Adventure Bay shimmered under the summer sun, a stark contrast to the churning storm that had tossed the PAW Patroller like a toy hours earlier. Marshall, his once fluffy white fur plastered to his shivering body, clung precariously to a piece of driftwood. His left eye, swollen shut, throbbed with a dull ache, a souvenir of a particularly nasty encounter with a rogue wave.
Panic gnawed at him. He'd always been the clumsy one, the one who tripped over his own paws, but this was different. This was pure, unadulterated terror. Just moments ago, he'd been chasing a rogue seagull across the deck, his wet paws leaving a trail of muddy paw prints. A sudden, monstrous swell had risen from nowhere, swallowing him whole and spitting him out into the unforgiving sea.
His life vest, a constant companion since puphood, was gone, ripped from him by the relentless current. The cheerful red pup-tag, once a symbol of his role in the PAW Patrol, felt heavy around his neck, a constant reminder of the life he'd been ripped away from. Had it only been a few hours? It felt like an eternity.
Memories flickered through his mind - zooming down the firepole on his pup-mobile, the satisfying whoosh of the water cannons extinguishing a beach bonfire gone awry, the warmth of Everest's fur nestled against his on a cold winter night. A choked sob escaped him. He missed them – Ryder, Chase, Skye, Rubble, Zuma… and Everest most of all.
A distant rumble broke him from his reverie. Squinting through the stinging saltwater, he spotted a familiar silhouette on the horizon: Lookout Mountain. Home. A surge of hope, fragile as a butterfly wing, fluttered in his chest.
But then, a glint of metal caught his eye. A menacing ship, its black sails billowing in the wind, cut through the waves towards him. The Jolly Roger, its skull and crossbones a grim reaper's grin, sent a fresh wave of terror crashing down on him.
This wasn't a friendly vessel. Pirates. Stories of Captain Blamey, a notorious pirate who terrorized the seas, echoed in his memory. Was this Blamey's ship? Were they coming for him?
As the ship drew closer, a gruff voice boomed across the water. "Avast, there! Lad overboard!" A weathered figure, a man with a thick, black beard and a missing eye that mirrored Marshall's injury, stood at the helm. This was Captain Blamey, his reputation preceding him like a storm cloud.
Marshall, his heart hammering against his ribs, could only stare in mute terror as the pirate ship loomed over him. His idyllic life as part of the PAW Patrol seemed a lifetime ago. He was adrift, alone, and about to be captured by pirates. What had become of his life?
