invoke those negative emotions from her. He could tell that the drawing the little Lab Retriever made for her wasn't highlighting the disaster that struck that day, but the heroism that each of them had shown during those events, specifically her, who was the drawing's subject.

"Y-You probably don't know, but you saved me that day..." Siren looked down at his paws, "You've been my favorite of the PAW Patrol ever since."

The Cockapoo automatically closed her eyes, trying her best to blink away the tears in her eyes. When it came to favoritism with the PAW Patrol pups, she was usually the favorite of little girls. She never minded this, but it was enough of a normality that seeing a little male pup tell her that she was his favorite.

Grandpa sat down next to Jack, "One paw in the grave and still seeing things to warm my heart."

"Stop it." Jack glared at Grandpa.

"I...I don't know what to say..." Skye wiped a few stray tears from her eyes, "Thank you so much, Siren." She gave the youngest pup a friendly nuzzle.

"So why are you here in Adventure City?" Siren asked, "Are Ryder and the other pups with you? Are you guys visiting?" His tail began to excitedly wag.

"It's kind of a long story..." The Cockapoo was hesitant to tell them.

Jack shrugged, "It's not like we have anywhere to be anytime soon."

Realizing that the matured German Shepherd was right, Skye took a deep breath and proceeded to recount the events of the past week.

By the end of her tale, Sweetie had been noticeably ostracized by the other dogs. Marcy and Jack had even physically moved Skye over to stand by Jack's pup house while Sweetie remained close to the door where she and Skye had been dropped off.

Siren seemed empathetic towards his favorite PAW Patrol member, putting a paw on her back, "It's okay, Ryder and the others are gonna come for you."

"It's not that easy, Siren..." Skye sat down, facing the floor, "Now that I'm in this place, there's no way for me to let the others know where I am. I don't even know if I'm ever gonna go home..."

Despite keeping a firm resolve throughout the week she was gone from Adventure Bay, the fatigue was finally catching up to her. She wasn't only against Sweetie and her dog carrier anymore, she was in a pound, somewhere that she had prayed that she wouldn't have to find herself in back when she was a stray.

"If I know anything about the PAW Patrol, it's that they never give up!" The Lab Retriever looked at her, "They're the best team in the world! They can definitely find a missing pup!"

She couldn't help but smile at his innocent optimism. Him and Rubble would surely get along.

"All we can do is wait." Grandpa began making his way back to his pup house, "But hopefully not too long. I'd hope to see Skye reunite with her friends before I die."

Siren heard this remark, and whimpered in response.

"Look what you did, Grandpa!" Marcy barked at the elderly Yorkshire Terrier, "You can't keep scaring Siren like this!"

"Whoops, sorry little one." Grandpa looked back and gave the Lab Retriever a smile, "This old fart isn't going anywhere anytime soon!"

This seemed to cheer Siren up a bit.

Meanwhile, Jack made his way over to Skye, "Hey... Skye, was it?"

"...Yes?" The Cockapoo asked, seeing the German Shepherd loom over her.

"Try not to give up hope too quickly."

Skye gave him a silent nod, going to see which pup houses hadn't been taken yet.

That night had to have been one of the worst nights of her life. Positioned in a pup house between Marcy's and Siren's, she had a hard time sleeping with no pillows, no blankets, and no privacy. All of the pup houses were constructed from wood, which seemed to have become broken and tattered as time went on. Skye was able to tell that these pup houses hadn't been replaced in a long time.

Jack, who was sleeping in his larger pup house, heard whimpering from nearby. He instantly recognized the whimpering as belonging to Skye, since Sweetie was on the other side of the room away from them.

The German Shepherd left his pup house and silently made his way over to her.

Just as he thought, Skye was huddled into the corner of her pup house, shaking softly and whimpering to herself.

"Skye?" He quietly asked, making her jump in surprise.

"Huh?" The Cockapoo turned around, seeing the large German Shepherd in the doorway of her pup house, "Oh, hey..."

"Can't sleep?"

Skye shook her head, looking down at the floor.

Jack suddenly came into her pup house, laying down on the other side to give her some room. He also made sure not to block the doorway so that she didn't feel trapped.

"You have friends in the PAW Patrol, right?" The German Shepherd asked.

Skye nodded, "The bestest friends."

"Tell me about them."

The aviation pup was surprised by this, her eyes widening. It had been so long since she's seen any of the other pups that she began to find herself thinking of them as past memories, as though she would never see them again and the PAW Patrol was just another phase of her life that was coming to an end.

Regardless, she couldn't help but begin talking.

"First there's Ryder..." The Cockapoo began, barely being audible to Jack, "He's my and the other's owner. He took good care of me and the pups and I began seeing him like a daddy a while ago. I really hope he's okay..."

"After that is Tracker." Skye explained, "I don't really see him much, since nothing really happens in the jungle. He seems nice, but I haven't had a solid impression of him except that he has a fear of the dark."

Jack nodded.

"Then there's Rubble." Skye smiled faintly, feeling good about going over the PAW Patrol member by member. It helped her remember how good she felt living with her best friends, "He's the youngest of us, well, he was before Tracker came along. Rubble really likes Apollo the Super Pup, and loves to try new flavors of pup treats. He's also a really good snowboarder and skateboarder. Better than I ever could do, I'm more of a trike pup."

Skye giggled, earning a smile from Jack.

"Next there's Zuma." Skye began, "He's usually really relaxed and says dude a bunch. He used to have a speech impairment that prevented him from saying his Rs right, but he started speech therapy not too long ago to take on the issue at its roots. He's one of my best friends and my rival in anything competitive. He's also a self-proclaimed love dog, since he's been able to help random pups off the streets with romance issues of their own..."

"After that is Rocky." Skye's mood began to shift into one of a more positive attitude, "He's the eco pup, and he's really smart! He loves to reuse things that most of us would just throw out. He does have a big dislike for water though. So much so that he usually avoids taking baths for weeks before somebody finally catches him!" The Cockapoo laughed.

"Then Marshall." The aviation specialist moved so that she was sitting in front of Jack, counting off each of her friends, "He's the funniest pup I've ever met. He's pretty clumsy and knocks a bunch of stuff over, but he keeps the team in good spirits whenever things go wrong. He also does two jobs! He's a firefighter and an EMT pup. He works really hard to do whatever he can for Adventure Bay, no wonder why she likes him so much."

"Who likes who now?"

"Whoops, got a little carried away there. Forget that last part."

"Sure."

"Anyways, next up is my first female friend, Everest!" Skye grinned, "For the longest time I've been surrounded by only boys. Sure it wasn't bad in the slightest, but there were a few instances where I couldn't understand why they would do the things they do. Like, who would want to put a bunch of hot dogs into the microwave to watch them pop one by one just because you saw it on tv?"

Jack chuckled, "Guys can just be like that sometimes..."

"When we found Everest, everything changed. We would go to Katie's together, even though I would have to convince her into it because she's more of a tomboy than me. And she'd convince me into things she liked to do because I was more girly than her, but no matter what we did, it was great because we did it together. I miss her a lot... I wonder if she's okay after what happened."

"What happened to her?" The big German Shepherd inquired.

"Sweetie used her vehicle to hit her upside her head and probably gave her a concussion. I felt so bad that I couldn't do anything to help her..."

"Why couldn't you?"

The aviation pup looked at the floor, "She hit me with some kind of paralyzing dart..."

"Hm..." Jack hummed, "It must've been hard for you, Skye."

"You couldn't begin to understand..."

Silence followed.

"I can try to."

"I just don't know what's happening anymore, Chase!" Skye blurted before quickly stopping, looking at Jack with wide eyes.

"Chase is one of your friends too, correct?" Jack asked, earning a nod from the silent Cockapoo.

"I'm sorry, Jack. He's a German Shepherd too..." She averted her eyes from the matured dog, "I can't help but think of his face whenever I look at yours... I miss him. A lot."

"This Chase pup isn't just another friend of yours, is he?"

The Cockapoo's eyes bulged as she whipped her head to Jack. Did he figure out her feelings that quickly? Well, he was older than her, it wasn't too much of a shock that he was able to tell when a pup had feelings for another.

"He's special to me..." Skye sniffed, "He's always looking out for me and our friends. He carries so much on his back just so we can have it just a bit easier. He pushes us to be the best version of ourselves while he tries his hardest to be the best version of himself. He's an amazing leader. He's kind, strong, tough, reliable, loyal, and one of the best friends I could have ever asked for in this life, or any other life I could have lived... I want to see him again and let him know that. I want him and I to be together again, accidentally mimicking each other and laughing about it. I miss those times. I hope that they're not over, I really do..."

As she rambled on about Chase, she didn't notice that she had been crying. By the end of her long-winded speech, she had collapsed onto the floor, whimpering and covering her eyes.

"I-I like him... More than a friend..."

"I know." Jack calmly replied, "You're not exactly holding back on that aspect."

"Sorry..." Skye sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes.

"You know, from what you told me about this Chase fellow, it would seem to me that he would try and look for you."

"Maybe he would, but he has no idea where I am..."

Hearing movement outside of the room all of the dogs were trapped in, Jack let out a sigh, "I think I should probably head back to my pup house."

Skye nodded quietly.

The matured German Shepherd began walking out of her temporary pup house, letting out a gentle exhale, "Skye."

"Yes?"

"You will get out of here. Keep a strong head on your shoulders."