Chapter forty-six: On The Hunt!
"I'm sorry you guys had to see to that. It's just.. I worked hard to make our bonding day special, and if Chase thinks us going on Big View Trail isn't a big deal, then what's the point of continuing our quality time if he might have figured out the rest of my plan?" Snowflake explained as she gathered wood.
"What's wrong with him figuring out your plan?" Everest wondered. "All you wanna do is spend time with him.. right?"
"And I just wanted him to feel appreciated with everything I had planned." Snowflake said.
"And if he figured that out?.." Everest hinted..
"What's wrong with that?" She asked after a short pause.
"Let me put it this way. If I gave you a surprise party, but you found out about the party, then the party isn't a surprise anymore. So when the 'surprise' party is given to you, it's not a surprise because you knew about it before the party began." Snowflake repeated in simple words.
"So which is better? A surprise party, or a party that is not a surprise?"
"Honestly I love surprises.." Everest replied, smiling fondly at the thought. "But,.. not every pup does.. Maybe you should keep in mind who you're dealing with."
"But, I thought Chase liked surprises? He seemed to enjoy the parasailing, playing with the kids and playing in the gym," Snowflake replied casually.
"Hm.." Everest thought.
"Maybe it's not the surprise that's the problem.." She wondered. "Maybe it's the timing of the surprise,.."
"The timing? What do you mean?" Snowflake replied.
"Well if he's been stressing out about something he's not willing to share with you,.. it might make him feel more stressed with something he doesn't expect." The mountain pup in teal reasoned.
"What?! But I don't want to make him more stressed! I want to make him happy!" Snowflake said, realizing what Everest meant.
"I know,.. but that's why I think maybe you shouldn't worry so much about what you're trying to do and just focus on Chase and what he wants to do.." Everest advised. "You can still do your plan as you want it, but don't worry too much about what he's doing or feeling.. Relax yourself,.. And maybe he will start to do the same."
"How can I relax? I know he's hiding something, and I know a part of him wants to go home! But I want us to enjoy our bonding time together. Even if I relax, he'll just try to distract me to avoid talking about whatever is bothering him. I don't mind doing what Chase wants to do, but I feel if our bonding time is cut short.. then I failed," Snowflake explained, before her ears folded back.
"That's what I'm saying.." Everest clarified. "Don't worry about why you're here.. and just enjoy being here.. I think the reason you guys are struggling is 'cause you're too busy waiting for him to share with you what he doesn't wanna talk about. Maybe putting that aside and enjoying the moment would help you get him to relax.."
Snowflake just gave a dumbfounded stare, mixed with confusion.
"How?.. I have a plan. Not thinking about my plan and relaxing will just open the door to possible distractions.. Ugh! Fine! I'll give it a try, but I'm still keeping an eye on Chase. I KNOW he's hiding something," Snowflake said before giving in to the advice.
"My point exactly.. Stop keeping an eye on him and start spending time with him.." Everest emphasized. "Once he's calmed down, maybe he'll be more willing to open up to you."
"Okay. I will," Snowflake said reluctantly.
HOW CAN I SPEND TIME WITH HIM WHEN CHASE KEEPS TRYING TO AVOID ME?! PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
"Great!" Everest smiled, though she wasn't fully sure she was convinced by Snowflake's response. But then the door to the cabin opened and Chase and Jake came out of it.
"Milk's warm,.. How's the fire coming?" Jake asked, as he and Chase approached the fire pit.
"Ready to light." Everest replied, after finally pushing one last log into the pit, then hopping clear.
"Awesome." Jake smiled, then set his hot chocolate aside and strode closer to the firepit. Chase caught a whiff of it and stepped his paws up to smell Jake's warm beverage, and wrinkled his nose with an appalled 'blck' and wandered away.
What's this? Any drinks my humans get is usually sweet. Snowflake thought, sniffing it herself. This is... Well, I'm not sure.
"What's the matter guys?" Everest wondered, noticing both their behaviors. "It's just Jake's famous honey-cinnamon stick hot cocoa.."
"Ugh! That's why?.." Chase groaned, a bit more disgusted.
"What do you mean?" Everest wondered, cocking her head at him.
"Not a fan of the smell of cinnamon.." Chase shook his head. "Also not a big fan of the smell of chocolate either.. but the cinnamon is usually so strong it burns my nose."
"Oh. Well, I've rarely smelled cinnamon and honey together," Snowflake replied.
"Ryder used to use strong scents like this when he first started training me. And as I got better he would do lighter or harder scents for me to track to help me hone my skills." Chase mentioned.
Upon hearing this response, it gave Snowflake a thought.
Hmmmmm. That's not a bad idea!
"Chase? Would you like to go on a sniff scavenger hunt? I think I know a way to do it," Snowflake asked before winking to Jake and Everest.
"I don't know.." Chase shrugged, oblivious to her full meaning, as he watched the flames build up. "I guess that would be fun.." And despite the slight wag of his tail, his spacey gaze on the flames didn't really give off a lack of interest, just a distraction with what was in front of him. However, Jake and Everest just exchanged a knowing smile.
"You'll have to give us time so you can find the smells in the woods," Snowflake replied calmly.
"Ok,.." Chase sighed, still staring into the fire.
Snowflake stood up on all fours before she began walking towards the forest. However she looked back to Jake and Everest.
"I'll need help," she hinted.
"Right behind you,.. but.." Everest's gaze wandered over to Chase, who by now was almost laying by the fire watching the flames lick at the air. "What do we do about him?"
"Jake, don't let Chase out of your sight," Snowflake told their human friend. "Who knows what would happen if he was left alone. He's been distracted and tried to escape before."
The husky's eyes narrowed as she said the last statement.
"You got it,.." Jake saluted. "But the way he's going I don't think we'll have to worry too much about that."
"I wouldn't count on it!" Snowflake responded matter-of-factly, even while the two huskies were walking away.. And they soon broke into a run to get to where they were going a bit quicker.
xxxx
The huskies walked a bit further into the woods before turning on the lights that hung above the trees on Big View Trail.
"Now we just need some stuff for Chase to smell," Snowflake commented.
"Lucky for us, I've got a whole bag full of stuff." Everest announced pulling something up from her backseat, having brought her snowcat along with them on the way by. "It was some random collection I gathered when we were cleaning up the kitchen today and I put them in a bag together.. They're all fairly new so nothing is going bad or anything.. So they'll be perfect for what we're trying to do. They should all give off a strong enough scent to challenge him,.. without being too difficult that he'd miss them completely."
"Nothing dangerous, right?" Snowflake said, looking at the bag suspiciously. She hopped out of the snow cat and looked around with the blue helmet on her head; a light on it showing what was around her.
"Nope.. as long as Chase doesn't eat some of the clues we'll be fine.. the chocolate is about the only one we'd have to be careful of if we happen to use it.." Everest replied.
"Okay. Wait, eat? What don't you have in there?! Penguins?" Snowflake replied in a bit of shock.
"Ahahaha! No-oo!" Everest chuckled. "I just mean some of these can't be eaten like other things in here.. there's some flowers and herbs in here somewhere,.. but nothing to just eat off the plant."
"Oh. Thank goodness. I was just checking. We don't want him to get sick," Snowflake responded.
"I don't think that's possible, knowing Chase." Everest reasoned. "But glad we're on the same page again.. Now we can just choose a few scents to use and get them set up so we can go on our hike."
"Sounds good to me," Snowflake retorted, and they set to work.
XXXX
Chase vocally sighed, which sounded more like a light yawn, but Jake could see right through the tone of his voice and finally felt compelled to say it out loud.
"You ok, dude?" Jake asked lightly, as he sat there at a distance watching.
The pup adjusted his shoulder so that his head lay on his paws a bit better. Thankfully it took minimal effort in doing so, which he was grateful for.. But then again, it didn't make him any more comfortable.
"Chase?"
The German Shepherd's eyes half blinked a couple times before he focused up again.
"Huh?"
"Are you alright?" Jake asked him again. "You seem totally zoned out? Haven't you been sleeping at all?"
"Sure.. why?" Chase answered slowly.
"Then how come you're laying here half asleep?" The young man asked.
Chase sat up quickly, but realized he didn't feel like arguing the matter this time; especially by the sore reminder that came from it.
"Ok, you called my bluff." He sighed, laying back down again. "But what else is new."
"Definitely not what I've been hearing about." Jake mentioned. "You've been all bent out of shape lately, and that is not who you are, dude. You're not a miserable pup all the time. Whatever you've got going on.. you know it's gotta be easier letting go of it than hanging onto it.. right?"
Chase just sighed.
"So I've been told." He said, staring blankly at the fire.
"I'm not gonna tell you what to do, Chase." Jake shrugged. "And I can't make you share anything about it if you don't want to.. I'm just saying.. think about how it makes others feel watching you run yourself in circles trying to deal with it on your own."
Chase lifted his head, looking at him in confusion, but then it began to sink in and he laid it back down to think on this once again.
xxxx
"Chase.. psst.. Chase." The German Shepherd barely roused at all, before slowly peeling his eyes open.
"It's time to go." Everest whispered.
He then inhaled and sat up, feeling a bit off balance in doing this.
"Go? Go where?" Chase yawned, lifting a paw to rub his eyes.
"Go on our scavenger hunt silly," Snowflake replied kindly. "You must have fallen asleep by the fire."
"I did?" Chase asked.
"You sure did.." Jake confirmed. "And you almost missed the marshmallows." He added, holding one out to him on a stick, which he took with little hesitation.
"Once you're done eating, we can go on our scavenger hunt," Snowflake commented.
"Done?" Chase queried.
"Yeah, we made you some." Everest told him as Jake staked a stick into the ground with three golden brown marshmallows on it. He noticeably perked up at this with the raise of his head and a wagging tail.
"Sweet, hey thanks." The German Shepherd smiled. Holding the stick between his paws to balance it the right way, he munched on the gooey marshmallow around the stick and tried his best to get as much of it off as he could before going for the next one.
"Gotta admit, it is pretty entertaining to watch." Jake mentioned, to the two other pups. "Looks like your plan is working after all.
"Yes," Snowflake agreed. "By the way Chase is eating, I'd say he's starving! Funny since we had lunch hours ago,"
"Maybe that means we're doing something right with these marshmallows." Jake joked.
"Very funny, Jake." Everest chuckled. "But we can't give him too many.. or he'll turn into one.. or won't sleep for a week.. and we can't have that."
"Oo good point." Jake realized, only half joking this time. "Maybe we should cut him off soon."
"No need to worry about that, we only made three roasted ones anyway." Everest mentioned.
"Good. Besides, we all know the real marshmallow pup is Marshall. Makes sense how he can wipe out all the time without injury," Snowflake half joked before chuckling.
"So that's where the Marshmallow nickname comes from." Everest realized.
"Exactly!" Snowflake replied, wagging her tail happily.
Chase finished licking the stick clean with a careful finesse that almost made it seem effortless. But he looked up at them once he was done with a simple innocence.
"Ok, are we ready now?" He wondered lightly.
"Yes. Let's head to the woods and get started," Snowflake said before walking towards the trees in the distance.
xxxx
Walking along the path in silence the mountain husky and young man watched how the other Husky and German Shepherd walked side by side, with a bit of a gap between them, and they were both looking away from one another off into the woods on either side of the path.
"They don't seem to be getting along." Everest murmured to Jake. "What can we do?"
"I think they're doing fine, Everest." Jake told her.. "But we need to straighten out the confusion before something does start to go wrong." Then exchanging a wink Everest hurried to fall in step with the pups, so she was right in the space between them.
"So Snowflake.." Everest began, a bit objectively. "It was awful nice of you to put all this together for Chase,.. and including us too."
"Thank you, Everest. I hope Chase likes it," Snowflake replied, though her ears were slightly folded back.
"I'm sure he really appreciates it." Everest supposed.
What is she trying to do? Chase wondered, barely peeking over at them, then keeping his gaze focused forward. Should I say something?
"And I'm sure he'll love whatever you've got planned for you guys to do next.." Everest continued brightly.
"Yeah.." Chase wavered. "Whatever.. you've got planned."
"It's a fun activity. It's not as detailed as my other activities," Snowflake replied in a neutral voice.
"That's ok,.. We've.. Been going strong all day." Chase continued, still not sure what to say. "I'm sure we could use some more low-key activities to round out the day."
"Exactly!" Everest agreed enthusiastically.
Snowflake just gave a dumbfounded look.
"Ummm... 'We've been going strong all day'?.. ..'More low-key activities'? Only because I encouraged you. You've tried sneaking off at least three times," Snowflake replied in a confused voice. "Hopefully you won't get distracted by this next activity,"
Just then, a punchy fruit smell caught the German Shepherd's nose and it egged him on to keep at it.
"*sniff*sniff* What's that?" he asked.. then lowered his nose to follow it some more. And at this time Everest and Snowflake exchange grins, knowing what was happening. Chase kinda swerved back and forth as he steadily followed the invisible trail till it led up to a bush with a red substance coated over the leaves.
"Smells like.. *sniff*sniff*sniff* bayberries?" Chase queried, looking back at them over his shoulder, as they were all standing behind him now.
"Yes, bayberries," Snowflake answered.
"Hm.." Chase shrugged lightly, then kept walking. But they hadn't been walking for too long before another scent caught his nose and he found he couldn't resist following it.
And as he immediately took off after it, the other three members of their party slowed to just watch; and even take a little humor, pride, or pleasure in his laser focus on the task he'd just found. But when he found the end, it suddenly stopped at a trunk until he lifted his head. A little ghost leaf with a gooey, soft dusting of flavor gave its out-of-place status away completely.
"Marshmallows!" Chase gasped, dropping down to his playful prowl. Then jumped up to take it off the branch, and one look at Jake gave him the all clear to fully eat it. But this time he didn't even hesitate to go looking for another scent.. And to his delight he found one and continued to follow it.
"I knew it!" he gasped, finding the soft, friendly flowers on a nearby rock. "Lavender! So easy." But as he took off again he soon screeched to a halt..
"Wait,.." he said, before craning his neck back at the other three.. "Is this part of the hike too?"
"Yes," Snowflake replied with a big smile. "You like your nose treasure hunt so far?"
"Actually?.. Yeah!" Then turning with a new confidence, he pressed forward to find what would come next.
"*sniff*sniff* Hm.. I think I should know this one.." he thought, noting the familiar earthy-sweet scent with just a hint of bitterness to compliment the softer tone of sugar.
Following it a little left, then a little right, then back again, he tracked every movement with such a stunning accuracy that the pups watching couldn't help but be amazed by him.
"He's amazing!" Everest breathed to Snowflake.
"That's Chase.." Jake confirmed when kneeling down to join them. "He's the track.. master!" he finished holding a hand out to the busy tracking pup. "Nothing gets past that pup."
"You're telling me.. and I'M the tracking pup besides Chase," Snowflake commented, surprised by how well Chase was doing.
"Yuck!" Chase huffed, then pulled up the small bar of chocolate that had been hidden between a rock and a bush, then spit it out with another appalled 'blck!'
"Yup.. now I remember why that scent was so familiar." The German Shepherd determined. "Ick!"
"You okay, Chase?" Snowflake asked with a bit of concern.
"Yeah.. just.. dark chocolate!.." Chase replied. "Really dark.. Ulck!"
Back with another chapter! And would you believe that while we are WAY ahead on writing the story.. We are FINALLY nearing the end of writing it?! Not sure when we'll be completing the writing yet but we're definitely getting close! And when we finish it.. We might be able to start posting more often.. but again, we shall see.
All in all, we hope you enjoyed this new chapter and look forward to seeing you next time! Thx!