7:30PM.
Half an hour until Mayor Goodway's arrival and the time of the broadcast. Since Chase's apology, the pups had been trying to find ways to amuse themselves. But no matter what they tried, they simply couldn't muster up the will to keep going. Rubble kept starting on digging holes, only to give up before even being able to put his paws halfway in. Rocky kept trying to concentrate on inventing, but his mind clouded over before he could commit to anything. Skye stayed in her Pup House, continuing to swim in her own guilt. Tracker, for his part, never left Chase's side, keeping watch over the pup at all times. Jake and Carlos hadn't stopped talking about Ryder, except perhaps to talk about how their pups were doing. And Everest was currently trying to calm the nerves of a very anxious dalmatian inside his Pup House.
"Aw, c'mon, Marshall, there's nothing to be scared of!" Everest said, concerned that Marshall might make a trench in the floor if he kept pacing in circles.
"There's everything to be scared of!" Marshall babbled in a camera-shy frenzy. "Wh-What if I do something silly?! What if one of us breaks down?! What if the equipment catches fire?! What if we have an earthquake?!"
Everest couldn't stop herself from snorting at how ridiculous some of Marshall's theories were. "What are the odds of that happening, though?"
"I dunno! But anything could happen, right?"
Everest groaned. "Marshall, you know I love you. You're like the little brother I never had. But even you've gotta know how silly you sound right now. If there was an earthquake on the way, we'd know about it. You always do silly stuff, and no-one thinks any less of you for it. I'm sure you could put the equipment out if it caught fire. And as for the whole thing about breaking down..." Everest paused for a second. "Well, OK, that might happen… But we'll all be here to help each other out, you know?"
As Everest finished her sentence, Marshall was still looking jittery, but he had at least stopped pacing. He seemed to stop to think about what Everest had just said for a few minutes, before sighing.
"I hate stage fright..." Marshall moaned.
"But we haven't even started yet!" Everest replied.
"I dunno… I guess I'm more… edgy than usual?"
"Oh..." Everest suddenly realised that Marshall's nerves probably weren't in the greatest of condition at the moment, considering the last few days that he'd had. Everest walked up to Marshall and licked his cheek a few times.
"Well, how about this? Mayor Goodway knows how bad things are. I'm sure she'll take it slow. And we can stay right next to you the whole time. Besides, it's not like you're gonna have to answer everything yourself. The cameras aren't just gonna be on you."
Slowly, Marshall turned to look at Everest.
"I guess? ...Maybe?"
Everest bumped her nose against Marshall's. "Don't be afraid. It'll all work out. You'll be fine. We're not gonna leave you alone up there. Not this time." she whispered.
After a brief pause, Marshall moved to nuzzle the husky.
"OK..." Marshall whispered back. "Do my best, forget the rest… I'll be counting on you guys."
Everest smiled widely. "Ice or snow: I'm ready to go!"
Everest spent the next few minutes discussing what might happen in the broadcast with Marshall, including, at his behest and to his eternal relief, earthquake drills. From rehearsing answers to learning how to stay calm with a camera in his face, Everest did her best to not leave stones unturned. Marshall may have been more panicky than usual, but the pain of losing him for three days made Everest determined to do everything she could make him happy. Everest soon took a look at the time in Marshall's Pup House, noticing that it now read 7:53PM.
"Oop! Mayor Goodway should be here in a few minutes." Everest realised.
"Wha-?!" Marshall yelped. "But we've only been practicing for five minutes!"
Everest giggled. "Time flies, huh? I'll go get the other pups."
Marshall swallowed hard. "Oh, jeez, oh, jeez, oh, jeez, it's almost here, it's almost here-" Marshall paused to slap himself across the face. "BREATHE, darn it!"
Marshall didn't really breathe as much as he did suck in air without much regard for what to do with it before exhaling it back out, ironically making him feel even more panicked and his heart beat even more rapidly. Internally, the dalmatian cursed how on-edge he was, to the point that he was so wrapped up in cursing himself that he jumped at the feeling of Everest's paw on his shoulder. And as if by magic, his heart slowed back down to a steady rhythm, his breathing now far more stable.
"Shh..." Everest whispered reassuringly. "You're fine… There's nothing to be scared of… Look, if you go to the bridge, I'll send the other pups round. We'll all wait together."
Silently, Marshall waited for Everest to take her paw away.
"OK..." Marshall squeaked, still feeling nervous. He slowly moved out of his Pup House and towards the bridge.
Marshal kept his gaze fixed firmly forward. Unfortunately, that accursed funeral portrait of him continued to smile down at him from the floor next to him after it had been moved away from his Pup House. He prayed that Mayor Goodway would want to take it away. The constant reminders of his near-fatal accident were doing nothing to assuage his nerves. Though he wasn't so rigidly focused on the bridge that he didn't notice a set of paws getting closer to him. The familiar scent gave away who it was, and Marshall was unsurprised when he felt something warm at his side.
"You doing OK, buddy?" Chase asked.
Marshall sighed heavily. "I dunno, Chase… I feel way more… well, jumpy than usual."
"I'm not surprised… I mean, after…" Chase whimpered a little before answering. "...surviving THAT… I don't think anyone would really be calm afterwards..."
"And the stage fright… I'm gonna be on TV, I'm gonna give an interview to heck-knows-how-many people… I. CAN'T. DEAL."
Marshall was surprised to feel Chase moving his head around to meet his gaze. "Yes you can. Because you've got us, this time. We're not gonna be as useless as we were three days ago."
"Huh?!" Marshall spluttered. "Useless?! I-I never said anything about you guys being useless! Where the heck did you get that?!"
"Don't act like you don't know!" Chase shot back. "We couldn't save you! How are we anything BUT useless when we can't save someone when it matters most!"
"But there was nothing you could do! I said it looked like that was the end because we straight up didn't have any way of getting me out of there! You saw how fragile that ledge was! And that river's current was way too fast! Even Zuma couldn't swim through that!"
"That's why we're useless! We're supposed to be ready for anything! And that was something we weren't ready for!"
"Even if you were ready for it, that ledge crumbled way too quickly! You couldn't save me, but there wasn't any time to! That doesn't make you useless!"
"Yes it does!"
"No it doesn't!"
"Yes it does!"
"No it doesn't!"
"HEY!"
The two pups froze from the loud shout that came from the side made by a pair of voices. They both turned to see Rocky and Tracker looking at them with angry expressions.
"What the heck are you two doing?!" Rocky demanded. "We leave you alone for a few seconds and you start arguing?!"
"We're all tense here, but what makes you think that a shouting match will make things better?!" Tracker added angrily.
The shepherd and dalmatian quickly felt their ears droop, along with their heads. Both parties let out a sad whine as they realised what they were doing.
"G-Guys… W-We're..." Marshall began.
"We're sorry..." Chase joined in, finishing Marshall's sentence at the same time.
"I… I-I was just..." Marshall stammered.
"Yeah, we know. We heard everything." Tracker interrupted.
"I didn't need Tracker's ears to hear you two yelling at each other a mile away." Rocky added sternly.
"B-But you guys AREN'T useless… At all..." Marshall whispered. "I don't hate you at all… I don't hold anything against you..."
Rocky sighed, before turning to a more gentle expression. "We know, Marshall… But we all still feel guilty… Like we could've done something..."
"But none of you could..."
"Doesn't matter, amigo..." Tracker chimed in. "We were totally powerless, and yet we still feel responsible for letting you die..."
"Whether we could do something or not doesn't matter." Chase said. "Losing you was the worst day of my life… Everyone else's too… We're not gonna let go of that easily, you know?"
"And the fact we got you back…" Rocky continued. "Well, I'd say that's proof miracles exist..."
Marshall whimpered. "Guys… come here?"
The pups didn't see fit to deny Marshall's request. All three of them moved in and sat down in front of Marshall, allowing him to put his paws around them all, as they all did the same thing for each other.
"You're right, Rocky… It was a miracle that I lived through that… Maybe we all need time to get over this… Do you… do you think we'll ever be happy again?"
Rocky sighed heavily. "I don't know, Marshall… I-I really don't know what to say..."
"I'd say 'maybe'..." Tracker whispered. "There's no changing the fact the accident happened, after all… I think we're all gonna be thinking about it for a long time..."
"If we're gonna get over this, it's gonna take a lot of work..." Chase conceded. "I don't think anything will change how useless we all felt that we couldn't save you… But maybe if we're there for each other, we can all move on? And make sure we're ready if that ever happens again?"
"Then… Let's all do our best… right?" Marshall asked quietly.
"Yeah…" Rocky agreed.
"Si..." Tracker added
"Right." Chase concluded. "Do our best, forget the rest."
Marshall grinned widely. "That's the spirit..."
It didn't take long for the other pups to arrive. Naturally, they were concerned when they noticed the four-way embrace being shared by the pups already at the bridge, but Chase was able to slightly allay their concerns, saying that they got into a little spat, but everything was fine. The shepherd was careful to avoid going into detail, though. The last thing they needed was more arguments. But it didn't take long after the arrival of Rubble, the last pup, for a pair of cars to pull up to the bridge. Two men stepped out of the car at the back, and out of the front car stepped Mayor Goodway herself, who walked over the bridge while the two men buzzed around their car, retrieving a camera and a boom mic.
"Hello, pups!" Mayor Goodway called, with Chickaletta in her purse at her side.
"Hi, Mayor Goodway!" The pups shouted in unison.
"I hope you're all ready..." Mayor Goodway reached towards her purse, only to find her purse chicken holding a small microphone in her beak. "Oh! Why thank you, my little chicky-wicky!" she cooed. "Because we go live in five minutes!"
"I… think?" Marshall replied uncertainly.
Mayor Goodway looked at him. "Uh-oh. A little nervous, are we?"
Marshall's eyes widened. "Huh?! H-How did you know?"
"It's written all over your face!" Mayor Goodway chuckled, before kneeling down in front of Marshall. "There's nothing to be scared of, pup. We'll go slowly, so don't feel under pressure to speak if you don't want to. Besides, everyone else is here, too. We're not going to keep the spotlight on you the whole way through."
"Good..." Marshall sighed. "I don't think I could take it..."
"Don't worry. We completely understand." Goodway replied. "But I'm sure the other pups will help you out, won't they?" Mayor Goodway cast her eyes over the pups.
"Duh!" Skye immediately replied.
"We've talked about this, you know?" Everest added. "We'll help Marshall through this."
"See?" Mayor Goodway turned back to Marshall. "You'll be fine."
In the time it had taken for Mayor Goodway to talk to Marshall, the two crew members had been flitting around the group, busily setting up the camera and boom mic. They also moved Marshall's funeral portrait to Mayor Goodway's car, after she had mercifully agreed to take the reminder of their misery off their paws. With the fact that the sun was starting to dip below the Adventure Bay horizon, the sky had turned a fine shade of orange. At present, the lighting couldn't be better. Marshall looked around at the smiling faces of the pups around him, along with the crew busying themselves with their equipment.
"We're live in 30 seconds, Mayor Goodway!" the cameraman called.
"Here we go, Marshall, pups!" Goodway said excitedly, clearing her throat, muttering some rehearsed lines to herself.
"Well…" Marshall said, looking around at the other pups. "Here goes..."
A few seconds later the cameraman spoke again. "We're on in 3… 2… 1..."
With the light on the camera turning red, Mayor Goodway turned towards it, microphone in hand, and began to speak.
"Good evening, Adventure Bay." she began. "Mayor Goodway here with an unbelievable announcement. Three days ago, it was announced here that Marshall, the fire pup of the Paw Patrol, had tragically died on a rescue that had also involved police pup Chase and group leader Ryder. But today, a stunning new development has occurred." Mayor Goodway could barely keep the elated smile off of her face. "Earlier today, it was discovered that Marshall had miraculously survived his ordeal, and is now safely back in Adventure Bay."
At this point, Mayor Goodway stepped aside to reveal the group of smiling pups. And among them was the same dalmatian that had been declared dead before that same camera three days ago. Marshall's smile, however, was noticeably a little more strained.
"Exactly how Marshall returned from a lethal accident is something that nobody is sure of..." Goodway continued. "...but Marshall and the pups have allowed us a quick interview. Marshall, thank you so much for your time today."
Marshall flinched slightly as Mayor Goodway extended the microphone to him. "I-It's nothing, Mayor Goodway. Th-Thanks for, er, h-having me."
Mayor Goodway laughed slightly. "Oh, Marshall, after you came back, it's the least we could do! Now, why don't we start off with what happened?"
"Er, yeah, sure..."
"Hey, Marshall?" Chase cut in. "Want me to help out with this part?"
"Er, th-that'd be great, Chase… Th-Thanks..."
With Chase at Marshall's side, the pups explained Marshall's story into the camera. They tried to keep it brief, with Marshall throwing in some thanks to Tracker for good measure, causing the chihuahua to give an embarrassed grin.
"...it's still hard to believe that Marshall even came back, to be honest..." Chase concluded.
"I should say so!" Mayor Goodway replied. "But then, Marshall has always been a hardy pup, no?"
"No… Er- yeah, yeah!" Marshall stammered. "I don't even know how I managed to survive all that… Being smashed into rocks and being washed so far away that it takes me three days to walk back… Heck, even Zuma couldn't swim through that. I'm a pretty unlucky pup, but I always do say to do my best and forget the rest."
Mayor Goodway smiled again. "Marshall, you are one amazing pup. Even when things get rough, you never give up. Anyway, next question: What do you think you might do now that you're back?"
Marshall glanced back at Everest, who smiled and gestured with her paw.
"W-Well..." Marshall began. "I guess I'm gonna take some time out… I mean, I wanna get back to rescuing at some point, but… Right now, all I wanna do is rest… And spend time with the other pups."
"That makes sense." Goodway replied. "After all, losing you basically put the whole town in mourning…" She reached out and rubbed Marshall's head soothingly. "But we're all so glad to have you back… And speaking of mourning, do you all plan on coming to the funeral in a week?"
"We, er… do…" Marshall stammered.
"Er, excuse me?" Skye piped up from the back, stepping forward. "I'd like to say something, if that's OK?"
"Of course, Skye." Goodway replied, moving the microphone over to the cockapoo. "Go ahead?"
"As the Paw Patrol, we've agreed that we will come to the funeral. Some of us would like to speak there, too. But right now, we don't know if Ryder's gonna be coming or not."
"Wait, how did you know we were all going?" Marshall asked.
"Oh, Everest told me." Skye turned back to the camera. "Anyway, we know the town's gonna be really happy to have Marshall back. Just like we were. But right now, we're in kind of a delicate spot. If everyone in Adventure Bay could please give us some space, that'd be great. We've gotta try and get ourselves together, so please, let us have some time to ourselves for a while?"
Skye stepped back from the microphone, which Mayor Goodway took back to herself, looking back at the camera and standing her full height.
"And there you have it." she stated. "The Paw Patrol are requesting that the citizens of Adventure Bay, Foggy Bottom and any other towns and cities give them some space to recover. This has been an emotionally-harrowing few days for everyone involved, and before next week's funeral, they're all going to need time to get better. As for the funeral itself..."
Mayor Goodway started to give out details of the funeral for next week. Even though the pups knew that it was still on despite Marshall still being alive, they continued to listen intently as Mayor Goodway gave details of the time, date and schedule of the funeral.
"Thank you all for tuning in on this historic day. And let this go to show: Miracles DO exist. This is Mayor Goodway: signing off."
"And cut!" The cameraman declared.
With these words, Mayor Goodway visibly relaxed, handing her microphone back to Chickaletta.
"See, Marshall? That wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked gently.
"Heh, I admit, I do feel a little silly after that..." Marshall admitted.
"Not a single earthquake, either!" Everest joked.
"Earthquake?!" Mayor Goodway scoffed. "Ugh, you silly pup!"
Once more, she playfully rubbed the giggling pup's head.
"So, with the word out, I think it's about high time I let you pups rest." Goodway went on. "And just in time, too, with the sun nearly down."
Indeed, the sun had almost finished its journey below the horizon, with the sky turning a dark shade of dusky pink.
"I'll head back to City Hall. Hopefully Herbert won't have changed the locks by the time I get there..."
"Hope not! I'm not really in the mood to arrest anyone!" Chase joked.
Mayor Goodway laughed. "Well, see you later, pups!"
"Bye, Mayor Goodway!" the pups called as the Mayor walked back to her car, only to stop partway there.
"Oh, and pups?" she said. "I know it's not going to be easy. But please, when you can, take care of Ryder… That boy's clearly not in a good way… Sooner or later, he's going to have to face his problems… Even when it hurts worse than anything."
Leaving the pups stunned into silence, the Mayor and her filming crew got into their cars and departed back into Adventure Bay. The pups listened until the sound of engines dwindled into the distance.
"But how are we gonna get Wyder to face his pwoblems…?" Zuma asked quietly.
"He won't even face us right now!" Rubble added.
"Look guys, that's gonna have to come later." Chase interjected. "It's not gonna be easy, so let's just sleep on it for now. We'll figure something out."
"But what about dinner?" Rubble asked.
"Well, after dinner, I mean." Chase realised. "And I haven't eaten anything since this morning, either. Let's all go get some food and go right to bed, OK?"
The chorus of responses were unanimously in agreement.
"Oh, yes, PLEASE..."
"Totally..."
"Dreamland, here I come..."
"I'm gonna sleep for weeks..."
The pups were all too eager to get some food after not eating since the morning. The day had been nothing short of hectic, with emotional reunions packing their schedules, along with seeing more of Ryder than they had in days. The contents of their bowls, including the spare ones for Tracker and Everest, had vanished very quickly. The pups had even managed to keep pace with Rubble and Everest, who were both known for being big eaters.
Sadly, things hadn't gone as well for Jake and Carlos. Both of them had attempted to get through to Ryder for several hours, but he still refused to come out of his room. They reported that the only thing they'd succeeded in getting out of Ryder was that he'd needed his own bed tonight. Realising that this was a fight they weren't going to win for the time being, the pups conceded, and Jake and Carlos had gotten some food of their own before retiring to the tents that they had outside.
The pups had finally finished their food before Marshall decided to ask a question. A question that had been bugging him since the early hours of the day. A question that had to do with Rocky's angry reaction towards a certain part of his own story.
"Guys? Can I ask something?" Marshall asked.
"What's up?" Skye replied.
Marshall took a deep breath. "Earlier today, Rocky said that the thought of someone taking my place made him sick… I'm curious: Do you guys think the same?"
It wasn't long before Marshall realised that maybe he hadn't asked the best question as he felt several sets of eyes burning into him with appalled looks.
"WHAT?!" Skye shrieked. "Marshall, how could even think that WOULDN'T make us sick?! We- we can't just REPLACE you!"
"B-But..." Marshall stammered, now a little afraid. "Rocky… reacted so badly to that thought-"
"And I stand by it!" Rocky spat indignantly. "There's only one fire pup for THIS team, and he's standing right in front of us!"
"Why do you even feel like you needed to ask that?!" Rubble added. "Is this because we gave up on you out there?!"
"Wh- no, I-!"
"Are you trying to say that we think you shouldn't have come back or something?!" Tracker demanded. "Don't tell me you think that we don't like you or something!"
"N-No, Tracker! I-I was just curious! Rocky got really mad at the thought of me being replaced-"
"We ALL got mad at the thought of weplacing you!" Zuma spat. "Stop making us think about it! Please!"
"B-But-!"
"NO!" Everest yelled. "Marshall, we don't wanna hear any more! Please! Drop it!"
"O-OK! OK!" Marshall shouted, obviously frightened. "I-I'm sorry!"
Suddenly, the pups began to feel guilty, noticing how they had scared Marshall. He may have asked an uncomfortable question, but they realised that their reactions were probably too forceful. The only one who hadn't replied was Chase, who moved over to Marshall, casting a disapproving look over the rest of the pups.
"Marshall…" Chase began gently. "I know we all got a little fired up there… But it's all true… The thought of a Paw Patrol without you is just… WRONG. Let's say you didn't come back and that we DID replace you."
"Chase-!" Rocky shouted.
Chase whipped around to the mixed breed. "Just hear me out!" he shouted, before turning back to Marshall. "Like I said, let's say the worst happened and we replaced you. So we'd have this new pup: Cool. Collected. Controlled. Really good fire pup right off the bat. Nicest pup you could hope to meet, too. Really friendly. But it doesn't matter who that pup is or what they could do. There's something that they don't have..."
Chase walked up to Marshall, sat down, and pulled him into a hug of desperation. "...your Marshall-ness. And that, as far as we all think, makes them a way worse fire pup than you on your worst days. They could be the nicest pup in the world, but I don't think we'd ever get along with them..."
Suddenly, Chase's voice grew more shaky. "I mean, every time we looked at that pup, every time they went on a rescue, every time they even talked, we'd just be reminded of the one pup we couldn't save. Our best friend- no, our brother… Our brother who died on a rescue… The one pup we failed when that pup needed us the most… We shouldn't be talking to your replacement! That pup shouldn't even be in your place at all! It wouldn't matter how hard we tried! That pup would just be a walking, talking reminder of our failure! They'd never be able to fill your spot! We could all do our best to love that pup like we would you, but it just wouldn't be the same! I know it's unfair, but we'd only end up hating that pup because HE'S! NOT! YOU!"
It was plain to see that Chase had broken down into uncontrollable sobbing at the reality that he was nearly forced to endure with everyone else. It got to the point where everyone else was crying at least slightly at Chase's passionate speech at how important Marshall was to them. Even Marshall found himself crying, and quickly hugged Chase back, with the pair nuzzling each other as they continued to cry for a few minutes.
"S-Sorry..." Chase whimpered. "G-Got a little too much into it there..."
"No worries…" Marshall replied with a sniffle. "I mean, you pretty much answered my question..."
"Chase basically hit the nail on the head..." Rocky chimed in shakily. "We can't replace you… ever… you… mean too much to us to replace..."
"There's a whole bunch of pups out there who could do your job." Chase whispered. "But none of them are you..."
Marshall didn't reply. He only hugged Chase even tighter, sobbing in quiet gratitude. The pups had already made it crystal clear how much he meant to them, but they had all just affirmed it further: Marshall was part of a family who loved him. And that family had been broken by his loss. But now he was back, and he could work to fix it.
"You feeling alright, pal?" Chase asked quietly, having recovered his voice after five minutes.
"I am now…" Marshall replied fondly.
"You think you're ready for bed?"
"Oh yeah..." Marshall sighed tiredly. "I guess I'd better head to my Pup House-"
"Oh no you don't." Chase interrupted. "There's NO WAY we're sleeping in our Pup Houses tonight. Our own beds are the last thing we need right now, right guys?"
"Right!" The pups all barked back in unison.
Marshall was a little confused. "But… If we're not sleeping in our Pup Houses, then-"
"Where will we sleep?" Chase finished Marshall's question. "Easy." Chase finally separated from Marshall with a fond smile. "Rocky? Can you go fetch the pillows from the closet?"
"You got it, Chase!" Rocky replied, trotting off to the closet where their pet beds were kept.
"Pups? Can you give him a hand? Just take them all?" Chase added.
"On it!" they responded, following Rocky to the closet.
"THAT brings back memories..." Marshall whispered, closing his eyes.
"They sure do..." Chase added, doing the same. Still kinda feels like yesterday we were throwing those at each other... We… almost lost being able to have good times like that, you know..."
"I know..." Marshall replied sadly. "But let's try not to think about that now. Besides, I made it back OK, right?"
"Yeah..."
Soon, the six other pups returned, each one carrying two pillows in their mouth.
"Be ghoph whaph yoo aphkep phow, Chkache." Everest said around the pillows in her mouth.
"Great!" Chase replied. "Just pile 'em up in the middle of the floor, there?"
The pups set about putting all of their pillows in a massive cushiony puddle on the floor.
"How's this, jefe?" Tracker asked.
"Err… Tracker, er… what's a... 'heff eh'?" Chase stammered.
Tracker rolled his eyes in amusement. "It means 'boss', Chase…" he replied with an amused grin.
"OH!" Chase shouted. "Yeah, that's great, Tracker! Thanks, guys!" Chase then turned to Marshall.
"Go on. Get comfy." he instructed gently.
"Err, OK..." Marshall replied tentatively.
Slowly, Marshall approached the middle of the sea of pillows. He wasn't aware that they were planning a sleepover for him, but in hindsight, he thought, he really should have seen that coming. He found a decent spot in the middle of the pile, turned in place a few times, and then settled down on top of the plush surface, surprised at how good it felt. Maybe it was magnified by how tired he was?
"How's that? Good?" Chase asked.
"Yeah… It feels really good, actually..." Marshall replied.
"Great… Now..." Chase smiled warmly. "Eyes closed. And no peeking."
Marshall did as he was told, slowly closing his eyes tightly. Now he was really curious. Especially when he happened to hear several sets of paws padding up to him. But then he felt something warm snuggling into his side. And then something else warm pressing down across his body. And then he felt something warm snuggling into his other side. Then he felt his head being pushed up from the floor by something soft. And with a click, he heard the lights of the building being turned off, along with more activity before everything went quiet.
"OK." Chase whispered. "You can open them now."
Marshall wasted no time in opening his eyes. What he saw was startling, but by no means unwelcome. Below his head he felt the soft, fuzzy texture of Rocky's fur, as he saw that the mixed breed was serving as his pillow for the night. To his right, he saw Chase snuggled tightly into his side. To his left was Skye, doing the same. And around him he saw Zuma, Rubble and Tracker all piled around him. The only pup missing was Everest, and the glimpse of lavender fur out of the corner of his from behind him indicated that the husky was currently keeping him warm by settling down to sleep on top of him.
"Oh…" Marshall whispered.
"How's that for a sleepover?" Chase whispered fondly into Marshall's ear. "You're not sleeping alone tonight…"
Marshall felt his eyes moisten again. "Y-You guys..." he replied waveringly, feeling like he was about to cry with joy. "Y-You guys are… t-too good to me..."
"Psh…" Rocky scoffed quietly. "This is the least we could do after nearly losing you..."
"I think what he means to say is..." Skye whispered into Marshall's other ear. "Welcome. Home."
"You're all… You're all the best..." Marshall whimpered happily.
Being surrounded by all the warm fur and kindness of his pack quickly sapped Marshall's energy, and the pup soon fell asleep, still feeling deliriously happy and completely safe. Not only at finally being home, but being surrounded by his family's love and warmth. And shortly after, one by one, the remaining pups quickly fell into a deep, blissful slumber along with Marshall. And every single pup felt the same way as their newly-returned brother. Deliriously happy and completely safe, with all of their pain and sadness quickly pushed aside.
Well, with this chapter, two major milestones have been reached. The first one is that this is the longest chapter that I've uploaded for this story to date, at 5.2K words long. But I've got longer in the works, so this record isn't going to be that way for long.
Anyway, the second milestone is that this is officially the end of the story's first "phase" as I referred to it in writing. I'd like to say this is the halfway mark, but then, that'd be somewhat untrue. But this is a big point for the story, especially since it shifts from "establishing what Adventure Bay was like post-Marshall River Fall" to showing the recovery of the pups. Chase's apology in the last chapter was just the starting point. How are the remaining plotlines going to be resolved? Well, stay tuned...
And as for a recap, in case you wanted that, now Adventure Bay knows that Marshall survived after all, and that the funeral is still on. And once more, the pups make clear how badly broken they were, and would be, without one of their number.
Anyway, the story will pick back up once again this Saturday. And as always, if you enjoyed this, then please don't hesitate to leave a review or send a favourite or follow my way. Thanks for listening and I hope to see you next time.