Aspen’s Story

### A PAW Patrol Fanfic by SnowDogs10.

Aspen was born to a German Shepherd named Cedar, and a Siberian Husky named Ivy. Aspen’s parents... weren’t the nicest pups you’ve met. They never physically harmed their children, but they emotionally abused them, causing Aspen to rub of on them a bit. One day, Asp was being snarky to Firefly; she never really ever meant to be mean to her sister ever, but it hurt Firefly, who ran away in a flurry of tears. Feeling guilty, Aspen scurried after her sister, and heard a loud ***thud*** in the distance. Aspen hurried over to the sudden commotion, but it was too late: her sister was gone. Ivy and Cedar found out.. aaaaand they weren’t happy. Aspen was what, four, five months old? Ivy and Cedar realized it was hopeless to raise such a child, so they threw her in a ditch and left her to rot. Aspen, after many days of no food, managed to wiggle her way out through an old rabbit hole.

Aspen ran as far away from this place (called Everpine Woods, the place on the *other* side of Adventure Bay) as she could, blinded by rage, guilt, and hunger. The wind seemed to taunt her as it whispered in her ear: *You have no home Aspen.*

She eventually collapsed on the outskirts of Adventure Bay, sobbing, later to be found half dead by Adventure Bay Animal Control. She spent a lonely week in a wooden pen, too high to jump and too thick to dig through, whining and crying and howling. At least she wasn’t dead in a ditch...

One dry summer morning, a boy and a group of dogs came through the doors, muttering something to the manager and walking through the fence. They were happily greeted by at least twenty dogs, but Aspen lay huddled in her corner, an invisible gray cloud thundering above her.

The boy walked over to her, and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with her sad green eyes, and he saw something worth saving in them. Minutes later, she was shuffling outside of the ABAC doors, and Aspen bunched her muscles and sprung away, disappearing into the woods. A German Shepherd, took a paw step forward, but was stopped by a silver mutt.

“Rocky? What are you doing? If we go how we can catch her!” The Shepherd murmured gruffly, pausing to flick his ear and glance at the mutt.

“If she doesn’t want to be part of this, we can’t force her to, Chase. When I was rescued by Ryder, I almost dashed away myself, but I stopped myself, because I had a feeling in my bones. It’s her decision to make,” Rocky sighed, looking at the pup next to him. “But-“ a female Cockapoo walked up and placed her paw on his shoulder. “C’mon Chase. It’s what she wants that matters. We can’t have a distant and unfriendly member on the team right?” She said with a shrug, looking up at him with her magenta eyes.

Chase blushed in embarrassment then dipped his head in defeat. “Alright...”

Back in the woods, Aspen was gliding through the trees with a triumphant look on her face. “Aspen you’ve done it again!” She said to herself under her breath, panting softly as she came to a stop. Her mind turned. The only reason she wasn’t in that cage was because of those pups...

“No, Aspen, do ***not*** do it.” She growled to herself. But they *did* help her...

Aspen sighed, turned around, and dragged herself back to Adventure Bay.

*~One Hour Later~*

Aspen trudged on the outskirts of the forest near the Lookout, having a mental argument with herself.

*Thank them!*

*No! Do not make contact with the strangers!*

*But they rescued you!*

*So what? They probably just pitied you!*

*JUST DO IT.*

Aspen snarled out loud, finally making up her mind. She took one paw-step forward, then heard a loud, terrified cry: “***HELP!*** *The forest is on fire!!*”

Aspen saw six figures zooming down the slide of the Lookout, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and pink blobs all slid into what looked like, a dog house? Aspen blinked then right before her eyes were a set of vehicles. How could this be? Aspen shook her head firmly. This was no time to ponder!

“Marshall! Use your hose to try and try to make a path for the three citizens to safely exit! The rest of you pups try your best to stop the spread of the fire! It can’t reach the town!” Ryder called once he and his team arrived at the emergency.

*“I’m fired up!”*

*“Chase is on the case!”*

*“Green means go!”*

*“This pup’s gotta fly!”*

*“Ready, set, get wet!”*

*“Let’s dig it!”*

Marshall got to work with his hose while Chase, Rubble, and Rocky threw dirt and sand on the fire, and Skye and Zuma blew it away from the town. Two citizens soon exited, but the fire roared on. Aspen heard cries from the forest, it was a kid!

“Ryder sir, t-the fire is too strong! I can’t find a clear path!” Marshall called through clenched teeth, straining to blast the erupting flames away. Ryder looked into the forest in defeat. They were going to fail their first ever mission.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a brown shape sped past him, leaping of the flames and into the woods. “No! Wait! It’s too dangerous!” Ryder yelled, but her tail had already disappeared.

Aspen dashed through the forest, dodging flames and falling debris, she found the child huddling near a rock. “Get on my back, and hold on tight.” She murmured softly. After making sure the kid was secure, she bound back through the woods, only to find their entrance blocked of by a wall of fire.

She could hear voices, and among all the confusion, Aspen found a long balanced on two large rocks. She carefully jumped on to it, but as she prepared to spring, she heard a crack as the log started splitting. She murmured to herself, and flung the child over the flames.

Ryder saw the kid land inches from the flame and was gathered up and checked in by Marshall and her parents. But no sign of the other pup... Aspen heard a ***crack***, and she clumsily sprung of of the log, but her steps were misplaced, and the last thing she saw were the wide brown eyes of the boy as she fell

Down..

Down..

Down....

All Aspen knew was red hot flames licking at her fur as her world faded away...

Aspen blinked her eyes open softly. She wasn’t laying in a dead heap in the middle of a forest fire, she was laying on a bean bag in a chilly room, bandaged and sore. It took practically all her effort to lift herself up, and she felt pain as hot as the fire itself sear through her body.

“Ow..” she whined, squinting around the Lookout, her eyes still tender from the smoke. Peering to her right, she made out a fuzzy white shape snoring a a chair.

Marshall jerked awake, and noticed the female pup staring at him. “Ah good! Your awake!” He murmured sheepishly, embarrassed that he had fallen asleep on duty. “Hello! I’m Marshall! Sorry if you can’t see much, but you’re lucky you’re eyes were closed when you fell, otherwise you might have become blind! But you’re lucky that you only have a few burns here and there, and a broken paw.” He smiled at her, and she saw a hint of pity in his watery blue eyes. “What’s you name?” He asked kindly. “A..A-Aspen..” she croaked, her throat dry and hot. “Ah yes, wait a moment,“ he trudged away, then returned moments later with a bowl full of water. She didn’t want to seem weak, but she still eagerly gulped the water down, her mouth immediately cooling.

“While you drink, you probably want to hear what happened right?” Marshall tilted his head, and all Aspen could do was nod. “Alright,” Marshall took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then told her the story:

*~FLASHBACK~*

Marshall watched in horror as Aspen was swallowed by the fire. He immediately barked his hose out, trying his best to put out the flames. Rocky used his claw arm to drag the burnt body out, and Marshall sprang into action, checking her heart, flying into CPR, and getting life back into her scarred body.

Marshall’s prayers were answered when steady rain began to fall, managing to quench the blazing fire and cooling everyone’s temperature. Marshall brought her back in his EMT truck, and once at the Lookout bandaged and treated her wounds.

*~END OF FLASHBACK~*

Marshall opened his eyes and sighed, but when he looked at Aspen, her eyes were drooping, drooping, “M-Marshall... how long.. how long have a been asleep..?” She asked, fighting to stay awake as the medicine kicked in. “A week.” He answered softly. She nodded her head quietly, and then finally her eyes closed. He chuckled softly, refilled her bowl, then walked away.

When Aspen opened her eyes again, daylight streamed through window. Though she still felt sore, her body felt fresh, and where there was patches of missing fur and charred flesh, she saw the black skin peeling, giving way to soft pink skin, and already her fur was growing back.

She also saw that the whole rescue team was huddled around the T.V room. Marshall looked up, and barked in greeting when he saw her. Everyone turned around, and all eyes were trained on her.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Aspen noticed the bowl of water next to her, which was soon drained empty. “H-hello..” she said quietly, and all the pups nodded and wagged their tails. The young boy came and knelt in front of her.

“Aspen...” he murmured softly, and the brown she-pup tilted her head as he lifted up a moss-green collar. “The pups and I decided that you deserve to join the team.. if you want to of course.” He added politely. Aspen took a few moment to answer that question, those words spinning through her mind. They wanted *her*? But why? She ran away the first time!“But why me?” Aspen couldn’t help but wonder aloud.

Ryder chuckled softly, and petted her between her ears. Aspen flinched for a moment, but then her leg and tail thumped against the floor happily. “Aspen, we want you because you helped. You could have just stood there, and let the kid become just a mere memory, but you risked your life for another, and that the quality a good member needs. I didn’t choose you from the shelter just because I pitied you, but because I saw something in your eyes, and I knew you were right. Rocky almost ran away when I rescued him too— and now he’s our one and only recycle pup.” He gestured to the silver mutt, who nodded and wagged his tail. “Each and every pup in here stood out to me, just like you do. So Aspen, would you like to join the PAW Patrol?” Ryder smiled.

All Aspen could do was stare. But she soon broke into a smile as she panted and wagged her tail. “Y-yes!” Aspen gasped, hearing a chorus of joyous barks and howls.

Ryder clipped her collar on, and she admired the shiny pup tag that dawned an oak tree.

“Now Aspen, raise your right paw and repeat after me,” Ryder looked down at her as she did what he asked, raising her right paw and looking up at him for instructions.

“In the dark of night”

“*In the dark of night*”

“In the light of day”

“*In the light of day*”

“We will protect you in every which way”

“*We will protect you in every which way”*

“From runaway trains”

*“From runaway trains”*

“To stranded whales”

“*To stranded whales*”

“We will race to the rescue with wagging tails”

“*We will race to the rescue with wagging tails*”

“If you’re ever in trouble just give a yelp”

“*If you’re ever in trouble just give a yelp*”

“Because the PAW Patrol is here to help.”

“*Because the PAW Patrol is here to help.*”

*~One Year Later~*

“Skye! Can you locate Mayor Humdinger and his hot air ballon from the air?” Ryder called, pressing the pink symbol.

“*Let’s take to the sky!*” The Cockapoo replied with a flip.

“And Aspen! The Mayor and his ballon got tangled in a tree! I need you to use your claw arm and landing pad to get him safely out of the tree!” He said, pressing the green tree emblem.

“*Forest or field this pup won’t yield!*” The Labsky barked, puffing out her chest as she stood up after hearing her name.

As Aspen raced down the slide on her stomach, she caught a glance of Adventure Bay and the glimmering water. She smiled softly to herself. That long year ago, she had both rescued and been rescued, and she couldn’t imagine it any other way.

Aspen took one more look at the beautiful town before her, tears forming at the edges of her eyes as her vehicle started to transform. The wind whispered again in her ears, this time not tauntingly but soothingly, almost like a song.

*You’re home Aspen, you’re home.*

***THE END.***

**Oml I have been working on this for three days now and it’s finally finished~!! I know, it’s not like a regular episode, but I was hoping to make it more story-like because I wanted to to be emotional and heart-felt. And yes, it may be a bit short but I was looking for the right words and inspiration. Well I hope you enjoyed Aspen’s Backstory~ ;3**