Thank goodness! Rocky and Chase have finally started to talk to each other again! That silence was so nerve wrecking, it's so hard to begin describing it! I should probably keep my voice low… anyway, I just hope that things go well with the two. Of course, Micah is a new concern. Considering his day had a terrible start, it's going to be hard to convince him to stay with us. Though, then again, we do have Rocky.
- Skye
I woke up with a growling stomach. Not the best start to a morning, I'd say. I got up from my bed and stretched out all of my limbs, hearing some of the bones crack while doing so. I looked around the room to get a bearing of my surroundings. I was still in the hotel with the rest of the gang along with Micah. My shoulders hunched back a bit, almost like my whole body was demanding me to go back to bed. I had to force myself to get up and walk into the bathroom in order to have a morning leak. Finishing up my business, I looked at myself in the mirror. Hm… I was in huge need of a shower… but I was staying at a hotel to relax, not take a bath! I refused to let a single strand of fur get wet. I may or may not have conquered my fear of the dark, but there was no way I was going to be convinced that water isn't evil. It just is. I can't possibly understand why some people find a shower to be relaxing.
I walked out of the bathroom and plopped down onto a bean bag. I grabbed the remote next to me and turned on the T.V. hoping to see if that marathon of Apollo the Super Pup was on. This was my favorite show growing up, as it was for the other pups. Surely enough, the cartoon would be marathoning several of the fan-favorite episodes. I smiled, it was good to know that the series was kept alive and well.
"No fair Rocky! If you were going to watch the marathon, why didn't you invite me?" I looked behind me, sure enough there was Chase with the fakest of frowns I've ever seen.
"Hey, if I woke you up earlier then you wanted to, you would've gone mad." I said. He smiled and sat down next to me. Both of our eyes were glued to the screen. We did NOT want to miss out on this marathon, even if it meant no breakfast.
*growl* Uh oh… that can't be a good sign. No! I'm going to tough this one out, so go away sudden urges to eat. *Growl*, hush my stomach! Then again… Oh man, this is hard.
"Maybe we should go eat breakfast, they might have a T.V. downstairs!" they'd better… I was not going to miss out on this.
We both got up from our "seats" and exited the room. We walked side by side, hoping to see the pups along the way to the cafeteria. No such luck apparently, only thing that would accompany us apparently was the same soothing music from last night. As we walked to the elevator, I looked at Chase. Heh… this guy is prepared for almost anything.
He had already taken a shower before we headed out and apparently did everything to make sure I wasn't awoken by his preparations. He was way ahead of me, even waking up earlier then I did just so he wouldn't have to make me wait for him. Somehow… I'm just a bit touched. Sigh… I can't ever get rid of these thought can I?
*DING* The elevator doors opened before us, revealing most of the pups waiting for us. Even Ryder and Micah were in there.
"Oh, so you've finally woken up? Here I thought we had to get both of you sleepyheads!" Skye teased. I grinned, technically, it was my fault that I kept them waiting. Next to Marshall of course, I would tend to have the habit of waking up later on in the day. I still make it on time whenever we're called, usually I'd have to wake up Marshall to make sure he wasn't late. Speaking of Marshall…
"Wait, is Marshall still asleep?" I asked. Ryder sighed, "Well, I'm not sure what I can do about that pup's sleeping habits. Yes, he's still asleep." Figures… no matter what day it was, no matter what hour, Marshall would still be the sleepy sheepy he is.
"I tried waking him up, he got up for one second then fell right back to sleep- and speak of the angel himself!" Zuma pointed behind me. I turned around to see Marshall dashing right at us. Oh no… Oh no…
"I-I'm coming! Wait for me! I swear I'm not late!" Marshall kept yelling out. I looked at his feet, nothing to trip on. I looked around the corridor, still nothing to trip on. Phew… hopefully he doesn't- wait, is that a bump in the rug?! Before I could even think of warning him, it was already too late. No, No no no no! Please no! Without looking in front of him, Marshall ran into the bump. And tripped.
"W-Woah ah!" he was sent flying towards us. I did my best to run away, but all I got was yet another one of Marshall's "incidents" that ended up with me and everyone else in a giant heap of pain. I could hear everyone groan out of both pain and disappointment. After all this time, Marshall had yet to fix his one major issue of being a major klutz.
"I see somethings don't change, huh Marshall?" Zuma asked. Marshall gave all of us a big grin, hiding the embarrassment he was feeling inside.
"Well… what can I say? If you're born a clown, you stay a clown!" he said. Everyone laughed at that remark. In the corner of my eye, I could even see Micah giggling. Somehow, some way, we always end up making bad situations into good ones. This meant everyone of course. Not one single pup here was ever a downer, this ship runs on happy faces. We entered the elevator, dismissing the event that just transpired. All we could think of, with our stomachs growling simultaneously, was breakfast.
*Beep!* The doors opened, and out we came from the elevator. Rubble looked to be in a hurry, as he dashed in a hurry towards the cafeteria. If anything, he would be the most hungry pup out of all of us. Couldn't blame him either, as I briefly picked up the scent of something delicious… something with a fragrance that reminded me of those bright Sunday mornings. Something that would go well with most condiments, including peanut butter. Today, they were serving pancakes for breakfast, and I couldn't be any more hungry. Walking briskly towards the hotel's mess hall, we eventually arrived there for what felt like several minutes of pure torture.
Entering the cafeteria, I saw Rubble already sitting down at a table eating a pancake, watching the Apollo marathon. He was enjoying his meal too much to even notice that we were staring at him. Another problem, Rubble likes eating… a lot. Once, he woke up 3 hours earlier than the rest of us would just to snaggle some pup treats in the Lookout. Suffice to say that he didn't have breakfast that morning. Another time, he ordered several pizzas all for himself without Ryder's permission. He was lucky enough that Ryder was feeling kind that day, so he got off easy and was only able to eat one pie of pizza. While we would eat the rest. So this was just like him to eat without waiting for us. I digress, as we simply ignored him and went up to grab our own plates.
Zuma grabbed two layers of pancakes and poured a light amount of syrup onto them. Then, he got the whipped cream and sprayed just enough for a little hill. Finally he got six blueberries and surrounded the cream with them. This was his own specialty, what he likes to call a "diet" pancake. Which I doubt is a thing, but everyone has their own unique take on pancakes. Like Skye, who always grabs just one pancake and spreads peanut butter and jelly on it. Surprisingly enough, the peanut butter and jelly go well with the pancake. Like an upgraded version of PB&J. Rubble could hardly care how he makes his pancakes, they would always result in chocolate covering the entire pancake. Marshall simply likes putting sugar on his pancakes, while Chase goes with a more original option. As for me, well… I've actually never noticed how I make my pancakes. I think it's mostly because Chase would… make them for me… geez, how embarrassing having to rely on him for something so simple…
We carried our platters to a round table and sat down to both eat and watch our favorite cartoon. Another episode had started, it was the Valentine's day episode. The same episode that had received multiple complaints and also spread controversy amongst the fan base and community. Main reason being that it was the episode where Apollo comes out of the closet. Everyone who had been watching was shocked, the clues WERE there, nobody just took it into consideration or thought anything of it. Throughout the show, Apollo was never in a relationship with a girl at all. Nor did he show any interest of them, that was especially true in this episode. As the nefarious Cat Organization known as C.L.A.W. spread a huge amount of love potions throughout the city. Turning it into the worst case of lover's quarrel ever seen. Apollo, and his best friend Cyrus (another dog) were the only ones unaffected. Using that to their advantage, they busted C.L.A.W. and saved the day. However, Apollo was curious as to why him and Cyrus weren't affected at all. As it turned out, the potion only affected heterosexuals. Which meant only one thing, both dogs had been hiding their true sexualities. It was this scene alone that spread so much controversy that it would ultimately result in the episode being taken off air. It was the ONLY Apollo episode to do this.
I looked around at everyone to see if I was dreaming or not, they were all just as shocked as I was. Marshall was especially shocked by this. The studio must've been bold to include this one on the 2-hour marathon.
"It makes you think doesn't it?" I turned to face Zuma, "How two popular faces can create such drama, it's a bit sad when I think harder about it, y'know?" I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Marshall did the job for me.
"Just goes to show how screwed up our world is. If that happened to one of us, I'm not sure how all of Adventure Bay is going to react. It's not really sad as it is scary…" That got to me. I started shaking, the mere thought of coming out clean was legitimately terrifying. For me, and the pups. I looked over at Chase, he stared off into the distance deep in thought. I bet he was just as concerned as I was.
"Lighten up! Who cares if any one of us comes out of the closet? We'll at least be super supportive of them, won't we?" Skye gained everyone's attention with that one statement. Everyone nodded and smiled, that ability of turning a bad situation into a positive end was turning up again. Skye was the perfect example of optimism, I don't think I've seen her upset once. Though, when it came to Eagles, she was less willing to cooperate.
I took a bite out of my pancake in front of me. I couldn't tell you how much I missed the sweet taste of this particular breakfast. The pancake melted in my mouth with a mixture of the bittersweet nostalgia from those particular weekend mornings, and the overall jovial mood of today. I looked over at the rest of the pups, who also seemed to be enjoying themselves. I didn't think this day could possibly get any better than this. We ate our pancakes and relaxed for that morning, watching the marathon until it ended.
"Alright pups," Ryder called for our attention, "I've got some good news and bad news!" We all looked at him with hope in our eyes. Maybe we can get to the Lookout today, or maybe something even better, I was shaking in anticipation. We settled on taking the bad news first.
"Well the bad news is that the Lookout won't be available to us for about a week… so we're going to have to stay here for a while." We were all disheartened by that set of news. Somehow, I was already getting homesick and just wanted to be able to lay down on that beanbag I love so much. Nobody was happy about it at all.
"But the good news is that you're all going on vacation to a resort!" My ears perked up, as did everyone else's. Ryder looked at us with a smile on his face "That's right, you lucky pups get to go to a private island resort!" At that moment, we all exploded out of pure joy.
"Wait, how do you have enough money to pay for that?" I asked. Surely there had to be some sort of catch. "I didn't have to pay, you six and Micah were invited to this exclusive island! What's better, is that the dock leading to the Island is right outside this hotel!" Ryder replied.
"But what about you Ryder? Weren't you invited as well?" Chase asked. Ryder shook his head. "The invitation told me it was just for you pups, I can't enter the island without having to pay." I frowned, I was hoping that Ryder could come along with us. Seeing as how he can't just makes this morning a bit of a letdown.
"Don't worry about me pups, I have business to do elsewhere in Adventure Bay anyway. So take this time to relax and enjoy yourselves even more!" That only made me feel slightly better. Micah was hopping in his seat out of pure excitement, looks like he was happy about this set of news like the rest of us are. We all went back to our rooms to pack our bags. I was feeling giddy and upbeat at the thought of going to a private resort. Something about being able to relax and have fun after all of that trouble I went through earlier just seems right.
Let's see… I have all my necessary supplies, an extra pair of sunglasses, a camera… what could I be missing? I looked around the room, hoping to find what it was that I apparently couldn't go without. From the corner of my eye, I saw it. The bracelet…
This was a friendship bracelet me and Chase made when we were kids…
I never saw him wearing his, but I always wore mine in secret whenever I went out on a mission that seemed dangerous. Something about it just felt like it would protect me, maybe like a good luck charm? I was never sure why I couldn't go one day without it. I grabbed it from the desktop it was on and placed it in my suitcase. Chase had already gone ahead and was waiting for me at the lobby. I shouldn't keep him waiting. I grabbed my suitcase and went down to the lobby.
We all stood there at the docks, waiting for our boat to arrive. Ryder was with us at the time, and Micah was close by me.
*HONK HONK* I could hear a horn blaring from the distance. Within several seconds, our boat docked right next to us. The captain came down to greet us all.
"Why hello there PAW Patrol! I see you're early and all ready to go!" He said to us. I could feel something about this man that I've never sensed in anyone else. His emotions… they felt fake… I don't know how or why I sensed this emptiness from him. It just seemed to resonate all over him. It's better I don't ask about it.
"Unfortunately pups, this is where I take off." Everyone looked at Ryder with somber faces. "Hopefully you all will have a grand time!" He said trying to cheer us up.
With that, Ryder walked away from the dock and towards his RV. Not before taking one last look at us and… shedding a tear…
I didn't have time to look twice, as he got onto his RV and drove away as fast as he could. We were all worried now, Ryder never once did anything like that. Before we could lodge a complaint, we were escorted onto the boat to venture off towards the resort. There were several seats aligned for us. I took a seat next to Marshall and Chase. Who were just as anxious as I was about this sudden trip.
"What do you think the resort will look like?" Marshall asked. Everyone tried thinking of something, unfortunately, nobody could come up with an accurate representation. Rubble thought it would be like some sort of mixed bag of amusement park rides and water park rides. Skye suggested a skydiving attraction, Zuma predicted a Sauna would be there. Chase insisted to everyone that there just HAD to be a gym of sorts.
"Maybe it's some sort of Island Beach?" I said. Skye looked at me with a confused face saying "Why think that? There's got to be more than an Island Beach on this resort!" This just made everyone all the more excited. As we kept discussing what the place might have in store for us, the deckhand called for our attention.
"We are arriving at our destination! Seasong Beach Resort!" That name sounded somewhat familiar… I looked outwards to get a view of the place. Only to be horrified… I looked back at Chase, he had the same petrified look as me.
The Resort we were staying at, was the same Resort as in our dreams.
