"This all started when Blane ran with Trent's gang, it's a;; his fault," Chase said with an angry growl.
"I'm sure he didn't want anything like this to happen Chase, he just made a mistake," Skye said in a soft, sweet voice.
"Yeah, one mistake which led to all of our lives being ruined!"
"Chase," Marshall said, "calm down, you're not doing any good getting worked up over this. All we need to do i-,"
"Shut up Marshall, you have no idea what this has done to me, especially to my relationship with Blane."
"But if you listen instead of blocking everything we say, we can come up with a plan!"
"So, is this what you meant by me being annoying?"
"You know what, yes, yes it is. You never let anyone tell you anything when all we want to do is HELP you!"
"Well, now I know what you think…"
"Think what? That you're being ignorant? Because you ARE being ignorant!"
"Leave."
"What?"
"You heard me, I don't want to see you until this whole thing with that dog blows over," Chase said while squinting his eyes.
"Fine, you don't want my help? Fine, I know when I'm not wanted."
Marshall stormed out of the room and Skye looked at Chase and face-pawed.
"Not this again, I thought this was behind us, but it's just worse."
"I'm starting to regret going into that house now."
Maddie walked up to Chase and slapped him in the face and said, "Chase, never say that again. You know well that no matter what, Marshall would give his life for you."
"That's what I thought too, until he told me what he really thought of me."
"Okay, the two of you are just being idiots right now, you should be happy that you're both still ALIVE right now. Now, we have to worry about a dog who probably could beat us all to a pulp if he was given the chance."
"She's right Chase, you need to forget that and face what's really important now."
The door opened and a certain dog walked in.
"Blane, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I heard you got hurt pretty badly, so I decided to come and see how you were doing."
"Well, everything WAS going just fine until one of your old lackeys came by and threatened me and the rest of the team."
"Who was it?"
"I have no clue, but he's a Shepard too."
Blane's face changed as soon as he realized who it was that Chase was talking about.
"Wait, I thought he got taken with the rest of Trent's brutes?"
"I guess not, because he came by and said that we either better give him fifty grand or me and Maddie have to go and work for him and his 'organization' if you would call it that. Pfft, they're no more than a bunch of hired thugs."
"Chase, they're more than thugs."
"Well what else could they be?"
"They're people and dogs that you never want to meet. They're too horrible for words."
"Well, I don't know what to do now. I mean, it's not like Ryder's going to be able to get fifty grand in two days, we're screwed."
"Chase, I'm sorry, this is all my fault, if I could change this, I would."
"(Sigh) I don't know what we're going to do. I don't want Chase and I to have to turn into thugs," Maddie said while starting to tear up.
"Don't cry Maddie, we'll get this sorted out," Skye said walking over to her.
Chase closed his eyes and shook his head knowing what was to come.
Ryder walked into the room and said, "pups, I have some news."
"What is it Ryder?" Blane asked.
"Oh, hi Blane. Well, I was able to get some money from Mayor Goodway."
"How much?"
"Well, I was only able to get thirty thousand."
Chase silently swore to himself as he heard the amount that they had left to get.
"Well, at least we have over half now," Rocky said trying to be optimistic.
"But we're still short by twenty thousand," Chase said returning to reality.
"What now?" Blane asked.
"Well, maybe I can talk to the… whatever you want to call him, and see if he could settle for thirty?" Ryder proposed.
"Well, maybe he'll be in another 'generous mood' and let us off easily," Marshall said walking in.
"What do you want Marshall, you know what I said."
Skye kicked Chase without anyone knowing to tell him to knock it off.
"Well, I was just seeing if there was anything I could do?"
"I don't know, we're in a tough spot. We only have thirty thousand."
"I heard, so how about we go with Ryder's plan for the time being?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, if you don't have the money, then you don't have the money."
"We have thirty, can't you settle for that?"
"No, my boss is very strict when it comes to his money, either you pay me in full or those two come and work for us," he said pointing to Chase and Maddie.
"Well, there has to be something else?"
"Well, since you have about half, I'll let you off a little less tough. Only one of you two has to come work for us."
"Fine, I'll go," Chase said stepping forward.
"Good, let's go," the rogue said turning to walk away.
"Marshall, I'm sorry for being such a jerk, I shouldn't have yelled at you. You were right."
"Don't say that Chase, I was being insensitive, I should have been less short minded."
"Are you coming or do you want my other plan instead?"
"I'm coming," Chase said while giving Skye a quick kiss on the cheek.
Skye started bawling when she saw Chase leaving with the dog.
"He'll be okay Skye, Chase is a strong pup."
Blane looked away and thought, 'I hope Chase can put up with what he's gonna have to go through.'
Chase was walking down the road when the rogue turned and said, "look Chase, I'm going to be honest, you're going to see things you wish you hadn't."
"Well then why do you work for them, huh? Do you like to watch people suffer?"
"No, of course not. Why would you ask that?"
"Well you seemed pretty emotionless when I was pulled away from my family and friends."
"Chase, it's all an act. I never want to hurt anybody but if it comes to that, then what has to be done gets done."
"What?"
"I never wanted to do this anyway."
"Well then why are you doing it now?"
"Because I was in an almost identical situation you were in. I had to repay someone and this was the only way out, I was the same kind of pup you were."
"Look, I didn't come for your life story, just tell me what I'm going to have to do."
"Well, first you're going to have to go through training so you can move like I can, I'll train you myself so don't worry. Then you're going to do jobs until you pay off the debt."
"Well, what kind of jobs am I going to have to do?"
"Well, let's just say, you're going to have to work with pups like Trent for a few years."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, YEARS?"
"Well, yeah, I'm only about half way through my debt, but it was more than yours so we'll both get off at around the same time."
"But, what about my friends? What about Skye and Blane? Will I ever see them again?"
"Unless they… you know… you should see them again. Plus we get a few weeks off every six months so we can see our family then."
"Wow, for a bunch of blood thirsty thugs, you guys really get treated well."
The dog let out a quick smirk as he turned back around and said, "come on, we have a long walk."
"Wait, I have one more question."
"What is it? We can talk while we're walking."
"What's your name?"
The dog stopped and turned to Chase and said, "if you really want my name, it's Cal."
"Okay, Cal."
"Let's go, it'll be dark soon and I want to get as close as we can."
"Yeah, sure," Chase said looking back on the distant town he called home nearly his entire life,
'Bye guys, I promise I'll be back soon,' he thought while walking down the road.
"Where are we going?"
"To our HQ, where you'll start your training."
"Where is it?"
"Sheesh, you ask a lot of questions, it's still a good number of hours walk from here."
"Okay, thanks Cal."
Cal quivered at the hearing of his name as they continued down the road.
After walking for nearly twelve hours that day, Cal stopped in a dirt clearing on the side of the road and said, "how 'bout we rest for the night?"
Chase, with his tongue lolling out from exhaustion said, "please."
Cal chuckled at how tired Chase was and set out to get some water. When he was out of sight, Chase pulled out his pup tag and gave Ryder a call.
Ryder was with the pups, still trying to comfort them from the loss of their friend. He was just about to say something, but he was stopped when his pup pad started to ring.
"Hello, Ryder here."
"Ryder?"
Everyone gasped at the sight of Chase when he appeared on the screen of the pup pad.
"Chase? What are you doing?"
"Well, I'm alone right now, so I decided to call and see how you guys were doing."
"We miss you Chase," Skye said from the back, "we need you to come home."
"I wish I could, but I can't not until this 'debt' gets repaid."
"Chase, what are you doing?" Cal asked from a distance.
"I'll talk to you later," Chase said as he quickly tried to hide his pup tag.
"What were you doing?"
"I- uuh, I was just talking to myself."
Cal looked at him funny and said, "okaaay, I got some water if you want some."
"Thanks Cal."
"Look, can you stop saying Cal all the time?"
"Why don't you like being called by your name?"
"Just stop okay?"
"Fine, but what do I call you then?"
"Just call me Drace."
"Drace?"
"Yeah, it was what I was called in training."
"Okay, Drace."
"So, how much longer until we reach your HQ?"
"Well, I'd say only about two more hours of walking, but you deserve a rest from walking so long."
"Well, let's not waste time, I want to reach civilization as soon as I can."
"Trust me, where we're going, there's not much civilization."
"Well, then what are the others like?"
"You'll be fine, just don't bother anyone."
"But what are they like?"
"They aren't like you and me, we're the only ones who were forced to do this, they really are blood thirsty thugs."
Chase gulped upon knowing this and thinking about what this is going to do to him. He laid down and tried to sleep, but he couldn't get the thoughts of how he was going to change and how Skye was going to think of him when he got back out of his head.
After two hours of lying awake, Chase managed to doze off and sleep for a few hours. It wasn't until about six hours later that Chase was woken by Drace and they were on their way once again.
Chase looked off in the distance to see a large building in a field surrounded by a bunch of other small ones.
"Now Chase, it's going to be tough the first few days, so just stick by me and you'll be fine."
"Got it, let's just get it over with."
"The others are probably still asleep, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem on the way in for you."
"Okay, let's go."
Chase and Drace walked to the entrance of the came and were immediately let in when they recognized Drace.
"So Drace, this is the runt you have to take care of?"
"Shut up Leo, he's stronger than you are, I guarantee it."
"Oh really, well let's see how 'strong' the little pup is," Leo said getting into a pouncing position.
"Knock it off Leo, just let us in."
"Sure thing. Hey Brad, open the gate."
"Got it."
The gate opened to reveal a whole mess of dogs and people walking around minding their own business. That was, until Chase walked in with Drace and everybody's heads were pointed in their direction. Chase got a whole assortment of looks as he passed by everybody. He got looks of disgust and complete disinterest and looks that told him they were thinking, 'this scrawny thing won't last a week.'
"Over here, you're staying here," Drace said pointing out a dog bed for him.
"Don't worry, I'm right next to you so the others won't bother you," he whispered to Chase causing him to ease up a slight bit.
"So, what happens next?"
"Get rest, and a lot of it. You'll need it because your training starts tomorrow."
"Okay," Chase said while walking over to his bed.
"Hey guys," a Pitbull said, "get a load of this one."
"I bet he'll run in the first week," another Shepard said.
Chase ignored what they were saying and walked right past them thinking about what Drace told him, 'you'll be fine.' Chase walked around in his bed and laid down, trying to get as much sleep as he could, but it was impossible. He didn't know what to do, so he got up and went over to Drace who was talking to some other dogs.
Chase was a runt in comparison to the tougher built dogs and was immediately intimidated when they all looked at him in sync.
"Hey Drace."
"Hey Chase, what do you need?"
"Just wondering if I could start my training now?"
The others, Drace included, looked at Chase with a surprised look.
"You want to start you training now?"
"Well I can't sleep, and it's better than getting scowls wherever I go, so yeah."
"Okay, follow me."
Okay, that was a long chapter, but the ideas just kept flowing and I didn't want to stop. I hope you liked the change in the story, but why doesn't Drace like being called his name and what's going to happen to Chase's relationship with Skye? Let's just say, things are just getting started for this, so get ready. I hope you liked the chapter and I'll see you later.
