Chapter six: Relative Connection

"So what do we need to do, Ned?" Rocky announced finally, reaching him at just the same moment as the husky turned toward him.

Ned fumbled about under the white parachute until he poked his head out. The husky looked around until he thought of something.

"Wait, we're not all making the same snowflake design, are we? If I remember right, don't snowflakes have four different designs? I think the reason why, is the shape is made because of how fast or slow the water freezes, plus temperature," Ned commented thoughtfully.

"Ned's right. I remember that too. But like Rayla said, it's not a competition. So we can make our designs however we want," Snowflake replied.

"Actually, snowflakes are like fingerprints.." Ryder said, holding up a paper and making a thumbprint on it with some black paint he'd smudged onto it.

"Each one is unique, there's not a single flake that is the same.." he added, setting the paper down in front of them. "Just like fingerprints,.. they're unique to each person."

"Woah.. so.. every person has a different fingerprint?" Marshall awed, slowly coming to sit and study the fingerprint's pattern carefully. "I wonder if we pups have that."

"Not that I know of." Ryder shrugged unfortunately. "Your paws are designed differently than human hands."

"So.. are all your fingerprints the same?" Zuma wondered. "Or is each finger different too?"

"Every finger has a different pattern." Ryder said. "No one knows why, it's just how they're designed.. it mainly depends on your genetics."

"On what?" Rubble asked, cocking his head curiously.

"Genetics. It's the stuff that makes you who you are from your parents. You get special qualities from your parents, and those are called traits. Eye color, hair color and style, face shape, stuff like that. Even moving your ears is a trait," Brian explained.

"Moving your ears? You mean like this?.." Rubble asked innocently, then switched his ears back.. then forth,.. back,.. then forth.. pausing briefly in between movements.

"Well what about breed?" Skye mentioned. "I mean other than Snowflake and Chase.. the rest of us don't have siblings present, which means we're all different."

"Excellent point, young pups.. that just means we all come from different families which are also genetic.." Boomerang chimed in. "I'm an Australian Shepherd.. my breed tells you exactly what genetic family I'm from."

"But keep in mind there are family lines within family breeds." Tiny pointed out.

"Wait what?" Skye wondered, matching Rubble's earlier confusion.

"Ok so dogs all come from the same genetic branch.. and all dog breeds are different branches of dogs in general.. ok?" Tiny continued. "And within each dog breed there are many different genetic lines, or family lines. So just because there are two German Shepherds or two huskies or two Dalmatians.. it doesn't necessarily mean they're always both directly related."

"Right?" Chester nodded in his careful consideration of these points.

"So.. just cause Chase and Chester are related doesn't mean every German shepherd will be.. you got it?" The chihuahua clarified. "That's how healthy and successful dog breeding happens."

"Oh, Tiny..no, blck! We're not talking about how mom and dad did it!" Chase groaned, burying his face in the pillow between his paws.

"I don't get it.." Rubble and Skyler mentioned, naive to the implication completely.

"You're the only one bothered by it, dude." Zuma smirked.

"And if you were asleep like we told you, you wouldn't have to listen to us." Chester added.

"Yes mother.." Chase quipped, laying his head sideways toward them, before closing his eyes.

"What Tiny means is just because I'm hanging out with another husky, it doesn't mean the husky is related to me," Melody clarified.

"And I think you meant dad, Chase. Chester is a guy dog," Brian said with a smirk.

"Oh he knows that." Chester sighed, just barely catching the slight roll of his brother's eyes when he peeked them open briefly. "He just knows Mother is more nagging about things than dad."

"Also, what Boomer means is all dogs have a common relative we are all related to. However, we aren't family because we're not related. Like Marshall isn't my brother, or Skye isn't Melody's sister, or Chase isn't Boomer's cousin. Not just because we are different dog breeds," Snowflake added.

"Wait, what did mom and dad do Chase? Are they okay?" Ned asked, slightly confused.

"Tiny just hinted at how they made us.." Chester murmured to the husky.

"Okay. So, back to the snowflakes, each design could be different," Ned says, trying to get back on topic.

"Well the snowflake itself is all symmetrical.." Ryder said. "It's just that each snowflake's design is different, even just slightly in some cases."

"True," Snowflake agreed.

"So Rocky, ready to get started?" Ned asked.

"Yes." The recycling pup confirmed. "So.. what are we doing again?"

"Making a snowflake out of a parachute. Thank you, Rocky," Ned said before hugging the mixed breed.

"Oh right.." Rocky recalled. "Ok so..uh.. are we making one big snowflake, or a bunch of small ones?"

"One big snowflake. Want to see?" Ned replied, before pulling Rocky forward, still hugging the mixed breed and trapping them under the white parachute. "See? There's plenty of room and white fabric to make a snowflake."

"Yeah.. but,.. are you sure you wanna cut this into a snowflake? It may not cover as much of you if we do." Rocky mentioned, a little apprehensive of the idea presented to him.

"Hmmm. If we did, would we have enough room to hang up a snowflake this big?" Ned asked, thinking about what Rocky said.

"Like a big wall decoration?" The recycling pup wondered. "But don't you still want it to be a usable parachute?"

"Yeah. Well, if it's an old parachute, it would be a good way to reuse it. Why? Does this parachute still look good?" Ned responded, curious.

"No..I mean, yes.. I mean.. Maybe.. I guess I'm just surprised you don't wanna try and either maintain how it is,.. just design it.. Or try to restore it.." Rocky wavered.

"Oh. Good point. Hmmmmm. Oh, I know how I can turn the parachute into a snowflake!" Ned said, as he kept hugging Rocky while they were under the white parachute.

"Well.. I might have some dyes we could use.." Rocky ventured thoughtfully. "Or I might have some other old parachutes we could use to make a backdrop for the white snowflake."

"Backdrop?" Ned questioned.

"If I can find a dark blue parachute to repurpose,.. We could cut out the white snowflake and use the dark blue to fill in the gaps.. That way.. it's still a parachute.. But it's a snowflake parachute." Rocky replied.

"He can use one of mine.." Chase spoke up and everyone looked over at him.

"You should still have some of my old ones," he finished, setting his head down softly.

"Hmmm. I didn't even think of that. Great idea, Rocky! Thank you, Chase," Ned said, before lifting the edge of the white parachute, revealing the two pups.

"But why would you have parachutes?" Skyler wondered openly. "You don't fly."

"No, but we were trained to know how, when Ryder first got Skye and started working with her." Chase replied, opening his eyes and lifting his head slowly. "Marshall didn't care for it too much, but I didn't mind it."

"Yeah,.. yeesh!" Marshall shuddered. "But I have gotten better about flying than I used to be."

"Parachutes are used to safely lower you to the ground, not fly across town. They don't act like bird wings," Brian corrected.

"I'm guessing because of your fear of flying?" Snowflake guessed before nuzzling the Dalmatian pup.

"I just don't like how there's so much empty space between you and the ground." Marshall sighed. "And even though I have a parachute, it still makes me nervous being so high up with so much space to fall from."

"Did you look like a parachute ghost when you landed, Marshall?" Ned asked.

"Wait, how high are we talking? Like the balcony we landed on?" Melody wondered.

"Anything higher than my nose was too much..." Marshall replied, "I can handle things a little higher now, but I'm still not a huge fan of it."

"At least now you can control how high you go when you're wearing your own flight gear." Skye mentioned.

"True.. but even so.." Marshall shrugged.

"I understand. I hate seeing the ground before skydiving. Even with a parachute, it's a reminder of how high up I am, and how much I have to trust the parachute will work. It's scary," Snowflake agreed as she hugged Marshall.

"I was in it for the exciting fall, but even I was scared," Brian commented.

"I liked the pretty parachute colors and the view when floating down," Melody said softly.

"I liked the view too, but mostly having a parachute and looking like a ghost when I landed," Ned confessed.

"Everybody has different opinions on the matter." Boomerang commented. "However, knowing some of you, your stances on it make complete sense.. Especially Chase's."

"Why me?" Chase wondered, lifting his head kinda quickly.. making him grunt and wince due to the thump of his head from the abrupt motion.

"You strike me as that kind of type." Boomerang shrugged.

"Me too." Rayla chimed in, rendering agreeable nods from other PUP Pals, among others.

Chase just laid back down and closed his eyes, hoping that would appease his headache once again.

"Anyways, Rocky you may go get the spare dark blue parachute for the snowflake," Ned told the mixed breed.

"I'm on it!" the recycling pup replied, disappearing for a moment.

"Have you slept at all?" Chester wondered, when he'd made it over to his brother.

Chase's brown eyes opened without moving a muscle.

"Here and there.." he replied.

Ned watched Rocky disappear before turning to his buddies.

"I'm done," Melody said as she put the paint away. "You done painting, Skye?"

"Almost," the cockapoo replied, looking up from her task. "But you can put away what you have, I've got what I need over here."

"Thanks Skye," Melody replied before grabbing her paintbrush and paint can, then went to put the supplies away.

Ned grabbed the white parachute, then with all his might, threw the parachute over him and right towards the group of friends. The white parachute floated and fluttered as it flew through the air, getting lower towards Rayla, Skyler, CiCi and Tiny. However, Boomerang sensed this coming and stepped back away from it to avoid the capture.

"Snowflake time!" Ned exclaimed happily as the big, white parachute floated down, covering his friends.

"Hey! Not again!" Skyler yelped.

"Ah! What'd you do that for?!" CiCi cried.

"You guys call this fun?" Tiny remarked bluntly.

"Get it off!" Rayla exclaimed. "Before my fur becomes staticy!"

Chase restrained a chuckle with a sigh.

Glad it's not you..I mean me.. He thought to himself, cursing his brain for still being so scrambled.

"Sorry, I was only aiming for Zuma. Plus, it's a parachute snowflake! Doesn't it look nice? Although, you're all ghosts, and less snow. Hehehe," Ned responded before giggling, as Rocky finally returned. He went over to one of the cover pups and hugged them.

"Isn't this adorable and fun?" Ned commented, hugging the ghostly wolf dog and Golden Lab in his forepaws.

"But,.. we haven't even made it yet?" Rocky mentioned, dropping the parachute he'd brought with him to the floor. "Ok, well first we gotta fold it up so we can cut it like the paper.. I think I have an idea of how we can cut it without messing up."

Then the four struggling pups beneath the material and Ned's embrace muffed and mumbled their protest till they were finally let go, dropping down and were able to find the way out in one smooth motion.

"Let's go for the wall hanging idea instead.." Rayla breathed as both she and CiCi plopped forward limply. Tiny came forward casually out of the parachute, even swiping it back away from him for good measure as he strode away from it.

"Ok.. that was fun." He commented sarcastically. "Can we get that thing folded up and ready to go now?"

"Sure. I'm sorry. But wasn't it a little fun being parachute ghosts? And getting hugged?" Ned commented before he started to fold the white parachute.

"No.." the four pups replied all with varying levels of either bluntness or disgust.

"Okay. I'm sorry," Ned apologized as he kept folding the white parachute. Soon, the parachute was folded up as Ned held it down. "I'm ready, Rocky."

"Ok.. I need to build a wood frame to pin it all in place.." Rocky said. "Then I can mark where to cut with this black and white chalk. Then we can put the pieces all together."

"That seems like a big job.." Marshall mentioned.

"Heh, and they said mine was kinda complicated." Rayla remarked.

"True, but what's more complicated? A big snowflake or you being a parachute ghost? Either one is fun," Ned countered with a small smile.

"Sorry Ned," Rayla sighed. "But only you think that.."

"And the rest that are like you." Chester added. "Which basically amounts to your own family pups."

"It's not like we're riding an out of control land parasail," Ned retorted.

"Hey, it was a test run! We didn't know what would happen," Snowflake reasoned.

"I did." Chester countered indignantly. "I told you it was a bad idea from the start.. What's that you said.. 'what could go wrong?' It went wrong! I'm honestly surprised we got out of it with mere scratches, bumps and/or bruises and not a broken neck!"

"True. At least we were wearing padding," Snowflake pointed out.

"What are you talking about?! No we didn't!" Chester shot back. "We had nothing.. other than some of us having the vest and pup pack things.. but that was basically just Rocky."

"Oh, I thought we all did. Sorry about that. But at least we survived!" Snowflake said casually as if the failed parasail accident was a casual occurrence.

"Yeah.. by the fur of our tail ends!" Chester quipped.

"Still, at least Ned and Rocky will be able to make the big snowflake," Brian said, trying to get back on topic.

"I guess." Chester replied dubiously.

"So pups, have Snowflake and Ned been good friends?" Brian asked with a smirk.

"Brian!" Ned and Snowflake exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah. They haven't been causing too much trouble, right?" Melody teased.

"Melody!" Snowflake stated before blushing.

"Other than the occasional sheet traps and crash courses, sure, just peachy." Chester deadpanned, only partially sarcastic in his best fake positivity tone.

"Huh?" Brian questioned.

"So they've been bad?..." Melody added in confusion

"-I didn't say that." Chester recounted quickly.. "Just that-.. Things have been much more interesting around here since they got here..."

"Chester.. Be nice!" Chase groaned, embarrassed for his brother as he rolled over to put his back to them.

"What?! Isn't that how things have been?" his older brother reasoned loosely.

"Uhhh? 'Things have been more interesting since we got here'? What do you mean?" Snowflake wondered.

"Could any of you please speak English, and tell our siblings how we've been as friends? Please?" Ned asked, turning to the PAW Patrol pups among the group.

"Umm,.."

"He means that.." Chase trailed mid-yawn, snuggling down a little more. "..You pups have kept us busy around here and we've really been integrating as a team more, because we're understanding each other more.."

"There you have it, dudes.." Zuma shrugged toward Chase.

"Thank you. Glad to know our siblings have been treating everyone well," Brian replied kindly.

"Yeah, and hopefully you can get to know us too," Melody added.

"Glad to help," Ned said as he wagged his tail, smiling.

"So my bonding moments have been working! Awwww Chase. That's so sweet of you. Thank you!" Snowflake said as tears started to roll down her face. She went over to Chase and licked him all over his face, while her tail wagged happily.

"Awwwwww. Chase is getting kisses!" Melody cooed sweetly.

Chase immediately reacted with disgusted grunts and groaned as if he was being sprayed in the face, trying to find some way to make her stop while the pups giggled.

"Augh! Ok ok relax.. Blck!" He spluttered in disgust..

"You're welcome," he added flatly, trying to dry his face a little.

"Alright let's leave him be now.. He needs to rest." Rayla decided.

"Ugh! Yes please." Chase sighed deeply, sounding more like an exasperated groan than a sigh.

"Oh we're not finished with you yet.." Rayla countered. "We'll be taking a crack at you later once that brain of yours is no longer fried."

"Ugh!" Chase groaned, snuggling down again, still facing away from them.

And here we go again! The banter as always played out beautifully! Again, several moments and specific lines were the best! XD But then again I MIGHT be biased. ;D

Either way, hope you enjoy this chapter, and we'll see you next time! Thx!