Chapter 8: The Plan (In the kennel)
As Mira made her way to the kennel, the sound of arguing and growling could be heard from the distance. At first, she thought things would settle down after a while, but judging by the sound of their voices, she knew it was going to take a while. When she entered the room, she noticed the chaos unfolding. There, the pups stood on each side continuing to yell at each other while Colten remained in the center...
"Uhh…! What's going on?" She whispers to him.
"They're… arguing to determine whether or not cereal counts as a soup…" Colten replied before Mira raised her eyebrow.
"...Why?"
"I have no idea… But I think it's probably best if we figure out how to stop this."
"Well, I got some great news! Rocky and the others agreed to let us tag along! We just need to help them set up a few things before we can get started."
"Really? That's great! We'll start heading over once we figure out how to calm these guys down." Colten said before he noticed a beagle getting ready to lunge at someone else. "Hey! Peter, calm down! You can settle this without violence!"
"N-no! I'm not stopping until they admit that we're right!" He shouted.
"We'll agree with you once hell freezes over!" A corgi from the other side replied as the others nodded their heads.
"Yeah… we're going to be here for a while…" Mira thought to herself.
(9:48 AM)
"Alright guys, let's start regrouping in the back!" Chase announced as Rocky and Skye headed in his direction. "How's it going?"
"Well, Colten and Mira never came back, but I managed to get all of the bowls set up!" Rocky reported. "How about you guys?"
"I left the backup ingredients in the back of the pantry. Let's hope we won't have to use them." Skye said.
"Great! I made sure everything is split up evenly, so the others should be good to go!" Chase howled as Rocky pointed at a tablet.
"Should I get the tutorial set up?"
"Yeah! I think we're ready!"
15 minutes later….
"I think I've got the hang of it guys!" Rocky smiled while kneading the dough.
"I think we put a little too much water…" Chase murmured as Skye looked over the bowl.
"No, it should be fine, Chase! Let's wrap this up and wait till the dough rises." Skye reckoned.
"How long do we have to wait?"
"About….four to five hours! We'll have to come back before everyone else to finish ours."
"This is going to be a hassle, but I guess it's a good way to start!" Rocky commented.
"Right!" Chase agreed. "Is there anything else we need to finish?"
"How about sanitation? It's probably going to get messy in here, so we should prepare for that just in case!" Skye recommended.
"I have a small broom and a cleaning rag in the storage room! We can use that to clean if that's okay."
"Great idea, Rocky! Can you bring them over here?"
"Sure thing! Let's see if I remembered where I left them!" Rocky hummed before making his way to the exit.
"I still need to finish wrapping up a few things, so I should probably get back to working on that."
"Alright, I'll leave it to you!" Chase replied with a distressing tone.
"Whoa, are you okay?" Skye asked as Rocky came to a halt.
"Huh? I-I'm fine. It's just that…there might be something in my eye...! Yeah, that's all."
"Oh come on, I know you better than that. Don't you want to talk about it?"
"No, really! I'm fine, it's just that… it's crazy how things have changed, you know? One minute we're helping my family, and the next, they're all gone. Sometimes, I wish I could just forget about it and move but that's-"
"N-no! You shouldn't forget about it! Remember what we said about hiding your emotions?"
"Yeah, but that's easier said than done!"
"I know! That's why I'm here for you, Chase! I don't expect this to be easy, that's why I want to do whatever I can to help out."
"I… I want to help out too!" Rocky joined in. "You were there for me after all, and I know we're all still getting to know each other, but you're both like a family to me, and I don't want to lose you guys, so I can only imagine what you're going through right now…"
"You guys…!" Chase whispered with a smile on his face.
"Awww! Come here, Chase! You too, Rocky! You're also a part of this!" Skye comforted as she hugged Chase.
"Oh, okay! I'll just…come in through here!" Rocky replied as he joined in.
"I know I've already said this, but I'll say it again if I have to. I don't care where we end up in the future, I promise I will always be there for you guys, no matter what."
"Right back at you guys. I promise I'll do whatever I can to keep you both safe." Chase said.
"Yeah, me too!" Rocky sighed. "Well, I should probably get back to looking for that broom now. It was nice talking to you guys!"
"Yeah! Thanks for sticking around!"
"Anytime!" He replied before leaving the kitchen.
"Okay, now that we've got that all settled, do you want to help me finish wrapping these up?" Skye asked Chase.
"Sure, but first, there's something that's been on my mind lately.."
"What is it?"
"On the night of the incident, were there any other pups nearby…?"
"Umm… no, not that I remember. Why do you ask?"
"This might sound crazy, but I could have sworn I was picking up someone else's scent before everything went dark. It seemed kind of familiar, but I'm not sure…"
"Maybe it was someone from the fire department?"
"Maybe, but I guess it can't be helped right now." Chase sighed. "Come on! Let's get back to-! Ahh-Choo!"
"Whoa, Bless you!" Skye giggled.
"Th-thanks! I guess I need to put the mask back on…!"
"Yeah, but don't worry. You'll be fine! Come on, let's go!"
In the kennel (10:10 AM)
"I'm telling you, it counts as a freaking soup because there's liquid in the bowl, and the definition of soup is liquid food!" Peter claimed as the others cringed.
"Yeah! He's right!"
"No, you idiots! Soup is food with boiling liquid! Last I check, you don't boil milk, now do you?" A female corgi argued as a terrier shook his head.
"You guys are all idiots! You don't even need to put the milk in the bowl!"
"Joey, who's side are you even on!?" The argument continued as Mira sat in the background.
"How long is this going to take…?" She sighed before looking out the window. "Hopefully, Leo finished setting up by now."
"I thought you guys were my friends!" Peter cried.
"We are! You're just being a little ridiculous at the moment." The corgi replied.
"No, I'm not! I'm telling you, it counts as a soup!"
"Even without the milk, genius?" Joey scoffed as Peter growled,
"I-! You know what I mean, you jerk!"
"...Wouldn't a simple Google search answer their question?" Mira whispered to Colten.
"Maybe, but I think it's time we pull the plug on this conversation," Colten replied as he stood up. "Alright guys, this has gone on long enough! Can't you just agree to disagree and move on or something?
"No! I already told you, I'm not stopping until they admit that I'm right!" He fumed as the others stood their ground.
"Never!"
"Please? If you guys keep this up, then it'll only be a matter of time before a leader shows up! And you all know what'll happen if they get involved, right?" Mira persuaded as the pups looked at each other.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Colten added.
"F-Fine! Forget it! I'm never talking to you guys ever again!" Peter grumbled before leaving the room.
"F-Fine! Leave... S-see if I care!" The corgi whimpered as her tail went down.
"Y-Yeah! I never liked having you around anyways..!" Joey followed as Mira shook her head.
"Uhhh, you guys don't have to... Oh geez…" She mumbled before turning to the rest of the pups. "What about the rest of you…?"
"We'll drop it." A random pup replied as they nodded their heads.
"Great! Thanks, guys!" She smiled as everyone started leaving the room.
"Well, that could have been worse…! But, at least it's finally over." Colten sighed.
"Yeah! Who knows what would have happened if Mr. Poland were to get involved!"
"That would be the end of activities as we know it."
"Definitely!" Mira chucked. "I take it that we're the only ones aware of Skipper and Katie's absence?"
"I think so… Hopefully… It's probably best if we keep that to ourselves, don't you think?"
"Yeah, we wouldn't want to have a repeat of what happened Monday, now would we? And who knows? He'll probably be back after we're done with capture the flag, right?"
"Maybe, but anyway, we should start heading back to the kitchen before the others assume that we ditched them or something."
"Right, but there's something I've been meaning to ask you."
"Sure, what's up?"
"Umm…. it's about what Leo said earlier. You know… about him not being able to handle working with Rocky. What was that about…?"
"Uh oh…!" Colten thought to himself before coming up with an answer. " Umm…. I thought we told you n-not to worry about it."
"Y-Yeah I know, but it's been bothering me since!"
"Don't worry, we've got it all under control."
"But, what is 'it' exactly? What do you guys have to hide from me?"
"Look, I promised Leo that I wouldn't tell anyone about it until he is ready, and I don't intend on breaking that promise."
"Is it really that personal?"
"It's… complicated…."
"Well, how long would it take?"
"I don't know… Days…? Weeks…? Maybe even months… But like I said earlier, please don't worry about it!"
"But that's just making me-!"
"Mira, please!? I can't weigh this enough! I'm already under a lot of pressure keeping it a secret, and you weren't even supposed to know about it, so can you please just forget that you heard anything? I'm begging you!" Colten whined as Mira took a step back.
"Whoa… Colt... I… I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were…"
"N-no, it's fine… I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."
"It's okay… I guess I wasn't taking this very seriously. Don't worry, I promise I won't ask about it anymore."
"I… Look, it's not that we don't trust you or anything! I honestly think you should know about it, but… now is just not the right time, okay? I really don't want you to be upset about this, it's just that-!"
"I'll be fine, I promise! Let's just head back to the kitchen, alright?"
"Okay then…Thanks for understanding, Mira," Colten replied before making his way towards the door. "This doesn't feel right at all…"
"Anytime." She sighed before staring at the ground. " Guess I'll have to ignore it for now…"
Later with Chase and Skye…
"Alright, looks like we're almost done, Skye!" Chase chirped as he finished wrapping his dough.
"Seems like it, but we're definitely going to need more plastic wrapping for the other pups," Skye replied while wiping flour from the table.
"Okay, do you know where they are?"
"No clue. Let's try looking around."
"Okay! First one to find them wins!"
"You're on, but let's try not to make a mess, okay?"
"No problem!
5 minutes later…
"Find anything?" Chase wondered.
"Nothing down here. Maybe it's in that cabinet up there?" Skye guessed as she pointed towards a high cabinet.
"I don't think we can reach up there, Skye."
"Sure we can! Let's see…" She pondered while looking around the room. "Yeah…! We can use this chair to climb onto the counter over here, then I can hop on your back and see if I can reach it!"
"Hmmm... That doesn't sound very safe…" Chase hesitated.
"We should be fine as long as you avoid the edge."
"Okay… but please be careful! I don't want you to hurt yourself..."
"Don't worry about it! Besides, I'm sure Sutter's ladder is higher than this." Skye giggled as they climbed the counter.
"Well, that's true, but still…"
Silence...
"Find anything?"
"Almost… there… We're a little short, Chase! Maybe if I jump a little bit…"
"P-please don't!" Chase begged as Rocky entered the room.
"Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry, that took a while! There was something going on in the kennel, and I-" He announced before noticing them on the counter. "Uhh… What are you guys doing?"
"Rocky! We're trying to see if there's any wrapping paper in this cabinet, so do you mind helping out?" Skye asked as she jumped off of Chase's back.
"Sure. What would you like me to do?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe we can… Oh wait, I hope you don't mind if we stand on your back Chase."
"Both of you!? Umm…. sure, I don't mind, but like I said, please be careful!" He hesitated.
"Wait, so you want me to stand on his back?" Rocky clarified with a puzzled look.
"Yeah! Then I'll stand on top of yours. Is that okay?"
"Sure, just give me a second. I think the other pups are on their way."
"Guess there's no going back now." Chase thought out loud.
"Seems like it, but I can't wait!" Skye howled. "How about you, Rocky?"
"I have to admit, I'm a little nervous, but I have a feeling this is going to be great!"
"That's the spirit! Come on, let's get this over with." Chase smiled as they climbed his back. "Wow, you're a lot lighter than I thought!"
"Heh heh! Katie said the same thing. Any luck, Skye?"
"Tinfoil, toothpicks, more bags… Oh, here they are! Four packs of twenty-four!" She claimed.
"Packs of twenty-four? Alright, that should be more than enough." Chase replied.
"Right! Thank you, guys! We'll consider this one a draw, Chase."
"I'm okay with that."
"Hey, How's the view of the room from up there, Skye?" Rocky asked.
"Well, it's a little dusty, but I can see the top of the other cabinets from here. Heh heh! Look at me! I'm the queen of the world!" Skye howled.
"Aren't you supposed to be on top of a mountain for that?"
"I know, but this feels nice too."
"Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble your highness, but can you guys please get down before you hurt yourself?" Chase cried.
"Okay, okay. Let me just…" Skye apologized before hopping off of Rocky's back. "Come on! Let's all go finish wrapping these things up, alright?"
"Right behind you!" Rocky chuckled before following her.
"Phew…" Chase sighed as Peter walked into the kitchen.
"Ugh… This is the worst!" He whimpered before noticing the bowls spread across the room. "Huh? What's going on?"
"Oh, hey Peter! It looks like you're the first one here." Rocky acknowledged. "Are the others coming too?"
"Uh, I think…" He faltered. "How come no one mentioned this earlier?"
"Geat! Just sit around and hang tight until they get here."
"Okay! This should be interesting." He thought out loud as more pups looked through the kitchen."
"Well, it looks like this ship is starting to sail!" Skye grinned.
"Yeah, come on guys, we need to hurry!" Chase exclaimed before running to the back.
"Uhhh, you guys go on ahead! I'll make sure nobody messes around with the bowls." Rocky suggested.
"Okay, good luck!" Skye said before following Chase.
"Wait, we get to bake today!?" A pup whispered to her friends.
"Oooooh! So this is why Mira wanted us to stop arguing!"
"Heh! Good thing we listened!"
"Yeah! I wouldn't wanna miss this!"
"I wonder what we're going to make!" The pups chattered as Mira and Colten entered the room.
"Oh no!"
"Wait, I thought you told them that it was only going us three!" Mira whispered.
"I did, didn't I!? I mean you were there!"
"Then why is everything all…?"
"I don't know, but this is bad…! Umm, hey gu-!" He tried to announce before Mira covered his mouth.
"Whoa whoa whoa! What do you think you're doing!?"
"What? Shouldn't we tell them that this is a misunderstanding?"
"And start another commotion? No, you already know what will happen if we say something now!"
"So what, we should just let them join!?"
"We don't really have a choice, dude! They're already here, so we can't risk having another argument, especially in the kitchen!"
"Oh geez, Leo is not going to like this at all!" Colten mumbled to himself. "B-But what if something goes wrong? Wouldn't that be our fault?"
"Umm… That's a risk I'm willing to take, but don't worry! We just have to make sure everything goes smooth, right?"
"...This is not what I had in mind when I said I wanted to help out, you know."
"Trust me! I'm sure we can manage! I mean, we already handled an argument, so this shouldn't be too hard"
"Umm…. This is completely different!"
"I know, but that's why we're not alone! Remember Rocky and the others? If they agreed to this, then that means they're confident that it'll work!" Mira claimed before Colten gasped.
"... No, wait! If they agreed to this, then that means… No…! It wasn't a misunderstanding! I must have told them the wrong thing! Yeah..! That's why he was hesitating!"
"Ooooh, that makes sense now!" Mira realized before rubbing the back of her head. "Oh geez… Maybe I shouldn't have called him arrogant. I feel so bad now!"
"Oh, I'm such an idiot! How did I not realize this earlier!?"
"It's fine! We made a mistake. We can still make up for it though! We just need to stay calm, work together, then everything should be fine! And who knows? Maybe everyone can learn a thing or two!"
"I hope you're right about this."
"I can't make any promises, but I'm sure we'll be fine," Mira said as she looked around the place. "So, where do you think we should start?"
"Well, first things first, I think we owe the others an apology for being so late."
"Yeah, you're right. I can see Rocky from over here, so let's get going! Remember, stay calm and act casual, okay?"
"Don't have to tell me twice…" Colten sighed as they made their way towards the counter. "H-Hey Rocky…"
"Oh, hey guys! Glad you decided to come back! For a second, I thought you just up and dipped." Rocky chuckled as Mira rubbed the back of her head.
"Y-Yeah... Sorry about that! You see, there was this huge argument going on in the kennel and we didn't want the leaders to break it up… because… you know… So we took care of it ourselves." Mira explained.
"Oh, so that's what that was!" Rocky thought out loud. "Oh no, you guys are fine! After all, we already finished setting everything up, and who knows what would happen if you let that continue, so I think you guys made the right choice!"
"Hey, thanks!" Colten replied with a smile. "So, where are the others?"
"Oh, they went to finish wrapping up a few things in the back. They should be done any minute now." Rocky answered before Chase and Skye returned.
"Done, and done!" Chase cheered as Rocky turned around.
"Speaking of which…" Mira giggled.
"Great timing you guys! I think we're about ready to get started!"
"Cool! Is this everyone?" Skye asked.
"Well, we're still missing Leo, but I'm sure he won't mind!" Colten mentioned. "Is there anything you'd like us to do?"
'Well, you guys missed out on our practice run, so you'll have to learn with the others. But besides that, we can really use some help keeping the place organized!"
"Sure thing!"
"We'll do our best!" Mira replied as everyone continued gathering around the bowls.
"Oh… Can you guys split up into groups of three, please? We need an even amount of groups before we get started!" Chase commanded as they started splitting off.
"I call dibs on this bowl!" A male rottweiler shouted.
"No, we were here first!" A female golden retriever bickered before pushing him away.
"Hey! Don't shove me!"
"You're in the way dude! Get lost!"
"Uh oh…" Chase thought to himself before he and Colten went to intervene.
"No, I called it first!"
"I don't care! Move out of the way!"
"Alright, that's it!" The boy growled before attempting to lunge at her until Chase blocked his path.
"Hey, break it up you two!" He ordered as Colten caught up with him.
"What? She started it!"
"No, I didn't! That was all him!"
"It doesn't matter who started it, you guys need to separate, right now!" Colten said as the male backed up.
"But I was here-!"
"Please don't make us have to repeat ourselves. We want to get this done as soon as possible!" Chase warned as the pup blinked his eyes.
"I…! Fine, I'll go…"
"Haha!" The girl laughed as the rest caught up to them.
"Hey, I wouldn't be laughing if I were you because you're both walking on thin ice! " Rocky added as the group nodded their heads.
"What!? What did I do!?"
"If I remember this correctly, instead of kindly asking him to leave, you tried to shove him," Mira recalled.
"Yeah, if he were to get hurt, that would have been your fault, now wouldn't it?" Skye added.
"B-But I-!"
"I don't want to hear it! I'm just letting you know, okay? Next time it happens, we're going to have to kindly ask you both to step outside for the day, understood?" Chase asked as she lowered her head and growled towards the rottweiler's direction.
"Fine…"
"Okay…" The other replied as he returned the growl.
"Good, now run along!" Chase ordered before the two went their separate ways.
"Phew… That was a close one." Rocky sighed.
"Tell me about it. But it looks like we've got everything under control!"
"Yeah, they're both heading their separate ways now, but maybe we should keep an eye on them in case they decide to sabotage each other," Mira suggested.
"We can handle that," Chase assured as Skye turned to the pantry.
"One of us needs to look after the pantry in case someone decides to sneak out a little extra ingredients." She mentioned.
"Oh! We can work in shifts if you'd like! I'll go first." Rocky offered.
"Oh no, it's fine, Rocky! It was my suggestion after all, so I'll go first. Besides, you still have that thing you need to work on."
"Oh right… I need to start talking to more pups. I guess I'll just look after the right!"
"Hmmm…?" Colten wondered to himself.
"I'll go next in that case, but for now, I'll keep my eye on the left side of the room." Chase decided before turning to Mira and Colten. "Since you guys are also a part of this, would you like to meet us back here after we finish playing capture the flag? The dough needs some time to expand after kneading, and we already started working on ours about half an hour ago. We need to make sure we know what we're doing before we start teaching the others, so what do you say?"
"Yeah, I guess we can tag along, right Colten?" Mira asked.
"Sure! And who knows? Maybe if we finish early, we can lend an extra paw."
"That would be great, but try not to rush things, okay?" Skye said.
"Don't worry! Patience is my middle name!"
"Alright guys, let's make it happen!" Chase howled as they went their separate ways.