Skipper and Dusty's Father-Son Relationship Stories (All Humanized)

Chapter 3: The Storm

    One night, everyone in town were in their houses peacefully sleeping. A big storm was now starting to come straight towards the small farm town of Propwash Junction, Minnesota and was getting closer by the second, the dark clouds getting bigger and bigger. Dusty had turned in reletivaly early after a long pratice flight with his friend and mentor, Skipper Riley. He was fast asleep in his bed, with his racing merchandise and "Wings Around The Globe Rally" racing posters lining the walls when the storm hit. It started off with the loud, rolling sounds of thunder, making Dusty shift around a bit in disturbance in his sleep. But suddenly, flashing lightning lit up the sky, causing Dusty to wake up with a startled snort. Ugh, looks like I'm gonna be up for a while, he thought.

    Loud rolls of thunder made him shake even harder. Blue eyes showed the fear as lightning flashed across the sky, almost making him want to hide under the covers. The weather seemed to shake his house, making him think that at any second, it would all come crashing down right on top of him. Suddenly, the lights went on and then turned off in a matter of a second, making Dusty jump out of bed in surprise and fall with a thump to the floor. Going over to the window after picking himself up, the lightning struck again, quickly showing Dusty something for a moment. The storm had somehow managed to snag a very large tree and had sent it flying straight at the overhead power lines as it descended. Quickly, Dusty hurried outside. As he struggled through the biting wind and rain that bore down on him hard, he saw that a few emergency folks, including Mayday, had bravely come to assess the situation. Skipper and Sparky were feeling pretty nolochant about the weather. The tree had somehow fallen right in front of their house. Managing to get there, despite now being cold, Dusty called, "Skipper! Is everyone okay?"

    At that, Skipper sharply turned and looked at him, making Dusty suddenly hesitant and scared as he started to have second thoughts about going outside. It was almost like the first time he knocked on the old war veteran’s door. "Kid?! What're you doing out here?" he asked over the storm.

    Great move there, Dusty! he scolded to himself before explaining, "I heard a bang and-."

    Dusty grew silent as he saw Skipper go behind him, unsure of what was happening. Suddenly, Dusty yelped as he felt Skipper push him hard from behind. "Get inside, Dusty! It's to dangerous to be out here!"

    "But Skipper-"

    "GET IN!! NOW!!!"

    Before Dusty could protest, Skipper shoved him into the house so hard, the young man ended up falling flat on his face onto the floor. Luckily, he wasn't hurt much, but his face was throbbing so much, he just decided to put an ice pack on it to reduce the swelling, walked into the living room, sat down on the couch, and silently waited for Skipper to come in. The wind outside was howling so loudly, he thought he felt it shaking the house. Feels like this weather's gonna bring the house down on me, he thought, shaking.

    A little later, Skipper and Sparky finally came in, looking rather drenched. Sparky went over to his bedroom to get dried off and to finally get some sleep. Dusty, however, was nervous as he heard Skipper close the front door and heard his footsteps coming nearer and nearer. Soon, Skipper walked in and glared angrily at Dusty, making the young man feel scared as he had been when he first met him. "What on earth were you thinking in doing what you just did?" he hissed.

    "I-I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay," Dusty said with a little stutter as tears threatened to come out of his eyes.

    Skipper's gaze seemed to soften as he looked at him. "S-Sorry," Dusty sadly added with a whimper as he shivered. The rainy weather had left him cold and drenched up.

    "It's alright, Dusty," Skipper said with a gentle tone as he led him up to his bedroom.

    Within a few minutes, Dusty was dried off and ready for bed. After some thinking, Skipper went over to Dusty, who kept hiding underneath the window every time the thunder rolled and the lighting flashed brightly. "You stay in my house for the night," Skipper warned him. "But whatever you do, DO NOT go outside. Looks like the storm might last for about a while."

    Dusty nodded as Skipper sat on the couch beside him. He was sure that Sparky was safely sleeping upstairs. Closing his eyes, he intended to sleep as well-only to snap back awake at the nuzzling coming from his right side. "Dusty? What're you doing?" he asked.

    "I'm cold, and since you're not gonna let me leave your house for a while, I think I'm gonna have to have a replacement," Dusty explained sheepishly as he looked up.

    Skipper silently chuckled as he looked at the young man who he considered to be his charge. "Alright. Just get some sleep and don't move around to much, alright?"

    Smiling, all Dusty could do was settle in close to Skipper as he closed his eyes. "Yes, sir," he said.

    Sighing contently, he intended to fall asleep, but then giggled as Skipper tickled the back of his neck. Grinning, Dusty gave the old war veteran a playful nudge to the side, causing Skipper to instantly hug him in a playful manner. "Skipper, you'll end up squashing me!" Dusty said in a whispering laugh.

    With eyes shining at each other when they were done messing around quietly for a while, they decided to call it a night as Skipper retrived the blanket that was nearby and drapped it over himself and Dusty. Closing his eyes, he smiled as his considered young charge nuzzled into him again, releshing in the heat and comfort he gained as they both waited out the storm.