Chapter fourteen: Look Out Below!
The iconic stature of the Lookout was a relief to see. But for some eyes, they didn't see much of anything. Chase tightened further into a ball when the screen parted ways, even as the pups all hopped down to vacate the vehicle.
"Come on, Chase dude." Jake said, beginning to pick the pup up. "Can't leave you in here by yourself."
"Ugh, couldn't you though?" Chase groaned, though his voice was almost too muffled to hear.
Jake brought Chase inside and set him on a pillow, he heaved a heavy sigh and waited for the next disturbance.. knowing it was likely not over.
Snowflake and Ned grabbed their belongings and went into the Lookout. Once inside, they started putting their items away.
"So Ryder.." Marshall spoke up as they continued putting stuff away. "How much longer do you think Chase will sleep? I mean.. he's pretty sleepy still.. but.."
"Not sure, Marshall." Ryder shrugged. "Hopefully not too much longer.. but he'll sleep as long as he needs to. And if I know Chase.. he'll be out of bed as soon as he realizes what time it is."
"Good," Snowflake commented.
The pups pulled the remaining items from their bags and set them back where they belong.
"Hah,.. all done." Rocky said finally. "What do you wanna do now?"
"Well I would like to try and get a look at all our vehicles again,.." Ryder ventured. "To make sure things are good.. but.."
"No.. way,.. Ryder.." Katie declined, waving both hands across her body together. "You need to rest.. Just like Chase, you need to let yourself heal, so you can get back to being you."
"Sadly, Katie's right. We can handle our vehicles. Oh, is the sheet tent Ned and I used still packed up?" Snowflake asked curiously.
"Um.. I believe it is, still, dude?" Jake thought. "Welp,.. thanks for the fun adventure, catch ya later!"
"Bye Jake." Ryder called, waving even as Katie took his other arm at the shoulder to coax him inside again.
"Bye pups." Everest called.
"Wait, what? You're leaving?" Marshall asked.
"Yeah.. we need to get back up to the mountain.." Everest explained. "Got some ski slopes to open and some snowshoe trails to mark."
"Bye Jake and Everest," Snowflake and Ned replied.
And as the pups all followed Ryder and Katie into the Lookout, Marshall hesitated slightly longer than Rocky did, before shrugging and following also.
"Ok.. so we're home!" Rubble announced, glancing off into the room.
"Now what?" He monotoned, dropping his stance flatly.
"Well, we all were going to hang out individually, and I got some ideas," Snowflake commented before laying down.
"Really? Then fire away!" Rubble called, taking on a bit of a brave knight's persona, by throwing a paw in the air.
Chase tensed and shifted, his sigh leaving him for no one to hear.
"I was thinking I could hang out with you pups one by one and we could have fun as pairs. Like hiking, swimming, stuffed animals, ghosts, and other stuff!" Snowflake suggested.
"Yeah, and I can hang out with the rest of you pups when my sister has her bonding time," Ned added.
"Hm.. ok.. um.. well, who did you wanna play with first?" Marshall asked. "Obviously Chase is out of the question.."
"For now anyway,.." he added, looking back over his shoulder at the sleeping pup.
"Hmmm. Skye for my first choice. Can I grab some things first?" Snowflake replied.
"Sure." The Cockapoo smiled. "Why don't I come with you.. after all two sets of paws are better than one!"
"Yeah, about that…" a voice said from behind. Suddenly the big, blue sheet tent went flying through the air before landing on top of all the pups. Chase, Snowflake and Ned were the only ones not under the sheet tent.
Snowflake then took the opportunity to go grab what she needed before going up the elevator. After a few minutes, she came back down, and walked out of the elevator.
"Ahh! Ooff! What was that!" The pups cried.
"Snowflake!" Skye cried.
"What?" Snowflake asked. She then turned to her husky brother who winked.
"Noo! I'm too handsome to be a ghost! Help!" Rubble wailed, and he ran forward to try and free himself. Which worked eventually and he tumbled forward.
"Phew!" He sighed, thankfully. "That's better."
"Well, you pups do look like adorable tent ghosts. Hehehe," Ned commented.
Then Marshall and Rocky somehow found each other's gaze and both winked, as the other pups began to pick up on their unspoken plan. Zuma sat on the edge of the blanket, while Rocky and Marshall stacked themselves up. Rubble saw what was happening and edged back nervously.
"Uhh, guys?" He addressed them softly. Skye giggled as she hopped up on top of both pups and then leaped forward so that she pulled the sheet off them and used her wings to glide over and drop it onto Snowflake and Ned, capturing them instead!
"Ahhhhhhh! Help! Ahhhhh! Who turned out the lights?!" Snowflake exclaimed as she flailed and fumbled about under the bed sheet tent.
"Ahhhhhh! Help! Help! Get me outta here! No fair! The sheet tent was supposed to be a distraction!" Ned cried out as he too flailed around under the bed sheet tent.
"Heh ha! Got you covered!" Marshall smirked.
"Help!" Snowflake cried out as she tried to get out, and flailed about under the blue sheets. Ned was doing the same, trying to get out. Eventually, they both managed to to find their way out of the blue sheet tent that had been thrown on them.
"Seriously? You pups were supposed to be trapped, not us. Our plan backfired," Ned said in disbelief.
"Your prank Ned, not mine!" Snowflake told her brother.
The pups all laughed,.. even while another groaned and tried to block out the noise.
"Well.. I think that will do just fine." Skye smiled. "So what did you have in mind for us to do, Snowflake?"
"Follow me," the husky pup said, before going into the elevator.
The Cockapoo quickly followed and the two pups rode on up the elevator.
"Back so soon?" Ryder asked, as they came out on the upper floor; both he and Katie having been sitting up there together talking for awhile now.
"Yes, Skye and I were going to hang out. I wanted to spend some quality time with each pup. Speaking of which…" Snowflake replied, before running over to a pile of items. The husky pup then grabbed a big, colorful, circular parachute and threw it into the air! The colorful parachute fluttered like a bed sheet on a clothesline as it flew through the air.
Skye smiled.
"Hehehe.. why'd I know you'd pull this thing out!" She chuckled.
"Yeah, I was thinking we could play with the rainbow parachute. How did you know?" Snowflake asked curiously.
"Just a hunch." Skye smirked, thinking back to a few minutes ago.
"Anything in particular you wanted to try?" She went on thoughtfully.
"We could be ghosts, roll around in it, pretend to fly with it as it waves around behind us," Snowflake replied.
"Oo-or.. we do some real flying." Skye suggested. "Skydiving!"
Snowflake's eyes widened, and her ears folded back. A look of apprehension appeared on her face.
"S-S-skydiving? Are you sure?" Snowflake asked nervously, slowly retreating under the rainbow parachute.
"It'll be ok.." Skye told her. "We can start slow and work our way up.. it's just like learning a new skill."
"How high will we be? I'm scared of heights!" Snowflake whined, her face being the only visible part from under the rainbow parachute. She still looked nervous.
"Hm.." Skye thought. "Oh I know!"
xxxx
Skye soon led Snowflake outside into the shadow of the big object, now standing before them. She smiled, even while Snowflake just stared.
"Huh? W-Why bring me to this? Are we going on another road trip?" Snowflake asked Skye, confused.
RoboDog came out from behind the semi and leaned a ladder against the PAW Patroller.
"Not exactly," she said, smiling at her friend; then allowed her to follow her gaze to the parachute packs laying nearby.
"We're going skydiving?! I told you I'm scared of heights! What did you plan, Skye? Jump off a hundred foot cliff while I scream for mercy?!" Snowflake replied, concerned the cockapoo was going to take things too far.
"Well,.. since you're scared of heights.. I thought we'd start slow.. and once you're comfortable, we can try a little higher." Skye said, approaching the vehicle to stand right next to the foot of the ladder. "I think it's time we tackle that fear! And it just so happens.. you've got the right pup!"
"If you want to." She added after a short pause.
"Yeah. I am comfortable until it gets to a certain height. Then I get nervous. It's just that feeling of being up so high with nothing to secure you. I just hate feeling vulnerable like that. And if something bad happened…" Snowflake explained showing not just fear, but terror in her eyes. The husky pup was shaking a little too.
"Ever since I got lost on the mountain north of my hometown, I've never gotten over that feeling. I mean, I WANT to get over it, but feeling like you aren't on solid ground or have anything to make you feel safe is terrifying. It's just you, the air, and falling with only a parachute to save you."
Snowflake walked over to Skye and hugged her.
"But if I'm going to get over this, I need to start easy and try whatever I can. Given your flight experience,.. and being my friend, I trust you, Skye," Snowflake said softly.
"Aww thanks!" Skye beamed. "And you know.. this fear of heights thing?.. Believe it or not, you and Chase would probably get along great with this."
"You're welcome- What?" Snowflake asked as she separated from the hug.
"Why Chase? I thought Marshall was the one scared of heights/flying?" Snowflake commented, slightly confused.
"Flying,.. not heights.." Skye emphasized. "And Chase'll never admit it.. but he's the only pup that won't look down off of Big View Trail when we go on walks there."
"Right. Oh, I wonder why? Anyways, what did you have in mind for skydiving?" Snowflake responded.
"Well,." The aviator pup ventured, beginning to climb up the ladder. "I was thinking we could jump off the PAW Patroller a couple times to get you used to the feel of jumping. Then when you're ready we can try a little higher."
"Sounds good," Snowflake said as she, too climbed up the ladder.
"Ok! First we need to look down." She said, glancing over the edge.
"Okay," Snowflake said, before looking down.
"Actually, this height isn't so bad. I'm fine here," Snowflake commented.
"See? It's not that high." The Cockapoo smiled.
"Now, to get strapped in.." she added, activating her wings to glide down and pick up the flight packs.
"I'll just change out my wings for my parachute and we'll be good to go." She finished, when landing back on top of the PAW Patroller.
"Great!" Snowflake said. Once she got her parachute pack, she strapped herself in.
"We ARE skydiving together, right?" Snowflake asked curiously.
"Oh yeah!" Skye smiled. "Ready? One.. two.. three.. Go!"
"Okay!" the husky pup said, before jumping and deploying her blue parachute. Skye deployed her parachute seconds after Snowflake and let herself float smoothly on the breeze.
Soon their paws touched down and their parachutes landed neatly behind them.
"Pawsome, Snowflake! You did it!" Skye cheered, hopping her front paws up together.
"Yeah. What's next?" Snowflake asked, almost excited.
"Let's jump one more time from here." Skye suggested, as the parachutes retracted back into their flight packs. "Then maybe, we can try something a little higher."
"Sounds good!" Snowflake exclaimed as she started to climb the ladder.
"Ok!" Skye called, climbing up the ladder to quickly join her at the edge once again.
"Ready, set, go!" Leaping down.. their parachutes opened in unison this time and they landed at about the same time as well.
"Great!" Skye praised. "Now let's try something a little more challenging!" And once her parachute retracted once again, she ran for the Lookout.
Snowflake's parachute retracted shortly after landing.
"Sure! Wait up!" Snowflake said as she ran after Skye into the Lookout.
xxxx
Pretty soon Skye led Snowflake out onto the balcony and they both looked down.
"Okay! Parachute jump from-" Snowflake said before looking down. From the balcony, it was a bit higher up. The husky pup looked nervous.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine.." Skye assured her. "It's not as high as it looks.. Just think of it as two PAW Patrollers stacked on top of each other."
"Everything ok, pups?" Ryder asked, rising from his chair with some effort to begin approaching them with Katie.
"We're ok.. I'm just helping Snowflake get over her fear of heights." Skye explained as the boy and girl finally joined them on the balcony.
"Well if any pup can do it, you can, Skye." Ryder smiled.
"Just ask Marshall." Skye smirked, winking at Snowflake.
"Right, but it seems higher!" Snowflake commented before slowly backing away. Unfortunately, she slipped on the cord attached to the pup pack, releasing her blue parachute!
"Don't think about how high it is.." Skye told her, helping her up so that her parachute could retract again. "The first thing you gotta remember about getting over this kind of fear.. is that the height isn't the problem.. it's what your mind tricks you into believing about the height."
"Which is that something bad could happen. But I'm with you, and I have my parachute to help keep me safe," Snowflake said before taking some deep breaths. After a few minutes, she calmed down.
"Okay," Snowflake said softly as she went to the ledge.
"That's the spirit!" Skye beamed, setting both forepaws up on the edge of the balcony. "Ok,.. ready?.. set.. go!" Plunging over the railing, the two pups free falled for seconds, until they activated their parachutes to float them the rest of the way down to the ground.
"Okay, this isn't too bad," Snowflake said as she started to relax.
"See? You're getting better already!" Skye smiled as they neared the ground again.
"Ahhh," she sighed, when landing once more. "Isn't this great?! A few more times.. and I think we can call it a day. We can revisit this another time and see if we can't work you up to the real thing."
"Yeah. Sounds great!" Snowflake replied.
"Alright! Then let's do it!" The Cockapoo called, racing back into the Lookout.
The two skydiving buddies ran back into the Lookout, only to repeat the process a few times.
Upon going back into the Lookout after the last jump, the pups noticed them. Snowflake was taking her parachute pack off when Ned approached her.
"Hi Sis, what were you and Skye doing?" Ned asked curiously.
"We were skydiving! Skye wants to help me get over my fears- Woah!" Snowflake replied before tripping on the cord of the pup pack. Suddenly, the blue parachute released from the pack, only to float down and cover the pups Ned was with, as well as said husky pup.
"Not again!" Marshall cried. "Help!"
"Oof! Would if I could, dude!" Zuma whined, struggling himself.
"Ok pups, lunch time!" Ryder called, as he and Katie came out of the elevator.
"Lunch time?! Sweet!" Rubble chimed, his head noticeably lifting under the parachute. Stepping forward, he seemed to pull everything with him, until the pups were slingshotted from the parachute leaving him on his own and as he shook from finally being freed he soon found the parachute landing right in front of him.
"Oh!" He said, realizing what had happened. "Heh heh, well that's one way to pull some strings."
Then everyone laughed once again.
Here we go again! Keep on keeping on like we always have! I gotta tell you guys this is the most incredible thing I've ever seen really.. starting out ahead, then getting behind, then getting WAY ahead again! Hopefully it'll stay that way, lol! XD And as always, enjoy! Thx!