Very rarely was the water completely covered by ice.
It took temperatures and air conditions abnormal to Adventure Bay. The town wasn't known for its warmth, but it was still warm enough to have all four seasons. Heat waves in the summer, snow in the winter. Blizzards, though, weren't normal. Sub-zero temperatures weren't normal.
This year would be different. A particularly unlucky wind pattern blew snow and cold air from the Mountain down to the valley below. The same valley Adventure Bay happened to rest in. Mixed with an unusually cold winter, the town was destined for a long month of snow-ins and cabin fever.
The fire pup wasn't shaken, though. The slide led to the outside and Marshall was determined to get there. Neither Dalmatians nor Labradors were built for cold weather, but neither was Adventure Bay, and the town was still standing. That had to count for something.
The water was covered in a thin layer of ice. It took effort to even push the Hovercraft in.
"You sure about this, Mawshall?"
"Sure enough," he laughed, shivering slightly. "Beats staying at the Lookout."
Zuma shrugged and jumped in the Hovercraft. It was entirely stationary, being held still by the ice on the water. Marshall jumped in after, radiating confidence. Zuma looked at him sideways. Zuma had been raised by the water. He was sure of himself. He wouldn't get hurt. He wouldn't fall in. And if he did, he could swim.
It was Marshall he was worried about. Marshall was clumsy. And impulsive. And scatterbrained. He had yet to explain himself for tagging along past "I'm bored" and "it sounds fun".
The Hovercraft slowly and carefully broke the ice, sending small chunks of frozen water flying in the air. It didn't phase the Labrador. He had done this before. But Marshall flinched every time he was hit with an ice ball.
"Caweful, dude," the water pup laughed, so quietly that Marshall barely heard him. The Hovercraft shredded the ice until it came to a halt in the middle of the bay, between the Lookout's island and the greater downtown area. The silence was deafening to Zuma, but therapeutic to Marshall.
"What is it you do out here, anyway?" Marshall asked absentmindedly. The view was taking most of his attention. He had never seen Adventure Bay like that before, nor from that angle. It was beautiful to him. Like a painting.
"Sometimes things get stuck below the ice. Seals. Narwhals. Tuwtles," Zuma said quietly, aware of how his voice would carry over the ice. He couldn't make too much noise. It was barely six in the morning.
"I didn't know this was part of your job," Marshall chuckled.
"It isn't. More of a public sewvice. The ice is a hazard, after all."
Marshall nodded and fell quiet. He tried to distract himself from how cold he was by counting the stars still in the sky over the snow-covered town, snow much heavier than the powder he remembered Rubble digging around in not too long before. Dawn was breaking and there weren't many left, but he tried to number them anyway. A soft wind blew, but it was enough to make him shiver. It was cold out.
"I should've brought my coat," Marshall mused. He heard Zuma exhale harshly, but that was the extent of his response. Zuma had practically begged him to bring his jacket with him, but Marshall didn't listen. He always was stubborn. Gotta expect cold weather, Zuma had said. There's actual snow on the ground. Dress warm.
While the Dalmatian tried not to freeze by simply insisting he wasn't cold, he couldn't deny how warm Zuma looked in his orange winter coat.
Another breeze. Another chill. Marshall needed a distraction.
"Any turtles yet?"
"None yet."
And then it was quiet again. Marshall wouldn't have minded if it wasn't so cold. Zuma had a very calming presence even if he was just sitting there not saying anything. The stars were starting to vanish over their heads. Marshall noticed some of the stars he remembered counting were no longer visible.
Or were they? It was hard to tell, but Marshall was adamant. He could read constellations. After his accident, and being lost for days without food or water, Chase made sure he knew how to find the North Star. Chase knew more about astronomy than he would ever admit. He called it a survival skill necessary to being a police dog. Marshall called it a hobby Chase was embarrassed to have.
"There's one," Zuma said softly. "Gween shell. Under the ice."
Marshall turned his attention from the sky to the ground.
"He looks stuck. And sad."
"He'll be neithew in a second," the Labrador said, leaning over and banging on the ice with his paw. The turtle knew to move, but looked desperate for the air nonetheless. Zuma banged harder. The ice started to crack.
And then it broke. The momentum it sent Zuma tumbling into the frozen water with a splash. Only bubbles rose to the surface. Marshall panicked.
"Hey! Zuma! You there?"
There was no response. The turtle rose to the surface and climbed on the ice. It was already walking away, seemingly not aware of the gravity of the situation. Marshall had no doubt his voice was carrying to the Lookout, maybe even to Adventure Bay. But he didn't care. His friend was drowning. His friend was going to die. They would never find his body. And it was all Marshall's fault. Or the turtle's fault. Marshall couldn't decide.
"I'm here," Zuma said as he surfaced, spitting out water. "I'm fine!"
The Dalmatian was also prone to worrying a lot. Oftentimes prematurely. Marshall helped him back on the Hovercraft. I should've known, he berated himself. He's the water pup. He can swim in a typhoon with his eyes closed.
"Thanks," Zuma offered, stabilizing on his Hovercraft. Only then did Marshall notice that Zuma was shivering.
"You're freezing," Marshall pointed out, his EMT instincts kicking in.
"The watew was cold," Zuma said, shaking the water off. "Pwobably below fweezing. I'll be fine, I'll warm up. I always do," he offered with a smile, hoping it would curb Marshall from going full medic on him. It didn't work.
"I have a med pack," Marshall assured him. "You're A-positive, right?"
"It's just a little fwostbite," Zuma laughed. "You're a riot, Mawshall."
"I think you might have hypothermia," Marshall said quickly. "I can't treat hypothermia. I should call Everest. She'll know what to do."
"Do you really think we need to call Evewest at six in the mowning over this?"
"Absolutely!" Marshall said, putting one paw on Zuma's forehead and dialing Everest on his pup tag with the other. "Are you dizzy? Delirious?"
"Not as delirious as another pup I know," Zuma rolled his eyes. "Is that a symptom of hypothewmia or are you just making stuff up?"
"I know everything there is to know about hypothermia," Marshall said between rings. "It only takes a minute to get hypothermia. Ice could freeze to your skin in seconds. You gotta warm up, and I gotta ask Everest what to do. This is serious. Trust me, I'm an EMT."
Zuma sighed. There was nothing he could do to convince him when he was in medic-mode. Marshall's catchphrase was practically "trust me, I'm an EMT". He usually said it to keep children calm so they would sit still as he put Band-Aids on them. It worked less well on his teammates who rode into danger with him everyday. Zuma wondered if he was even aware he had said it or if it was just out of mindless habit.
The pup tag rang again. Zuma hoped Everest wouldn't pick up. The embarrassment would just about kill him. Marshall was aiming his pup tag in such a way that Zuma had to be in frame. He wasn't sure if she would be angry or thrilled to get this kind of call so early in the morning.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Everest," Marshall said quickly. "What do I do if someone isdyingofhypothermia?"
"Dying of what now?" Everest called back. Usually, she was the fast talker. Her energy was unmatched by anyone else on the Paw Patrol. "It's a husky thing," she would say. "It's an Everest thing," the other pups would correct when she was out of earshot.
But this morning, the last thing she expected to wake up to was the threat of death.
"Zuma. Dying. Hypothermia," Marshall spit out.
"What happened?"
"Zuma fell in a frozen lake."
"How long was he in there?"
"I dunno, two minutes, maybe three?"
Everest eyed Zuma through the pup tag. Zuma shook his head and rolled his eyes as if to show how wrong Marshall was.
"How long was it, Zuma?" Everest addressed to Zuma.
"A couple seconds," Zuma guessed. "Ten seconds tops."
"That's not how hypothermia works, Marshall," Everest laughed. "It takes time to set in. And you usually don't shiver because you feel warm, even if your body temperature is real low. I'd say you have a better chance at catching it, Marshall. Where's your jacket?"
"I forgot it," Marshall lied. "It must have slipped my mind."
"Mhm," Everest laughed, seeing through it. "You cold, Zuma?"
"I'm fine," he called over, his voice between 'speaking up for Everest to hear' and 'speaking low so his voice doesn't carry'. "My coat is wet, but that's the wowst of it."
"He seems fine to me, Marshall," Everest said. "He'll be okay."
"Sorry," Marshall said sheepishly. "I guess I just . . . I worry about people. Especially after the accident."
"I get it."
There was silence. The only sound was the breeze over the icy water, reminding Zuma and Marshall of the time and temperature.
"So I'll, uh . . . see you soon, Everest?"
"You know it, fire pup."
"See you then!"
"I'll see you in a few days! Merry Christm-!"
Everest was prone to ending pup tag calls prematurely. The other pups figured it was out of excitement or not understanding how the pup tags worked. Nobody ever corrected her. To them, it was a very Everest thing to do and nobody wanted to be the one to squash it.
"Looks like you're fine, Zuma."
"You look cold, dude," Zuma said quietly, getting up and heading to the controls. "Let's head back."
Marshall nodded as Zuma turned the Hovercraft in a half-circle, driving it back to the direction they came. The path had already been cleared so the journey back was much smoother than the journey out. They hadn't been gone that long, but to Marshall, it was like a whole bite-sized adventure that started and ended in just under twenty minutes. Marshall watched as the water splashed softly by and the ice melted around them.
As the sky finally came awake, the stars popped out of view. A new day had begun.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the incomparable PyreFly77, for whom it was originally written in December 2020. His stories "Relight the Fire" and "Rekindled Anew" are referenced in this story, so for anyone who was confused by a mention of Marshall's "accident", feel free to read those, they're worth it.