(A/N: I do not own Paw Patrol, grab your drinks and snacks for this chapter, enjoy!)
Lost and Found - Part 1
Marshall was sitting in the station 25 lounge with the rest of the Light Force 25 crew. Everyone was quiet, they knew something was up but no one knew what. Skipper had called them as they were on the way to the waterfront park for their normal Saturday Morning exercise and told them to head back to the station. When they got back, Cinder had headed directly to Skipper's office and hadn't come out since. Marshall was fairly sure that Cinder wasn't in trouble or had failed, she was too good a fire pup and fire captain for that to happen. The same could be said for everyone else at station 25. While trainees could always be a bust, none of the permanent crew would be here if they were not good firefighters, fire pups or paramedics. Hopefully we'll know what is going on soon Marshall reassured himself.
Almost on cue, Skipper and Cinder walked out of Skipper's office. The hushed conversations died as their leaders made their way to the center of the lounge. The crew formed a circle around them almost on instinct.
"Ok guys and gals, we have a situation" Cinder said softly and without preamble. "There is a child missing in vicinity of Forest Park." There was light murmur amongst the crew. Forest Park was almost as large as Central Park in New York City. It had a small lake in the center surrounded by a forest and caves. It was beloved by the city inhabitants but it was well known among the emergency services that if someone ever got lost in the park, they would be in a race against time to find them. Large swaths of the forest did not have a path better marked than a dirt trail and many of the caves were deep and had no path or lighting at all. If a child was lost in the park, there were even more possibilities to where they could be based on their smaller size. Marshall noted that LT Ken walked out as Cinder softly continued, "Task Force 3 has been assigned overall command of the search and rescue efforts. The park is the primary search area, but a number of units will also be assigned areas around the park. The eight closest integrated fire and rescue units closest to the park, along with TF 3's crew, will form the core of the search efforts for the park. In addition, Patrol is assigning every canine unit on duty to the search. Pups, our noses will be the primary tool to find this child." Sadie, Axel and Marshall all nodded.
LT Ken returned with a scale map of the park which he laid out in front of Cinder in the center. Everyone crowded around to they could see the plan. "The park has been divided up into nine search sectors, one for each fire and rescue unit. Our sector is here, in the south east corner." Cinder outlined a square on the map with her paw. In their search area, Marshall noted a good sized play area and a merry-go-round right on the corner. But there were also the entrances to the two deepest caves in the entire park and at least a third of the search area was far enough from a path where the search teams could get lost if they became confused about their location. "We'll stage the vehicles here, right on the corner" Cinder softly said as she pointed to the designated area with her paw. "Since this will likely go over multiple shifts, we'll use Engine 25 to shuttle the afternoon crew over to relieve us before bringing you guys back to the station. And there are two more layers of complexity…" Cinder paused to gather her thoughts before softly continuing, "The child has ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). In particular, he daydreams, forgets things, and takes unnecessary risks. The child's name is Ryan and he is good about remembering his name, but he is bad about remembering where he is supposed to be or what he is supposed to be doing so he may not even recognize that he is lost and needs help. The second additional layer is that Command has already issued an alert asking the community for assistance. The staging points for all nine fire and rescue units have been published so we can expect to have a lot of untrained civilians to come out to assist us with searching. In order to mitigate the risk of the assisting civilians getting lost, we'll be pairing up a small group of civilians with a firefighter or fire pup and assigning you a small area to search. Once that area is clear, you'll report back to the staging area to swap out civilians before being assigned a new area. If you don't need to swap anyone, report back by radio and we'll move you to an adjoining search area to save time. Fortunately, none of the assigned units use TAC-5 so we'll be able to keep that. Mike and Kevin, you and LT Ken will stay in the staging area to coordinate and to be ready to respond anywhere in our search sector if the child is found. You'll also be responsible for periodically searching the play area in case Ryan comes back. Are there any questions?"
"Will we get a reference scent?" Sadie asked.
"Allegedly" Cinder softly replied, "but I don't know if they will have it for us before we start searching. If we get the reference scent after we start searching, I'll let you know via radio to come back and take a sniff."
Cinder scanned the crew for any other questions. Finding none, she concluded the briefing, "Ok, we'll still be on call for any other emergency so make sure you take all your gear with you and leave it on Engine 25. Let's move out!"
Everyone moved with a purposeful sense of urgency as they loaded everything onto Engine 25 and Medic 25. It wasn't the same speed or flurry that normally accompanied an emergency, but it was a more controlled and deliberate urgency. Less than five minutes after Cinder had finished the briefing, Engine 25 and Medic 25 departed the fire station and headed to the park with Skipper following in his command SUV.
Snowflake had been dozing with Benjamin with the TV on when the show that they were watching was interrupted by the alert for the missing child. Snowflake had always loved children and she couldn't bear the thought of not doing anything to help. After a quick discussion with Benjamin, he agreed to let her go help. Snowflake grabbed her scarf and headed out the door for the nearest staging point. She didn't notice that the nearest staging point was for Light Force 25.
When Cinder, Marshall, and the team arrived at their staging area, there were already people and pups gathering to help. Allison parked Engine 25 next to the play area at the corner of their search area and Mike parked Medic 25 right behind the fire engine. Skipper pulled his command SUV around in front of Engine 25. Allison, Juan, Sadie, Marshall, Axel, and LT Ken lined up next to Engine 25 while Mike and Kevin stood by Medic 25. Skipper positioned himself next to LT Ken while Cinder hopped out of the command SUV and up on top of Engine 25. "OK EVERYONE, IF YOU ARE HERE TO HELP IN THE SEARCH FOR RYAN, GATHER AROUND!" Cinder yelled out to everyone from her perch. The assembled people and pups gathered around and the background chatter died down. "First, I want to thank all of you for coming out to assist. It is imperative that we search thoroughly but effectively. Our search sector is the south east section of the park, we have already sectioned it off into smaller search areas. Since we do not have enough people for a single pass drag net search, we are going to break everyone into teams, led by one of my firefighters or fire pups, and assign you one of those search areas. Once that is completed, we'll either bring the team back here to swap out personnel or assign you a new search area. Each search area should take 30 minutes to an hour to cover. I understand that not all of you can support the search until it is completed so please communicate any time limits early to your team leader. Each team leader will have a radio to communicate with the other teams and the leadership and paramedics here. Are there any questions before we get started?"
"I have a question" a sharply dressed man in a suit raised his hand from the back.
"Yes sir" Cinder softly invited him to continue.
"There are plenty of humans here to tell us what to do so why are we taking orders from a pup?" the man asked gruffly.
There was a collective inhale of breath from the crew and the assembled would-be searchers. While pups had been integrated into the various emergency services for years, there were still those who felt that pups should not be afforded equal opportunity to serve and to lead. It didn't help that Cinder was the first Fire Captain Pup, which this man probably knew, and was questioning her competency publically. Skipper started forward but Cinder waved him back, she needed to handle this herself.
Cinder took a deep breath in before softly answering, "Because I am the Fire Captain of the light force assigned to this sector. Because I have been charged by the Task Force in command to oversee the search this search sector using all available means placed at my disposal. And because between myself and my crew, we have decades of search and rescue experience."
"Yeah, but you are a pup, fit only for leading other pups, not people" the man spat back.
Marshall became rigid in anger and shock, how dare this person question his twin's ability to lead! She had worked extraordinarily hard, above and beyond the call of duty to earn the privilege to be the first Fire Captain Pup. Sadie and Axel each put a paw on his shoulder to help him suppress the growl that threatened to escape his throat.
Cinder opened her mouth to respond but Skipper beat her to it. "I would advise you to hold your tongue William, Cinder has more talent, motivation, and competence in any one of her spots than you displayed in the month you paraded around pretending to be a Fire Captain before I fired you for gross incompetence. Now, you can shut your mouth, put on some real clothes for a search and rescue operation and help, or shut your mouth and scurry back to whatever it is you decided not to do today and save your designer suit and shoes for someone who has time to admire them."
The man shut his mouth and scurried off quite quickly.
"I'm sorry all of you had to witness that" Cinder softly continued after a moment, "are there any other questions before we get started?"
After a moment of silence, another gentlemen raised his hand. "Yes sir?" Cinder invited him to ask his question.
"Begging your pardon ma'am, I think the rest of us are ready to start the search under your command" the gentleman said with a smile.
"Alright then," Cinder softly replied with a smile, "if I could please have all the pups muster at the back of the Fire Truck and all of you ladies and gentlemen at the front, we'll get a quick count, break up into teams and get to work!"
As the searchers separated, Cinder noted that she had enough to put 5 searchers with each firefighter or fire pup. "Ok, teams will be made up of three people and three pups. Ladies and gentlemen, if you could form two teams of two and three teams of three, I'll assign the pups to the teams."
Hopping down from Engine 25, the pups gathered around Cinder. "Do any of you have search and rescue, hunting, or similar experience?" Cinder softly asked. Four pups, two blood hounds and two coon hounds, raised their paws. "Ok, you four split into two teams of two and go with the two teams led by my firefighters, they'll need your skills and noses." Cinder gestured to the two labs before continuing, "Can each of you go with their teams to round them out please?" The labs nodded and trotted off after the hounds. "I'm sorry I don't know your names yet so I'll be calling you out by breed. Can I please have the Basset Hound and Beagle go with Axel?" Axel stepped forward and waved the indicated pups to join him. "You three, along with your people, will be searching the two large caves first. Our next team will be led by Sadie," the Australian Shepard stepped forward, "and will have our German Shepard and our Golden Retriever. Out last team will be led by Marshall, and will have our Belgian Malinois and our Border collie." Marshall waved the remaining pups over as Cinder's radio crackled and she leaned her head over to hear clearly.
"PUPS! Our reference scent will be here in two minutes, get a good sniff before you head out!" Cinder called to all the pups. A chorus of acknowledgements answered her. Barely a minute later, a Police SUV pulled up. A police pup and his partner hopped out, carrying a sweat shirt in a large plastic bag. "Perfect timing" Cinder softly said to them as the rest of the pups crowded around to get a good sniff.
"Glad to hear that we have that going for us" the police pup, a young looking English Shepard, said. "Sorry we can't stay, we have more reference scent bags to deliver to other units."
"Understood, good luck" Cinder said, taking the bag in her paws as the last few pups got a sniff.
"You too" the police pup replied before he and his partner hopped back into their SUV and drove off.
"Team leads on me!" Cinder called as she walked over to the side of Engine 25 where LT Ken had hung the map.
"Allison, start your search in this corner area" Cinder softly said, pointing to the south west corner of their sector. "Sadie, you'll take the next area to the east. Juan, you take the area to the east of Sadie's. If you don't have to cycle back, the intention is to push all three of you north more or less together." The three team leads nodded before jogging back to their teams and leading them off to their search areas. "Axel, take your team along the path here" Cinder softly continued, her paw tracing a path on the map, "to the two caves here and here."
"Sure thing," Axel said as he turned to collect his team.
"Marshall, search the playground and merry-go-round area first, then proceed down along this path and search the backside between the path and the cliff."
"You got it sis" Marshall leaned over to give his sister a lick on the cheek.
Cinder blushed at the rare public display of affection, "What was that for?"
"For being an amazing Fire Captain" Marshall replied, "That man was a jerk trying to provoke you and you did a great job shutting him down professionally."
"Not as good as Skipper did" Cinder softly said.
"You didn't have the info you needed to do what he did" Marshall replied, "Plus, I bet he would tell you not to do what he did unless you are in his position. You still have to be the polite professional face my dear Captain" Marshall finished, giving his twin a mock salute.
"Get your tail in gear then" Cinder softly replied in a mock gruff voice, swiping a paw at his ears.
"Your wish is my command!" Marshall teased before he trotted off to his team.
"He's right you know" Skipper said from behind Cinder, "You shouldn't do what I did, even though it was effective, 99% of the time even if you are me. I have the seniority and backing to survive whatever his city all patrons try to throw at me; they already tried once and lost so I'm not worried. On the flip side, it would be a waste for you to kill your career on that hill."
"Thanks Skipper" Cinder softly said, turning to smile at him. "Looks like we have a few more pups coming" she added, nodding towards four pups running across the street intersection towards them.
Snowflake waited patiently for the traffic light to change. She hated waiting but she was also well aware of the dangers of vehicles. She had been joined by other pups as she made her way to Forest Park. As she sat waiting, her eyes were drawn to the Fire Truck that was her destination. She saw two black and white blurs that looked familiar. No, it can't be, can it? Snowflake asked herself. Yes! It's Marshall! And the other one looks like that gorgeous Dalmatian Cinder, unfortunately. Snowflake was about to push her thoughts to the side when she saw Marshall give Cinder a lick on her cheek. Whoa, that was unexpected, I guess I'll need to do some digging before committing.
The light turned green and Snowflake and the other pups started crossing the street. About half way across, Snowflake's ears drooped as she saw Marshall running over to a small group of people and pups. Moments later, the humans spit off to cover the park while Marshall led the other pups to the far side of the playground to start searching the perimeter. Darn, here I was all excited that I might get put on his search team and in the same minute that hope is dashed. Well, I didn't come to make goo-goo eyes at him so hopefully I can still be of assistance.
Cinder watched the four pups approach her. There was a large black Newfoundland, a brown and white Finnish Lapphund, a Great Pyrenees who was almost tall enough to walk over her, and a familiar looking Siberian husky wearing a scarf with a snowflake on it whose name escaped her. "Good Morning," Cinder softly greeted the new arrivals, "Are you here to help look for little Ryan?"
"We are," Snowflake replied, excitement creeping into her voice. The other pups nodded in agreement.
"Great, let me show you where we are going to search," Cinder softly said as she walked over to the map. "I have teams searching these three areas" Cinder indicated where Allison's, Sadie's and Juan's teams were, "another team searching the caves here" Cinder pointed to the two caves, "and a fifth team searching the back side of the park here" Cinder finished by pointing to where Marshall's team was searching. "We will search parallel to them on the other side of the path" Cinder specified by tracing an arc with her paw. "Just hang tight for a minute and we'll be on our way. Take a sniff in this bag so you know what scent we are looking for."
Snowflake and the others all gathered around the bag with one of Ryan's sweatshirts in it to get a good sniff while Cinder went to talk to Skipper and LT Ken.
"You are going to lead them out there, aren't you?" Skipper rhetorically asked.
"I am, you two can hold it down here" Cinder softly replied. "I've got five pups including me, we can cover decently wide swath that we won't have to search later. If any other people or pups show up in the next 15 minutes, send them to join us by following the path. After that, hold them until the teams start to report back. If anyone needs to be swapped out, we can use any new arrivals for that. If we don't have any new searchers, we'll let the teams decrease in size, but no smaller than 4 people and pups total. If a team drops below 4, use the remainder to plus-up any other teams that are low and bring the rest back here. If Allison's, Sadie's or Juan's group gets too small, bunch the remaining too along the edge. When they reach the end of our sector, have them flip a U-turn and come back the other way. When Marshall and I finish our areas, we'll box the south east corner to make it even, using the caves where Axel is searching as our outer reference point."
"You know Cinder," Skipper teased, "it is almost like you know what you are doing."
"I had to figure it out myself eventually due to a lack of instruction from you" Cinder softly teased back.
"Can I go home then, since I'm not needed to teach you anything?" Skipper jokingly asked.
"Of course not, that would be silly" Cinder softly informed him, "I need LT Ken to man the radio and coordinate stuff so you get to be the handsome figurehead and talk to any paparazzi that decide to show up."
"Oh joy" Skipper groaned while Cinder and LT Ken laughed.
"Let me know if anything comes up that I didn't cover" Cinder softly said as she turned to collect her search pups and LT Ken nodded.
"Tell me again why you haven't certified her yet?" LT Ken asked Skipper while Cinder and her team trotted off into the park.
"Because if I certify her after two weeks, everyone will cry foul and think I've gone soft" Skipper groused. "Regardless of the fact that she is one of the best Fire Captain's I've trained in the last decade."
"So, when are you going to certify her?" LT Ken asked quizzically.
"At one month, same day Marshall get certified" Skipper replied. "That will meet all the requirements, keep any nay-sayers quiet, and make a good public affairs story."
"Now you are talking like the Chief Instructor" LT Ken teased.
"Bite your tongue" Skipper retorted with a shudder. It was well know across the force that Skipper had been offered the Chief Instructor job no less than three times before command finally got the hint that he wanted to stay right in the thick of it, actively responding to emergencies and training new Fire Captains. Though he would do amazing things for the department if he did eventually take that job LT Ken thought to himself.
As Cinder led her pups to their search area, they introduced themselves to each other. The male Newfoundland was named Void, the male Finnish Lapphund was called Slick, and the female Great Pyrenees was named Angel. As soon as Cinder heard her speak, she remembered the Husky's name. "Hello again Snowflake" she softly greeted the two-tone grey pup, "I'm glad to see you out helping us again."
"Well, I couldn't just let that poor kid stay lost" Snowflake replied shyly, "that would be so…."
"Disgraceful" offered Slick.
"Disgusting" chimed in Angel.
"Despicable" boomed Void.
"Well I was going to say terrible" Snowflake giggled, "but that doesn't start with the letter d so I'll say dreadful!" All the pups laughed and they quickly reached their search area.
The search area was up the side of a hill. The top of the hill was about 150 yards from the path but Cinder could still see it as a reference point. She remembered from the map that the hill curved to follow the path. Cinder stationed herself at the top of the hill to give the other pups a reference point and spread them out between her and the path. Each pup had a search lane approximately 30 yards wide which they could easily cover. Snowflake took the lane closest to the path with Slick, Angel and Void stretched out between them. At first, Cinder thought Snowflake was a bit nervous being out here in the park but then she noticed Snowflake was hugging the path side of her search lane occasionally…
Cinder's and Marshall's neural link was continuing to grow stronger. Cinder felt like they were right on the verge of a breakthrough. Cinder could feel where Marshall was even though she couldn't see him. He had his team in a line like she did, just spaced a bit closer together since his search area wasn't as wide. Marshall was trotting up and down his line, keeping tabs on everyone and double checking anything that they found. Cinder smiled as she felt his thoughts that were totally focused on finding little Ryan. Marshall had always been the more powerful transmitter of the two while Cinder had always been the more sensitive listener. Whenever they were apart, it seemed like Marshall's end of the neural link just started mentally screaming everything until the link was re-established while Cinder's end went silent so as to better hear Marshall. It was interesting how it seemed to mirror the differences in their personalities. Cinder smiled as she felt Marshall approach the path from his side and Snowflake drifted towards the path from her side. Cinder knew Marshall wasn't paying any attention to anything other than the search so she decided to let him know. When she judged that the two pups would be able to see each other, Cinder sent out her thought as hard as she could; someone is watching you…
Marshall froze and turned his head towards the path in confusion. Snowflake dove into the nearest bush but accidentally left her tail sticking out. WHERE? Marshall's reply came thundering into her head.
Cinder shook her head to get the mental ringing out of her ears before sending Marshall an image of Snowflake's tail sticking out of a bush. Cinder could feel Marshall's confusion as he sent back a questioning mental image of Everest. Cinder noticed how similar Snowflake looked to Everest, slightly smaller and less muscled, and two-tone grey instead of Lavender-grey with different white splotches. That would explain Marshall's confusion as he knew Everest was back home in Adventure bay. Cinder sent back an image of Snowflake. Cinder felt Marshall's recognition as his eyes searched the bushes until he found the fluffy tail sticking out of one. Cinder felt Marshall laughing as he turned and went back to his search without a second glance. As Snowflake made her way out of the bush, Cinder reflected on what was happening as she continued her own search.
Snowflake clearly was interested in Marshall. But Marshall was just as clearly not interested her. Cinder had never met Everest but she knew exactly how Marshall felt about her. Marshall always had this happy mental glow whenever he talked about Everest and his list of things he liked about her was longer than their tails combined. Conversely, the few times he had mentioned Snowflake, usually in passing or when telling a story, there was no glow or other indication that he cared about her as anything more than patient and maybe a friend. Cinder decided that she should probably talk to Snowflake before she got her heart totally wrapped around a Dalmatian that wasn't interested in her.
Hours passed as the search continued. Volunteer pups and people cycled in and out at a fairly consistent rate. Soon, Skipper reported over the radio that he was taking Engine 25 back to the station to pick up the afternoon crew. While she and Marshall would be there until Ryan was found, Cinder found that she wasn't really tired at all and she could feel Marshall's energy continue to overflow. Well, good thing we have the energy to keep going Cinder thought to herself with a smile. Cinder's team was the only one that hadn't swapped any pup out so Cinder decided to bring them in for a quick drink after they finished this search area. Need anything to drink? Cinder thought to Marshall. Marshall's characteristic I'M GOOD! thundered back into her skull accompanied by a picture of Marshall drinking water out of his pup pack. Cinder really wished she had a pack like that, maybe one day she would be able to run a test with a unit to see if that made it better for all fire pups to have a pack like that.
As they finished their search area, Cinder brought her pups in and led them back up to the staging area. When they arrived, Mike and Kevin had water bowls ready for all the thirsty pups. As they finished, Cinder softly asked "Are you pups good to keep searching or do you have to leave soon."
"I'm just getting warmed up" Void replied with a smile.
"Yeah, I've got nothing but time and energy to burn!" added Slick.
"Can't help if I go home" Angel added sagely.
"Ready to look high, and low, and everywhere we go!" Snowflake concluded with a wag of her tail.
"Great, we'll pick up one more pup since there are a few waiting now and get back out there!" Cinder softly said as she waved over a waiting bloodhound.
"Hi pups, I'm Snoop!" the bloodhound greeted them as the five volunteers followed Cinder back into the park. All the pups introduced themselves by the time they had reached the next search area. Now that she had 5 search pups, Cinder set them up in a line just like Marshall had done with his team while she roved up and down the line. As they progressed through their search area, Cinder got reports from each member of the morning crew that they had been relieved by the afternoon crew. I bet Rain and Splash are happy with this assignment Cinder chuckled to herself, all these hard working male pups for them to chat with and admire, hopefully they keep their noses out for Ryan and not just the boys!
After a few more hours, Cinder's and Marshall's teams had managed to square off their search area and expanded it out to the two large caves that Axel had cleared throughout the morning. Cinder and Marshall had their pups search out around the two cave entrances while they discussed how to keep searching.
"Think we should split back up and each of us take our teams down one side of our square?" Cinder softly asked.
"That would make sense" Marshall replied thoughtfully, "that way we can keep doubling back in case Ryan were to head back into where we have already searched."
"Want the North or West side?" Cinder softly inquired.
"Which side do you want dear sister?" Marshall flipped the question back at her.
"West" Cinder softly replied.
"Great, I'll take North" Marshall replied, "That will give me longer legs."
"Now that that is settled," Cinder softly changed the subject, "what are you going to do about your not so stealthy admirer?"
"Snowflake?" Marshall asked quizzically to which Cinder nodded.
Marshall paused for a minute to think before replying, "Well, it probably started when I saved her which means that she probably swooned at something reassuring I said."
"And you say so many dear brother" Cinder softly teased.
"Hey, it helps my patients!" Marshall defended himself.
"No disagreement there" Cinder softly conceded, "doesn't change the question though."
"Well, I'm going to have to talk to her eventually" Marshall acknowledged, "Probably going to have to nudge her into the friend zone."
"Good luck with that" Cinder said with a smile as she looked over Marshall's shoulder.
"Why do you say that?" Marshall asked, confused.
"Because you get to find out if that works right now!" Cinder softly teased, discreetly nodding behind him. Marshall tried to discreetly look over his shoulder but ended up not really being discreet at all. Cinder smacked her face with her paw with a giggle. Marshall could be such a paradox, quiet as a mouse when he focused and wanted to be, but the second he stopped focusing he was about as stealthy as a brigade of fire trucks responding code 3 to a five alarm fire. Snowflake was undeterred at being spotted by her spotted crush and kept walking towards them. "Don't worry, I have full faith in you" Cinder softly teased, giving her brother a lick on the cheek before trotting off to check on her pups and use the nearest tree.
Snowflake was determined to say something to Marshall, she wasn't sure yet exactly what words would come out of her mouth just yet but she was running out of time. She saw Marshall notice her, almost like it was for the first time and she thought she saw concern mixed with curiosity dance across his face. She hoped the curiosity outweighed the concern. The lick Cinder gave Marshall did worry her a little bit, but it wasn't like she gave him a full kiss, but that could be because they are in public. Or it could just be nothing. Guess the only way to find out is to ask, if I get that far. "Hi Marshall" Snowflake greeted him.
"Hey there Snowflake," Marshall responded, his tail wagging at a normal pace for him, though it looked like it was going fast to Snowflake. "I'm glad you came to help search for Ryan."
"Oh really, why is that?" Snowflake asked coquettishly.
"Because we need all the help we can get" Marshall replied, "This park is huge and we won't be able to search all of it before sunset."
"Oh, yeah, that's true" Snowflake floundered as Marshall deftly sidestepped her attempted flirt.
"If we don't find him before dark, he could get frostbite or worse" Marshall continued, keeping the conversation focused on the search.
"Are we going to search at night?" Snowflake asked, genuinely curious this time.
"Probably, though we'll need to be in larger groups and need lots of head lamps" Marshall replied, "We can't afford for anyone else to get lost in the search."
"Do we need to worry about getting frostbit?" Snowflake asked the leading question.
"Not if we stick close together and keep moving" Marshall replied, thinking back to the weather report from that morning. It was supposed to be cold, but enough above freezing that they would be fine.
"How close?" Snowflake softly asked, moving closer until her muzzle was less than an inch from Marshall's. Snowflake inhaled his scent, relishing it. She could have sworn she saw him quiver slightly as he breathed in her scent. She hadn't put anything on but at the moment she hoped that was working in her favor. She didn't want to come off as having gotten all gussied up for a search and rescue mission like it was a date because she felt that would come off the wrong way to a professional fire and rescue pup like Marshall. At that moment, Cinder barked, calling all the pups to rejoin her. Snowflake immediately turned around to head towards Cinder but swished her tail under Marshall's nose as she did so, causing him to sneeze. "Don't tell me you are allergic to the outsdoors" Snowflake gently teased as the two pups loped over to Cinder.
"No, just got something in my nose" Marshall replied equitably as he took a seat a couple feet over from where Cinder sat.
Snowflake sat down across from Marshall, hoping to quietly switch search teams so she could keep chatting with Marshall. Cinder and Marshall both noticed. I don't think your techniques worked Cinder softly teased her brother in her mind. IT'S NOT MY FAULT! ShE WAS LAYING IT ON SO THICK I THOUGHT I WAS Going to need a shovel TO DIG MY WAY OUT! Marshall thought back. A strong pup like you needs a shovel to dig? Cinder continued teasing. I MAY HAVE Had Another Use planned foR IT!" Marshall mentally admitted. Cinder laughed, their link was so close to being fully established, she was starting to hear volume control from Marshall's mind. Not much mind you, but enough to make it slightly more bearable, her ears didn't ring when he sent her thoughts anymore.
All the pups and humans lined up in two semi-circles around the two Dalmatians, each with their teammates. However, they lined up behind the wrong leader. Cinder's team, taking their cue from Snowflake, had all lined up in front of Marshall while Marshall's team had lined up in front of Cinder.
"Well, good to know we look the same" Marshall said with a laugh as he and Cinder got up to swap places in from of the teams.
"You'd think we were related or something" Cinder softly added with a laugh of her own as she gave Marshall a high paw as they swapped.
Oh biscuits! Snowflake thought to herself. Her plan had gone from sneaking on to Marshall's team to confusing everyone else into lining up behind the wrong pup. I made it seem like none of us could tell them apart, how embarrassing!
As the two teams separated, Cinder relayed the plan to her pup team. They resumed their search on the West side of the already searched area, making north and south legs. The search continued. Cinder kept checking the sun sinking in the sky, they were running out of time.
Cinder came alongside Snowflake as the search. "Got something on your mind?" she softly asked the husky.
"What makes you ask that?" Snowflake tried to dodge the question.
"Well, you've been a little distracted parts of today" Cinder noted.
"Really, when?" Snowflake asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Not the whole time, just any time you got close to Marshall" Cinder dropped the bomb.
"Oh, that" Snowflake said, crestfallen. She knows and is going to tell me stay away from him.
"Don't take it so hard being found out" Cinder softly consoled the husky, "I don't think anyone else noticed."
"I wasn't trying to be distracted" Snowflake said apologetically.
"I know, its ok" Cinder softly said, patting Snowflake comfortingly on the shoulder. That's weird, did she just say it was ok that I was distracted by her boyfriend and ok that I was flirting with him? Snowflake wondered. "He is very easy to love" Cinder added softly.
"What do you mean?" Snowflake asked, confused at where this was going.
"You tell me" Cinder softly challenged.
"Well, he cares so much about everyone" Snowflake said thoughtfully, "he is such a good paramedic and he makes you feel safe when he is saving you, like you don't need to worry. Even when I started drowning, when he grabbed me it just made me feel like I was going to be ok, even as water was filling my lungs. He will fearlessly run into a burning building to help save someone else. He is just so selfless, like he is challenging you to love everyone like he does."
"Well, you've got his professional side down pretty well" Cinder softly commented, "but what about his personal side?"
"I want to get to know that side of him" Snowflake admitted.
"So you've built your crush on half of Marshall" Cinder softly summarized.
"I guess I have" Snowflake begrudgingly admitted. She wasn't sure what he was hearing in Cinder's voice, it wasn't scorn or anything negative outside of being cold in a logical sense. It was almost like Cinder was sad for her, but that doesn't make any sense, does it?
"I'm not going to tell you to leave him alone," Cinder said, "but I will say I think you are trying to enter a race you have already lost."
"Because you've already won?" Snowflake asked with whimper.
Cinder barked out a laugh, "Not in the way you are thinking, Snowflake."
"Huh?" Snowflake yipped in surprise, "you mean you don't have Marshall's heart?"
"Marshall's heart isn't something that any one pup has" Cinder softly replied, "He is such a wellspring of love that it is truly incredible; If he were ever to focus all of it on one pup, he or she would probably drown. Marshall literally cannot help but love everyone. The real question is the nature of that love, is it as a friend, a teammate, or something more."
"What is it for you?" Snowflake asked, desiring the answer but at the same time dreading it.
"Marshall and I are inseparable, we have a bond that will forever transcend anything that could happen. No one could ever have the same bond that we do." Well that's just a great way to shut me down Snowflake thought jealously. "But even with that, it's not my bond with Marshall you need to worry about…"
What could she possible mean by that, how could an inseparable bond like that be anything other than true love unless… puzzle pieces clicked in Snowflake's mind and the thought spilled out her mouth without evening thinking about it, "You are siblings, aren't you?"
"Twins to be precise" Cinder softly confirmed, "But while you don't need to worry about me, I will tell you the bond you seek with Marshall is already practically occupied by someone else."
Well, that's a bummer Snowflake thought sadly, too late to a party I really wanted to go to.
"Now, I haven't met her, but Marshall thinks the world of her and I'm pretty sure she thinks the same of him" Cinder softly concluded.
Wait, that makes it sound like he is single but has given his heart to someone else who hasn't done the same, maybe I still have a chance! Snowflakes mind was racing faster than a high speed train and her wagging tail gave her thoughts away.
Cinder saw the thought flash across Snowflake's face and realized she had slipped up. Oh pup treats! I let her figure out that Marshall and Everest aren't actually together so now she thinks she might have a chance if she becomes a friend and waits for something bad to happen between Marshall and Everest, or on the off chance I don't like Everest that my opinion of her would influence Marshall to reconsider, not that that would happen. That dithering brother of mine should have said how he felt to her before his silly tail left Adventure Bay!
Cinder opened her mouth to say something but Snowflake's paw covered her mouth. Cinder went to pull her paw off but she smelled something…
(A/N: Special thanks to Bluewolfbat for continuing to allow his OC Snowflake to have a role in these stories and especially for his help with her thoughts and dialogue!)