The hot summer sun blazed against the small town of Adventure Bay, lighting up any buildings within its reach without any need for electricity. The outside world was bustling with life, just about everyone was enjoying the warm weather and the freedom of no longer having to suffer through school. Families were out on vacations, friends had gotten together to do whatever their hearts desired. With such little restraints at this time of year, what to do in a day was purely left up to one's imagination.

But on the inside of a large, red tower by a cliffside near the edge of the town, there sat a thirteen-year-old boy and the German Shepherd puppy he had rescued from the harshness of the city a few months before. The pup was a little under half a year old—still practically a child in the eyes of anyone who might come across him, regardless of species.

Despite the beautiful day beyond the walls of their home, the boy sat on his bed, looking down and waiting in anticipation while the pup nervously paced back and forth on the floor. Truth be told, he couldn't exactly say he was surprised by this situation, the shepherd had been pretty nervous about the whole thing ever since it was brought up.

"Chase, I promise that they're very nice pups, I'm sure you three will get along perfectly," he insisted, referring to the two puppies waiting on the other side of the door. He had adopted them both about an hour earlier—and he wasn't given much of a choice of how many to take considering they both refused to go with him unless the other came with them. At the time, he really only wanted to adopt one, just to warm Chase up to having a roommate, but the second puppy looked too scared and helpless without their second part for him to split them up forever.

"B-but, Sir, what if they don't like me?" The boy sighed and leaned over, gently scratching the pup's head. Even if his tail was still frozen with nervousness, the small dog froze from the soft pets, momentarily glancing up for long enough to see the compassion on his owner's face. The boy had already met the two puppies, and he trusted his owner with his life, yet making those connections turned out to be easier said than done.

All he knew about them was that they were pretty close to his own age, only a month younger at the most. And while initially, he had been all for having more of his own species living with them, the heat in the moment emotions always seemed to be the opposite of what one was originally feeling.

"I told you that you didn't have to call me sir. And besides, bud, they really wanna meet you, you were pretty much all they asked about when they got here. They also lived in the city before they were rescued by the shelter, I think you'll have a lot in common with each other." This seemed to grab Chase's attention, successfully getting him to tilt his head in a bit of interest. All things considered, this could've very well been just another act out of instinct without any real thinking put into it, but hey, it was something.

"Wait, really? They're like me?" he curiously asked, getting a steady nod from the boy. Now, the shepherd was without a doubt good-hearted, and he would never wish having to live on the streets on his worst enemy, but a bit of common ground felt promising. It certainly didn't mean it would be his go-to conversation starter, that was the last thing he should do if he wanted to start off on the right foot. However, that small bit of relatability between them might always come in handy.

"Yes, they also used to be strays, but they seem kinda sensitive about it, so I wouldn't bring it up for now. But anyway, do you think you're ready?" Even if he was pretty sure that he was just lying to himself for comfort, the pup nodded softly, shuffling in front of the door In anticipation. Ryder grinned and jumped off the bed—knowing full well that if he didn't act now, his pup would probably change his mind. Before any of that could happen, he reached out to open the gateway to their new permanent roommates and hopefully friends.

Instead of some serious, formal greeting like Chase was expecting to be put through, all of his tensity and stress floated out the window once he found out that they weren't even behind the door. For what he could only assume was this entire time, the two had been play wrestling in the living room, clearly not as worried about this as he had been. Presumably, the female was winning, given that she stood on top of the male with her legs pinned against his shoulders.

"C'mon, admit that I won alweady!" the Cockapoo demanded, only pressing her front legs harder against his fur. The Dalmatian desperately tried to kick her off as a final effort, but her smaller size only made it look like he was fighting with the air instead of her, getting him an unimpressed raise of the eyebrow in return.

"Ugh...fine, sis, you win," he huffed, tiredly exhaling as he allowed the back of his head to fall against the floor in defeat. The tan puppy smiled and innocently jumped off, only to glance over and see the pair watching their little game. Her eyes widened as she quickly alerted the male with a nudge to his shoulder, getting him to notice and stand up as well—although he nearly tripped in the process.

"Chase, this is Marshall and Skye," Ryder spoke up once he knew he had everyone's attention. The boy sat on the top of the couch, spectating the three to make sure their introductions went well while also keeping himself far enough away to allow them to get acquainted without his interference. Being the first to make contact with the unfamiliar face, the Cockapoo walked forward. She and the shepherd quickly sniffed each other, as one usually did when meeting another of their species.

In almost perfect sync, the two made the ultimate decision to give their noses a rest and raised their heads up to face one another. However, given the fact that they apparently greatly overestimated the distance between them, the act only ended with their noses pressed against one another. As quickly as they normally would've moved, neither of them could pull their paws off the floor that was acting like freshly hardened concrete. They hadn't even spoken a word to each other, this wasn't exactly what came to mind for a first greeting.

Chase felt his face warming up before he finally scooted back, hearing the female giggle—although she didn't look any less embarrassed than him. Thank the world they both had fur to cover up the almost guaranteed blushing that likely would've taken over the entirety of their faces, and she didn't seem upset with him. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he had already fully ruined his introduction.

"Sorry about that. It's nice to meet you, Chase, and I guess you alweady know my name," she greeted, laughing softly once again and sticking her paw out for the more well-mannered approach—even if either of them were that well-mannered on a typical day. The German Shepherd smiled the previous experience away and gripped her paw, giving it a gentle shake before releasing her.

"Nice to meet you as well, Skye, I hope you like living here with us." Trying to look as gracious as she could, she nodded in appreciation but didn't have much to say after that, creating a small sense of awkward tension between them. Thankfully for the brown pup's sanity, that didn't last for long, now entering the Dalmatian who eagerly bounded next to her and stuck his closed paw out for the other.

"Hey, Chase, nice to meet ya. I guess you really like playing fetch, huh?" The shepherd tilted his head, seeing the dumb grin written all over the spotted pup's face as if the most obvious of details had flown over his head. "You know, 'cause your name is Chase. Like chasing a tennis ball?"

Horrible. In all honesty, that was the only word Chase could think of to describe the joke being told to him. And despite knowing better than to give in to a dad joke such as this one, he couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. It was painfully obvious to him that the Dally just wanted to get a laugh, so he made the choice to at least give him an A for effort and stick out his paw for the inevitable fist bump. Although the two of them were chuckling, the third among them didn't seem the most thrilled, rolling her eyes at one in particular.

"And this is my bwother, Marshall," she explained with an impatient huff, gently pushing his shoulder. The German Shepherd tilted his head and looked between the two while wondering if he had heard her right, mostly caught off guard by her wording. He knew the two were great friends, that much was a given, but siblings seemed like a stretch unless it was just a mistake made on his end.

"Brother? But if he's your brother, how come you don't look alike? Did your mommy and daddy not look alike?" he asked, not exactly understanding how the concept of genetics worked—granted, not many knew all the details, especially at their age. Skye shook her head, denying the only guess he had and sending him into another thinking spell until she explained their situation.

"No, we have diffewent mommies and daddies. But my Daddy and his Mommy started loving each othew when we were weally young, so we've always lived togethew. They always said he was my bwother." Chase opened his mouth, letting out a silent "ohhh", as he nodded with that new piece of information under his belt. But that didn't mean his questions were over, no, this was just the beginning of his curiosity

"Oh ok. So if your Daddy and his Mommy love each othew, where's your Mommy and his Daddy?" The two looked at each, each seeming just as unsure as the other. Marshall only shrugged before the tan puppy turned back in his direction, pursing her lips and remaining in the shallow silence until she finally answered.

"W-well...Daddy told me that Mommy...went to sleep when I was born. I-I don't weally know what that means, but he seemed sad about it, so I didn't ask again." The Cockapoo lowered her head to the ground, and Chase glanced up to his owner in hopes of both her and himself figuring out what her father had told her. And without giving much assistance, Ryder only had widened eyes and a sympathetic expression, likely knowing more than he did—although the boy decided to be stubborn and didn't share what he had learned.

"And...I-I don't know what happened to my Daddy, Mommy doesn't really like it when I talk about him," Marshall added, having a touch of hurt in his voice, just as his sister had. Although the shepherd couldn't tell what either of them were talking about—except that each of them had a biological parent missing from their lives—his owner was at least able to connect enough of the dots to know that he should take the conversation in a different direction.

"How about you three talk about something different? If you want, you guys can go out to the yard and play until it's dinner time, which is probably in like an hour or so." Chase was quick to give an obedient nod and follow the orders of his human. Personally, he had no clue as to why changing the subject was important, but going against his owner when he had that serious expression on his face was the equivalent of a death wish. Most of the time, he'd at least know the source behind it, but it wasn't worth starting a conversation about.

"Uhm, ok...what games do you like to play for fun?" Thankfully, for the sake of his owner, that one question brought the joy back onto their faces. With the flick of a light switch, each of them were smiling without a care in the world. However, given the previous conversation, Ryder wasn't sure if they were just generally upbeat pups or if they were lucky enough to still have held onto their innocence after having to live on the streets.

"Our favorite game is tag! Do you wanna play?" the Dalmatian eagerly questioned, leaning forward and arching his back in the air with a wagging tail. Chase picked up on the universal sign for wanting to play, but he never explicitly said so as he subtly scooted forward without letting any of his true intentions show.

"Hmmm, would you two wanna play?" The two siblings glanced at each other and nodded in excitement, followed by looking back at him in anticipation. The shepherd smirked and sat down, the effectiveness of this trick had worn off on Ryder, but these were brand new contenders. He pretended to stretch and raise his front leg up, only to bring his paw back down on Marshall's shoulder. "Then you better catch us!"

The Dally's eyes widened in shock as he leaned forward in a desperate attempt to catch one of them while they were still within reach. Chase quickly jumped onto the safety of the couch, eyeing him carefully and studying his every move to ensure his maximum safety. Skye, on the other hand, only took a small step to the side, unintentionally forcing the male to trip over the carpet and ending with his face kissing the floor.

"You gotta try a bit hawder than that, Marshall," she taunted, giggling at him in the process. He glared at her and tried to quickly tag her while she was distracted, but she only jumped out of the way and joined the shepherd on the couch towering over him. She was prepared to have to escape another long and drawn-out loop of running around the living room, but she found herself stopped before it could continue longer.

"Hang on, I'm fine with you guys playing tag, but go outside before you do. Chase has already caused enough destruction in here, I don't need all three of you causing chaos," Ryder ordered, ignoring the small yet embarrassed glance for his pup for bringing up the time he had chewed up the boy's favorite shirt a few days ago.

Without any sort of hesitation, Skye and Marshall obliged to his request and practically dragged the third of their species to the elevator doors. The last thing that either of them wanted to do was get on their new owner's bad side, and the shepherd didn't do much arguing himself after being reminded that he was still in hot water.

"Chase, how do you open the doors to this thing?" the Cockapoo asked, staring at the door in search of something that seemed like a viable tool to get past the obstacle blocking the elevator, along with occasional glances back to him. The brown pup smiled and took a simple step forward, triggering the sensors and causing the glass doors to open automatically. He didn't have to stop for even a second, he just walked inside and sat on the platform to wait for the others to follow in his footsteps.

"Woahhh," they unanimously muttered, both in disbelief as they slowly stepped forward. The two quickly hopped into the elevator, as if there was a chance the door would close on them if they were too slow. Skye sat directly next to Chase, eyes widened as she smiled and stared at him in pure shock at the technology of this place. The Dalmatian moved past both of them, studying the door as it closed before turning around and pressing his face against the glass.

"Sis...you gotta see this view." The tan puppy, having her interest peaked by the wonder in his voice, quickly flew to his side. Identical to what he was doing, she leaned her face against the window, feeling her fur making contact with the cool glass. Her magenta eyes widened at the spectacle painted in front of them, the sight seemed more like a scenery drawing from a museum than a view from her own house.

The grass was as green and bright as ever, and the trees were ever so slightly blowing in the gentle breeze that gave everyone outside a small break from the heat. But there was still so much to see beyond their yard, that was just the tip of the iceberg of details waiting to be discovered.

The bay was far off to the side with soft waves crashing against the beaches with countless visitors all enjoying the summer fun, some were playing in the water while others built sandcastles along the edges. The town was within eyesight, and while it was nowhere near as big as the city they were born into, the colors felt so much different from what they saw whenever they closed their eyes and thought back to their old home.

Everything felt vibrant compared to the washed-out city that always seemed like an endless maze of sidewalks and buildings. Maybe it was just the sun and the lack of clouds adding this extra bit of flavor to the world, or maybe it was just their imagination getting used to something new, but this felt almost magical, like the whole city was welcoming them to their new home.

"Chase...you get to see this evewyday?" she asked in awe, only able to yank her eyes away once the platform had come to a full stop. The doors had opened, and the two had jumped out before it was too late, with Chase also slowly treading behind. Right on time, the sun began beating down on them, brightening their fur while the gentle breeze kept them from frying up.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, huh? There's a lot of cool stuff here, I bet you two will love it here." Skye couldn't have agreed more, this place almost seemed like a paradise she might've made up while trying to fall asleep. Sure, there were some parts of her old home she missed, she had left her dad and stepmom behind, as well as the handful of friends they had made, but she figured that she'd at least get used to her new home. All in all, she was just thankful to have been adopted alongside her brother, for the few nights they spent in the pound together, there wasn't a single second that they weren't terrified of being permanently split up.

"It seems weally nice here, you and Ryder are nice. Thank you for letting us both stay." Chase smiled and nodded—even if the choice wasn't exactly his, he still couldn't have ever imagined turning them away. He joined her at her side against the grass in the warm summer sun, feeling the wind blow against their fur. It wasn't until the shepherd brought his eyes off of her did he realize that the third who was supposed to be by their side wasn't within eyesight.

"Uhm, Skye, where's Marshall?" The Cockapoo expectantly looked to her side, only to see a blank patch of grass left to catch her off guard. Noticeably confused, she brought her head back up and glanced around her, realizing that Chase was unfortunately right. She was horrified, anxiously looking around the yard in front of her. Not once had they let themselves be separated, and whether that was out of closeness to one another or pure instinct wasn't considered a valid question for the time being.

"M-Marshall, where are you?" she nervously called out, with more than obvious fear in her voice. Her head was starting to spin as her desperation crept in, haunting every corner of her mind. The worrisome thoughts wouldn't be satisfied until she knew he was saved, and she knew it too, only creating more tension in their air.

In the heat of the moment, she only just realized after what felt like an eternity that she hadn't checked where the second half of the yard was, behind her. And almost immediately after turning around, a quick, spotted blur jumped onto her, pinning her against the ground in a similar fashion to what she forced onto him earlier.

"Never let your guard down when we're playing tag!" he proudly proclaimed, smiling down at the newly tagged victim. However, unlike he had originally planned for, that smile only lasted for mere seconds after seeing the watery eyes of the Cockapoo angrily staring back. Unfortunately, the more logical part of him saw this coming. He had tread on thin ice, that ice had broken under him, and now it was his responsibility to swim back to the surface.

"D-don't do that! Y-you scawed me, we pwomised not to leave each other..." Marshall already had his head lowered upon realizing his mistake. Without a word, he got off of her, sticking out his paw to help her up. She bitterly accepted the offer, rising from the grass and quickly tackling him into a hug once she was back on her paws. He quickly returned the favor, allowing her to sit against his spotted coat for as long as necessary.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Are you okay?" he softly asked, surprising Chase with how gently and calm he suddenly seemed with his sister instead of the energetic personality he had seen earlier. Skye softly nodded and nuzzled his neck, deeply exhaling before she pulled away.

"Y-yeah...I'm okay, thanks. Sowwy for yelling at you." The Dalmatian could tell that she was starting to feel better—although odds were he wouldn't be fully let off the hook for a while. He took this as the permission slip he needed to back away and give her some space. Now assuming that the coast was clear, the shepherd walked closer to do the two, tilting his head in curiosity.

"So...you two promised to stay together?" Of course, with the luck he naturally seemed to have when it came to conversations with these two, the others' heads lowered to the ground, avoiding his gaze. This time, a bit of knowledge from his owner managed to transfer to him as he quickly shook his head in hopes of brushing it away, seeing the fatal mistake he apparently made. "N-nevermind, sorry, we don't have to talk about it."

"It's okay, don't be sorry. It's...a bit of a long story, maybe we'll explain it later," Marshall spewed out, ending the conversation right then and there. Getting the hint, as well as the facial expressions talking for them, Chase nodded with the full intention of dropping the topic. For the time being, he figured it wouldn't hurt to put all of this behind them and do what they came outside for in the first place.

"Sure. Which one of you is it now?" The shepherd eagerly looked between the two, eyeing them with the knowledge that soon he'd be running from one of them to the best of his abilities. The siblings exchanged a quick look and nodded, as if telepathically agreeing before speaking up. The Dalmatian knew better than to try and pin the tag onto his sister after the stunt he pulled, he had already tried his luck with one poorly timed joke, another one would just be digging his own grave.

"I'll be it, and you two only have five seconds before I start tagging," Marshall answered. Chase and Skye gave each other a quick glance before both turning around and darting in the opposite direction of him as fast as possible. Both knew that one wrong slip would be the death of them, and the female was likely at an advantage since she knew the Dalmatian way better than himself, though that could also very well mean she would be targeted more.

For the first few seconds, it seemed like they had gained a good amount of distance between them, but that turned out to be nothing more than false hope. The sound of crunching grass behind them was nearing closer, like a predator chasing its prey until its last breath. The shepherd still felt surprisingly confident, he had the mindset that he didn't exactly have to outrun the spotted pop, just his sister.

At least, that mindset seemed valid until they both found themselves stopped by a row of bushes. Gulping, the two turned around to see Marshall with a powerful smirk, knowing that their fate was now within his paws. In reality, whoever his next victim was now just a matter of choice. And it was pretty much impossible to know if one of his options being his sister helped or hurt either of their odds.

"Marshall...come on, you wouldn't tag me," Skye reassured, making it unclear if she was talking to him or herself. The Dally nodded and suddenly locked gazes with Chase, sealing his presumed fate before his very own eyes. He knew he probably wouldn't be spared, and running would be nothing more than a last-ditch effort, but he bent his legs for the slim chance of an opening appearing for him to escape.

However, as soon as he noticed the subtle smile on the spotted pup's face, his guard slowly lowered with a small bit of hope that his suspicion was right. The Dalmatian leaned toward him, and Chase continued to hold eye contact and stare his opponent down, even if it killed him. But just before the distance between them was fully closed, Marshall leaped in the Cockapoo's direction, successfully catching her off guard and managing to tag her before she was able to jump out of the way.

Skye yipped in shock, only to see the two boys laughing and high-fiving as they ran away from her. In insight, she should've seen it coming, but she just laughed it off and chased after them so she could return what they had brought upon her. No matter which of the unlucky two it had to be, her mind was set on a single goal. Revenge.

And while she continued her conquest to reclaim her pride, a figure watched the three from the top of the lookout balcony with an ice-filled water glass in hand. Ryder smiled to himself, seeing the pups all having the time of their lives. He still knew this family was far from full, he wasn't fully sure how many dogs he'd end up adopting, but he was open to helping as many rescues as he could.

For now, at least, he was glad to see the trio getting along nicely without too many major road bumps during their first meeting. He just hoped everything would stay that way, especially with whoever might end up showing up in their lives. But his own curiosity continued to beg the question that he didn't think he'd ever find the answer to, and for the pups' own goods, he figured there would never be any point in trying to get one.

What had the world put those puppies through at such a young age?