Author's note:

Aaaaaaand the chapter we've aaallllllllll been waiting for! Backstory time! - ... Kinda. Btw, a threw in a reference to "Pups Save a Friend!"

Yes, a know, I'm kinda a troll for only explaining a portion for this chapter. Torturing readers: authors love it, fans hate it. :/

To Reviewers:

- C&N: Thanks!

- PBJ: Mwu-ah-ha-haa!

- Red: According to this chapter, Skye sees it! xD Thanks!

- MarshalB: Wow! Really? Thank you! I shall continue to write this (hopefully) well! *Salutes*

Soundtrack(?) of the day: "Bitter" by 12 Stones. (totally Everest's backstory song!)

Enjoy the chapter:

~ Ashla

After the meeting dissolved, Marshall walked over to Ryder and Chase to talk. Everest could only watch him.

She had to tell him.

Ryder knew more about her now, but the information he knew was puny. Everest knew that she had reached breaking point. She needed to let Marshall in on her...

As she stood in the distance, watching, a voice came from behind her.

"Stalking much?"

Everest's eyes widened before she turned to face Skye, who was giving her this smirk.

Everest blushed, "Uh- no- I-"

Skye giggled, "No worries! I do it too..." she looked back to where Marshall and Chase were, talking alone. Chase playfully swatted a nervous looking Marshall's arms.

Everest had realized what every single human (and pup) on the face of Adventure Bay knew a while ago - Chase and Skye had this thing for each other. The way Skye looked at him with this longing, Everest saw it again.

"Why not tell him?"

Skye steadily turned red. She looked at her, then back to Chase. "Uhhh..."

Everest rolled her eyes, sitting down. "Never mind."

For a moment, silence passed. Then Skye spoke up, "Fully recovered then?"

Everest grinned; her tail wagged wildly, "Yeah! Marshall did a great job patching me up."

Skye nodded, "He may not ever say anything like this himself, but he's an amazing medic. He's always lacked this sense of confidence, but... he's stronger than even he thinks."

Everest nodded, watching as Marshall smirked and threw some playful banter back to Chase. He was strong, yet... the story of that time he ran away from the team had been a shocker to her. Why would he have thought himself unfit? After everything he'd done for them?

Everest shook her head, "Does he always need confidence boosts?"

Skye scoffed, "Not always. But there are those times we'll notice him hit an 'emo streak' as Zuma calls it."

Everest nodded. Now, she was itching to get to him. Finally, the conversation between him and Chase broke up with laughs and a goodbye. Everest leaped for the opportunity, before Marshall could walk over to where Rocky and Zuma were.

"Marsh?"

Marshall's left ear lifted upon hearing Everest. Marshall turned to her with a nervous smile, "Hey, Ev."

Everest sat down next to him, prodding her front paws uncomfortably. She had... no idea how to start this conversation.

Finally, Marshall broke the silence, "What's wrong."

Everest looked to the ground for a moment. "Um... you said I... could... p-pull you aside when- ready?"

Marshall nodded then tilted his head towards the elevator, "C'mon then!"

As the two went there, Marshall told Ryder they would be back soon.

Soon enough, they found themselves sitting at the shore of the pond close by the lookout.

Marshall waited as Everest collected courage, letting the water run through his paw as he stuck it in the shallows. For a moment, Everest considered going back. She forced herself to stay though. She'd come too far to back down now...

Here goes nothing...

Everest looked away from him, towards her reflection, and spoke.

"I wasn't always by myself in the arctic. I was actually born there. I had two other siblings, but- they didn't make it. My parents always said they named me 'Everest' because how strong I was. I never really paid any notice to death, the story of my siblings never got to me. The first time I really understood it was... mom."

For another moment, that face engraved in her memory like words in iron came back to her. Everest finally chocked up.

"My parents were both rescuers. My dad was the one out in the field while mom was the medic. I take after dad's joking and outright trollish personality. My mom hated it, always lectured us and told me to do my chores, inside, for once. I wanted to be outside though; I just never connected with mom until that moment- she-"

Everest closed her eyes, that horrid memory taking over.

"We originally had two bridges connecting our igloo to the rest of the snowy hills - over that gorge. Mom was going over the unstable one to rescue this climber... neither of them made it..."

The bridge shaking, her mother looking down in fear before looking towards her family one last time. She smiled for them, all her love and care showing before-

Crack...

Everest finally shed some tears, "Whe-when she fell... it was like a change between day and night for us. I was suddenly inside all the time. I cleaned the entire igloo daily, like she always nagged me to. Dad, he just... shut down... like the very life in him was sucked out."

Everest had to take a moment. She wiped her tears away. For the first time in this conversation, a sob escaped her. She forced herself not to look weak, at least she tried. A grim expression came across her though when she whispered, "No sooner than that was it his turn..."