A familiar cat woke up from her slumber, uncurling herself and rising to her feet. She found herself standing in the middle of her owner's bed. She had done it again, had she? The cat noticed she had a bit of a habit of sleeping in the middle of her owner's bed at night. She knew it made her uncomfortable, but she couldn't help it!
The cat, Cali, looked over at a familiar blonde sleeping on the left side of the bed, barely hanging on to the bed. Her owner, Katie, had grown used to her nighttime tendencies, and learned to live with it. Covering the majority of her face was her messy, unkempt hair.
Katie opened her eyes, tired eyes looking up at the ceiling, "Well, that's enough. No use trying to go back to sleep when I'm already up..."
Cali gently licked her paw, using the slightly damp body part to lay her fur just the way she liked it to be.
"What's the point of buying you a new bed if you're just going to sleep in mine?" The young vet sat up and gently rubbed crust out of her eyes.
The cat looked away, clearly not knowing the answer herself.
The girl giggled faintly, standing up, "How about we start getting ready for the day?"
Cali, in agreement, jumped onto her shoulder, ready to start the day alongside her owner. Katie opened the door to her room and walked down the quiet halls of her home. Now that she was thinking about it, it had been quite some time since she didn't hear any commotion in the house. At least one of the pups would be awake by this time, usually being Marshall. It almost seemed as though they were used to early rises like she was.
After taming the beast that was her usual morning bedhead, Katie brushed her teeth and washed her face off. She took a moment to touch her looks up, but as a vet, she didn't really care much for makeup. Water from baths and fur from pets would just mess it up if she were to put it on. Besides, she was ten years old either way.
She turned off the bathroom light, walking out of the room behind Cali. Her cat ran off to do whatever she usually did in the mornings while she proceeded down the hall. All of the lights in the house were off, allowing the natural light from the rising sun to illuminate the interior.
Katie then stepped into the living room, the room the pups had taken over and used as their bedroom since Marshall was brought into the house. Using an amalgamation of blankets and pup beds, the trio of pups had managed to create a large bed for all three of them to share.
While both her and her aunt offered to give Rocky and Everest different places in the house to stay, both pups adamantly remained with their Dalmatian friend.
She smiled. That impromptu rescue as well as the loud ride home must've knocked all three of them out. So much so to the point where it seemed like they'd be sleeping in all day. That was until Liz entered the picture.
"Time to get moving! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" A sudden shout from her aunt made her jump in surprise.
Walking into the living room from the kitchen was Liz, who was banging a wooden ladle on a metal pot. She shouted as loud as she could, the banging increasing in pace. Katie, confused, covered her ears and glared at the redheaded woman.
"What are you doing?" Katie asked, trying her best to speak over the banging, "You're gonna wake up the pups!"
Liz stopped for a moment to look at her niece, "That's the idea."
She started the banging once more, finally waking one of the pups. The pup in question was Marshall, who sprang up with a frantic yelp, trying to run away from the noise being made. This caused him to trip over Rocky and go tumbling into a nearby wall.
"I'm good!"
The crash woke Everest, who groaned in exhaustion, "...What's going on...?"
The mixed breed sat up, yawning, "I told Liz to wake us up early."
"You what!?" The Husky immediately turned to look at Rocky, "Why would you do that?"
Rocky stretched his body, "Liz said we had one day to regroup, so today's the day we're going to track Hood down."
"He's right," Liz put the ladle and pot down, making her way over, "I know we had that rescue yesterday, but we can't waste any more time."
"Right..." Marshall stood up, walking back over to the group, "So what's the plan?"
Rocky was quick to speak up, "I need to get the tracker ready."
"Was it not already ready when you attached it to Hood's cloak?" Everest raised an eyebrow.
"That part of it was. I need to connect the signal to something we have here. Like one of our communicators."
"Got it.." Liz nodded, "Rocky. Do whatever you need to. Marshall and Everest, you're on food. We don't know how far that Dalmatian got in a day, so we should pack some food just to be safe. In the meantime, I'll grab some other things and make sure the car's filled with gas. Again, we don't know where he went so might as well fill up."
"Auntie?" Katie sheepishly raised her hand.
The woman looked over at her, "Yeah?"
"Is there anything I can do?" The blonde asked, "I'd like to help too."
"Don't you have to open the parlor soon?" Liz seemed confused, "You have to do that today, right?"
Katie's face fell, "Uhh... Yeah. Right."
"Alright guys, let's get started!"
With that, everyone in the house aside from Katie all went off in different directions, leaving her on her own. She looked at the floor, a hand making its way up to lightly grip the end of her dress. She hated that Liz was right. She did have to open the parlor really soon. But Liz, Rocky, Marshall, and Everest were all about to go on a daring mission to clear Marshall's name, and what was she doing? Staying in Adventure Bay taking care of animals?
Katie slowly began to walk down the hall in the direction of her room, her heart battling her mind and impairing her decision making skills. She eventually made it to her room, slapping face down on her bed. The faintest groan could be heard seeping out of her pillow. What was she going to do? It seemed obvious what she needed to do, but at the same time, she was also required to do something else. Why couldn't things just be simple again?
She rolled herself over, looking up at the ceiling. She allowed her arms to go limp, resting on either side of her body. She needed to get ready. Whatever she wanted to do, she wouldn't be able to do it laying there in bed. Katie pushed herself back up and off of her bed, stretching her arms.
She was going to head to make herself some breakfast before leaving for the parlor, but a loud popping noise stopped her in her tracks.
"That came from the guest room!" Katie peeked out of her room and further down the hall. She noticed a bit of smoke escaping the room, only making her more worried. What was Rocky doing?
Upon walking into the guest room, the young vet noticed Rocky sitting at his work desk with a blank expression on his face. Katie wasn't much for technology, but you didn't have to be a genius to know that something like that wasn't supposed to happen. Sitting on the desk in front of the mixed breed was one of the communicators he, Marshall, and Everest had. Sparks were flying from the device, something that he seemed to have no reaction to.
"Hm..." Rocky hummed, ignoring the fact that there was soot and grime covering his face, "So I wasn't supposed to do that... Maybe if I try rerouting the power to something else it won't overload like that? It's worth a shot, but what could I reroute it to...?"
"Are you okay?" Katie finally asked, walking into the room.
"Katie?" The mixed breed looked up from his work, a bit confused, "Shouldn't you be going to the parlor soon?"
Hearing that question, the blonde let out a dramatic groan, "Why does everyone keep reminding me?"
Rocky was immediately confused, "Huh?" He put down a screwdriver, "But you love working at the parlor, what's wrong?"
Katie sighed, sitting down beside the ex-eco pup, "I do, but today there are more things I want to do."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for starters, I don't want to leave the parlor closed for who knows how long... Nobody in Adventure Bay really knows the schedule, and what if it gets busy?" Katie asked, "It's too risky to try and help you guys..."
"Which do you think is more important?"
"You guys are, of course!"
"Wrong..." Rocky shook his head, "I asked which was more important in general. Not to you. The safety of Adventure Bay is more important than we are. They need their vet and stylist. We'll be okay."
"But what if something happens, and I'm not there to help?"
"Katie, we have an EMT, a vet, and an inventor!" Rocky reassured her, "And Everest too for backup, and you know how she can get when her friends are in trouble."
The young stylist nodded, taking a deep breath in, "Yeah. You're right..."
"Thanks for caring about me and the others, though. I know we don't see eye to eye on the bath thing, but I do want to say thanks for everything."
"Thanks?"
"You saved Marshall from a possibly horrible fate out on the streets and in the cold... Then after that, you and Liz let me and Everest stay here and looked after us out of the kindness of your hearts."
This was the first time Rocky had ever gotten this sentimental with her. Katie couldn't help but to allow tears of joy well up in her eyes. Hearing this out of the mixed breed's mouth made her happy. It made her really happy.
"You were the one to bring us together. You're the best, Katie."
"Awww, Rocky!" Katie quickly grabbed the gray puppy, hugging him tight.
The creative canine squeaked faintly, surprised by how swift the sudden hug was. That surprise soon morphed into panic once he realized how tight she was hugging him.
"Katie... You're..." He gasped for air, "You're choking me!"
.
.
.
Katie's eyes were glued to the pavement as she walked the sidewalks of Adventure Bay. Dressed in her usual attire, the young vet was on her way to begin another shift at her pet parlor. With Rocky's reassurance, she was fine with going to her parlor. They would be okay. After all, they had been through a few things without her being there to help.
Her right hand lightly gripped the end of her dress.
She kept walking down the same path she had walked what seemed to be hundreds of times. Looking up at the sky above her, she noticed how clear it looked. Sure, it was typical Adventure Bay weather, but from being in a snowy location like Jake's Mountain the entire day prior to saving Marshall in the midst of heavy rain, the weather conditions of the bay were starting to become less predictable as time went on.
She then stopped in her tracks. Just at the mere thought of her rescuing Marshall, she could almost see herself a few feet down the sidewalk, finding the weak Dalmatian cold and alone. When she thought about it more, she wondered more and more what would've happened had she not discovered Marshall there.
Would someone else have found him? Would Ryder have found him?
Katie stared at the area of the sidewalk where she found Marshall, memories filling every inch of her mind. She remembered dashing in the rain, leaving her umbrella behind in order to carry Marshall properly. She remembered how panicked she was in the shower, thinking that her umbrella would've been taken off of the sidewalk. Luckily, she found it unmoved where she had left it.
Her mind then switched to the other two pups she took in, Everest and Rocky. She remembered meeting them outside of her parlor, and how she tried to lie to them in order to protect Marshall. Upon seeing how worried they were for him, though, she relented, letting them come home with her. From there, things only got better and better.
She bonded with the pups in her care, learning more about them each day as they strived to clear Marshall's name and bring him back to how he once was. While they managed to see Marshall happy once again after rescuing that little girl atop Jake's Mountain. Marshall was certainly a rescue pup through and through.
But he couldn't have done it without Rocky and Everest.
If she was being honest, Katie could see that Everest had a soft spot for Marshall long before she had any romantic feelings toward him. Maybe it was Marshall's innocent kindness, or how he had a gift of making others laugh no matter the circumstance, maybe it was how clumsy he tended to be. Whatever the reason, Everest seemed to be softer with him than any of the others. Being the oldest pup on the team, she was often protective of all of the members, but somehow, it was always Marshall. And when she began interacting with Everest day to day, Katie got the rare gift of seeing someone fall for another.
Seeing Rocky show up at her parlor, overwhelming worry for Marshall abundant on his face was quite the baffling sight initially. Since she and Rocky were well acquainted well before everything happened, she knew well that the mixed breed wasn't as fond of Marshall as he was of the others. They were still friends, but as time went on, she noticed an initially small rift grow more and more between the two with every visit to the parlor. Marshall didn't seem to care, though, as he mostly hung out with Chase, but even for something as unnoticeable as their growing rift, it would soon come to light. And perhaps it had before Marshall was suspended.
Now, Rocky and Everest, along with her and Liz, were the only things in Marshall's day to day life that seemed to have any meaning for him. It was horrible, but at least Marshall had something.
She looked up from the ground. Her parlor was within sight, and she was inching closer with each step. She tried to shake the lingering thoughts out of her head, which seemed to be successful, until a single voice rose above them all.
"You were the one to bring us together. You're the best, Katie."
The words Rocky spoke echoed in her mind. This forced her to think back on her conversation with the inventive mixed breed. He had a good point that she had a responsibility to Adventure Bay in running the parlor like she always had. After all, that's where she belonged. That's where she always was. That's where she was needed.
Katie stopped walking once more, looking down and shutting her eyes tight. Right. She was needed there at the parlor. Who would take care of the animals if she wasn't there? Who would save owners' days by cleaning up and styling their pets? Who would be there to dress wounds? She was needed in Adventure Bay.
But...
She quickly turned on her heels, running as fast as she could in the opposite direction. Her hand quickly grabbed her phone before she turned it on, or at least, tried to. The battery was dead. Why did she forget to charge her phone that day of all days!?
Her pace quickened exponentially, her legs carrying her as fast as they could.
She was needed at the parlor.
She was needed in Adventure Bay.
But they needed her more! And just like they needed her, she needed them. Her aunt and the pups needed her to be there. She couldn't just let her family go off on another daring mission while she remained sitting at the parlor.
Call it selfish.
Call it reckless.
She didn't care what it was. She wanted her family. She wanted to be with them when they finally made things right again. She brought them together, of course they would want her to be there. But because they were rescue pups, they learned to value the town over their personal desires. But she wasn't like that! She couldn't let them go again. Not without a fight.
She dashed through Adventure Bay, ignoring how much her legs hurt, ignoring how loudly her lungs cried out for a rest. She couldn't rest until she was with them again. She kept running, many memories of the four she had been living with playing in her mind.
Katie's foot then caught something on the sidewalk, causing her to trip. Luckily, she landed in a nearby patch of grass. She tried to get up, but the exhaustion in her body made it hard. She fell back to the grass beneath her.
Her breathing hitched as she cried out to nobody in particular, "Don't leave me!"
The blonde tiredly laid on the grass, trying her best to get back up and keep running. That was until she heard the familiar sound of asphalt being crushed under the weight of tires.
"Katie?" A voice called out to her.
Looking over at the car currently parked on the road beside her, she recognized the concerned face of Mr. Porter, who was bringing some produce back to his restaurant. He stepped out of his car and walked over to the blonde, helping her to her feet.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"...Lookout..." She wheezed, "...I... Need... Lookout."
"Um... I can drop you there, would you like that?" The mustached man raised an eyebrow, earning a frantic nod from Katie.
Luckily, the drive from where she was to the lookout wasn't as long as it would've been had she kept running, as they were there within minutes. With a quick thank you, Katie flung the door open, closing it behind her before bolting to the door of the lookout.
Before she went inside, she saw Ryder walking out of the building. His eyes widened upon noticing the blonde fast approaching. He took a few steps back to give her room to stop.
Katie slowed down and came to a complete stop. She fell to her knees, panting in a desperate attempt to catch her breath. Chase peeked from behind Ryder, just as confused as his owner was.
Ryder raised an eyebrow, "Um... Katie?"
The young vet looked up at Ryder, clear desperation in her eyes.
"I... I need your help..." The blonde begged, "Please..."
"Woah, woah!" Ryder offered a hand to her, which she took, "Slow down, what's going on, are you in trouble?"
He had never seen the girl as frantic as she currently was. Her hair was messy, her breathing was unsteady, and she was sweating from almost any place he looked.
Katie took a deep breath in, "Can you please watch after the parlor for a little?"
"Watch after the parlor?" Chase parroted, confused.
"Why?" Ryder mirrored his pup's befuddlement, "Are you going somewhere?"
"I don't have much time, Ryder!" The blonde begged, "There's somewhere I need to be! Just say you'll help me out! Please!"
"I'll do it. Why wouldn't we? No job is too big, no pup is too—-!"
Katie suddenly hugged the boy.
"...Small."
"Thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down with him in her arms, "I owe you guys one!"
Chase noticed that his owner was frozen in place, shocked by the sudden hug that he received, "No problem Katie, you help us out a lot, so we're just returning the favor!"
Katie kneeled down once more to hug Chase as well, giving him a good squeeze to relay her appreciation. The Shepherd enjoyed it at first, but his nose soon picked up a familiar scent. He sniffed her once more, wondering if he was mistaken. He wasn't.
"Rocky..." He uttered, barely loud enough for her to hear.
The blonde quickly let go of him, her eyes widening. The police pup stared at Katie, disbelief plastered over his face. The smell of Rocky was all over her. There was no mistaking it. He had memorized the scents of each and every member of the team just in case something went wrong. Katie, meanwhile, was mentally slapping herself. She knew Chase had a good nose. Why would she do that!?
Katie stood up and took a few steps back, turning around to leave, "W-Well, I'll just be heading back now—"
"Katie."
She stopped upon hearing the officer pup call her name, "Yeah...?"
"Take care of them, okay?"
Smiling, the blonde turned her head to allow her eyes to meet his. She gave a quick thumbs up and dashed away, trying to catch up to her family.
.
.
.
Driving down the road, Liz looked around all of the sights she had yet to take a gander at. The midday sun was high up in the sky, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen for miles. The weather was perfect. Not too hot like it had been when she initially arrived in Adventure Bay before meeting Marshall, and not too cold like at Jake's Mountain.
The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and—
"You didn't just say that!"
Liz's eyelids lowered in irritation. Of course, the pups were arguing again. Well, Rocky and Everest were. Marshall, as usual, was playing mediator, trying to calm both parties down. The argument behind her didn't sound too bad. Maybe it was one of their playful ones.
She turned around, taking her eyes off of the road, "Pups, stop arguing or I'll turn this car around!"
The three looked up at the redheaded woman, then to something behind her.
"BRAKE!" All three of them shouted in unison.
"Huh?" She quickly turned back around to face the road once more, seeing a girl feet away from being hit by the car, "Shit!" She pounded her foot on the brake, making the three pups in the backseats fly forward and hit the back of the driver and passenger seats.
Katie, who had run into the street to try and take a shortcut back home, froze as her aunt's car quickly came to a stop in front of her. On one hand, she was scared out of her mind at the thought that she could've just gotten run over, but on the other hand, was relieved that she had managed to find Liz and the pups.
Liz rolled down her window, sticking her head out of it, "Katie!?" She asked loudly, "What are you doing!? I could've run you over!"
"I know, I know! I'm sorry!" She shouted, nearly out of breath, "But I... I want to come with you guys! I want to be there when you need extra hands! I don't want to be left out!"
Everest climbed back onto her seat, "Left... Out?"
"What about the—?"
"I have Ryder and the PAW Patrol looking after the parlor... Everything's sorted out..."
Liz went silent before bursting out into laughter. The woman retreated her head back into the car, "Just get in the car already."
Katie cheered, running over and hopping into the passenger seat. Liz reached over and fiddled with the girl's hair.
"How'd your hair get so messed up?" She squinted.
The blonde smiled nervously, "Don't ask..."
