All of the pups were eagerly sitting on the floor of the lookout as their owner spoke on the phone. No one exactly knew what was going on except for Everest, who had tried to hype up the others and get them excited. It had clearly worked.

"Alright, thanks for letting us come. I'm sure they'll all appreciate this." Ryder stated as he hung up the phone. He turned to see the rest of his pups looking at him, dying to know what the supposed good news their husky friend had told them about.

"So, where are we going Sir?" Chase asked, just as confused as most everyone else was. His owner smiled at him, knowing how happy he'd be once he told him.

"Well, with everything that's been going on, I figured it was a good idea for all of us to get out. So, we're going on a vacation in Barkingburg!" He announced, causing almost all the pups to jump up in excitement.

Everest simply smiled, being beside Ryder, the only one who knew the real reason they were going. To put it simply, it was for Marshall. Haley had recommended him getting out, plus this seemed like it'd also be a good morale booster for him and everyone else for that matter.

There was one thing that slightly worried her though. And that was that, since they'd be staying in Barkingburg, they'd also be staying with the West Highland Terrier named Sweetie. The husky had only had one experience with her, but besides that, she already knew about the bad blood between her and the other pups.

Naturally, she couldn't help but feel worried about having Marshall around one of their enemies. Granted, the Princess did tell Ryder that Sweetie had changed after the whole situation with the Duke of Flappington, but she was still concerned. Even the slightest thing would very easily upset Marshall. However, she tried to just shrug it off as being overly cautious.

"Alright everyone, let's go and get ourselves packed. Oh, and by the way, everyone has their own rooms, except the couples since you guys would've just slept with each other anyway." Ryder stated.

All the pups went to their own puphouses and got to work. Packing for them wasn't really a difficult task since they were all dogs and didn't wear clothes if they weren't on duty with their pup packs. The most anyone would ever bring is some snacks, toys, and maybe a single outfit, just in case.

"Are you excited Marshy?" Everest asked as the two closed up their bags. Marshall turned back to her with a small smile on his face, already showing a positive answer.

"Yeah, I guess I am. I don't know when the last time we had a vacation was. Plus, you'll stay with me, right?" Marshall responded. The husky set down her bags and put her arms around his neck, gazing into his eyes.

"I'll be with you every second." She answered. The dally licked her and the two separated. They both grabbed their bags and went to go meet the others, who by now were waiting in the paw patroller.

"You two ready?" Ryder asked. Both pups nodded as they walked in and sat down. It was quite the drive, so Marshall laid his head down on Everest's back and fell asleep almost immediately, which didn't surprise anyone.

"He looks so cute when he's asleep." The husky whispered. Ryder chuckled before turning his attention back to the road. Feeling slightly tired herself, Everest decided it might be best to join her mate and sleep the ride away.

◾◻◻⬛◻◻◾

Seemingly just as fast as she had closed her eyes, she woke up, only to find she was in a completely new scenery. She tiredly looked out the window, seeing the large stone castle ahead of them.

Realizing where they were, she turned back over to her mate, who was still fast asleep. She carefully nudged him, causing him to slowly open his eyes and look up at her, smiling lightly at her presence.

"A-are we there?" He asked tiredly, letting out a yawn before forcing himself to stand up.

"Yep. Now come on, let's get up." Everest responded as she got up and grabbed what little luggage she had. The dally did the same and exited the paw patroller. The others were also already out, so the two simply walked up to them.

"Oh hey, you two. I was just about to go wake you up." Ryder greeted, giving both pups a scratch behind the ear. Then, they all noticed two figures walking up to them. The Princess and the Earl of Barkingburg.

"Greetings Ryder, and the rest of you as well. I hope you enjoy your stay while you're here." The Princess welcomed with a bow. Everyone bowed respectfully, then proceeded to greet her themselves.

"Thank you, Princess, it's an honor to be here." Ryder praised. The Princess smiled before gesturing for the rest to follow them. They all walked into the castle, and inside there was a familiar white pup waiting for them.

"Ah, welcome everyone. Please, allow me to show you your rooms." Sweetie stated in a formal manner. Of course, everyone agreed and followed closely behind, eager to see where they'd be staying.

Despite just being guest rooms, they were massive compared to the puphouses they were used to. The terrier led them all to their rooms, saving the couples for later. Eventually, Chase and Skye both went into theirs, leaving the dalmatian and the husky to be last.

"And this is your room." Sweetie proclaimed as she opened the door. The room was huge, having a single large bed, bathroom, and all the space they'd need. In all honesty, it might've been a bit too big, but then again, the rooms weren't necessarily designed for dogs.

"Marshy, you can go ahead, ok? I'll be inside in just a minute, I promise. I just want to talk to Sweetie for a second." Everest requested. The dally looked at her a bit confused, unsure of why that was necessary, but did as she asked even if he didn't like the idea of leaving her.

The husky turned back to the terrier with a very serious look on her face. "Listen, I know the princess says you've changed, and I'm willing to believe that and give you a chance, but just know, if you even think about upsetting or hurting my Marshy, then you're gonna regret it. He's my world, and you can't even imagine the pain he's going through. Just stay away from him, and we won't have a problem." She explained.

Sweetie simply stared at her with a blank expression before responding. "Everest, I assure you, I have no intentions of harming him. We've moved past all this, haven't we?" The terrier asked in response.

Everest took her time before answering, carefully studying the Princess's pup. Of course, it sounded like she was telling the truth, but her worries were getting the best of her. She wanted to believe what she was hearing, however, they had been tricked countless times. The protective side of her refused to take any chances.

"As far as I know, we have. But I'm just letting you know, he's going through a lot right now. Just promise me you won't do anything to him." She demanded.

"And what if I don't accept your promise?" Sweetie questioned, raising an eyebrow at the husky, who immediately froze as she was asked such a question. She had been very caught off guard, and her worries were only spiking.

"E-excuse me? What do you mean?" She questioned, her voice cracking as she spoke. Although it was indirect, it almost sounded like a threat to her. The thought of that shook her to her core, to the point where she could feel tears building in her eyes.

"It means exactly what I said. What's going to happen if I don't? This is my home, you can't just come in here and tell me what to do." The terrier explained. Both fear and anger were beginning to enter Everest's mind, but she forced herself to get closer to the white pup, attempting to emphasize her seriousness.

"I don't care if this is your home or not, he's already going through enough right now! Is it too much to ask that you don't make things worse than they already are!?" She exclaimed.

Now, she could feel the few tears flowing down her face, formed by the pure emotion she was experiencing. The thing she hated seeing most was Marshall in pain, and now she wasn't sure how safe he really was.

"You're expecting me to listen to you when you come into my kingdom and start yelling at me?" Sweetie asked, only batting an eye at the husky, who was beginning to realize she might not have been taking the best approach.

"Ok, fine. I'm sorry if I was being too aggressive. I-it's just, I've seen him hurt so much. I'm tired of it. I don't want everything we've finally started working towards to be taken away." Everest admitted, wiping her slightly wet eyes. 

"Whatever. I'm not going to do anything so quit your whining. Now, I have more important things to be worrying about than some upset klutz, so I'll be leaving now." Sweetie spat as she began to walk away, not even taking into account what she had heard.

"What did you just say?" The husky called out, clearly insulted by her remark about her mate. The white pup let out an annoyed sigh and whipped around as if she was the one being offended.

"Upset? What, do you think he's just in a bad mood or something? Don't you get it, he's in pain. In case you forgot, he has PTSD. You have no idea what he's going through, how much pain and sadness he's having to deal with. I don't even fully understand it. He doesn't need you making anything worse." She explained, using all of her willpower just to simply keep her cool.

Instead of answering, however, Sweetie rolled her eyes and left the husky alone, full of fear for her loved one. Instead of bothering to chase after the terrier, she decided to just leave it and get back to Marshall, starting to realize he must've gotten anxious being alone for this long.

Once she walked back into their room, she saw the dally had just finished packing, and it wasn't hard to see he was tensed up. That was brought to an end though, as he quickly noticed her and ran over to her, embracing her with a warm hug. "Hi, Marshy. Sorry, I didn't mean to leave you that long." She apologized as she petted his back.

"It's ok Eve. You're back now so it's fine." Marshall replied. Luckily, he didn't pry into what had happened, so she just didn't mention it. Some things were easier to not bring up, and this was no exception. Besides, she had other plans for him.

"Well, I'll go ahead and unpack my stuff, and then I have a surprise for you," Everest stated as she began removing the items from her bag. Marshall froze for a second and looked back at her with a confused expression on his face.

Before he got the chance to ask any questions, the husky silenced him with an explanation. "Ryder gave me permission to take you into town with me tonight. It's been so long since we've been on a date, so I figured this was a good time to do it. I've heard downtown Barkingburg is beautiful at night, and it'd just be the two of us." She informed him.

Marshall smiled, and couldn't help but hug her again out of excitement. "Aw, that sounds like fun. I-I don't know why you'd do all that for me, but thanks." He responded, even surprising himself a bit with his happiness. It was rare that he actually felt genuinely happy about something these days, but this seemed to be one of those uncommon experiences.

"Of course Marshy, you deserve it. I'm so proud of you, and I want you to know that. You've been doing great." She explained. The dally broke away from the hug and made eye contact with her. She could tell just by the look on his face he was excited.

Everest was honestly feeling excited herself. And it would be dark fairly soon, so that made it even better. Neither of them had been downtown before, nor had they been on a date out of adventure bay, so it would be a new experience for both of them.

In a short amount of time, having not brought much, the husky was finished. Both pups looked at each other as their tails began to wag from excitement, both knowing what would come next.

Without exchanging a single word, the pups ran to get themselves ready, excited to have their first date in nearly four months.