Chapter Text
Harrigan Alki placed his yellow and pink surfboard down on the golden sand. The beach stretched along the coast for miles. A familiar brown labrador bounded up to him, fur glistening with ocean water and bright green eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
“Hey dude!” He yelped happily, tail wagging ferociously.
“Zuma! Hello! It’s lovely to see you again,” he smiled, scratching the little pup’s ear.
The surfing champion picked up his windsurfing kite and stepped on his surfboard. He frowned, looking out to sea. “Do you think it's a bit windy for thi- woahhh!” He was cut off as a gust of wind tugged his parachute and pulled him into the air. Zuma barked a buoy out of his pup pack. Harrigan grabbed it but the water rescue pup was swept along with him into the air.
Luckily Harrigan caught him, but they were now floating even higher. “Don’t wowwy, dude! I can call Wyder on my- wait- where’s my pup tag?!”he yelped, noticing his blue collar very devoid of his tag. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, attempting to push against the panic settling beneath his fur as they rose.
Soon they were over Jake’s mountain. Zuma motioned to a little brown cabin -Jake’s cabin- and started howling as loud as he could. “Help!!” Harrigan called. The surfboard swung and knocked a pile of firewood, blocking the door. Zuma mentally cringed. That won’t help...
They touched the ground, swerving across the snow as if surfing, before shooting into the face of a cliff.
The surfboard caught on a rocky ledge, leaving them stuck. Harrigan pressed against the cliff, away from the edge, close to hyperventilating. Zuma turned to him, hoping Jake heard them.
“Hey, dude.” He struggled to keep his voice low and calm. “Take deep breaths-” he motioned with a paw “-panicking won’t help anyone.”He blinked reassuringly. Harrigan nodded, slowing his breathing.
Back at Jake’s cabin, he and Everest were settling down with hot chocolate when they heard panicked yells and howls from outside. Moving to open the door, he found a towering pile of logs blocking the way out. His husky appeared behind him. “We should call the PAW patrol.” she hummed. “Whoever that was may need help!”
~ POV / Pup Tag swap: Rocky ~
“PAW patrol: To the Lookout!” Ryder called through their tags. Rocky barked “Ryder needs us!” with the rest of the pups and they raced off to the lookout. Marshall tripped over his paws, crashing into Chase. Skye, Rocky and Rubble followed them in. “What, no puns this time?” joked Skye. Marshall started and glanced at the cockapoo. “...What?”
The bewilderment on his face caused the other pups to laugh. “Marshall!” Rubble chuckled.
“Wait.” Rocky glanced at Skye. “Where’s Zuma?”
Skye nudged him with her nose. “Maybe he’s at the top?” she suggested. The mix breed could tell she didn’t believe it. The other three pups glanced around nervously.
‘Ding!’ announced the lift as they reached the top floor. The pups bounded out. “PAW patrol Ready for Action, Ryder Sir!” barked Chase. Of course Chase doesn’t care about Zuma’s absence...
“Not quite.” Rocky frowned, gesturing to the empty spot between Rubble and Marshall. “We’re down a dude”
Ryder’s forehead creased with worry. “We can look for him too.” He pulled out his pup pad. “Alright, pups. Jake and Everest have been trapped in their cabin by logs and heard someone calling for help. So this time I need- Rubble. You can use your rig to clear the logs.”
“Rubble on the double!”
“Skye - use your helicopter to search the mountain for whoever called for help.”
“Let’s take to the Skye!” the cockapoo yipped, backflipping happily.
“Marshall- They may be hurt. We need your EMT gear!”
“I’m fired up!”
“That leaves Rocky and Chase to search for Zuma. Alright, PAW patrol is on a roll!”
~ POV/Pup Tag Switch: Zuma ~
“Hawwigan! Listen!” Zuma barked happily. “The PAW patrol! Over here!”
“We’re coming, hold tight - Zuma?!” Ryder looked over the edge, shock etched on his face. “Oh, thank God!” He motioned to Skye, “Skye, airlift Harrigan first.”
A blue and red harness lowered from the copter and the surfer clicked it around his waist. Skye lifted him to the top, and turned back to Zuma.
As Skye moved her harness back to her brother, the cliff face crumbled under the surfboard and both Zuma and the board plummeted down the cliff. The brown labrador lay in a heap of snow. Pain seared through his front paws as he tried to move, so he stayed still. He heard worried shouts from his friends and Skye’s copter. Snowflakes drifted to land on his face, specking his vision white - when had it started snowing? - and he felt an unbearable cold creeping through him.
His sister landed beside him with a worried yip and a whoosh of rockets, but he couldn’t make out her words. She clipped the harness around him, the fabric ruffling his fur, and left. Moments later Zuma was lifted into the air. He hung limp in the harness, eyes half-lidded, as air rushed past him. Eventually they stopped, and strong, warm hands wrapped around him and brought him down.
Ryder cradled his pup’s small body tightly, and the labrador nestled into the boy’s puff jacket. Tears spilled from his eyes and matted his furry brown cheeks as he nuzzled his owner’s neck and face happily.
“Marshall! I need you to check him over!” Ryder called to the dalmation. The rest of his words were blurry and made no sense, as if he was underwater. Zuma closed his eyes with a quiet exhale, sinking into the grasp of sleep.