Work Text:
"Hey Rusty, do you want to play Stranded?"
"Yeah sure Indy!"
"Oh, can I join?" A bored and restless collie jumped at the opportunity to play something with his buds.
"Sure!" Rusty responded.
"Wait- how do we play?" Mackenzie asked.
"Well, it's about being stuck on an island with no way out for the time being. Basically, we're having a fun time on a ship, but then the ship crashes. We swim onto an island where we must survive until the rescue team arrives." Indy replied.
"Ah, isn't it such a nice day, Rusty?" Indy says, sitting down and pretending to be on a boat.
"Yeah, it really is Indy!" Rusty said, pretending to steer.
"I'm happy to be on a ship with you." She says, holding his hand.
"Same! Hey... I think there's a storm coming!" Rusty says, pointing up at the sky.
"Attention passengers: There is a storm up ahead! Please brace yourselves for a dangerous ride!" Mackenzie said, putting on an announcer voice.
"Ahhh, storm!" Mackenzie said, returning to his normal voice. "What do we do Rusty!"
"I don't know!"
Mackenzie shakes the imaginary boat and falls to his side. "Ahhhh! Man overboard!"
The rest of the crew fell out and began to splash around in the water.
"Rusty! Indy! Where are you?"
"I'm right here! Where's Indy?"
"I'm over here!"
"What do we do? I can't swim!" Mackenzie yells, flailing his arms around.
"I'll save you!" Rusty grabs Mackenzie's arm and pulls him to the shore. "Are you alright?"
"I think so, but I lost my phone!" He responds, pretending to cough.
"Looks like we're stuck on this island for a while," Indy says, looking around.
"There's nothing here! No one, just trees!" Mackenzie says impatiently.
"We'll be alright, my dad taught me how to survive," Rusty says, analyzing the pretend island.
"Oh look!" Indy says, picking up a "knife" (really just a short stick) she found in the sand.
"Oh, we can use that to open coconuts!" Rusty says excitedly.
"I'll see if I can find anything else," Indy says, handing the knife to Rusty.
Rusty pretends to grab a coconut from one of the trees and uses the knife to open it. "Now we have a source of food and water!"
"Look, berries!" Mackenzie grabs some pretend berries and eats one. "They're sweet!"
Rusty and Indy run towards Mackenzie. "Mackenzie, don't eat that!" Rusty yells.
"What color was that berry?" Indy asks.
"Purple!"
"Oh no, that is edible for animals only."
"Am I not an animal...?"
"No Mackenzie, we're not."
Mackenzie yelps and pretends to spit the berries out. "Am I gonna die? I don't want to die!"
"Did you swallow it?" Indy asked, concerned.
"Only a little."
"Phew. Then you'll be surviving that. I couldn't imagine if you ate a lot of it."
Mackenzie sighs hearing the good news from Indy. "You scared me there!"
"Oh look. There's some blueberries on the tree." Indy says, pointing at a short tree nearby.
"Are those ones safe? How are you meant to tell the difference!" Mackenzie says nervously.
"Of course, Mackenzie."
Mackenzie grabs a blueberry and eats it. "Delicious!"
Indy starts to walk towards Rusty before stepping on something.
"Oo oo ah ah ah!" Jack yells, pretending to be a monkey.
"Oops, sorry for stepping on your tail, Mr. Monkey."
"Oo oo!" Jack says before jumping away.
"That was weird. Anyways, we need to build a large fire so people can see us and come rescue us." Rusty says.
"On it!" Indy says before running off to go find firewood.
"How long will it take for someone to get here?" Mackenzie says, gathering more blueberries.
"Don't know. Could be a few hours, could be a few days!" Rusty says, also gathering blueberries.
Suddenly, a spotted white dog comes out of the brush. "Who are you?"
"I'm Indy! How long have you been stranded here?"
"Very long."
"Very long?"
"Like... months maybe."
"So... we're all stuck here?" Mackenzie said nervously.
"Like I said, we need to build a fire," Rusty said, crossing his arms.
"I can help you with that! Follow me!" Chloe walks off with Indy while Rusty and Mackenzie begin to collect firewood.
"So, Rusty... you seemed pretty close with Indy on the boat," Mackenzie says, smirking.
"N- no I wasn't."
"You were holding hands! You aren't fooling anyone, Rusty."
Just then, a bush rustled behind Mackenzie, causing him to jump back. "What was that?!"
Bluey jumps out of the bush, holding a large stick as if it were a spear and shouting a war cry. Her face is covered in marks of dirt. "RAH!!!! What are you doing on my island?"
"Our boat sunk from the storm and now we're stuck here!" Mackenzie cried out, throwing his hands up into the air.
"Well, you have bigger problems now than a sunken boat. You're disturbing the island and scaring away all the animals!"
"Well, it's not our fault our boat sank," Rusty says, annoyed.
"Fair point..."
Mackenzie shrugs. "Can you help us get off the island?"
"Maybe..." Bluey thinks for a second. "I can try to build a new boat, I'm one of the best builders in my village!"
"Thanks- wait, village? So you mean there's more of you?" Rusty says.
"Are they as mean as you?" Mackenzie adds.
"Yeah, and no, they're actually pretty nice," Bluey says before leading them to a more wooded area, where Snickers and the Terriers were building structures out of leaves and sticks. They were covered in similar mud markings to Bluey.
"Hey guys!" Indy and Chloe say, appearing.
"Oh, hey Indy," Rusty says.
"Did you get the firewood?" Mackenzie says.
"No, I've only got leaves," Indy says.
"Hmmm, that might work. That blue dog over there showed us this village, but I think we should stay away a bit, I don't think they like outsiders." Mackenzie says.
"So Mackenzie, are you happy Bluey is a part of the game now?" Rusty says, smirking.
"I don't think a castaway knows the name of a random village girl, Rusty," Mackenzie replies, annoyed
Back in the village, Bluey is looking around for the rest of the villagers. "Snickers, where's Honey and Gruber?"
"They left to go fish, they should be back soon!"
"Oh, well, they'll be excited to find out we found some castaways. It looks like they need our help."
"Oh, so you can tease me about Indy but I can't tease you about Bluey?" Rusty says, annoyed.
"It's different, and keep your voice down! She's right there!"
"We have plenty of supplies in the village to keep you guys alive. And we have lots of wood to build you a raft!" Bluey says, returning to the survivors.
"Great! How long will the boat take to build?" Mackenzie asks.
"I'd assume around four days." Rusty chimes in.
"What are we gonna do for four days!"
"Stay in the village I guess."
"Well, I'm sure the building would go faster if we had a sturdy border collie to help us!" Bluey says, smiling, and Rusty elbows Mackenzie in the arm.
"Oh- okay- I can help-" Mackenzie says, blushing.
"Well, I guess we should eat dinner," Rusty says.
"Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired of berries," Mackenzie says.
"I forgot to ask, what's your name?" Rusty says to Bluey.
"Bluey...agle. Blue Eagle! But 'Blue' is fine."
"That's a really cool name!" Mackenzie says.
"So how can I help with the boat...?" Mackenzie asks Bluey.
"Do you know how to tie things?"
"Yeah, Rusty and I are great at tying things! His dad taught us!"
"Great! That's what you guys can do."
"Okay! Thanks for helping us Blue."
A short distance away, Indy whispers to Rusty. "Psst!"
"Hmm?"
"Look at Bluey and Kenzie," She whispers.
"Oh yeah, they definitely love each other."
"Hey..." Bluey says, glaring over at them.
"No, we're not talking about anything. Keep doing your thing."
"Fine."
"Bluey and Mackenzie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Rusty whispers to Indy, causing her to giggle.
Bluey looks down towards the village and notices Gruber and Honey return with a basket of fish. "Oh, they're back!"
"I love fish! Can I have some? I can help cook it!" Mackenzie says, excitedly.
"Sure!"
Snickers dresses himself in a self-made leaf apron, excited to show off his excellent primitive culinary skills, and Honey hands him the basket of fish to prepare, while Bluey sets up a large log table for them to sit at while they ate.
As Mackenzie helps cook the fish, he tells the story of the boat sinking, with all the villagers listening in, captivated.
"Well, I was mad about you guys disturbing the island, but now I just feel kinda bad..." Bluey says solemnly.
"Oh, so now you feel bad," Rusty says, annoyed.
"I think we should forgive her Rusty, she's helping us! We wouldn't be able to get off here without her!" Mackenzie says, upset.
"Fine. Thanks for helping us, Blue."
"You're welcome," Bluey says with a smirk as the Terriers glare at Rusty from the other side of the campfire.
"This fish is about ready!" Mackenzie says, grabbing the pretend fish and taking it over to the logs. He distributes the fish equally with a bit left over.
Chloe sits down next to Bluey on the log. "Hey Bluey- I mean, Blue Eagle. Are you into someone lately?" She says, causing Mackenzie's ears to perk up.
"Not really, I have FAR too many responsibilities here to worry about romance," Bluey responds, causing Mackenzie's ears to drop back down.
"Oh really? I've seen you being close to that border collie lately." Chloe whispers.
"Well... I suppose he is kind of cute, and he's been surprisingly helpful so far, but he won't be here for long." Bluey whispers back sadly.
"Does anyone want more fish? I have a little more-" Mackenzie says.
"Oh um... I guess if you're offering." Bluey says.
"Yeah here, of course, Blue!" Mackenzie says, handing the rest of the fish to her, including the rest of his portion.
"Thanks Collie!" She says, dramatically pretending to devour the fish.
"My name is, um- Mac- Macro!" He says, giggling.
"That's an interesting name!"
"Oh- if you don't like it you don't have to call me that-"
"I think Macro is fine, it suits you!"
"Oh, okay... do you like- like the fish...?" He says nervously.
"Oh yes, I love fish! I'm lucky to live on an island surrounded by them."
"It's a very nice island!"
"Alright, can you two stop flirting and help build the boat already?" Rusty says impatiently.
"We aren't flirting, but fine, I'll help," Mackenzie says, walking over to the pretend raft. "Smack, smack, smack, tie, tie, tie."
"Alright, that should be good," Rusty says, admiring the invisible boat.
"Now we just need the glue to dry before we can work on the front end."
"Wow, you guys are quick!" Bluey says.
"It still needs a lot of work, but it's getting late," Mackenzie says.
"Oh, yeah... what are we supposed to do with you guys?"
"Um, I'm not sure... do you have an extra hut?"
"Unfortunately, no, and it's too dark to build a new one. We weren't expecting company."
"Okay... I guess we can sleep out here then."
"On second thought, I probably have a little bit of room in my tent for you. And I'm sure everyone else can squeeze in with my people as well. We wouldn't want our guests to freeze out here in the open!"
"Oh, okay! I won't take up much space, I promise."
"You better be right..." Bluey says, walking to her tent as Mackenzie says goodnight. Her tent was considerably larger and more decorated than the rest.
Bluey hands Mackenzie a pretend blanket and points to a cleared-out spot on the ground inside the shelter. "I doubt you need it with all that extra fur, but it should keep you a little more comfortable."
"I actually get pretty cold at night!" Mackenzie says, sitting down and curling up on the floor. "Goodnight Bluey- I mean- Blue!"
"Good night 'Marco'," She says, giggling as she lays down on the other side of the tent, wrapping herself snuggly in a pretend blanket of her own.
"Hey, Rusty?"
"Yeah, Indy?"
"I just had a nightmare, can I sleep with you?"
"Oh- uh, sure," Rusty says, scooting a bit closer to Indy, who quickly falls asleep into the world of dreams. "Goodnight, Indy," He says, blushing.
Mackenzie pretends to wake up and yawn and stretch. "Blue, are you up?"
Bluey gets up, acting as if she'd just awoken from a great sleep. "Good morning, Collie,"
"Well, best get back to work on the boat. Bye!" He says, getting up and leaving the tent.
"Oh..." Bluey watches as Mackenzie leaves, wondering what she should do next.
"Hey Rusty! The glue's all dry!" Mackenzie shouts, inspecting the fake boat.
"Indy, wake up!" Rusty says, shaking Indy.
"Huh... wha?"
"Let's continue on the boat,"
"Oh, okay."
"I think we can get this done by tonight!" Mackenzie says as Indy and Rusty run over to him. "We might have to wait until the morning to leave the island though, it'll be hard to sail in the night..."
"Alright, Indy and I will work on the raft."
"Ok! I guess I can map out the way back!" Mackenzie runs to grab a stick and then runs over to a dirt patch before beginning to draw a map. "Hmmm... Maybe if we go this way, we'll avoid the pirates over here, and then if we turn right here we can take a shortcut through here and end up here!"
"Isn't it better to take a long, safe path?" Indy says, concerned.
"Maybe, but I don't know if our rations will last long enough..."
"Oh, I know! Maybe we can get some fish! I'll go get my fishing rod." Indy goes to get her fishing rod from the barrel.
"I think the front of the boat is nearly done! We just need this bit to finish drying and then we need to attach the little sail bit!" Mackenzie said excitedly.
"Alright, we should be able to leave soon. As soon as it's dry, we're leaving this place for good."
"How's it going, boys?" Bluey says, walking up to them to check on the progress.
"Great! We're just waiting for this last bit of glue to dry."
"Yeah, we're almost ready to go..." Mackenzie's volume lowered as he spoke.
"Oh wow! I couldn't even build something like this that quick!" Bluey says, impressed at the sight of the raft and the speed at which the two worked.
"Yeah... I think maybe um- it'll be a bit long though..."
"What more can you do?"
"It just um- needs more time I think."
"Hm, whatever you say. Just be quick please, you can't stay forever." Bluey says, crossing her arms.
"So um, what should we do while we wait?"
"I think the sausage dog needs help picking berries. You look tall enough!"
"Oh okay, I can do that!" Mackenzie says to Bluey before running off.
"Aw, man..." Snickers says, reaching up towards the top of a berry tree but failing to pluck any due to his short arms.
"Here, I can help!" Mackenzie says, grabbing some of the fruit and handing them to him. "Here ya go, mate! So- is it hard living on the island?"
"Well, kind of. We have to do a lot of work... but the Blue Eagle is a great leader!"
"I'm sure. She seems really great."
"Yeah, she does a LOT for us, but she can be loud sometimes. Oh hey- you're another survivor!" Snickers says, surprised to see Rusty come out of the brush.
"Yeah, I am!"
"You guys seem really great, I'm glad you landed on our island. I'm sure the Blue Eagle is as well."
"She doesn't seem to like us very much actually... I think she wants us out..." Mackenzie says solemnly.
"That's interesting... I heard her talking to the spotted one earlier about trying to see how you could stay longer. She thinks you impact the village positively!" Snickers says before his face quickly shifts to a look of dread, realizing he'd most likely just shared some confidential info about someone much stronger than him. "Uhm, I should probably go now, I want to keep the fruits fresh,"
"Alright! I'm not sure what I'm meant to do, I think I might just look around," Mackenzie says.
Mackenzie starts to walk around in the jungle looking for something to do. Eventually, he finds a little round acorn. He picks it up before tossing it up into the air. He smiles and runs back to the camp. "Look what I found! Ball!"
Everyone's heads turn to look at the Border Collie, confused by his immense energy and enthralled with the object in his hand. "Rusty, catch!" Mackenzie excitedly tosses the ball towards Rusty.
"Woah!" The villagers all say in unison as Rusty catches the ball and throws it back. "This is called catch! We used to play it back home! You just throw the ball, and the other person catches it! Here!" Mackenzie tosses the ball to Bluey.
Bluey quickly snatches the acorn out of the air and looks at it in her hand, puzzled. "This is an interesting game..." She throws the ball over to an engrossed Honey; her pupils widening as she watches it fly through the air.
"Good one! We have another game where you hit the ball with a piece of wood called a bat and it goes flying!"
"Cricket!" Rusty chimes in.
"Oh man, that sounds cool!" Snickers says.
"Well, I think the flue should be dry by now," Rusty says.
"You sure? I think it still needs some more time" Mackenzie adds, mouthing "please".
"Why? Don't you want to get back home?" Rusty says as the group is distracted passing around the acorn. They hadn't experienced something this fun before, with how much work they needed to do to build their community.
"I think we should stay a few more minutes- or hours- in case they need help-"
"Well I guess we could stay for a few more hours, but it seems they're doing alright by themselves. Why don't we just leave?"
"I- I just want to stay a bit longer, okay! Stop asking me!!!"
"Oh... I understand why..." Rusty says, looking over at Bluey.
Bluey giggles rather loudly as she catches the acorn again. "Man, Macro, this is fun!" She shouts from a bit of a distance.
"Yeah!" Mackenzie replies, embarrassed.
"So you have the hots for bluey huh? Are you gonna try and kiss her?" Rusty whispers.
"Shut up! I do not!"
"Bluey and Mackenzie sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Rusty sings, causing Bluey's ears to twitch.
"I said shut up!"
"Alright then, me and Indy will be waiting by the boat."
"Hey, Bluey pass the ball!" Mackenzie says, running over to her.
"Ooh, alright!" Bluey quickly throws the acorn toward Mackenzie. "What was Rusty singing about?"
"Uh- nothing. He wants us to leave…" He tosses the ball back sadly.
"Seems like he's got his priorities straight," Bluey sighs, looking over Mackenzie's shoulder towards the raft.
"Yeah... we're probably ready to go..."
"Then what are you waiting for? You should go home, and live your life how it was before!"
"Alright..." Mackenzie starts walking to the boat. "Rusty, are we ready?" They begin to climb into the boat, but Mackenzie stays off. "I’ll push it off."
The final survivor gets in and Mackenzie gets ready to push. He puts one foot in the boat before looking back at Bluey, down at the floor, then at his foot. He takes his foot back onto the beach. "I- I think I want to stay here-"
"But-" Rusty starts before looking over at Bluey. "Alright Mackenzie, you can stay if you want and live with your new girlfriend." Rusty teases.
Mackenzie hesitates before a smile spreads across his face. "Tell my parents I love them and I’ll see them soon. I’ll try and build an airplane or something. And she’s not my girlfriend!"
"Yeah, whatever you say Border Boy!" Rusty says, waving with Indy as Mackenzie pushes the pretend boat into the pretend water. Rusty and Indy crawl away, pretending to be sailing.
"Wanna play some catch?" Mackenzie says, turning to Bluey with a smile.
"Yeah..." Bluey says, confused but ultimately relieved and impressed with Mackenzie's sacrifice. "Why did you stay?"
"Uh- I like being here… with you I guess… it’s fun and new."
"Hmm... I guess that works. If you're gonna stay, you should look like the rest of us," Bluey says, leading Mackenzie over to a small mud pile near the sandbox.
"Uh- okay..."
Bluey firmly sticks her hand into the mud and pulls it out a moment later. She looks at it for a second, thinking of what symbol would be most significant. She smiles when she finally finds the right one. Bluey gently rubs her fingers across one of Mackenzie's white fur patches. She blushes somewhat, unsure of how to feel about the whole game previously. "There you go! You look great... "
"What’d you put?"
"A heart! Since you sacrificed everything for love..."
"I- I wouldn’t say for love-" He says, blushing profusely.
"Oh come on, it's obvious."
"Is it...?" He says, his voice cracking.
"Yeah, but I don't mind," Bluey says, giggling and hugging Mackenzie.
Mackenzie stumbles back, shocked by the hug, before hugging her back. "I guess I do-"
"Mackenzie, time to go!" Mackenzie's mum shouts from the pick-up area.
"I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Bluey," He says, rubbing the heart.
"Yup. See you tomorrow, Mackie, or, 'Macro'," She says, giggling.
"Um- the heart isn’t coming out Bluey-"
"Uhm..." Bluey quickly licks her hand and wipes most of the muck off Mackenzie's fur with her paw. "There you go!"
"Thanks, Bluey,"
"No problem!" Bluey giggles and blushes, a little embarrassed by what she just did. She takes a second to think of something to make up for it, eventually settling on a small kiss where the center of the heart marking used to be.
"You better get going. Your mom's probably tired of waiting."
"I- yeah- I- I'll text you I guess-" Mackenzie stutters, his blush strengthening from the kiss.
"Sure-"
"Bluey, your dad's here!" Calypso shouts from the top of the hill where her school sits steady.
"Cya, Collie..."
"Cya, Heeler..."
"BLUEY AND MACKENZIE SITTING IN A TREE! K.I.S.S.I.N.G!" Rusty shouts from a distance.
Bluey blows Mackenzie a kiss as she runs up the hill, out the front of the school. She hugs Bandit and follows him to their car, chit-chatting along the way. "How was your day, Blue Cheese?"
"Oh, it was great. I created a civilization, helped out some new friends, and fell in love. Nothing too crazy."
"...What?"
THE END.