Unexpected Rescues 2^nd addition (Kitty.)

Crushed.

"Okay, everyone. It's time to get started!" Rocky said, gesturing to a pile of wood at his paws.

"I hope I'm not involved in this," Kitty said, wagging her tail. This was a rare occasion that Ryder had specifically asked her to be in pup form. She had figured there was a catch, and obviously, here it was.

"We are going to build a hidden tree house." Rocky picked up some wood. "Rubble, you're in charge of making the frame."

"Y'all have fun, I'm going to go and help Ryder get oil all over him for no reason." She pointed her head to Ryder's garage, where he was changing the oil on his ATV.

"Um, no. You've got to help us." Rocky said, trying to be assertive.

"Good luck with that." Kitty said walking away.

"Come back!" Rocky shouted.

"You'll have to catch me first!" Kitty said, but then Chase came out of nowhere and flattened her. "Oof! Get up you great lump!"

"Not until you promise to help." Chase knew Kitty never broke a promise.

"Consider me caught." Kitty sighed.

"Come on, why do we have to help?" Marshall complained. "You know I'm too clumsy for this stuff!"

"You'll be fine."

Flash forward 5 minutes.

"Wow, you guys are doing great!" Ryder said, walking up.

"Thanks! Can I go get a bath?" Kitty said, covered in glue.

Ryder laughed. "We'll need a lot of nail polish remover for that!"

"Eww! Gross! I prefer bubbles!" Rubble said, looking disgusted.

"Bubbles are fun!" Marshall said, right before he crashed into the whole structure, making it wobble.

"Oh, no!" Chase dashed behind a bush. "Run!"

Kitty jumped onto Ryder, pushing him out of the way, but she miscalculated her jump, and some of the structure fell onto her tail. She yelped, digging her claws into the grass beside Ryder so hard, he couldn't get up. "Uh, could you retract your claws for a moment? This is uncomfortable."

"Kitty, your tail!" Skye gasped as Rubble used his rig to lift it off.

"It hurts!" Kitty yelled, digging her claws deeper.

"Uh, I'm kinda stuck here! Jeez, this is awkward. Um, sorry about your tail…" Ryder tried to slide up further but failed. "Um,"

"Kitty, please retract your claws." Chase whispered into her ear.

"I can't!"

Seeing telling her to wouldn't work, Chase walked to where Ryder was still trying to move. He grabbed onto Ryder's vest and pulled. "Rrr!" He growled. After a few moments, Ryder was free, and Kitty was able to dig her claws in further.

Ignoring Ryder and Chase, Marshall started working on Kitty's mangled tail. The bone was crushed from the tip to the base and was covered in blood. "I won't be able to save her tail, Ryder."

Ryder gasped, seeing the damage. His face went pale as he saw the blood, and he staggered a little.

"Somebody block Ryder's view," Marshall ordered, not wanting to have to deal with two patients at once.

Chase pushed Ryder back down onto the ground and promptly sat on his chest. "Better?"

"Not really…"

Soon, Kitty was in a sitting position, her ears drooping, her tail gone. "How will I balance without a tail?"

"I think I know," Ryder said, better now that there was no more blood on anyone.

"Oh, no! Not that look!" Kitty pawed her face.

"What look?" Ryder asked, confused.

"The evil mad scientist smirk, and narrowed eyes!" Kitty shifted her paws. "You're going to make a robot tail, aren't you?"

"Not exactly. Come here, you'll like this!" Ryder started towards the garage.

"Let's sneak out the back gettin' out for free…" Kitty whisper sung to herself, slowly following. Not because she didn't want to follow, but because she kept falling over, due to a lack of balance. Eventually, Ryder just picked her up to avoid more injury and continued to the garage. "I was managing just fine!"

"You were slipping around the tile floor. Don't try to tell me that doesn't hurt." Ryder said, putting her down on the concrete floor of the garage.

"How would you know?" Kitty said under her breath. "Mister 'perfect-never makes mistakes-amazing gadget maker/ATV driver-I'm so good at everything and nobody else can compete with me.'" She gave him a sideways smirk.

"I heard that sassy fox." Ryder smiled. "How do you think I learned not to run with socks on?"

Kitty's eyes widened. "Yeah, I thought so." Ryder picked something up. "Let's see if this fits." He put something heavy feeling in place of Kitty's tail.

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" Kitty asked, deeply disappointed that it wasn't sparkly -or had cool gadgets in it. (like her pup pack.)

Ryder laughed. "I haven't finished it yet, stupid furball!"

Kitty blinked. "Thank goodness. You haven't put any glitter on it!"

Ryder rolled his eyes. "Okay, it's time to stop flirting." Ryder knew Kitty was referring to his blue notebook that he put red glitter on. "You're good at embarrassing me."

Kitty playfully swatted his leg. "Not nearly as you're good at making stuff for us all!"

Ryder rolled his eyes. "I thought you thought I'm a show-off?"

"Aw, you know I mean the good kind." She stood, wobbling a little.

"Let's try it now." Ryder reattached the fake tail. "Try wagging."

"Are you crazy? My brain can't control any gadgets of yours!" Kitty blinked.

"Just try it!"

"Fine." She tried wagging her tail, and believe it or not, it wagged! "Wow!"

"Now, for the decorations." Ryder pulled out a can of paint. "How many sparkles do you want me to add?"

"Lots!" Kitty slid forward after Ryder set the tail back on his desk. "Can I help?"

"Um, I'm not sure that's a good idea…" Ryder said, but before he could do anything, Kitty picked up the paintbrush in her teeth and painted a neat stripe over the side. "I guess that was a rhetorical question, huh?"

"Yup." Kitty chirped, her mouthful.

"Your new tail is designed like your pup pack, inside of it, you have a hook, a wich, a grappling hook, and some other cool stuff I'm not ready to tell you about yet," Ryder explained as Kitty added the sparkles.

"You knew someone was going to lose a tail?" Kitty asked.

"I figured it was going to happen to Marshall," Ryder admitted after a moment.

"Because he's so clumsy?" Kitty questioned further.

"Yeah…" Ryder's face went slightly red. "I know it was a pretty mean assumption, but I wanted to be prepared, you know?"

"But instead of Marshall needing it, I did," Kitty pointed out sadly. "I want my tail to be buried beside Silverpelt. We'll have a funeral and everything."

Ryder burst out laughing.

"Hey! You'd do the same if you lost a leg or an arm!" Kitty's pelt bristled with agitation.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Ryder pets her gently. "That must have been hard."

Kitty blinked. "I'm hungry. You got any more Doritos?"

"Yup." Ryder chuckled. "Let's go. Then you can show the pups your new tail and what it can do."

"Yay! Snack time!" Kitty dashed to the kitchen, leaving Ryder to catch up.

Ryder walked slowly, thinking. This is all my fault! Ryder stopped and looked up. If I hadn't told her to be a pup, she wouldn't've lost her tail.

'It was her destiny.' A voice whispered to Ryder, almost inaudible.

"Hello?" Ryder whispered.

'She would've been a pup anyway my sweet.'

"Mom?" Ryder's eyes widened. He shivered.

'I am always here, never fear.'

"Ryder? Are you coming?" Kitty asked.

"Yes, I'm coming." Ryder waited for her to leave, then noticing the Lavander growing in the crack, reached down. This wasn't there before!

He looked around, making sure no one was watching, then, picking up his cup of water, poured a little onto the plant. "Thank you." He said before getting up to leave.

Kitty was showing off her tail when Ryder walked in, looking happy. She decided not to pay too much attention and kept bragging. "Ruff, hook!" Her tail worked perfectly, breaking into the hook, but still leaving a part for her to wag.

"Cool!" Chase said.

"Ryder, can I have one?" Rubble asked.

"Um, you do know we had to take off her real tail first right?" Marshall said so Ryder -shocked- didn't have to answer.

"What? You cut it off?" The horrified look on Rubble's face sealed the deal.

"Can I talk to you real quick?" Ryder asked, pulling kitty to the side.

"Why?" Kitty saw happiness and uncertainty in Ryder's eyes. "What happened?"

"Come here." He led her back to the garage. "Look," Ryder pointed to the plant growing in the crack.

Kitty didn't like this Lavander plant. It smelled of a supernatural presence, which freaked her out a lot. She promptly screwed up her nose and backed away.

"Let me guess, ghost trouble? I suggest you-" Ryder put his hand over her mouth. "Shh! Listen!" Kitty pricked up her ears, hearing what sounded like a hummingbird. Her fur fluffed out.

"Kitty, this isn't just any ghost, it's my mother." Ryder gently moved a wrench from beside the thriving plant.

A chill crept up Kitty's spine. "Crystal Jane?" Her eyes were so wide, Ryder thought they were going to pop out of her head.

'I am here always.' The whispery voice stated. 'Protecting the plant will restore your health.'

"Uh, are you talkin' to me? Or to Ryder?" Kitty asked, then sheepishly added, "Ma'am!" The voice didn't respond, and the room grew warm, as though filled with sunshine. Ryder's smile grew.