The Wounds We Heal

Chapter fourteen: Look Out Below!

The iconic stature of the Lookout was a relief to see. But for some eyes, they didn't see much of anything. Chase tightened further into a ball when the screen parted ways, even as the pups all hopped down to vacate the vehicle.

"Come on, Chase dude." Jake said, beginning to pick the pup up. "Can't leave you in here by yourself."

"Ugh, couldn't you though?" Chase groaned, though his voice was almost too muffled to hear.

Jake brought Chase inside and set him on a pillow, he heaved a heavy sigh and waited for the next disturbance.. knowing it was likely not over.

Snowflake and Ned also grabbed their belongings and went into the Lookout. Once inside, they started putting their items away.

"So Ryder.." Marshall spoke up, as they continued putting stuff away. "How much longer do you think Chase will sleep? I mean.. he's pretty sleepy still.. but.."

"Not sure, Marshall." Ryder shrugged. "Hopefully not too much longer.. but he'll sleep as long as he needs to. And if I know Chase.. he'll be out of bed as soon as he realizes what time it is."

"Good," Snowflake commented.

The pups pulled the remaining items from their bags and set them back where they belong.

"Hah,.. all done." Rocky said finally. "What do you wanna do now?"

"Well I would like to try and get a look at all our vehicles again,.." Ryder ventured. "To make sure things are good.. but.."

"No.. way,.. Ryder.." Katie declined, waving both hands across her body together. "You need to rest.. Just like Chase, you need to let yourself heal, so you can get back to being you."

"Sadly, Katie's right. We can handle our vehicles. Oh, is the sheet tent Ned and I used still packed up?" Snowflake asked curiously.

"Um.. I believe it is, still, dude?" Jake thought. "Welp,.. thanks for the fun adventure, catch ya later!"

"Bye Jake." Ryder called, waving even as Katie took his other arm at the shoulder to coax him inside again.

"Bye pups." Everest called.

"Wait, what? You're leaving?" Marshall asked.

"Yeah.. we need to get back up to the mountain.." Everest explained. "Got some ski slopes to open and some snowshoe trails to mark."

"Bye Jake and Everest," Snowflake and Ned replied.

And as the pups all followed Ryder and Katie into the Lookout, Marshall hesitated slightly longer than Rocky did, before shrugging and following also.

"Ok.. so we're home!" Rubble announced, glancing off into the room.

"Now what?" He monotoned, dropping his stance flatly.

"Well, we all were going to hang out individually, and I got some ideas," Snowflake commented before laying down.

"Really? Then fire away!" Rubble called, taking on a bit of a brave knight's persona, by throwing a paw in the air.

Chase tensed and shifted, a sigh leaving him for no one to hear.

"I was thinking I could hang out with you pups one by one and we could have fun as pairs. Like hiking, swimming, stuffed animals, ghosts, and other stuff!" Snowflake suggested.

"Yeah, and I can hang out with the rest of you pups when my sister has her bonding time," Ned added.

"Hm.. ok.. um.. well, who did you wanna play with first?" Marshall asked. "Obviously Chase is out of the question.."