Chapter Text
“Are you excited to see the trail?” Bluey turned to the pup sitting next to her in the small bus as it pulled into the lot.
“Yeah!” Chloe said excitedly, “I hope we get to be partners for the hike... Calypso said she already picked them out for us.”
“Me too...”
“We’re here!” Calypso announced at the bus came to a stop.
Mackenzie stretched his legs from the roughly hour-long drive north of the city and grabbed his bag as he stood up.
The pup wasn’t enthused to spend most of the day outside; It was a bit too cold and dreary for his liking.
It wasn’t all bad, though.
He looked forward to spending some time with his mates and maybe even a certain blue heeler...
They all disembarked from the bus and gathered around Calypso at a nearby picnic table.
“Today, instead of just looking at pictures of nature, we’re going on an adventure in nature!” She began, “There are hundreds of creatures and critters that make their home in this forest – not to mention all the insects and plant life! It’s a perfect opportunity to see just how beautiful nature truly is... And to have fun, of course!”
The pups cheered.
“Before we get going, we have a few things to take care of,” she continued “First, I assigned everyone a partner for the day...,” she pulled out her list, “Bluey and Mackenzie...,”
The border collie’s heart fluttered as he heard her read the first pair aloud.
This was his chance...
He completely zoned out as Calypso read the other names.
“Kenzie...?” Bluey had walked over beside him and tried to get his attention, “Hello...?”
He snapped out of his trance and nervously laughed, “H-Hi, Bluey.”
“Are you okay?” She asked concerned about his behaviour.
“I’m fine... I was just thinking...”
“About what?”
“Nothing!” He quickly responded and changed the subject, “I’m glad we’re partners!”
Did that sound weird?
“I mean -,” he was cut off.
“Me too!” Bluey smiled, “This is going to be fun!”
“Second,” Calypso resumed after all the pairs had been named, “I want to stress how important it is to stay with your partner and stay on the trail... We don’t want anyone getting separated from the group. Last, remember to stay hydrated...,” she handed each pup a bottle of water and put a few extra in her pack, “I know it’s cool out but remember to drink... I’ll have extra in my pack if anyone needs more.”
They stuffed the bottle in their bags.
“This path should only take us a couple hours,” Calypso concluded, “We’ll be back here just in time for the nice lunch I brought for you all and then we can head back to the schoolhouse just in time for your parents to pick you up for the day! And don’t worry... There are plenty of places to stop and rest along the way if we get tired.”
She stood up, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
The group followed Calypso down the trail and into the forest.
Mackenzie and Bluey were the last pair in line behind Rusty and Coco.
Calypso pointed out various plants, insects, and creatures as they went.
After a while, a cold gust of wind cut through the trees.
“Brr!” Bluey shivered, “Wait a minute..”
Mackenzie stopped with her as the group continued to move forward.
She pulled a light blue jumper out of her bag and slipped it on.
“It looks just like your fur!” Mackenzie awkwardly commented.
“Right?!” She laughed, “I sure am glad mum packed it for me though...”
The two continued to lag behind the group.
Sometime later, they listened to Rusty and Coco argue about which breed of dog is the fastest.
Despite being several meters behind, they – and everyone – could hear the intense exchange clearly.
“Do you think heelers or border collies are faster?” Bluey turned to her mate to start their own conversation.
“Border collies, for sure!” Mackenzie grinned.
“Nuh-uh!” Bluey protested, “My dad says heelers are really fast dogs!”
“Not faster than us border collies!” He goaded.
“I bet I could beat you in a race!”
“No way you could catch me!”
“Could too!”
“Try!” Mackenzie bolted off the trail into the woods.
“Hey!” Bluey called as she ran off after him, “Get back here!”
The collie dodged and weaved through the trees and the branches with the heeler hot on his tail.
He got tired and started to slow down.
Bluey tagged him on the back, “Got you!”
They stopped and both laughed, panting hard.
“Okay... You’re pretty fast...,” Mackenzie conceded.
“Told you!” Bluey boasted.
Bluey spoke after the pair had caught their breath, “We should get back to the trail... Calypso told us not to leave it...”
“Oh, yeah... Sorry...,” The collie tried to get his bearings straight, “It was back this way.”
Bluey followed.
They walked for several minutes without coming across it.
“Are you sure it was this way?” Bluey was starting to get worried.
“I think so...,” Worry laced the collie’s voice as well.
They continued to search, to no avail.
“I don’t know which way we’re going!” Mackenzie stomped his paw in frustration, “It all looks the same!”
“Maybe - Maybe we should call for help? Maybe they’ll be able to hear us and bring us back to the trail?”
“Good thinking!” Mackenzie agreed.
“Help!” Bluey shouted.
“Over here!” Mackenzie hollered.
They yelled over and over but no one called back.
No one came.
They started to panic.
“We’re lost!” The heeler was on the verge of tears, “What if they never find us?!”
“Stupid!” The collie was on the verge of tears as well; he threw his bag to the ground in anger, “This is my fault! Calypso told us to stay on the trail and I had to run off!”
Tears streamed down his muzzle, “I’m so sorry, Bluey...”
He put his back to a tree and slid to the ground, crying into his paws.
Bluey composed herself for a moment before picking up his bag and sitting on the ground next to him.
It wasn’t entirely his fault...
“It’s my fault for teasing about being faster than you... You wouldn’t have run off if I didn’t do that...”
Mackenzie sniffled and looked up at her.
“And I could have told you to wait but, no... I ran off after you...”
Mackenzie didn’t think she deserved any of the blame.
“I guess we know who’s faster now...,” she continued, “No way I could catch you if you didn’t slow down at the end!”
A small smile crept onto his muzzle, “Told you...”
Bluey smiled at him.
“What do we do now?” The collie stood up and slung his pack back over his shoulders.
“I don’t know...”
“I know we can find the trail...,” Mackenzie tried to say confidently; he got them into this mess, and he was going to get them out.
He extended his paw and pulled her up, “Let’s go this way... I think I recognize this rock...”
The two walked for hours with nothing but forest in sight.
The sun had moved to the other side of the trees; it was afternoon now.
The pups were exhausted.
“I need a drink,” Bluey sat down on the ground and opened her water.
Mackenzie did the same.
They both gulped it all down.
“It’s been hours, Kenzie...”
She was scared.
“What’re we going to do?!”
He was scared too.
“We can’t give up!” He jumped back to his paws, “The trail has to be around here somewhere!”
The pair walked for a while longer with Mackenzie in the lead.
“Gah!”
The collie turned around so fast he almost tripped over his own two paws.
“What’s wrong?!”
“My jumper got stuck on this branch!”
Mackenzie sighed in relief.
She tugged her arm to free herself, causing the fabric to rip.
“Dang it!”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah...,” she sadly looked at the torn sleeve, “I hope mum’s not mad... She just bought this for me...”
“She won’t be..."
A torn jumper was sure to be the last thing on their parents’ minds right now.
The collie's ears perked up, “I think I hear something!”
He led them to an area dense with shrubs and grass, “Just through here!”
The two moved side-by-side through the vegetation.
A step suddenly sent them tumbling off a steep ledge and into a knee-deep stream a few meters below.
“Ah!”
They landed with more of a thud than a splash in the ice-cold water.
Mackenzie groaned as he sat up in the stream, dazed.
It only took a few seconds to regain his senses, “Bluey?!” He yelled in a panic despite her basically being right next to him, “Are you alright?!”
“Yeah...”
She looked over at him and gasped.
“What?!”
“Your paw!”
The pup looked down to see a sheen of blood forming in the water around his still-submerged right paw.
He lifted it up off the jagged rock he had landed on; blood steadily flowed from a sickeningly large gash.
His eyes widened as he realized what happened, “Ow! Ow! Ow!”
“Let’s get out of this water!” She helped him up, “It’s freezing!”
The two waded to a small clearing of dry land and sat down on the bank.
Mackenzie held his paw close to his chest and whimpered in pain.
They were both soaking wet; they shook some of the water from their fur.
“Can I see it?”
Mackenzie held out his arm and looked away.
She examined his paw, the cut was deep and bleeding badly, “Ouch...”
Bluey let go of his arm and took off her jumper.
She wrung it out and started ripping at the partially torn sleeve.
He turned back after hearing a ripping noise.
“What’re you doing...?” He sniffled.
“You need a bandage...,” she successfully tore the sleeve off and sat the rest aside, “Dad taught me and Bingo that the most important thing to do for a bad cut is to stop the bleeding...,” she wrapped it tightly around his paw, causing him to yelp in pain.
“Sorry!”
Fresh tears fell from his muzzle.
“We - We need to keep going,” he hiccupped as he talked, positioning to stand up.
“No!” Bluey held him down, “It’s too dangerous and you’re hurt! We should just stay here and hope someone finds us...”
Mackenzie reluctantly nodded and hung his head low in defeat.
He failed himself... He failed Bluey...
They sat in silence for hours, listening for any possible sign of rescue.
None came.
The air grew colder as the sun began to dip below the horizon.
The collie started to shiver; he felt lightheaded, blood soaked through his makeshift bandage.
“Kenzie, you look like you’re freezing...,” she pulled him into an embrace.
The pup was startled by the sudden action at first but quickly relaxed.
Her fur was soft; their bodies warmed each other as she cuddled him.
He hugged her back for a moment before quickly pulling away.
“What’s wrong?”
The collie was flustered.
“I don’t know...”
This was it; he might not have another chance.
He stammered, “I just – I – I think I like you, Bluey...”
“I like you too, Kenzie,” she looked at him sincerely, “We’re mates...”
“I know we’re mates...,” he looked away from her, “I mean I like you...,” he looked back at her, “The kind of like where my tummy gets all twisty and it’s kind of hard to breathe when I talk to you... The kind of like where when we play together, I’m the happiest pup in the whole wide world...”
“Oh...”
She understood.
Their heart-to-heart was interrupted as torches pierced the veil of trees and rescue dogs began shouting, “Here! Found them!”
Bluey sat on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance parked in the same lot they had left this morning.
She was wrapped in an emergency blanket as a medic looked her over.
Her parents rushed to her side.
“Mum! Dad!” She jumped up and ran over to hug them.
“Bluey!”
They squeezed her tightly.
“You had us so worried, kiddo!” Bandit was nearly in tears.
“I’m sorry for running off the trail!” She cried, “I’ll never do it again!”
“It’s okay, sweetie...,” Chilli was in tears, “Thank goodness you’re safe! Are you okay?”
“Uh-huh...”
“She should be fine,” the medic said, “Mainly just some scrapes and bruises but we want to take her to hospital to be checked out as an extra precaution...”
After a few minutes of recapping what had happened and lots more tears, hugs, and kisses, the pup looked over at the other ambulance – where they’d taken Mackenzie.
“Can I go talk to Mackenzie, please?”
They nodded and walked her over, waiting nearby.
He was lying back on a stretcher as the medic worked.
The core of his body was cocooned in an emergency blanket and the makeshift bandage around his paw had been replaced with a thickly wrapped real one.
An IV line was inserted in his arm that snaked up to a hanging bag of fluid.
The pup’s parents sat beside him.
“Hi, Kenzie...,”
He weakly lifted his head, “Hi, Bluey...”
“He should be ready for transport...,” The medic hopped out of the back for a moment to find his colleague.
“Can I talk to you for a sec?”
He glanced at his parents with pleading eyes.
They knew.
“We’re glad you’re both safe...,” Mackenzie’s dad turned to his mum, “We need to grab something out of the car quick... We’ll be back in just a minute...”
They stepped out of the ambulance to let the mates have a moment.
Bluey sat on a small bench on his uninjured side.
“So... You have to go to hospital too?”
She knew he did but wanted to make small talk anyway.
“Yeah...”
There was a small pause.
“Wait... You have to go to hospital too?” He was extremely concerned, “I thought you were okay?! You told me you were okay!”
“I am okay, Kenzie!” She calmed him, “They just want to check to be sure.”
“Phew...”
“You, though... Are you okay...?” She asked him with the same level of concern.
“I’ll be okay...,” he assured, “The medic said I need stitches and might need to spend a couple hours in hospital to get some fluids, but I should get to go home tonight...”
“That’s great!” Bluey smiled.
There was another small silence.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said back there...”
Mackenzie took a deep breath as she looked him in the eyes.
She grabbed his other paw and squeezed it, “I think I like you too...”