Vigilante PAW

Chapter Three: Sinking Feeling

Dusk soon arrived, as the pups were off to bed. Aside from Marshall and Rocky, who he had seen in their pup houses before night even fell. Ryder, meanwhile, was sitting at a desk in his room, documenting the recent events. He had taken to a habit of writing down the day's notable events before going to bed, serving as a virtual diary of his. His fingers skillfully danced along the keys as the events of the day flooded his mind.

As he was typing, he remembered what had happened aboard the Sea Patroller a few days back. He couldn't help but to remember upon seeing Marshall and Rocky hanging out with the other earlier that day. He couldn't blame them. That near death experience must've really helped the pups bond. As morbid as that sounded.

The young inventor's eyebrows then furrowed at the mere thought of Marshall's reckless choice. He wasn't mad at the choice he made, not even close. But he wasn't sure what to do about Marshall's tendency to throw all caution to the wind when on a mission, or when trying to save someone. Similar to tunnel vision, the Dalmatian had no idea what he was throwing at the problem until the problem was solved.

Out of all of his pups, Marshall seemed to be the least cautious. He seemed to be the least worried about injuries if they were his own. He always put others before himself, and Ryder loved that about him. He would do his best and literally forget about the rest.

The second pup to have been a part of that event was almost the complete opposite of Marshall. Rocky. Instead of charging in with reckless abandon, the recycling pup was more analytical. More of a thinker. When he really thought about it, that made up perfectly for Marshall's lack of thought. But Rocky wasn't perfect, either. While Marshall during missions didn't think at all, Rocky, without anyone leading him, thought too much.

He couldn't really blame Rocky for it, though. Out of the main six pups he lived with, he and Zuma, their aquatic specialist, were the two with the least mission experience. Rocky's intelligence factors well in the field, but when it comes to snap decisions on the fly, he had much to desire.

Ryder leaned back in his chair. How funny was that? Marshall's faults were helped by Rocky, and vice versa. Maybe there was more of a reason why the two had grown closer over the past few days.

The boy reached to his right to grab a small glass of water, looking over to focus his attention on the fluid he desperately needed. Before he grabbed it, though, he noticed something odd. The water, which he hadn't touched in minutes, was rippling. It was shaking as though it had just been placed down. Something else was influencing the water, something that he wasn't aware of.

He turned his chair, as well as his body, to the right, staring at the water within the cup. The shaking hadn't ceased one bit since. An earthquake? No. Couldn't be. Since when did Adventure Bay ever have earthquakes? Was there something wrong with the Lookout's foundation? No, that's impossible... The Lookout's almost just as old as he is.

His eyes slowly drifted over to a small device next to his laptop, his pup-pad. This was the device used to contact Ryder for any emergency. Whether it be saving a kitten from being stuck in a tree, or saving the whole town from being flooded by sealing up a dam, no job is too big, no pup is too small.

Seconds passed. Minutes. As Ryder stared at his pup-pad, his mind began to drift off. What could be causing something like this? Was staying up late for writing finally getting to him? After realizing that he had been sitting there for five minutes, he sighed faintly. No calls were coming in.

As he finished up, the young leader kept an ear out for any calls. Any reports, sightings.

Nothing.

Marshall slowly opened his eyes, the sun beaming down on him. He let out a faint groan. The firefighter pup instinctually turned himself over to avoid looking at it. That was the first indication that something wasn't normal. His eyes slowly drifted around. The air was crisp, cool. The sky seemed to be lighting up by the second. Was it morning? The Dalmatian sat up, groaning faintly. As he rubbed his head, Marshall slowly registered his surroundings.