Chapter thirteen: Rise And Shine!
The sun celebrated its return with the vibrant praise of its extending rays. And as it crawled higher, those finger-like rays reached for every bit of darkness to bring it back to life again in the new day.
And soon, the brightness of dawn began to rouse the sleeping souls of the PAW Patrol campsite from the rest of their dreamscape adventures.
As the sun shined brightly, Snowflake slowly woke up, yawning in the process.
"Huh? It's morning? Oh well," Snowflake said, surprised the night didn't last long. At least she got a good night's sleep. The husky pup then carefully and quietly exited her tent.
Ned peacefully kept sleeping, unaware of his sister's absence.
Marshall and every pup to emerge from their tents yawned once they were out in the open.
"*yawn* Morning already?" Marshall remarked. "Thought the night had just started."
"Well, waking up in the middle of the night didn't help." Skye mentioned, slightly chuckling.
"True but-.." he stopped suddenly when reaching a conclusion.
"Where are Chase and Chester?" He asked and everyone began to wonder.
xxxx
Katie unzipped the flap and it fell open. The style of the tent giving them the advantage of easily seeing inside, with the door zipping up rather than down.
Inside the quiet tent, two lumps breathed softly to a point where there was no sound or hardly any at all.
Snowflake walked over to the pup quietly.
"Are Chase and Chester still sleeping?" Snowflake whispered.
"Aww, they're soo cute!" Skye swooned.
"I wonder what they're dreaming about.." Rocky thought aloud.
"Shh!" Chester hissed, letting them in on his little secret.
"I wanna enjoy this for as long as I can!" He added, peeking one eye open at them then closing it again. His head still nestled over top of Chase's so that they laid perfectly encased in the blankets, one on top of the other.
Marshall and Rocky, along with others among them, just looked at one another.
"Why?" Marshall asked.
"Because!.." Chester answered, opening both eyes now. "I haven't had cuddles like this from him in a while! And in the right frame of mind,.. he wouldn't have any of it!" Another blank glance met the Dalmatian and mixed breed's eyes.
"Nah, I still don't get it.." Rocky shook his head. "What's this now?"
"Ugh! Be-cause.." Chester sighed, sitting up; placing a paw on Chase the moment he slightly stirred, which suppressed him to remain heavily asleep. "Ever since I got reconnected I've noticed he's less snuggly than he used to be.. he'll never admit it.. but I'm not afraid to.." they gave him another quizzical look.
"When we were really little pups, we used to snuggle up like this every night and go to sleep like a two-pup package. 'Two pups in a pod' they used to call us." Chester explained, a certain fondness to his tone.
"Sounds nice. Kinda nice to see him so soft spoken and caring," Snowflake whispered.
Suddenly, she thought of a song she used to sing as a really young pup.
"Oh Chase the teddy bear, so soft and cuddly, you're a cute little puppy, my cuddle buddy, hugging me under the bed sheets.." Snowflake softly sang, remembering the song.
Now the quizzical looks turned on Snowflake.
"Where did you get that?!" Chester wondered.
"It was a song I used to sing as a really young pup. I sang it when I would sleep with my stuffed animal husky," Snowflake replied.
"So.. you made this up yourself?" Rocky asked, cocking his head.
"Yes," Snowflake responded.
"Huh, the more you know." The mixed breed shrugged, glancing at his friends.
A small grunt from the only sleeping pup among them and they all looked, as Chase stirred then shifted away from them so that his back was to them and Chester had to step back.
"Aw man! It didn't last!" Chester groaned, letting his head hang to the side. And when he tried to shift again, he finally hopped over him to get out of the tent entirely.
"Ok, well.. um.. yeah.. I think we can leave him for the moment, right?" He figured, turning to Ryder.
"Well we're gonna have to wake him before we take down the tent." Ryder answered, shrugging lightly. "Unless he wakes up on his own."
"I'd rather wait to see if he will wake up on his own.." Chester decided. "If I know my little bro.. he can be a bear to wake up when he's not ready to be awake.. especially after the night we had last night."
"Agreed. Unless we want to leave him inside the tent even when we take it down. Kinda like his own personal tent cocoon," Snowflake commented with a smirk.
"Uhh.. isn't he cocooned enough." Chester wondered, looking at the pup all covered in blankets and a sleeping bag.
"Honestly, we could probably pull him out and take everything down around him." Marshall thought.
"Not without waking him, I don't think." Chester thought.
"He slept through us talking." Rocky reasoned. "Still is.."
"True.." Chester realized, shrugging.
"For now let's just leave him be." Ryder decided. "And just focus on taking everything else down. We'll deal with him later.. or hope that he wakes up on his own."
"True, let's get everything put away. Be with you guys in a second," Snowflake agreed before going over to her and Ned's tent, then going inside it. She carefully put the green blanket over her husky brother, then her own blue blanket over the green blanket.
"This is for those ghost pranks you always pull on me," Snowflake said softly, before exiting the tent.
"Ok pups.. let's get these other tents packed up and make sure the fire pit is properly disassembled." Ryder said, delegating his pups, as he carefully bent over to pick up the blanket Chase had left by the fire pit just last night.
"I'm on it!" Rubble barked, racing for the PAW Patroller to get his construction gear.
And as the rough growl of the bulldog's rig came closer,.. a sleeping pup winced and shifted hoping a deeper snuggle would muffle the sound.
Snowflake looked at the fire pit, making sure it was just a hole filled with ashes and dirt.
"Ruff! Crane!" Rubble barked, and the claw lowered to pick up the wooden log bench closest to Chester and Chase's tent. Chase groaned and dove under the covers so that only his nose could be seen.
And as Rubble continued to work, Rocky wandered over to Ryder and Jake.
"Hey Ryder, how was the hammock by the way?" The mixed breed asked.
"It worked great, Rocky." Ryder smiled, turning to him while Jake continued to study the chain for the right link to loosen. "I could actually see the stars really well from here. And even though it was a little chilly last night, all my blankets kept me warm and cozy."
"Glad to hear it!" Rocky smiled, his tail wagging with the pride of another successful gadget.
Meanwhile, Snowflake helped the pups take the tents down.
Rubble dug the bucket of his rig into the ground a little and as he drew near to the bare fire pit, he lifted it up so that the dirt he gathered spread over the ashes and buried them below the new layer of dirt.
"These ashes are buried." Rubble announced, looking to Ryder.
"Great job, Rubble." The boy said, giving him a thumbs up. "Now let's see.. oh.. wow, ok you guys are on it with the tents.." and he almost seemed surprised that they were.
"Good work, pups." He finished thankfully, then looked to the two tents no one was touching.
"Looks like we have two left to work on once these others are down and put away." He said, observing the business of the fading campsite.
"Yeah, it won't be long," Snowflake commented.
"Wait a minute.." Marshall realized, glancing around for a moment. "Where's Ned?"
"He's still sleeping in our tent. Could you pups go wake him up? He can be a heavy sleeper sometimes," Snowflake replied.
All the pups began to head over to the farthest of the two tents, but Rubble stopped mid stride as everyone else kept going.
"All of us?" He asked, then hurried after them. As soon as they got to the tent they all filed inside, beginning to surround the sleeping husky. While the other one snickered with anticipation of what she was about to do.
Ned breathed calmly as he slept, unaware of the pups around him, and him being covered in the blanket.
Snowflake carefully zipped the tent flap shut, then waited for several seconds. After a minute, she pulled the rod out of the ground, collapsing the colorful tent on top of all the pups!
"Ahhhhh!" The pups all cried.
"Help!" Rocky cried.
"Dude, who turned out the lights!" Zuma wailed.
"Nooo! I knew this was a trap! I knew it!" Rubble cried, while all of them kept trying to lift the material off them.
"Huh? What? Pups? What's going- Ah! Ahhhhhh! Help! Help! Snowflake? Who turned out the lights?! Ahhhh!" Ned cried out as he woke up, only to realize he was trapped under the blankets. The husky pup ran around as he flailed about, trying to escape the blankets. He looked more like a blue blanket ghost.
xxxx
Ugh! Not again! A begrudging mind thought. Don't they know how to be quiet?!
xxxx
"Ahh no! Wait! Ned, hold on! We're all stuck in here!" Marshall cried.
"What?! Marshall? Where are you?" Ned retorted as the blanketed pup tried to find his friend. As he tried to look though, he came to a realization with the last comment.
"Wait! Stuck?! No! No! No! Ahhhhhh!" Ned exclaimed, causing him to panic more under the blankets.
"Now what happened here?" Jake asked, coming over to the tent, while Ryder and Katie chuckled. He lifted the tent up from the very top and the pups unzipped the flap.
"Phew!" Zuma breathed. "Finally! Fresh air!" He slipped out and Rocky wasn't far behind.
Marshall peered out, but the blanket-covered Ned came barreling after him and knocked him forward out of the tent and onto Zuma and Rocky. Leaving Skye, Rubble and Everest to peer out from the flap.
Suddenly Chester came bursting out of the tent over the other three pups, and as soon as he landed he shook himself out to ruffle the static off his coat; hoping that would get rid of it.
"Help!- Ah!" Ned cried out as he accidentally ran into Marshall, then the pair running into Zuma and Rocky. Unfortunately, since Ned had been covered up by both a green and blue blanket, the blue blanket flew off him, and landed on top of Marshall, Zuma and Rocky! The three pups were trapped under the blue blanket.
"Help! Somebody! I can't see! Ahhhhh!" Ned cried out as he ran around the campsite, looking like a green blanket ghost as he tried to get free of the blanket.
Snowflake stood on the side with a big smile forming across her face, happy her prank had worked, and trying hard not to crack up laughing.
"Hold on, Ned. We're coming to help you!" Marshall said, trying to chase after him. "If you would just, sto-waoh!"
"What's that now?" Ned asked, coming to a sudden halt.
"Ugh." Marshall groaned, blowing off one of his ears that had flopped onto his face from the crash into the blanketed pup.
"Ahhhhh! What happened? Marshall?" Ned cried out as he wandered around still stuck under the green blanket
"Pfffff,.. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Snowflake exclaimed as she burst out laughing, more than happy her prank worked.
At this time Rocky and Zuma had found places, opposite one another, to poke their heads out of the blankets.. and everyone stared at the husky in hysterics.
"Uuhhmmm.. am I missing something?" Chester wondered.
"Looks like we all are." Skye said.
"Snowflake?.. what was that all about?" Marshall asked, finally standing up; while Skye and Everest stopped Ned in his tracks when he wandered by them, so that they could pull the blanket off his head.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha! I-I'm sorry! Hahahaha! I just couldn't help myself! You see, Ned likes to pull ghost pranks on me, so I decided to get him back for fun. Trapping all of you in the tent and blankets was just for fun too. I'm sorry if I hurt any of you. I was just trying to have a good time," Snowflake explained.
"Oh! That's not what I made up in my mind.." Rubble deadpanned. "I thought it was payback for telling that story last night.. you know the one about the werepuppy.. annnd for waking you in the middle of the night to find one.. only for it to be Chase."
"What? No, of course not. The werepuppy story was great, and getting scared by Chase was a mistake," Snowflake replied.
"Which reminds me,.." Marshall ventured again. "It's time to go wake him up.. we need to take down the tent so we can go home."
"Of course," Snowflake said before going over to the pups.
"Is everyone okay?" the husky pup asked sincerely.
"We're fine." Rocky answered, as he and Zuma slipped the rest of the way out of the blanket. "Just warn us next time before you pull another prank.. so we can avoid it!" This made everyone laugh, but then they all glanced at the other occupied tent.
"Oh come on! Where's the fun in a predictable prank? It's nice to be surprised once in a while," Snowflake responded.
"So,.. who wants to do the honors?" Rocky wondered after a moment, breaking the semi-awkward silence.
"Ryder? Chester? Can you try to wake up our fluffy brownie with legs?" Snowflake asked.
"Hey, that's MY nickname for Chase!" Ned commented.
Then Chester and Ryder both looked at each other.
xxxx
Soon the zipper dropped some light into the semi-dark tent. A small shape tensed then shifted away from them. Chester edged forward into the tent and came around to Chase's other side.
"Pst!.." he hissed, clearly hesitating. "Chase!.." he gently nudged him with one paw which barely touched him.
"Chase!.." he whispered again.
"Ahn-nnnnnn!" Chase groaned, stirring enough to press his eyes into his paws.
"When is it now.." He mumbled, which could barely be heard or understood.
"Hmmm,.." Rubble mused then leaned a little toward Skye. "Is he awake?.. or still delusional?"
"Ack! What?" Chase groaned, shifting but not moving.
"Come on, bro, time to get up." Chester began again, staying on topic. "We're taking down the tents so we can get back to the Lookout."
"Noooo!" Chase groaned, feeling his head begin to spin just thinking about it.
"Come on, now…" his brother coaxed. "I know it was a late night last night, but I'll bet you'll fall right back to sleep once we're on the road again."
And the pups couldn't help but sing..
"On the road again?!" and ended this with a laugh.
"Exactly." Chester snickered, then turned back to Chase. "Chase?" He poked him again, no response.
"Chase!" Chester complained, shaking him.
"Noo!" Chase grumbled, snuggling in deeper.
"Ok Chase." Katie said, beginning to crawl towards him. "You can keep sleeping.. but how 'bout in the PAW Patroller."
Scooping up underneath him, she pulled the wrapped up pup out of the sleeping bag and held him tight around the belly with one arm.
"Oof! No!" Chase stirred, especially when she stood up with him; making the sunlight sting his eyes. "Urgh! Uah! No!.. not yet!" He cried, yet he still struggled.
"You'll be ok in just a minute Chase." The girl told him. "I'm sure as soon as we put you down you'll go right back to sleep."
Chase just moaned, as she led the way into the PAW Patroller. And as soon she put him down he shifted onto his side with a deep, vocal breath.
"Marshall, Snowflake, got the tents taken down?" Ryder asked, after sitting in his chair at the helm of the PAW Patroller next to RoboDog.
"Sure do." The Dalmatian confirmed as Ned, Snowflake and Zuma dragged the last two tents into the back of the semi to be folded up by Jake.
"Great, then I think we're ready." Ryder smiled, as everyone came to sit on the benches.
Chase just groaned once more, still huddled up on the floor in his blanket.
"You good, Chase?" Rocky asked, reaching a paw down to him.
"No!.." he moaned. "I have a headache.."
"Don't worry.." Katie smiled softly. "That's just the medicine wearing off.. you'll feel better soon.. Once we get back to the Lookout, we'll get you a drink and some food, and you'll be good as new."
"Uuugghh, what did you guys do to me?!" Chase moaned, as the engine started up.
"Ooh, Chase." Marshall sighed, shaking his head knowingly.
Chapter thirteen, baby! Wah-hoo! =D So great to be cruising along with this story(granted this was written a while back;D)! So excited to see where it goes.. AND what you guys think of it! Look forward, my friends, cause more is yet to come! Thx!