Hello all! Here's part two of the little story! Please enjoy! I own nothing.


Conqueror

Chapter 2

Zuma didn't know how to answer the question Rocky asked. He'd never had to think about that before, even though- well, he did have a FEW nightmares. But they weren't as bad as this one, and certainly not about death!

Just the usual- crocodiles, that one time they watched a horror movie Ryder told them NOT to watch, more crocodiles... but this was something else entirely.

'Too much blood... too much blood! Okay, okay, calm down. Wocky's here, he asked you a question. Just focus on Wocky… focus on Wocky...' Zuma told himself. 'He's alive, and not a mangled-'

Rocky was a bit worried at the sudden silence from his friend, and began to ask himself if that was too direct a question. "Z-Zuma? If you don't want to answer-"

"I don't know if that's what I'm scawed of, Wocky." Zuma finally spoke. He stared into space as he tried to explain what was in his head. 'I mean... death? I've never seen someone die, except in my nightmawe… not in weal life, though. Is that actually something to be afwaid of?'

"I've never... been scawed of anything, you know? We're the PAW Patwol, we're supposed to be bwave and stuff, and I'm pawt of this team, but still..."

Zuma paused again, his head throbbing as he spoke. He rubbed his temple- why was this so difficult? Rocky was one of his best friends, he could tell him anything! 'Calm down, calm down! Just take your time and answer the question...'

"That nightmawe… it was howwible…" Zuma whispered, mostly to himself. Rocky tilted his head, unsure if Zuma had just spoken.

"Huh? Did you say something?"

Zuma chewed his bottom lip, still trying to get his swirling thoughts out there. "I don't know... what that nightmawe was about. I-I mean, I do, but I-I don't, I... " Zuma gave up, unable for the life of him to get his words right.

"I'm sowwy… I can't-" Zuma let out a long sigh and rested his head against Rocky again, choosing to just savor the fact it was over and Rocky was here with him. "I can't do this, Wocky."

Despite the lack of information he received, Rocky was glad that Zuma was at least talking to him, even if he was still just as confusing as he had been earlier. He thought of other ways to get his friend to talk, but knew Zuma would keep shutting himself down.

This was a task a little too big for Rocky to handle alone, and was obviously too much in general for Zuma to talk about without getting overwhelmed.

"Zuma?" Said pup looked up at him.

"Would you feel better if we went back inside? With the others? Trust me, it's not as bad when you have others to talk to."

Zuma looked very apprehensive about having to go inside. He let out a whimper and shook his head no. Rocky was a bit disappointed- he'd hoped that Zuma would at least want to get out of his pup house by now- but did his best to hide it. It was pouring rain outside!

"O-Okay... well, you want to talk some more?" Rocky asked, laying down. If he was going to wait out the storm, he may as well get comfortable. "If it'll help take your mind of things."

Zuma laid down as well, looking at Rocky with a grateful expression. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to face the others yet. He was having a hard enough time trying to explain things to one pup, he wasn't sure he could handle six more at the moment.

"Y-Yeah... thanks, dude."


As the thunderstorm continued, the other pups didn't know what to do except wait for Rocky to return with Zuma. Ryder, Carlos and Jake were still asleep upstairs. Chase was pacing back and forth, looking worried and too old for his young pup age.

"Do you think he's okay?" Chase wondered. He still felt that they should have gotten Ryder by now, but the others argued him down again, telling him to give Rocky some time to talk with Zuma before they woke Ryder for no real reason.

It was over thirty minutes since Rocky ran out after him. The pups weren't sure what was going on, and no one wanted to brave the storm to knock on Zuma's pup house.

"Should we call them, at least?" Rubble asked the team, looking to the others. "They've been gone for so long!"

Everest shook her head no. "No, let them talk for a little bit longer. Zuma must've been really disturbed by whatever happened in his nightmare." she replied. She was staring at Chase pacing, and chuckled at the maturity of the police pup. "And maybe you should take a break, Chase?"

Chase paused in his pacing and looked at her. His legs were starting to feel tired, he had to admit, but now was not the time to relax. "Are you sure? Seriously, I've never seen Zuma that upset! Ever! I don't know, don't you think we should at least tell Ryder-?"

"Chase, Ryder finally has a day off to relax and talk to other people who aren't us." Skye explained. "He's always worrying about us. Don't you think we should at least let him enjoy his rest? Just this once?"

"I agree." Everest chimed in. "Jake's been really, really busy at the Ski Lodge lately. He's hardly had time to visit you guys, or anything that WASN'T rescuing. I really don't want to wake him unless its a true emergency."

"And this isn't an emergency?!" Chase almost shrieked. Skye and Everest looked at each other, then Chase, who was beginning to freak out a little. They covered their mouths to hide the giggles at the pup's sudden voice raise. Chase growled in annoyance and resumed his rapid pacing.

Tracker added his thoughts as well, thinking about his owner. "Sí, es cierto, amigo. They're right- Carlos has been muy solo lately, even with me around. I think he just misses all you amgios, so it's nice to see him happy!"

The police pup stopped pacing again, and looked at his friends. Listening to what the others were saying made Chase realize that he was being a bit unfair to his handler- no, a LOT unfair. Ryder was still a ten year old, no matter how mature he was as their leader. He was working extra hard with all the rescues popping up all over Adventure Bay, maintaining their Lookout home, all their other rescue gear, their pup houses and his ATV, and still finding time to do fun things and taking fun trips, like to the jungle and Jake's Mountain.

They've literally done everything and been almost everywhere. So rest and relaxation and hanging out with his pen pal and someone he viewed as a big brother wasn't something Ryder got to cherish often. Everest and Tracker would probably agree with him, too.

"... yeah... I guess you guys are right." Chase finally admitted and went to lay down on his pillow. His ears lowered a little as he heard the crazy rain outside. "I'm just a bit worried about Zuma..."

"That's WAAAAY more than just 'a bit'." Marshall laughed as he walked over to his best friend. "We all are, believe me." Marshall gave Chase a light bump on his shoulder.

"But Rocky's got this. He's pretty close with Zuma, so I'm sure he'll convince him to come inside and talk to us."

Chase looked at Marshall and smiled a little. "You have a point. Thanks, Marshall."

"Speaking of which... do you think Zuma's nightmare was because of a fear he had?" Rubble wondered, still trying to find out the reason for his friend's exit. "Well, even though Zuma never actually said he was scared of anything, but still- that's one reason to have a nightmare, right?"

"I don't know." Skye answered, shrugging her shoulders "But we've had nightmares, and we always talk about it, right?"

Tracker and Everest shared another look before Everest spoke what was on their minds. "Uh, pups? Me and Tracker lived on our own for most of our lives. We've never had others to comfort us when we were going through extra scary nightmares. Perhaps that's why Zuma ran off- not because he's embarrassed, but because he's never needed someone to comfort him. I can almost bet he's had at least one nightmare before."

Chase and the others never thought about it that way. "You think so?"

"Si, I believe Everest is right. Zuma may of had pesadillas before but maybe he wasn't ready to talk to you amigos yet." Tracker added.

Rubble tilted his head, that one Spanish word very confusing. "Pes- pisa- what?"

"I think that word means 'nightmares'." Marshall said with a proud grin, finally catching on to some Spanish. "Right, Tracker?"

"Si, amigo!" Tracker answered, laughing. Everyone else laughed as well, and Chase and Rubble felt a little less worried. Just a little.

Once the laughter died down, the pups looked at one another again, trying to figure out what to talk about, and worrying about Rocky and Zuma. "You think Rocky got anywhere with Zuma?" Chase wondered.

"It's been over a half hour. I don't think so, at least not yet." Skye replied. Chase whimpered a little, staring outside.

"I hope Zuma's okay..."

Marshall moved over to Everest, something she said earlier piquing curiosity in him. "Hey, Everest?"

"Yeah Marshall?"

"What you said before, about not having anyone to talk to when you had bad dreams..." Marshall looked a little sad as he faced his friend. "How did you deal with that?"

Noticing Marshall talking with Everest, Rubble loudly asked, "Hey guys! Whatcha talking about?"

All eyes were on the husky and dally pups. Marshall rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I was... curious, I guess? About what Everest and Tracker said, how they didn't have friends or family to help them with their nightmares? So I, uh... I asked her about it!"

Everest laughed a little. "Pretty much. But I can still answer that."

"You sure? I mean, it sounds... sad." Rubble whimpered. Everest brushed it off.

Frankly, at one point, Everest would have agreed with Rubble- not having anyone for miles in the Artic was very lonely. But since joining the PAW Patrol and living with Jake, she came to realize it was easier when you had a friend to share things with. It didn't make the pain seem so overwhelming and scary anymore. 'Zuma should be here. Maybe me and Tracker know what he's going though right now.'

"Well, I don't know how much Jake told you guys about me?" she started. Chase shook his head.

"Nothing, really. When Ryder made you our newest member, he and Jake were talking, remember guys?"

The others, except for Tracker, nodded. "Yeah, that's true... Ryder told us to get inside the tents and he and Jake went off someplace to chat." Skye added. "But he never told us what they said to each other."

Everest arched an eyebrow- this was her first time hearing about this conversation herself. "Jake and Ryder talked? Really? What was I doing?"

"Eating a LOT of marshmallows!" Rubble laughed. Everest chuckled and rubbed her tummy.

"I told you, I was hungry! I'm always hungry!"

Rubble rubbed his as well and grinned. "And that's why we're such great friends! We both love to eat!"

The others laughed and shook their heads. Then Everest returned to the conversation at hand.

"Well, it seems like Jake left you pups in a cloud of mystery, so I'll tell you about me- just another time. It's a REALLY long story." Marshall groaned a little, disappointed to not hear her (probably) amazing backstory, but opted to settle for the answer to his question instead.

"Don't be sad, Marshall. I don't know a lot about you pups, either, so it'll be something we can save for our next sleepover together!" Everest said, the thought of having more time with her friends causing a smile to appear. "And this time, we'll have Zuma here with us so we don't have to have a repeat of this conversation."

"Yeah... yeah, that's true. Okay then!" Marshall perked up rather quickly. "Next sleepover is going to be a blast!"


"Wocky?"

"Hmm?"

The two pups were still hiding out in Zuma's puphouse. Rocky and Zuma were curled up in the middle of the pup house, their backs touching one another.

Zuma still couldn't sleep, but Rocky had to admit, the rain's pitter patter atop the pup house was starting to make him very drowsy. He didn't want to fall asleep yet, not when he still needed to go back inside and let the others know what was going on. And hide under a blanket and have more nightmares about water again.

"I'm sowwy." Zuma apologized again and out of nowhere. Rocky opened one eye and looked over his shoulder. He wasn't sure what it was, but Zuma looked pretty sad, his body and ears sagging in guilty defeat.

"For what? Did-" Rocky yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Did you do something?"

"I-It's just..." Zuma looked up at his roof, and Rocky sighed- the darn rain was still falling?! 'Seriously, weirdest storm ever! I am SO going to have nightmares after this...'

"I... I didn't think you would come out hewe when you should be inside with the others. I know you can't stand the wain or water." Zuma explained. "If you want to go back, you... you can. I'll be okay hewe."

Rocky heard the disappointment and sadness in his friend's voice, and felt a bit guilty for trying to rush him inside so soon. He sat up to stretch and immediately laid back down, stretching out his body. Zuma rolled over so the two pups were facing each other, even though the aqua loving pup was trying to hide his face in his paws.

"Oh, Zuma..." Gently, Rocky pried one of his paws off his face. "Listen, I'm sorry if it seemed that I was rushing you." Rocky apologized. "It's just... I've never seen you act like this before, and I didn't know what to do, you know? We've all had nightmares but... we've always depended on each other to cope with it."

Zuma nodded; he understood, he really did, but explaining where the nightmare came from, how long he'd been dealing with it, it was just too much to tell everyone. It wasn't a normal nightmare, and it wasn't due to normal reasons. He curled up closer to Rocky.

"I know. We do always talk about it, don't we." He looked up at Rocky. Rocky nodded.

"Pretty much. I think we talk about a lot of things, but I think Ryder is usually the one who kinda… I don't know, like helps us through it?"

"Tuwe… Wyder does a lot."

Rocky started chuckling at a memory that at one point, he thought was horrible. "You know, back when I was having this crazy nightmare about me drowning in that endless sea of water and I couldn't breathe, I couldn't sleep for days. I thought I was doing a good job playing it off, but Ryder called me out on it after I kept falling asleep on the job. Remember?"

A look of recognition appeared as Zuma found pieces of that particular incident. "Oh, yeah! You almost wan Mr. Powter over with your gawbage twuck! Twice!" Zuma chuckled. Rocky rolled his eyes, but secretly, he was glad Zuma started talking again... even if he still wasn't telling him what had happened.

"And remember that nightmare Chase had about us being 'killer dentists'? He was soooo stubborn and denied it until the next time he had to actually go to the dentist!" Rocky laughed.

Zuma definitely remembered that one- Chase was the biggest out of them at that time, and when he was stubborn and ran and wanted to hide, he made it the biggest challenge ever!

"Ohhh yeah, I remember- Mawshall hit you kind of hard with his water cannons. I don't think I ever saw you that mad since the changing woom thing happened!"

"Darn dally and his water cannons... he always seems to hit ME with it!" Rocky complained. "But it was the only way any of us stood a chance at getting Chase to stop running! For a German shepherd, when he's freaked out, he can RUN!"

"Well, Evewest doesn't live with us, otherwise she could have stopped him. But Chase is always stubbown- that's why he's our leader!"

Rocky laughed with him. Zuma sounded so carefree, so much more like himself. "And then of course, the epic mer pup incidents... ohhhh man, I don't think I've ever had so many good dreams and nightmares at one time EVER in my life!"

Like a switch, Zuma's face fell. Of course- the mer pups. The one thing he had found to be more than amazing at one point, even beautiful as he got to swim underwater and venture into a huge underwater kingdom, but that incident... that one incident that scarred him for life and that nightmare-

"Zuma? Zuma!" Rocky waved his paw in front of his friend's face. Zuma snapped out of it.

"W-Wocky…? What... wha'..." Burying his head in his paws, he groaned- his head was slowly beginning the throbbing again, and just when he'd finally gotten the nightmare partially out of his memory.

Rocky frowned. He'd mention the mer-pups, one of Zuma's most favorite memories, and instead of a smile, he looked... scared. As he rubbed Zuma's head, it suddenly clicked.

'So many good dreams... and nightmares... wait. Out of the six of us, me and Zuma had been affected the most by the whole mer pup rescue, but- oh. OH. I think... I think I know what it was now.'

"Zuma... it was the mer pups? Is that what was causing you to have nightmares?" Rocky asked. Zuma didn't lift his head, but after a few moments, he finally nodded yes.

'So I was right. Even though I didn't know or really push it at the time. It was the mer pup incident that scarred him, but it happened so long ago! Well, more like months ago... I don't really understand. Was Zuma still bothered by it, even after we both got better? Why didn't I notice that?'

"Oh man, Zuma... I didn't know... I mean, I should have noticed something when we went to Puplantis. You were acting so nervous and skittish, like something had been bothering you. And I noticed it but I didn't say anything!"

"I-It's not... your fault. I should have spoken up, but... I couldn't do it." Zuma lifted his head. "I thought it would just... go away, you know?"

"But how come you never said anything to anyone? You know you could've came to us... you could have came to me." Rocky said, still a bit angry at himself for not checking on Zuma sooner. He should have known it would bother him to some degree, especially after that scare. But Zuma was sooooo hard to read!

Zuma shrugged his shoulders. "I... I don't know why, Wocky. I really don't. I just needed to forget about it."

'Okay, he's talking. So that means I was right- I get it now. I've just got to convince him to come inside and tell the others. This will be new to Everest and Tracker- neither of them have ever seen or heard of a mer-pup before. This should be... interesting.'

"How long has this been going on?" Rocky asked.

"I-I don't know, on and off again for a few weeks. It wasn't all the time." Zuma was beginning to get uncomfortable with all the questions that Rocky was asking, but he knew Rocky meant well. He was starting to wonder if going back inside the Lookout with the others would help him, but with all the questions Rocky was asking, wouldn't things just be worse with six pups asking all at once? And then there was explaining the scars on Rocky's hind legs and the mer-pup thing and-

Rocky stopped asking questions- Zuma was getting uncomfortable again. He felt he had enough information to put together what Zuma's nightmare could be, but he still needed definite confirmation. Before he could figure out how to resume the conversation, his and Zuma's pup tags beeped. It startled Zuma, who let out a loud scream before realizing it was only their tags. Rocky smiled reassuringly and turned Zuma's pup tag off. The lab sat there for a few moments, trying to control his rapidly racing heart and collect himself.

'Hey, Rocky? Zuma? Are you two okay?' Both pups looked at one another as Chase called to check on them. Zuma raised his paw, still trying to calm down, but was more or less okay.

"Yeah, we're okay. I'm dry, at least." Rocky chuckled. Chase got a bit of amusement out of that. "And Zuma's here, too. He's calmed down a good bit. What's up? Is everyone okay? Is Ryder awake?"

'No, we decided not to bother him. He's out like a log upstairs. But, listen. Could you two come inside?' Chase requested. 'I think Everest might have a way to make Zuma feel comfortable enough to talk about his nightmare with us.'

Rocky grinned- he knew going back inside would be a great idea! With the information he now had, plus the others, plus whatever Everest was planning, Zuma would finally be able to explain what was going on with him. He silently thanked whatever pup spirit was out there as he got up, his tail happily wagging. Oh, it wouldn't be too much longer until he could get the heck out of the rain!

"Yeah, give us a few minutes. Thanks, Chase!" Rocky responded. Zuma looked at Rocky as he tapped his pup tag off. Of course, he knew he'd have to go back inside, and Rocky seemed really relieved to be away from him... was he that bad to deal with? What was wrong with him?

"W-Wocky?"

"Hmm?" Rocky caught that sad expression again, and his guilt crashed on him all over again. He didn't even bother to ask the aqua rescue pup if he was ready to go inside! 'Wow, an I being a jerk tonight or what?' "Oh, Zuma I-"

"Wait, Wocky. Let me... let me say this." Zuma closed his eyes and inhaled and exhaled slowly. Then he opened his eyes and looked at his best friend, that sadness a lot less noticeable. In fact, any expression on Zuma's face was unreadable.

Rocky was worried- did he just make things worse? Or maybe he hurt Zuma's feelings and he doesn't want to show it- what kind of best friend was he?!

All those thoughts were thrown out the window when Zuma approached him and nuzzled his head against Rocky's cheek. The mixed pup was frozen, Zuma being like this NEVER happening before, ever!

"I... I know I was being difficult. It's... its just I'm not used to this. But... I know you care about me, and the others do, too. I... I guess... I want to thank you. For doing this, wunning out here in this wain, just to check on me." Zuma said softly. If he was being honest, this was hard and very, very weird, but Rocky was his best friend, so it wasn't all that bad.

When Zuma stepped back, and Rocky got a good look at him, he smiled. Zuma looked a lot less tense and angry and sad. His eyes were still a bit red from his crying, but he was starting to come back to himself.

"Are you sure? I didn't want to force you to go inside if you weren't ready!"

"I think I'm weady. To talk to the others."

Zuma walked past him and hit a button on the right of his door, opening his pup house door, and ran outside to get to the Lookout. Rocky touched a paw to his left cheek where Zuma had nuzzled him and felt his face heat up a little.

'That's... the first time Zuma's ever done something like that. I know he can be affectionate, but not like THAT! That's like a Marshall thing! Maybe... I'm getting the hang of this- thanks, Ryder!'

Rocky felt awesome, and was about to walk out Zuma's pup house- until his paw got wet from the first step and he was brought crashing down to reality.

The thunderstorm. He'd forgotten about that. The winds finally began to show signs of calming down, but the rain was still coming down hard. Rocky looked at that rain and gulped before he steeled himself and bolted for the Lookout like a mad pup.

"Oh, ew, ew, EWWWW! Waterrrr!"


"Chase? Did you just call them inside?" Rubble asked as Chase ended the call with Rocky. Chase nodded.

"If Everest is going to explain this to us, I think Zuma and Rocky should be here for it. Maybe then we can figure out what is going on around here."

The other pups froze when Tracker's ears began to twitch. He looked around, and asked, "Is someone... snoring?"

Everest, Tracker, Chase, Skye and Rubble were a mix of confused and nervous at whatever Tracker was hearing, until Rubble looked at Marshall's blanket and laughed. "Guys? It's nothing bad, just Marshall's snoring!"

The others looked at the rising and falling blanket, and then spotted their spotted dally pup fast asleep, curled within his blanket. He'd fallen asleep during the whole waiting for Everest to talk thing, or at least, that's what the others were assuming.

Chase shook his head. "Leave it to Marshall to fall asleep now!" he laughed. Everyone else laughed before Rubble shook Marshall awake. It took some shaking, but eventually, the firepup opened his eyes and let out a yawn.

"H-Heyyyyy, guys. Di' I miss som'thi'?" he mumbled sleepily. His head plopped right back on his pillow and his face snuggled into his blanket. "Uhmm, jus' wa'e me wh'n I... tim' f'r bre'kfa't…"

Everyone looked at one another for translation before all eyes were on Chase. The german shepard pup shrugged.

"Heck if I know what he said. It's Marshall, okay? Sometimes I don't know what he dreams about, and other times, I don't want to know."

The laughter was cut short when the main doors opened. Zuma stepped inside, sheepishly looking at his friends and sitting down, soaked to the bone.

"Ehehehe… anyone got a towel?"

Howling in happiness- until Everest warned them to keep it down so the three males upstairs wouldn't wake up- the leader of the group ran off to grab Zuma's beach towel. As he ran past, he kicked Marshall awake. The dally woke with a fright, and flew high enough into the air that when he fell, he crashed into Zuma, sending the pair of pups rolling and eventually smacking into the wall next to the door.

Marshall grinned, embarrassed as Zuma gave him a deadpan look. "Uhhhh, heyyy Zuma? Ehehe, sorry man. By the way, you're soaked!"

Zuma couldn't hold his face any longer, and just laughed. "It's good to see you awake too, Mawshall."

Chase returned with a bright orange towel, Zuma's tag emblem stretched across the length of it. He tossed it over both pups, and Zuma gave Chase a smile in thanks. Chase looked at the door.

"Was Rocky coming behind you?"

Zuma thought Rocky had been right behind him- did the rain paralyze him again? All the pups looked at the door, standing back so it wouldn't open and let in the rain. After another minute-

"LET ME INNNNNN! LET ME IN! IT'S WET OUT HERE!"

Rocky wasted no time in zooming inside, soaked head to toe. He immediately shook himself dry, whimpering and complaining about the water and the smell. When he finished, he was quite poofy and dry, but now the rest of the team was wet.

"Oh! Hey guys! When did you get outside?" Rocky asked innocently. The other pups rolled their eyes, and Chase retrieved Rocky's bright green beach towel. When he returned, the others were dry and back under their blankets. Chase tossed Rocky's towel over to him.

"Ahhhh, nice and dryyyy… thanks, Chase." Rocky exclaimed quite happily. He snuggled in his pillow, which felt warmer than normal for some reason, and basked in his dryness- even though he dreaded having to take a bath in the morning. He was going to have that gross dog smell, but who cares? 'NO WATER! Thank goodness!'

Everest got up to check the time. "Guys, it's almost 2:30 in the morning. Seriously, we better keep the volume down."

Zuma chuckled as he grew comfortable and dry under his towel and blanket, but still not comfortable enough to forget that nightmare and go back to sleep. He looked at his friends and cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"U-Uh, guys? I... I owe you all an apology." He scratched the back of his head. "I guess I shouldn't have wun out like that, wight."

Chase brushed that thought off. "We're just glad you're back inside and you're doing okay. We were seriously worried about you."

"And by seriously, he means pacing the floor until he could make a hole in it!" Skye chimed in with a giggle. Chase cut his eyes at her.

"Really, Skye? Not cool. Not. Cool."

"It's cool, Chase." Zuma laughed. "I know that's something you do- it's a Chase thing!"

Chase was the only one not laughing at that- instead he pouted a little. "Well, excuseeee me." When Skye gave him a little nudge, though, Chase sighed dramatically and smiled.

"Okay, okay, I guess that's kind of funny. I do pace a lot, don't I."

"So, uh, Zuma?" Rubble asked, bringing the conversation back on track. "What was that about? Did you really have a nightmare?"

Zuma nodded. "Y-Yeah... I, uh..."

He glanced over to Rocky, who was offering a smile in support. 'You can do this, Zuma. You told me. Don't be afraid to talk to the others.'

"I, uh... yeah, it was a nightmawe. And it... it wasn't my fiwst one." Zuma finally finished. Even Everest was speechless as she looked shocked, like the other pups. It was then Rocky got up, walked over to Zuma, and sat next to him, placing a paw on his head.

"Everest, Tracker, we have quite a tale to tell you. You'll need to hear it before Zuma's nightmare makes sense, right Zuma?"

Zuma was hiding from embarrassment and nervousness in his pillow, but nodded yes. 'Sewiously, Wocky, you are the best. You don't have to do this. I should be doing it, but... not yet. I thought I was, but I'm not weady yet.'

"You, uh... also might need to see these." Rocky sat down and extended his left hind leg, pushing some of his fur out of the way. Leaning closer, Everest and Tracker saw it and gasped.

"Rocky! Qué le pasó a tus piernas? What happened to your leg?!" Tracker gasped. Everest was shocked, but wondered why the other pups weren't taking a look at his leg. She looked behind her, and saw that they were quiet. 'Did something happen? Why are they so quiet?'

Rocky extended his other hind leg. "LEGS." he corrected Tracker. "I, uh... kinda got scars on both of them now. Most of my fur covers them, so unless you look reeeeallly hard, you wouldn't know they were there." he explained.

Everest looked from the silent pups, to the whimpering and slightly shaking Zuma, who was still hiding his face in his paws, to the scarred legs of her eco-pup friend, and sat upright. Something had happened, all right- the solemn look on the others' faces pretty much gave that one away.

"Guys... what happened?" she asked. "I'm guessing it wasn't anything good?"

Rocky chuckled nervously, scratching behind his right ear. "Well, believe it or not, Everest, Tracker, it, uh... it started with, uh.. mer-pups."


And done! Okay, so this is actually going to be three chapters long... I thought I could finish it at two chapters, but it's definitely a longer idea than I thought. Ah well.

Please let me know what you think of this chapter. And as for the scars on Rocky's leg, I will be writing a story explaining that at a later time. THAT should be much shorter- like an actual one shot, but I'll see. Just know I'll be writing that story.

Until next (and I do believe last) chapter!