Chapter four: Family Ties
"Well, at least we're safe!" Ned commented, still struggling under his green parachute.
"Why drop in like that?! You could have been blown away!" Snowflake exclaimed as she struggled under her own blue parachute.
"Well, the roads are blocked, trains are slow, and there's no boats in Sunlight, so flying was the only option," the purple parachute-covered Melody retorted.
"Wait, how did you even know where Adventure Bay is? You've never been here!" Snowflake questioned, her voice muffled by the blue parachute.
"Well, you've told us about being here and what it looks like, so by looking at maps with similar landmarks, watching the news and other bits of research, we were able to figure out where Adventure Bay was. You even confirmed it when we asked you once," Brian explained, despite being covered by his gray parachute.
"Oh yeah. Anyways, want to go see everyone?" Snowflake responded, slightly embarrassed.
"Yes please! If we could see anything! Hehehe!" Melody replied with a giggle.
"Okay, hold on..." Snowflake said, before wandering around and struggling a bit under the blue parachute. Eventually, she blindingly walked to the elevator, and inside it.
"Over here everyone! Follow my voice!" the blue parachute covered husky announced, waving her front paws in the air.
"Coming!" Ned, Brian, and Melody said before they followed Snowflake's voice and walked into the elevator too.
xxxx
The elevator lowered the four colorful, parachute ghostly pups, and stopped at the bottom floor.
"We're back!" Snowflake said, though her muffled voice made it hard to understand what she said. The four huskies flailed and struggled under the colorful parachutes, looking like ghosts.
"Uhh, did you guys multiply?" Zuma wondered, after counting the number of figures. Then other pups arrived to remove the material from each of them.
Skye revealed Ned, who chuckled with her. Rocky unveiled Snowflake, who thanked him graciously. But Marshall and Rubble were surprised to discover two very similar versions of their friends, yet Rubble couldn't help but chuckle when saying hello to Melody.
"Hey guys what are you...woah what? There's more of you?!" Chester gasped, stopped in his tracks with the sight in front of him. "What kind of magicians are you?"
"The kind that don't do magic.." Snowflake replied simply.
"Brian and Melody, I presume." Ryder implied, appearing beside Chester, who instantly looked up at him when he said this; as the boy placed his hands on his hips.
Melody looked like Ned, but her gray fur pattern was a bit lighter shade of gray. Brian also looked like Ned, but his gray fur was the same shade of dark gray Snowflake had on her fur, if not darker. Brian had brown eyes, while Melody had light blue eyes.
"Yes, we are. I'm guessing you are Ryder?" Melody replied politely.
"Hold on, I see pups from the PAW Patrol, but is this pup Chase?" Brian asked, looking at Chester.
"And there's dogs here I don't recognize. Snowflake showed us a picture of her with the team and I know some of these dogs are new!" Melody added matter-of-factly. She quickly realized something before turning to Ryder.
"No offense. Pardon me, but are these other dogs new teammates?" Melody asked.
"Not exactly.. I mean, Rayla here is,.. the rest are just.. honorary members.. I guess you could say.." Ryder corrected her. "And that German Shepherd is not Chase.. It's his brother, Chester.. Easily confused 'cause they look alike."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Nice to meet you Rayla and Chester. But if that's Chester, is Chase nearby? Is he okay?" Melody responded politely
"Yeah. You two are so close, I'm surprised he's not hugging you like a living backpack!" Brian added, jokingly.
"Yes. A living backpack that can hug you back and that can walk, talk, and make you happy! Awwww," Ned replied before cooing.
"Umm. The backpack is a real friend and pet. Plus, you have to walk it, feed it, give it water, clean up after it, and many other things. Not really a backpack," Snowflake stated in a happy, matter-of-fact way.
"Um.. ok? Whatever you say.." Chester replied, for lack of a better response.
"Anybody else get that?" he murmured to others among him, and several shrugged.
"Just a comparison to how close Ryder and Chase are," Snowflake clarified.
"Oh that's what you meant.." Chester realized, now feeling ridiculous in the moment. "I was on a whole different track there."
"Still, is Chase okay? Is he here?" Melody asked kindly.
"He's fine now.." Rayla said.
"He's just resting.." She added as some of them parted ways to reveal the pup in question resting on the pillow nearby; likely sleeping by how restful he appeared.
"He's kinda had a bit of a rough time recently," the golden lab continued. "But he's getting to the end of it.. hopefully soon."
"Good," Melody said, feeling relieved.
"Say, wasn't there supposed to be a storm? We flew here trying to stay ahead of it. Seems pretty quiet if you ask me," Brian commented before looking towards the glass sliding doors which were closed.
"Didn't you see the clouds approaching on your way here?" Rocky asked, others joining him in giving their new friends confused looks.
"Yes, but I don't hear howling wind," Brian said.
"Yeah, you'd think the storm would be making a racket outside," Melody added.
And as if on cue, a howl of wind wailed by, making every pup freeze in various stances of confusion, surprise or uneasiness, all quickly realizing that it was just the wind.
"Aaaand the storm is here," Ned said obviously, while looking at the window.
"So, now what do we do?" Snowflake asked the group.
"More like.. What's a creative way to keep ourselves busy.." Chester rephrased for the husky.
"You'd think there's enough of us here now that we'd know right away what to do." Skyler mentioned openly, looking among her fellow pups.
"Come to think of it.." Ryder ventured, earning everyone's attention.. "I think this might be the most pups we've had in the Lookout all at once."
"Hang on.. How many of us are there?" Skyler wondered. "Ok.. uh.." Then craning her neck up and around she mumbled some indistinct chatter, as she made her way around the group from her central post, where she'd been this whole time..
"And the sleeping pup makes us.. Seventeen pups altogether.." she determined certainly.
"Er- I guess it would be dogs since some of us aren't exactly pups any more.." the border collie corrected herself, glancing at the Aussie, Chihuahua, and Wolf dog respectively.
"Close enough." Tiny said, while the three of them shrugged.
"I guess I really meant Boomer.." Skyler admitted. "Sorry PawPaw."
"We all know what you meant.." Boomerang smiled. "And I've got thick skin.. I know my days are numbered like everyone else's.. I'm just a lot closer to the last than you young ones are."
"We could tell stories," Melody suggested.
"Ghost stories! Boooooooo!" Ned said, before pretending to be a ghost under his green parachute.
"No. Normal, funny, interesting stories Ned," Snowflake corrected.
"Like Boomerang telling us what job he had when he was younger..." Melody added
"Um ok.." Marshall supposed. "Who wants to go first?"
"Well first, can we all officially meet each other?" Rayla suggested. "Then some stories may make more sense.."
"Sure.." the Dalmatian shrugged.
"Ok, so we've kinda gotten to know Snowflake and Ned.. but not you two.." Rayla began glancing at the new pups among the group. "You said your names were Melody and.. Brian?"
"Yes. I'm guessing Brian isn't a common name?" Brian replied
"We're Snowflake and Ned's siblings," Melody said.
"Nope, just clarifying to make sure I don't mess it up." Rayla shook her head at Brian's response.
"I can see the resemblance among you." Kylie mentioned.. "Though-.. does it seem like Snowflake has more variation in her colors than the rest of you?"
"True. I have pretty much all the colors of my siblings on me. Kinda interesting how we all got different colors on our fur," Snowflake said as she and her siblings looked at themselves, minus Ned, who was still a green parachute ghost pup.
"Heh! That almost makes you look adopted.." Chester chuckled, though his expression slowly darkened afterwards. "Like.. my.. sister.."
Then everyone's more focused attention turned to him by just the tone of his voice. And they began to wonder what the meaning of this was..
"Sister? Where is she?" Snowflake asked. "Besides, I'm not adopted!"
"No indeed. From the same litter as us," Melody added.
Chase, who had lifted his head to prove he was not actually sleeping, looked upon his brother with confusion and dread.
"Chess?" he finally said, earning a couple glances from a few pups.
"She isn't here.." Chester finally said, his downcast glance remaining unchanged. "And I don't mean in the room."
"Oh you mean back at home? She's back at- Oh," Snowflake said, before realizing what Chess said. Her ears folded back.
"I'm so sorry," Snowflake said before she gently nuzzled Chester and Chase.
Chester smiled slightly at the effort of comfort, while Chase was a little confused by it.
"She was the only black shepherd among the litter." Chester began again. "The Prescotts and our mom hadn't seen anything like it before.. But she got sick.. just like Chase did.. Which was why they were so worried about him when he came along a year later. Zeta.. just didn't get off as well as Chase did."
"Wait, sick like Chase? Like now or a different situation?" Brian asked cautiously.
"I'm not sick." Chase piped up, but was prompted by Rayla to rest his head on his paws.
"No.. uh not like that.." Chester shook his head. "Oh right.. when Chase was born he was the smallest and weakest of the whole litter.. which made him highly susceptible to infection and disease that almost killed him.. but somehow he was strong enough, or rather, stubborn enough, to make it through. Zeta.. wasn't so lucky.."
"I'm sorry," Brian said, lowering his ears.
Snowflake froze upon hearing 'smallest and weakest'. She slowly turned to her siblings with wide eyes and ran over to them before nuzzling them.
"Yeah it sucks.." Chester sighed with a thoughtful shrug. "But at least Chase is healthy and strong now.. I mean he's got a few "limitations" so to speak.. but they don't really slow him down that much.. though I think you guys all knew that already."
"Are we done talking about me yet?" Chase sighed in exasperation. "I'm totally topiary."
"Huh?" Chester hummed, arching an eyebrow at him.
"I mean ordinary!" Chase gasped, shaking his head. "Totally ordinary.. nothing all that spectacular.. just an excitable lifestyle is all."
"Yeah not quite.. you don't know how special you might actually be." Rayla told him.
"Don't I?" Chase questioned, viewing her above him through the corner of his eye.
"Apparently not yet.." the golden lab implied.
"And I'm sure you're gonna make it your mission to do that." Chase shrugged.
"Maybe.." the army pup also shrugged. "You'll just have to wait and see.. and heal.. before you drain yourself again."
Chase just groaned, then straightened his neck out to a normal placement and closed his eyes to rest them.
"So anyways, have any more questions for us?" Melody asked.
"Or want to do something?" Brian added.
"Yeah, just one.." Chester spoke up. "How did you guys get here? Do you pups drive too?"
"No. We skydived down before the storm hit. See?" Melody answered, before she, Brian, and Snowflake ran over to the colored parachutes, and covered themselves under them. Ned was still under the green parachute as his siblings covered themselves so they looked like parachute ghosts too.
"Oh no, not you too!" Chester groaned. "You're all parachute nuts? I might've known."
"I think you did know.." Rayla put in for him. "Or at least had the suspicion." Then she turned to the newcomers.
"You pups have never been here before?" The golden lab asked. "I guess that means you don't know anybody then either."
"Well, we know about the PAW Patrol from our sister. But no, we have never been here before," Melody answered.
"So even if we know what the pups look like, we haven't actually hung out with them to get to know them," Brian added.
"Ned and I have done both," Snowflake stated.
"Then you probably don't know the rest of us.." Rayla figured. "We've been on a couple news stories with the PAW Patrol, but we're not celebrities around here quite yet. Though we do know a lot people around here now."
"That's nice. But yeah, you are right!" Brian answered.
"Well, I'm Rayla.." the army pup replied, gesturing to herself. "And these are the PUP Pals.. we have Kylie, Skyler, CiCi, Tiny, and Boomerang."
"Hello." Kylie smiled sweetly.
"Hiya!" Skyler barked.
"Great to meet you." Boomerang nodded.
"What's up?" Tiny greeted, tipping his chin up slightly at them.
"Hey." CiCi said in a monotone but warm voice.
"Oh and we usually consider Chester a member of the PUP Pals too.. but I guess you might have figured that out, haven't you?" Rayla continued in a rather mild, yet authentic tone..
"Yes, we did. Nice to meet all of you," Melody said as she and her siblings poked their heads out of the parachutes when the PUP Pals introduced themselves.
"Nice to know Chester and Chase have more friends," Brian added.
"It's nice to know everyone," Ned chimed in.
"Agreed," Snowflake said happily.
"Wait.. How'd you know?" Chester wondered in confusion.
"I told them about you a bit. So with Chase and you hanging out around the PUP Pals from time to time, we figured you two would be included in the group," Snowflake replied kindly.
"Oh,.. pretty smart connection." Chester replied flatly, either because he was feeling dumb for overlooking this or just taken aback that he'd been shown up.
"What do you wanna do now?" Marshall asked.
"We could make snowflakes." Rocky suggested openly, and everyone's glance turned to him.
xxxx
"Ok, so how do we do this again?" Chester wondered, observing the scene in front of him.
"Well we have many ways,.." Rocky said, continuing to fold the white paper he was folding with his claw. "You could glue popsicle sticks together,.. paint it on a black canvas or paper,.."
"Or fold the paper and cut it so it forms the shape of a snowflake. Good thing there's instructions... you end up with unusual results otherwise. Not that odd shaped paper snowflakes are bad," Snowflake suggested.
"That's my favorite one!" Rocky gushed, holding up the folded paper and a pair of scissors in both his pup pack tool arms.
"Yeah. Mine sometimes look like pine cones with holes in them," Brian said with slight embarrassment.
"Well seeing as how none of us, but Rocky have the tools for that.." Chester mentioned. "We may need to go with the other methods."
"Agreed," Brian, Melody, and Ned said together.
"Thank goodness we can use instructions or just try. Claws though... not the best for cutting paper," Ned commented.
"That's why I have paws.." Rocky chuckled. "Watch.."
Then lowering the paper to the floor, he stepped a paw firmly on one specific corner; his claw keeping it up just enough to ease the scissors around the paper. Then keeping constant pressure on the one corner, he made many cuts to the folded paper till he seemed satisfied. Then holding it up again, he snipped off the corner he'd just been previously holding down.
"See?" he said, unfolding it with his paws and showing them the white flake-like shape.
"Yes," Ned said.
"Woah cool.." Sklyer marveled.. "How'd you do that? I wanna try!"
"A lot of practice.." Rocky said, as his tool arms retracted. "And a little help from my tools.. You might have better luck with one of these other methods."
"I'm allllllll good with that!" the border collie smiled excitedly. "Whatever fun way is the best way.. Teach me O great and creative one!"
"Alright, we get it, Sky, you're digging this.." Rayla smiled.
"Me too!" Rubble smirked. "Let's try painting one together, Skyler!"
"Sweet!" Skyler gushed, taking off with the bulldog to get a canvas out for themselves.
"Popsicle sticks huh? I wonder how else we could make things into snowflakes.." CiCi wondered as she headed over to where the popsicle sticks were located.
"Oh,.. don't get me started!" Rocky smiled knowingly. "We've got a lot of items right here we can do. But be creative.. That's the fun part of making stuff.. We get to come up with something new and different and fun!"
"I guess we're in for some creative fun.." Chester shrugged to the rest of the group. Then subtly gesturing for them to follow, they dispersed to take a closer look at everything to hopefully get some inspiration.
How's it going everybody! We have our next chapter, ready to roll!
Ok more of a Transformers thing, but still.. We are rocking and rolling through this journey.. We'll be rocking around the Christmas tree before we know it!.. Even if it doesn't drop on the actual day,.. but we'll see what happens! And if not, the Christmas season may have to carry on for a little while after the allotted day.
Either way,.. enjoy this new chapter and we'll see you next time! Thx!
