Downtown, the cockapoo was fairly lost. She usually traveled by hopping over rooftops, but she usually got up there by a fire exit. Unable to find one that she could reach, the pup was stuck walking on the sidewalk. "Dumb eagle," she huffed. "Why couldn't it just fly above the buildings and go to some cliff to make a nest?"
The cockapoo was frustrated about being away from the closest thing to home. She was wondering where she'd take shelter, the sun was setting and it would be night soon. Fortunately, it would seem luck would be in her favor as she found a small fort in an alleyway.
She was about to make herself at home when she heard someone call out, "Hey, find your fort!" The cockapoo looked to see a mixed breed pushing a tire rim over to her.
"Oh, sorry," the cockapoo apologized. "I need somewhere to sleep."
"So do I," the mixed breed responded. "I've only made this fort for just one pup; me."
"Then where else am I supposed to sleep?"
"Well, how desperate are you?"
"I'm not going to sleep in the pound."
"Thought so." The mixed-breed thought for a minute, looking at the pile of junk he had been collecting.
"Why do you have all of this stuff?"
"You never know when it might come in handy." He hopped onto his pile and pulled out an umbrella. It looked slightly bent and there were a few holes on one side. "This might not be perfect, but every little bit to help keep dry in the rain is a benefit."
He placed the umbrella beside his fort, then started looking for other items to help the cockapoo sleep for the night. She walked under the umbrella and thought it was better than nothing. However, things were going to be worse when a gust of wind blew in and sent the umbrella flying.
The cockapoo chased after it as the closest thing she had for a roof, which flew into the trailer of a stopped truck. She jumped into the trailer to try and get the umbrella out when she felt the trailer start moving. "Uh oh." It would be too dangerous to jump out now, so the pup was now forced to go for a ride.
The truck drove to Ryder's home and Owen stepped out. He was about to take the ATV off his trailer when he saw the cockapoo jump out. "Hey, where'd you come from?" he questioned. The pup didn't listen and just ran off before he could ask any questions.
The pup ran towards the house and end up bumping into Chase, who just walked out of the doggie door. The German shepherd groaned before he looked at the pup that accidentally tackled. Chase blushed a bit from the surprise. "Ugh, sorry about this," the cockapoo apologized.
"Uh… Hi there?" Chase said. He began blushing and didn't know what to do here." Just then, Ryder walked out to see Chase currently pinned down.
"You again?" the young boy questioned. He picked the cockapoo up.
"Hey, you're that boy that let me out of that school," the pup commented.
"Yes. I don't think we had a proper introduction yet. My name's Ryder, and I see you've already met Chase." They looked down at the German shepherd standing back up.
"Well, my name's Skye." Just as Ryder started loosening his grip to put the cockapoo down, Skye suddenly flipped out of his arms and land right beside Chase.
"Whoa!" Chase gasped.
"I do that all the time." The sound of thunder suddenly grabbed everyone's attention.
"Um…. Excuse me, I've got some business to take care of." Chase quickly walked away and Ryder could see his dad trying to unload the ATV. Deciding to try and help, he walked over to him.
"Hi Dad," Ryder spoke. "Need some help?"
"Sure would," Owen responded. "You grab onto this on the right side and help me get this off." Ryder did as he was told and helped his father push the all-terrain vehicle off the trailer and towards the garage, hoping to get it inside before it rained.
Skye could see the clouds quickly forming overhead and felt a raindrop hit her on the back. She quickly ran over to the garage just before the father and son started closing the door. "Sorry about…. Rushing in," she apologized.
"Normally, I would be angry," Owen admitted. He paused as he heard the rain starting to pour down quickly. "But if it's for one night, I guess you can stay."
"I was trying to get back to my place, but I got lost." She looked a little embarrassed as Ryder felt sympathetic.
"We can help you get back tomorrow," he proclaimed. "Until then, make yourself at home." Skye looked around the house's interior and it felt different from the busy city. The biggest thing the cockapoo noticed was how quiet it was.
"Isn't there usually more noise than this?"
"Not usually." He grabbed a towel and used it to help dry Skye off. Marshall and Chase walked over to them.
"Is that the pup that bumped into you?" Marshall asked.
"I'm pretty sure," Chase noted.
"Skye's only going to be staying here tonight," Ryder noted. "Tomorrow we'll help bring her back to her home."
"Sounds good to me," Marshall said. Ryder walked off to put the wet towel away as Skye walked up to the boy.
"So, do you two live here?" Skye asked.
"Well, I do," Chase said, "Marshall just moved in."
"And I can already say it's better than any alleyway I've been in," the Dalmatian proclaimed. They could hear the rain starting to come down, shortly followed by a roar of thunder. The pups jumped in fright.
"Um, how about we show you Ryder's room?" Chase asked. Marshall and Skye nodded as they followed the German shepherd to the bedroom. They took a look around and could see the two different beds, one for the boy and one for the pup. There was also a collection of pillows for Marshall. "Make yourself at home."
Skye smiled as she leaped onto Ryder's bed. She stepped in place as she could feel the mattress beneath her. "Ooh, this is so soft," she cooed.
"Yeah, it's nice having something like a bed to sleep on," Marshall commented. "Total beats sleeping on a hard surface." Skye nodded as she lay down and noticed something on the desk near the bed.
"Hey, Chase, what's that?"
"What's what?" the shepherd asked. He climbed onto the bed so he could get a look at what Skye saw. She pointed at the tablet shell on the desk. "Oh, that's the tablet Ryder's even building."
"But… He's just a kid."
"He's a lot smarter than most other kids. His parents say it's a gift. That tablet is Ryder trying to see what he can do in the future."
"Doesn't sound like he would have to hurry," Marshall commented. "He's super smart and he can have as much free time as he wants. What's not to love?"
"Well, Ryder just enjoys helping other people. He does have a few games we play, but he just seems happy when he's helping his parents out. With yard work, cleaning, and even sometimes working on the family car. He's just gotta have something to keep himself busy."
The sound of some light rumbling could be heard downstairs. Chase recognized this sound and quickly ran downstairs, with the other two pups following him in confusion. Back in the kitchen, the three could see some bowls being filled up with kibble. Chase sat in front of a blue bowl with his tail wagging.
"Oh, is it time to eat?" Marshall asked.
"It is," Samantha confirmed. She soon got some kibble poured out for Marshall and Skye, the latter of whom was amazed by what she saw.
"How often do you get this stuff?" the cockapoo asked.
"Usually three times a day," Chase answered. He started his food but stopped momentarily when he heard how fast their guests were eating.
"Whoa, take it easy you two!" Samantha cried. Marshall and Skye both stopped eating and looked up at the woman.
"Sorry, it's just… Living on the rooftops can be a bit difficult."
"...You don't have easy access to food, do you?" Chase asked.
"I usually have some of the leftovers at the arcade." Skye gave a sheepish smile as she slowly continued with her kibble. Samantha wasn't sure what to say about this.
Another roar of thunder could be heard outside. "Hmm, I think you should consider yourself lucky you've got a roof over your head. I hate to see what strays have to live with."
Meanwhile, in the city, the mixed breed was trying to stay dry in his makeshift fort. The rain pelted down mercilessly and the wind felt like it was trying to make the pup fly. "Ugh, I hate the rain," the mixed breed groaned.
He was lucky to have shelter. A young bulldog was running for some cover and managed to find some with a tree. The rain managed to leak through the leaves, but there was a small hole under the tree. The bulldog was desperate and took shelter inside. He was hoping to find a better shelter in the morning.
The chocolate lab was likely having worse luck as he was hiding under a dock, which wasn't giving him much protection from the water seeping through. He didn't mind water too much, but it was a little cold. Still, the dock would be better than just sitting in the middle of the beach with wet sand under him. The high tide, however, would be something he would worry about.
Later that night, Chase was sitting on the couch with Ryder, working on the tablet with Marshall and Skye in front of them. They were watching TV as the young boy was starting to make progress. "Okay, I think I've got the circuits in place," Ryder commented. "Now, where did I leave that battery?"
He got up to check his room, where he left his tablet parts, leaving the pups to enjoy their show. "So, what kind of shows do you watch?" Marshall asked.
"Ryder and I have found a police show parody that Owen helped us find," Chase explained. "It's pretty funny."
"Can you pull it up?"
"I can try but…. It's a little hard without thumbs." Despite this fact, the German shepherd did his best to change the channel with the remote. He kept trying but ignored the notebook that Ryder left on the couch.
Marshall jumped up to help make the remote work, accidentally hitting the notebook, thus making it fall onto the floor and open up. The pups looked at drawings inside and could see the sketches of the gadgets on a certain pup.
"Is that you?" Skye questioned.
"It looks like it," Chase commented. They could see the tennis ball cannon coming out of a backpack as Ryder came walking back with his parents.
"Okay, I think I've almost got it finished," the young boy said. "Hopefully once that's done…". Paused as they saw the pups looking at his notepad. "Hey, how'd that get on the floor?"
Chase looked back to his owner and was surprised to see them back. "Oh, Ryder!" he gasped. "Um, we were trying to change the channel."
Owen looked at the tv which now had a couple of menu options opened up. "I can see that," he commented. He sat down and started closing the menus as Ryder walked over to see the pages of his sketches.
"What do you think of this?" the boy asked.
"These look pretty cool," Chase commented. "Especially the tennis ball launcher."
"That would be cool," Marshall added. "How long have you drawn these?"
"Fairly recently," Ryder responded. "I was trying to think of some way Chase could use certain tools." He flipped over to another page to show a different backpack that had claw arms sticking out of it. "There's more than just the tennis canon I've thought of."
"Cool!" the pups gasped. They then heard a trumpet playing from the TV and could see a couple of people with names credited beside them.
"Ooh, that's the show I told you about," Chase remembered. He quickly hopped back on the couch next to Owen with Ryder sitting down beside him, placing his book down and picking up his tablet to continue working on it.
Marshall and Skye were quite invested in the show, laughing at a couple of parts of it. Ryder was invested in finishing up his tablet tonight, so he only paid attention to bits and pieces. Eventually, he seemed to have everything installed, the tablet was ready for its test run.
Plugging his finished tablet in, he switched it on and… The screen lit up. "Sweet! Mom, Dad, Chase, check this out!" The pup and the parents looked at the screen lit up and a menu showed up.
"Wow! Great job!" Samantha commented.
"Looks great son," Owen added.
"So, what are you going to do with it?" Chase asked.
"Hmm, I've only built the base model," Ryder noted. "It's pretty basic and I'm wanting to try to customize it a little bit."
"Hmm," Samantha thought. "I think we could visit Kendra tomorrow while we're dropping off Skye."
"Ooh, maybe we could show her these sketches," Chase suggested.
Marshall and Skye were a little confused. "Who is Kendra?" they asked.
"She's an old friend of mine," Samantha said. "She's a tech wiz and she'd love to try out these pup packs." Ryder thought about the name "pup-packs."
"Maybe she could make one for us," Skye suggested. "Maybe even a jetpack!"
"A jetpack?" Ryder questioned.
"Would make getting across rooftops easier."
"You have… Interesting things to say," Chase commented.
"It sounds more interesting than me," Marshall admitted.
It was pretty late by this point. The pups followed Ryder to his bedroom, where the Dalmatian and cockapoo lay down on the pup beds. Chase lay down on the bed next to Ryder who got comfy.
"So, we're just going to drop Skye off down in the city?" the German shepherd asked.
"If that's what Skye wants," Ryder noted. He looked to see the said cockapoo had already fallen asleep. "The city is a bit of a tough place for a stray pup." Chase didn't like thinking about something like that. "Look, I don't want you to feel scared. If you want, you can stay here when we drop Skye off."
"No, it's okay. It'll be kind of boring being here by myself."
"I understand that. I'll make sure to stick with you while we visit Kendra." He scratched the pup's ear, making Chase feel a little better. Even with the sound of the storm outside, the two eventually got to sleep.
The storm kept pouring down, making things harder for the pups on the street. The mixed breed's fort couldn't take the wind any longer and blew apart, now the mixed breed was soaked.
He could see the parts of his fort blowing away and he tried to chase after them. He would end up failing as he would just find himself tripping into a puddle. "Yuck!" he groaned.
He was about to turn around to get back to his spot only for a gust of wind to knock him back down. The mixed breed looked around, now seeing he was lost. "Great, just great! Lost in the rain! Can tonight get any worse?!"
The mixed breed wandered around until he saw a building that had a sign next to it reading, "Adventure University." He quickly ran towards the building and looked for a way to get inside. He eventually found a couple of garage doors at the back of the building and could see one of them was opened slightly, just enough for him to crawl inside.
Once inside, the pup shook himself dry and looked around. It was too dark for him to make anything out clearly with only limited like from the gap in the door. The mixed breed could make out a couple of vehicles and some parts he remembered from seeing vehicles. He was too tired to figure out what these things were and just tried to get comfy for the night and wait out the storm.
It wasn't just pups that were having trouble, as a blonde-mustached man in a tophat was getting soaked. "This is just brilliant," he complained, "What kind of plan can I use to win this election?" He looked up and tried to think of something, as he looked at the clouds. "Hmm, maybe a way to stop this weather."