"Happy birthday to you!" A group of people finished singing as their attention focused on a young girl with wild, untamed curly red hair.
"Go ahead and make a wish!" A frail hand rested on her shoulder, "We're all not getting any younger!"
The little girl thought for a moment before blowing out the candles on the cake in front of her. With that, she was officially, officially eleven years old. Adults and children alike cheered for her as she excitedly pumped her fists into the air.
"Guess you're well on your way to becoming a teenager..." A voice spoke from behind her, the frail hand that was placed on her shoulder lightly gripping it, "You'll get to join me in that age group."
Turning around, the birthday girl giggled as she knew good and well that the person in front of her wasn't anywhere near her age group. Harsh, but true. Sitting in a wheelchair was her paternal grandfather, who only offered her a kind smile. The man wore a bright red scarf around his neck, his other hand gently fiddling around with it as he spoke.
"What are you talking about, Grandpa?" She asked, an amused smile on her face, "You're not a teenager."
Her grandfather smiled, "What are you talking about? I'm thirteen!"
The newly aged girl smiled back at the elderly man. She would never grow tired of his playful jokes and comments pertaining to how old he really was. Her grandfather, fresh into his eighties as he'd hate to admit, was the man who taught her everything she knew when it came to being a veterinarian. After all, taking care of animals was a family business. A business that she couldn't wait to get into.
"Whatever..." The redheaded girl rolled her eyes as she grabbed her grandfather's wheelchair and proceeded to roll him down a small pathway, "So, why did you want to take me this way?"
She was currently rolling her grandfather down a pathway toward a little pond that had always been there in her backyard. The elderly man remained tight-lipped as they went down the path. As they finally made it to the pond, her grandfather began to speak.
"...I remember this place..." He smiled, "It's where my father, your great-grandfather, finally recognized me as a fully trained vet to be."
"Really?" The birthday girl's eyes widened, "I always thought that this was a stinky old pond that mom and dad were too lazy to get rid of..."
"Well, Elizabeth, I decided that this would be the place that I would recognize you, but if you really don't like this pond, I could just get one of my other granddaughters..." The elderly man looked away.
"No, no! Please recognize me, I'm begging you!!" Liz got on her knees, her head bowing down as her forehead rested on her grandfather's knees, "Don't leave me!"
Her grandfather laughed loudly at her antics, "Well, if you insist..."
Liz, whose head was still down, felt something strange land on the back of her head. She quickly grabbed what had landed on the back of her head, lifting her head up to see what it was.
In her arms was the same red scarf her grandfather had been wearing.
The confused redhead looked up at the man, realizing that his neck was now exposed for the first time in her life. It seemed as though her grandfather never went anywhere without wearing that scarf. That was, until now.
"Grandpa, your neck!" She exclaimed, "It's naked!!"
The elderly man laughed once more, "I should've expected that..."
"Why'd you give me your favorite scarf?" Liz asked confusedly, looking down at the bright red cloth in her hands.
"That's because it was your great-grandfather's before it was mine."
The birthday girl thought for a moment before something clicked in her head, "So this is like a lineage thing? He handed it to you when he recognized you, and now you're giving it to me when you recognize me?"
"Always so observant... That's right."
"Woah..." Liz's eyes glimmered as she looked at the scarf.
"Well, don't be shy, put it on!"
The excited redhead sloppily wrapped the scarf around her neck, neglecting the fact that she had caught her hair in the process. Her grandfather only raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Here, I'll help you."
He swiftly lifted her messy hair up and skillfully wrapped her new scarf around her neck, finishing it off by having the other end of it hang down over her chest.
"There you go, now that's presentable."
Liz looked down at the scarf that she now owned, a grin making its way onto her face, "Legacy scarf... Cool!"
A sudden crash filled the interior of the house, waking an adult Liz up from her sleep. She let out a long, exhausted groan as she pushed herself up from her bed. She wondered what in the world the pups could have possibly done this time around.
Rolling herself out of bed, the exhausted redhead stood to her feet. A faint buzz in her pocket snapped her out of most of her drowsiness as she grabbed it and pulled out her phone. It was the owner of one of the other pet parlors.
She picked up the phone and asked what the problem was. She wished she hadn't.
"...How soon?" Liz asked, her eyes widening, "Just a couple of days, huh?"
She listened as the person on the other side explained something.
"Yeah, no. That's fine!" The redhead exclaimed, "I'll... See you in a couple days."
Putting her phone in her pocket, she pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a moment to breathe. Just a few days left. She shook her head and went to investigate the cause of the loud crashing noise.
The noise was made by one of Rocky's inventions, which had quite literally blown up in his face when he tried to experiment with the wiring. The fur on the mixed breed's face was covered in soot and small bits of machinery. Everest, who was watching on as she ate her breakfast, laughed loudly at him.
"I don't know why, but I think something isn't right..." Everest teased, tapping her chin with a paw, "I think you didn't do something right... Just a hunch, though."
Rocky rolled his eyes, "Oh shut up."
"You two, what's going on in—" Liz, who had peeked into the room, began to ask, but stopped the instant she saw the soot covering Rocky's face as well as the wall behind him. She sharply inhaled, continuing down the hall, "That is a problem for future Liz to deal with..."
Yawning with exhaustion, she let out a sigh. She never regretted allowing Marshall, Everest, and Rocky to live with her and Katie while they got everything sorted out, but that didn't ever make her forget how active the trio were when they were together. Sometimes she felt as though she was keeping her house from blowing up like one of Rocky's inventions.
Even though they tended to get on her nerves from time to time, she still wouldn't mind spending more time with them. But she really didn't have that much of a choice anymore, did she? She shook her head. She didn't have to think about that at the moment.
Liz tiredly walked toward the kitchen, but stopped once she heard movement in it. The movement was soon followed by a loud crash.
The woman sighed, "What now...?"
The redhead peered around the corner into the kitchen, only to see a familiar spotted pup laid out in the middle of the floor with a closed bag of dog food covering his body.
"Marshall?" Liz walked over, "Are you okay?"
"I'm good..." A muffled voice came from beneath the bag.
She rolled her eyes, lifting the bag off of the Dalmatian, "Why is there a bag of dog food on top of you?"
"I didn't want to bother anybody, so I thought I could get breakfast on my own...." Marshall sat on his haunches, pressing his paws together, smiling awkwardly.
The woman put the dog food away, "You're not gonna bother me. You need food to live, remember?" She grabbed Marshall's bowl and grabbed a half empty bag of dog food.
Marshall sat in front of his bowl and watched as the food made its way in. He thanked the woman and began to scarf down mouthfuls of food. Liz only chuckled as she meandered over to a nearby countertop and got some coffee brewing. She was never one for coffee, but searching for most of the night before for her scarf in the attic wasn't exactly doing her any wonders when it came to starting her day.
She should've just packed it in a backpack instead of shipping it to her house in one of the millions of cardboard boxes she had.
She sat down at the table, "So, how long have you been up?"
"Only a few minutes..." Marshall replied, eating his food, "When I woke up, Katie was just leaving, so I went to go get some breakfast. And I guess I wasn't very good at doing it by myself."
"So do the other pups know you're awake?"
"Well, no. I went straight to the kitchen to eat—"
"Marshall!" Both Marshall and Liz flinched at the sudden shouts.
Standing in the doorway to the kitchen were Everest and Rocky, who had been the ones to yell their friend's name upon seeing him. While Rocky stood there in surprise, Everest was quick to jump at the Dalmatian, hugging him tightly.
"You're okay!" The Husky grinned, "I was so worried!"
Marshall's eyes widened as he felt her soft paws wrap around him. He had been hugged by Everest, sure. He had been many times. But he hadn't received this tight of a hug since his reunion with her and Rocky. The former fire pup's cheeks began to burn under his fur as his arms remained limp in his surprise.
Everest, meanwhile, had lost herself in a daydream. Marshall's fur was really soft, now that she was thinking about it. On top of that, the bath they took a few days back really helped him smell better than he had back before they went to Katie's for their baths.
Everest's eyes soon shot open, snapping out of it. She immediately got off of him to give him space, "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to crush you..." She looked around the room, blushing under her fur.
"No, it's okay!" Marshall, a bit flustered, tried to reassure her, "You were just worried, I get it..."
Rocky and Liz, who had been watching the whole time, exchanged a quick glance and a knowing smile.
"So, anyway..." Rocky began, "Marshall, what happened to you last night? One moment we were all looking around, and the next thing I know, you're calling for help and having a panic attack."
The Dally looked over at his gray furred friend, noting that he hadn't filled them in on what happened between him and Chase. His eyes fell to the floor at the thought of their fight. It was brief, sure, but trading blows with the Shepherd was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Well, after I left you guys, I ran into this construction site..." He began, "I knew Hood wouldn't want to steal anything from an empty place like that, so I went to leave. But someone was waiting for me to turn around and flashed headlights in my eyes."
"Who?" Liz, who had grown interested in Marshall's tale, scooted her chair over.
Marshall gulped, "It was Chase."
"Chase!?" Rocky and Everest parroted in unison.
Liz raised an eyebrow, "Chase? You mean that German Shepherd cop guy?"
The mixed breed sat on his haunches and put one of his paws on his chin, "That means when we saw Chase pass by, he was looking for us!"
"No, just me," Marshall shook his head, "I thought with the Plunger Pack Rocky gave me, I'd be able to escape quickly, but since it was my first time, I wasn't familiar with how it worked. I was too slow. Before I could launch myself up, Chase grabbed onto me. I guess the force of him tackling me swung the ropes, because we crashed into a room a few floors below where I wanted to go."
"Why didn't you call us then?" Everest asked, worry abundant in her face.
The Dalmatian looked at her, "Rocky's communicator must've broken a bit when we landed. It sparked with electricity."
Everest and Liz both turned their attention to the ex-eco pup, who's eyes widened at the sudden spotlight on him. Rocky began to sweat, shrinking under the glares of both his temporary owner and his canine ally. He lightly tugged at his collar, gulping.
"...Okay, the communicators might need a few tweaks here and there..."
The former mountain pup only rolled her eyes and looked back at Marshall, "Then what happened?"
"So, after we crashed, Chase told me he was giving me one last chance, but I said I wasn't going back to the lookout... So we started fighting."
"Fighting?" Rocky perked up, "Like, punching and kicking?"
Marshall nodded quietly, "By the way, Rocky. I think we should find a way to make the plunger launchers activated some other way. My voice was getting tired."
Everest was quick to put two and two together, "You used the plungers to fight him?"
"Yeah, and I think I made the right choice. I used them to launch myself into Chase and I knocked him through a pillar."
The three pups then heard a sniffle. They looked over at Liz, who was wiping tears out of her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Marshall asked.
"Yeah, I just..." She breathed in to compose herself, "...I'm just so proud! You're finally fighting back, Oreo!"
"I had to..." The Dally's tail flopped down, "There was no other choice. It was either fight Chase, or get taken back to the lookout. I couldn't let that happen. I'm not going back there until I'm proven innocent."
"Unapologetically standing your ground too?" Liz sat back in her seat, "Good for you, buddy."
Marshall gave the redhead a quick smile before going back to recounting his tale, "After that, Chase got back up and got a call from Skye. He had help on the way, and I thought I was done for... But Chase let me go."
"He... Let you go?" Everest asked confusedly, thinking about how harsh Chase was back when she and Rocky were at the lookout.
"Yeah, he told me to go, and to not let him catch me, whatever it took," The Dalmatian looked down at his paws, "They're looking for me because thefts are on the rise..."
"...And the people of Adventure Bay don't feel comfortable with you roaming around!" Rocky inferred, a lightbulb going off in his head.
"So then what are we gonna do?" Everest wondered, "If the PAW Patrol are gonna be looking for Marshall, then how are we gonna get any evidence to prove that he's innocent?"
Liz's eyes furrowed, "I think I might have an idea..." She stood up from her chair and animatedly pointed up in the air, "Pups, we're going shopping!"
"Again?" Rocky groaned, his eyes suddenly looking at the ceiling.
"Everyone to the car!"
The woman watched as the three pups quickly scurried off toward the front door. A small smile made its way onto her face. They were so loud. They were so weird. They never knew how to stay quiet, they couldn't treat their own injuries, they were pups. Annoying little puppies. But for some reason, that's what she liked most about them.
Katie waved to a man carrying a small lizard out of her parlor, "Thanks for coming! Whenever you need your lizard clean, just yelp for help!"
Cali, hearing her owner say this, walked over to a nearby counter and meowed at her. The blonde turned to look at her cat, smiling nervously.
She wasn't sure why, but the more time she spent with Marshall, Rocky, and Everest, the more she would find herself saying the little phrases Ryder would say. He hated it. It was a constant reminder that she was lying to one of her closest friends almost every time she saw him. And she would have to see him again really soon, mainly because he was coming to pick something up from her.
Groaning, Katie laid her head down on her desk. When did everything become so complicated? Just the other day, she remembered seeing all of Ryder's pups come into her parlor to get their baths. While Rocky made it a less than desirable experience, she would give anything to have Ryder help her, and see Zuma comforting Rocky.
The vet soon heard a bell chime, letting her know that there was a new visitor to her parlor. She sat up and put on a smile, ready to greet whoever needed her help. As expected, walking through the door was Ryder.
But it wasn't the Ryder she knew. Not at the moment, at least. The boy's hair was slightly more messy than usual, gentle dark circles under his eyes to top it all off. She knew good and well that Ryder was exhausted. She wasn't too sure what was going on at the lookout at the moment, but there was no possible way that it could be good.
"Here to pick up those replacement bandages?" Katie asked, smiling at the young leader.
"Yeah..." Ryder nodded, "...Chase's are loosening."
Katie looked a bit worried, "You know, you can take him over here and I'll be able to apply them properly so they won't fall off."
"I wish I could," The young leader explained, "But Chase hasn't been willing to leave the lookout since last night. He hasn't even told me how he got banged up like that."
"How about you sit down with me for a second?" Katie offered, the words spilling from her mouth before she could even stop them.
Ryder's brows furrowed, thinking over the offer. He closed his eyes and let out a long exhale, "That'd be nice. Thanks, Katie."
"Why would you ask that!?" The blonde internally reprimanded herself while she led Ryder over to a small table.
After the two sat down, Ryder looked Katie in her eyes, "Sometimes, I just don't know what to do, Katie... I think Chase might've actually found Marshall, and that they did something to one another."
The young vet, completely unaware of what happened to Marshall, couldn't believe it, "There's no way. Marshall and Chase are... Were... Best friends. Even if they're arguing, could they really come to blows?"
"That's the thing. Things are so strange nowadays, that I could actually see it."
Katie kept her mouth shut. She knew he had a point. He usually did. Everything had become so drastically different in the past two weeks, so much so to the point where three of the pups that were supposed to be living with Ryder were in hiding with her and her aunt.
Before she could say anything else, a buzz from her pocket made her perk up, "Whoops, sorry... Gotta get this..." Katie stood up and smiled at her friend nervously.
"No, it's fine. I'll be here."
The blonde shuffled off to the back of the parlor, answering her phone, "Hello?"
On the other side of the phone was Liz, "Katie, I know this is gonna sound weird, but I'm gonna need you to find somewhere else to stay for the night."
"What!?" Her eyes immediately darted to the phone she was holding up to her ear, "What's going on!?"
"Marshall doesn't have much time..." Liz explained somberly, "And this morning I learned that I don't have much either. I've been called to another location for something important. But I want to help Marshall and the others before I go."
"Wait, you're leaving?" Katie tried to keep up with her aunt, "At a time like this?"
"I know, I know, I don't want to either. But I won't be leaving without making things right for Marshall."
The young blonde sighed, nodding, "So, what are you going to do?"
"I'm gonna use the house for a plan, and I don't want you and Cali in any kind of danger. So find a place to stay. It doesn't matter where, but it can't be at the house."
"What's the end goal here?"
On the other side of the phone, Liz was distanced from Marshall, Rocky, and Everest, who were examining different things within the store they had gone to. Marshall stopped for a moment and looked over at the redhead. She quickly offered him a smile, trying to make sure he didn't suspect that anything was amiss. Once the Dalmatian went back to talking with his friend, Liz's teeth clenched together.
"...I'm going to help my pups."