"Zuma was like a baby brother to us in a lot of ways." Chase concluded. "We all loved playing with him when he was little. And he REALLY wanted to be part of the Paw Patrol. He just couldn't find his place for a long time."
"I just wish I wasn't such a late bloomer..." Zuma sighed.
"There's nothing wrong with being a late bloomer, Zuma." Marshall reassured. "Better late than never, after all. Besides, you know we would've kept you even if you weren't cut out to be part of the Paw Patrol!"
"Marshall's right!" Skye declared. "We all nearly worshipped you back then! We wouldn't wanna get rid of you!"
"I can't imagine the group without you, Zuma!" Rocky added.
"It's thanks to you I learned how to swim!" Rubble said, giving a toothy bulldog grin.
Zuma smiled even more widely than before. "Aww, you guys..." he laughed bashfully.
"Hey, if these baby pictures are anything to go by, it sounds like everyone's right!" Everest said.
"Paw Patrol or not, it still looks you had a heck of a life, Zuma!" Tracker added.
Everyone quickly turned their attention to what Tracker was talking about. It was a collage of smaller pictures of a very young Zuma. There were all kinds of pictures in it, from the tiny pup staring in wonderment into the camera while covered in a beard of bath suds, to a shot of Ryder bottle-feeding him, Chase carrying Zuma on his back, Marshall going down the slide with Zuma in front of him and many more. With silly and cute photos alike, Zuma truly looked like the group's baby brother, just as Chase had described him.
"They all said my twue calling was kinda obvious when they thought about it." Zuma explained. "Like, I always liked swimming and baths. Heh, Wyder actually said it was always hard to get me out of the tub."
The pups giggled again.
"Well, whenever you went down to the beach, you always went straight for the sea." Chase offered.
"And Chase had to net you to stop you from taking a shower under a waterfall!" Marshall added.
"We all knew you were cut out to be a water pup, Zuma." Skye reassured. "We just wanted you to find out in your own time. We didn't wanna force you. We've all got stuff we're good at, here."
"No, I know..." Zuma said with a grin. "I wemember how good it felt when I saved Wally that one time… I always had a feeling that I was cut out to be a water pup. And that basically cemented it."
"We were all so proud!" Rocky said.
"I kinda wish I wasn't a couple weeks late to see that one." Rubble sighed.
"Like I said, better late than never, right?" Marshall said reassuringly, flipping to the next page.
What greeted the pups next was the sight of a cockapoo mid-flip at the head of a pair of perturbed pups, with a silver helicopter with pink highlights parked behind them all. Marshall and Chase looked on with dropped jaws at the flipping pup, and Ryder had his mouth open slightly in surprise, holding the tiny Zuma in his arms, who looked far more excited than the other pups.
"Aww, darn it, my eyes are closed!" Skye joked, causing the rest of the pups to burst out laughing.
"NOW Skye joins the team." Chase declared, looking at Everest.
"Oh! It all makes sense, now!" Everest cried.
"Zuma kinda took us off-guard when he appeared before Skye." Tracker admitted.
"What can I say? I do that sometimes." Zuma grinned.
"Skye's parents actually wanted her to be an actress, believe it or not." Marshall explained. "But she always said she wanted to run the machines rather than be in front of them."
"So now I get to use the gadgets AND do all the stunts!" Skye declared proudly. "Win-win!"
"And we all get to talk to her parents, sometimes." Rocky added. "They always say how proud they are of her, too."
"I guess they love you more than you thought, Skye?" Rubble reassured.
"Maybe..." Skye whispered, her thoughts drifting to her parents, before she noticed her first rescue. "Heeeey! Check that out!"
The image was of Skye airlifting Alex away from a rock in the sea with her harness. Alex looked happy enough, although Skye looked slightly nervous in the photo.
"I don't know what you were worried about, Skye!" Chase gushed. "You were amazing!"
Everyone turned to look at Chase, who realised what he'd just said and turned away with a red face. "Er, um, I mean..."
Skye just giggled. "That's very sweet of you, Chase. And it was sweet of you to say that back then, too."
"But the looks we got..." Marshall countered. "You'd think people have never seen a pup fly a helicopter, before!"
"Well, that does make sense. We're not exactly what you'd call a 'normal' rescue team..." Rocky replied glibly.
"I got a few looks of my own when I was wescuing Wally, you know." Zuma added.
"But not as many. I guess people had gotten used to us by then." Marshall replied, turning the page once more.
The next page was of a mixed-breed pup standing proudly next to a green recycling truck, flanked on both sides by the rest of the pups. Marshall and Skye on one side, Chase and Zuma on the other, with Ryder kneeling next to Rocky with a proud smile.
"Now who's THAT good-lookin' pup?!" Rocky declared proudly, to giggles from the rest of the group.
"This wasn't long after you met Skye, right?" Everest asked Marshall.
"You got it." Marshall replied. "And it all started from Rocky stealing random stuff from the Lookout."
"Poor guy was totally homeless..." Chase recalled sadly. "He was making all those machines to try to impress a potential owner."
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Rocky retorted.
"It sure did!" Skye replied. "Though that was only AFTER Chase netted him when he tried to steal some chew toys."
"Apparently after that, Ryder made Rocky take him to the junkyard to get everyone's stuff back." Rubble explained. "He saw all Rocky's machines, and thought his talents couldn't go to waste!"
"And I'm weally happy he thought that!" Zuma added. "He's made so much cool stuff for us!"
"Don't make me blush, Zuma..." Rocky complained with a sheepish smile.
"That really IS Humble Beginnings..." Tracker mused. "I mean, Rocky was straight-up homeless before Ryder found him! Doesn't get much more humble than that!"
"Yep, and he's always been a big help." Marshall affirmed, gesturing to the next photo.
This photo was of Rocky standing proudly next to a huge stack of potatoes with a beaming Farmer Yumi next to him.
"Oh, gosh!" Zuma cried. "I hope Fawmer Yumi cut down on her potato cwops after that!"
"Don't worry, she did!" Rocky replied. "She didn't know what to do with all those potatoes, though. But she was nice enough to send us some of the stuff she made with 'em."
"Gugh..." Marshall groaned. "I never wanted to even look at a potato for weeks after that..."
"There's only so much potato pie a pup can eat before he gets sick of it..." Chase grumbled.
"Hey, at least Farmer Yumi branched out after that." Skye said.
"Darn, if I'd joined a little earlier, I could've helped you all out!" Rubble complained lightheartedly, patting his stomach.
"Same here!" Everest concurred with a slightly-disappointed look.
"Hey, careful, guys. All those potatoes would make you REALLY fat." Tracker cautioned.
"Hey! What's THAT supposed to mean?!" Everest barked indignantly.
"Now, guys." Marshall interrupted. "We're not here to bicker." he cast a knowing look and a wry smile at the shepherd next to him. "That's our job."
Chase couldn't help but smirk as he punched Marshall in the arm, which the dalmatian quickly returned before flipping pages, revealing a familiar chocolate labrador sat in a hovercraft looking happier than he'd ever been, with Ryder stood just outside it with a hand on the pup's head, with every other pup sat at the sides of the vehicle looking up at it with pride.
"Oh, so now Zuma joins, huh?" Everest asked.
"Happiest day of my life..." Zuma sighed happily.
"It sure was!" Rocky concurred. "I think after we took that photo you did more flips in a day than Skye does in a week!"
"Wockyyyy!" Zuma whined. "You said you wouldn't talk about that anymowwwe!"
"Hey, if it makes you feel better, you'd make a great gymnast!" Skye joked with a smile, watching Zuma cover his eyes with a paw again.
"OK, guys, that's enough." Chase interrupted. "We're embarrassing Zuma."
"This was after he rescued Wally?" Tracker asked.
"Yup." Marshall replied. "Got stuck in some rocks. Tide was coming in fast."
"Urgh..." Rubble grumbled. "I don't even wanna think about what would've happened if Zuma was a little slower in swimming out to him..."
"Er, let's not go there, Rubble." Marshall quickly interjected. "How about this instead?"
The photo that Marshall was gesturing to was of Cap'n Turbot being towed behind Zuma's hovercraft in a buoy back to shore amid a stormy backdrop. Zuma looked happy enough, but the Cap'n looked like a drowned rat, thoroughly unhappy with what had just happened.
"I dunno what Cap'n Turbot was thinking going out in the middle of a stowm like that!" Zuma recalled.
"I couldn't leave the Lookout for a rescue like that! Yuck!" Rocky grumbled, thinking about all of the water involved in the storm.
"Zuma really got thrown in at the deep end for his first real rescue." Skye said. "And trying to fly in weather like that?! Urgh! I was glad to be back on the ground after that!"
"Ryder made a huge fuss over you guys after that, and so did I." Marshall reminded. "It wasn't just bad for you two."
"I was so worried about you guys..." Chase added. "I think that was our first really dangerous rescue."
"Wow… You've been going through stuff that dangerous for that long, huh?" Tracker asked.
"No wonder you're all so brave!" Everest observed.
"I think I remember that storm, actually!" Rubble cried. "Wasn't it a day or two before I met you guys?"
"I think you're right, Rubble." Marshall replied. "And that day would be..."
Marshall turned the page while holding on the last syllable of his sentence. And sure enough, the next page showed a much-smaller bulldog sat in Ryder's lap, with the boy sitting in front of a bulldozer with a huge smile, surrounded by the rest of the Paw Patrol all looking as happy as could be.
"...right here!"
"Hey, I remember that one!" Rubble said excitedly. "Wow, I was so tiny!"
"Nothing a lot of food couldn't fix." Chase replied. "I mean, you were starving when Marshall found you in that tree, weren't you?"
"I guess any food would've been better than nothing, right?" Rocky added.
"Sure would..." Rubble replied. "...it was the first time I'd been regularly fed, actually."
"Aww, poor Rubble..." Everest whimpered. "You had it that rough before you met the pups?"
"Well, wough or not, it doesn't matter now, wight?" Zuma asked.
"Zuma's right." Tracker added. "What matters is that you've got a home, now. And a family who love you."
"I know, I know..." Rubble said quietly. "...and I'm grateful for it every day… So you can see why I can't stand the thought of losing one of-"
"HEEEEEEEEYYYY! Check this out!" Marshall loudly interrupted. Any longer and it was almost certain everyone would've gotten depressed all over again. "Rubble's first rescue!"
Rubble stopped talking and looked towards what Marshall was talking about. And sure enough, there Rubble was pushing the results of a mudslide out of the way of a mountainside Adventure Bay road, while Skye flew overhead, with Bettina in her harness.
"Good thing we had Rubble for that one, or we might've never gotten all that mud out of the road!" Skye observed.
"I'll say. That was one nasty mudslide!" Chase replied.
"Good thing for Bettina, too!" Tracker added. "Mudslides are no joke!"
"Yeah, if a mudslide is anything like an avalanche, Bettina got lucky!"
"You were a natural with that thing, Rubble!" Rocky said.
"You think? It took me a few tries to get everything fixed." Rubble replied.
"Hey, no need to sell yourself short, Wubble!" Zuma reassured. "None of us were pewfect fiwst time, wemember?"
"Heck, we still aren't now!" Marshall added.
"I guess you're right." Rubble conceded, smiling at his friends' reassurance. "So, what's next, Marshall?"
"Err, nothing." Marshall replied, turning the page to emphasise his point, revealing the final page with a group photo of the entire core team in front of City Hall. "That's all the photos. Well, except for this one."
"Wasn't this around our one-year anniversary?" Chase asked.
"I don't think we'd met you two, then." Skye added, looking towards Everest and Tracker.
"Good times, though." Rubble interjected. "Good cake, too!" The bulldog patted his stomach to punctuate his point, prompting giggling from the group.
"I wondew how they all kept it secwet fwom us?" Zuma wondered.
"I was wondering how all those emergencies could happen so close to each other, though..." Rocky theorised. "Perfect for splitting us up and keeping us busy, right?"
"Darn, wish we'd met you earlier..." Tracker sighed.
"Hey, I'm just glad we met you guys at all!" Everest countered.
"So are we, Everest!" Marshall replied happily, closing the book.
Looking outside, the rain still had yet to subside. It beat down upon the Lookout just as heavily as it did prior. But the same could not be said for the pups, who felt as if the sun itself had illuminated the room from how happy they were all simply walking down memory lane and discussing their finer moments, weaving their stories for the two pups who weren't there to see them. But their finer moments had also brought a lot of embarrassing moments for them all.
"Well, that's one book done." Marshall announced, pulling "SILLY PUPS" into the middle of the pile. "Now for the next one."
"Aww, jeez, noooo..." Chase whined.
"Well, this ought to be good..." Everest observed.
"No, it's howwible!" Zuma chuckled.
"C'mon, Zuma, it's not all bad!" Rocky reassured. "There's probably gonna be some cool stuff in there too!"
"Way less than the embarrassing stuff..." Rubble mumbled to himself.
"Don't worry about it, Rubble. We've all had our silly moments!" Skye replied reassuringly.
"Well, what are we waiting for, amigos?!" Tracker asked. "I'm itching to see some of this!"
"Well, OK, guess I'll open it to a random page..." Marshall said tentatively.
Almost dreading what the album might show, Marshall dug his paw under a page of the thicker album and threw the book open, praying that maybe, just maybe it'd be a cool shot of one of them. But instead, it was quite the opposite, much to Marshall's dismay. Even more so when the photo revealed him and Chase fast asleep, snuggled together in Ryder's bed, noses touching, arms around each other and both looking incredibly peaceful, with their respective teddies pushed to one side.
"AAAAAGH!" Marshall screamed.
"WHAT THE-?! WHEN WAS THAT TAKEN?!" Chase shrieked.
"Awwwwww! That's so cute!" Skye cooed.
"You guys slept in Ryder's bed?!" Rubble asked incredulously with a huge grin.
"We've got questions, you two." Zuma said with an amused smirk. "We want answers."
"Did you two have nightmares again, or something?" Rocky asked.
"Yes..." Marshall said quietly, looking at the floor with his face burning with shame at the embarrassing photo.
"It's because I… I… -ad ight- re- n to- all..." Chase mumbled.
"Chaaaaase..." Skye sang teasingly.
"I HAD A NIGHTMARE WHERE I WAS MEAN TO MARSHALL!" Chase shouted.
Suddenly, everyone was silent, staring at Chase with a mix of surprise and sympathy.
"I… took him to Ryder's room… so I could talk to him and help him feel better..." Marshall admitted quietly. "He… He was afraid his temper would make him drive me away…"
"What 'temper'?!" Skye demanded. "Chase, I know you're kind of a hothead sometimes, but that's all because you worry about us!"
"You're not mean, Chase!" Rubble shouted. "Not by a long shot!"
"Yeah… Marshall said..." Chase whispered, smiling slightly.
"That's really nice of you, Marshall..." Rocky said, looking with happiness at his friend. "Heh, still looking out for everyone when we have nightmares..."
"That's so sweet!" Everest added. "That's nothing to be embarrassed about!"
"But why were you in Ryder's bed, guys?" Tracker asked.
"Actually, the only time Wyder hasn't slept in his bed that I can think of when we were all at the Lookout was when he huwt his hand." Zuma explained. "He'd spent that night in the hospital."
"He must've taken the photo when he came back in the morning..." Chase realised. "He did wake us up, come to think of it."
"Yeah, and he said it was funny, so I guess no harm done?" Marshall asked.
"Especially when you both look as cute as that!" Skye teased.
"OK, MOVING ON!" Chase yelled with his face turning bright-red once more and his eyes widening, digging his paw under a random page and nearly lifting the book off of the ground with how hard he turned the page.
The next sight was somewhat morbid-looking. The sight was of four pups facepalming and giggling in the background. And in the foreground, Marshall was in his EMT gear, rolling his eyes while smirking uncontrollably next to Rubble, who was lying on his back with his eyes rolled into the back of his head and frothing at the mouth, his tongue slightly visible and all four limb as stiff as planks.
"Oh, jeez..." Chase grumbled with a smirk, looking at Rubble. "If we were on a stage that day, people would've started throwing flowers..."
"Hey! It's not like you all took the smell of that evil food much better!" Rubble barked, giggling while raising his paws defensively.
"It was only fruit, you big drama queen!" Marshall teased playfully.
"Whoa!" Everest shouted. "What happened here?! Rubble looked really bad!"
"Well…" Rocky explained with an exasperated grin. "Adventure Bay was holding a world food festival. And Mr. Porter had some special fruits he got from somewhere in the world… Oh, no, what were they called…?"
"I don't remember, but they smelled… urgh, man..." Skye groaned, shuddering in remembrance of the faint aroma of the horrid fruit.
"We thought they were wotten, that's for sure!" Zuma added.
"Wait." Tracker realised. "You're not talking about durians, are you?"
Skye went rigid. "Yeah, that was it!"
"In that case, I don't blame you, Rubble!" Tracker said. "Those things smell like a hippo pit!"
"A hippo pit full of poop or something!" Rubble replied. "I thought it'd taste really good, but one sniff made me black out!"
"I mean, we all couldn't handle the smell, but you looked like you'd got rabies or something!" Skye observed.
"And YOU looked like you were gonna puke!" Rubble retorted with an uncontrollable smile. "And again, it's not like any of you took the smell much better than I did!"
"OK, OK…" Chase interjected lightheartedly. "We'd all had our rabies shots, so no need to worry there. And Rubble does have a point. I mean, it's a good thing we all skipped breakfast before the festival, otherwise Marshall would've been seriously busy after we smelled those durians!"
"No, Chase. It's a REALLY good thing!" Marshall emphatically concurred, to much laughter from the group.
As everyone's laughter subsided, Marshall soon turned to another random page. But this photo caused the entire group to fall silent.
"Is… that…?" Rocky stuttered.
"Wasn't that when…?" Chase added falteringly.
"What is…?" Everest slowly asked.
The silence persisted for a second, before immediately being replaced with howls of raucous laughter. The picture consisted of some pups looking away in embarrassment, while others stared in terror at the sight of Ryder standing atop Mr. Porter's store with his fists clenched, looking up and roaring to the heavens with a huge, triumphant smile on his face, wearing a strange, colourful hat.
"Wh-Wha-?!" Everest choked. "What the heck is Ryder doing-?!"
"OK, OK, OK..." Marshall wheezed, forcing back his laughter. "So here's the thing. This was at our one-year anniversary, too. Ryder… Ryder drank a lot of punch. It was way too sweet for almost everyone… But he loved it. He- He..." Marshall began to choke on his laughter again. "He drank almost half the bowl! He had the biggest sugar rush we've ever seen!"
"WHA-?!" Tracker shrieked, bursting out laughing again. "Ryder?! Having a sugar rush?!"
"I know, wight?!" Zuma shouted. "He didn't calm down fow about thwee hours!"
"I mean, we were all trying to chase after him at one point and none of us could catch him!" Skye added through her own mirth. "We were all on the floor too tired to even stand up and Ryder was still buzzed-! He just wouldn't sit still or even talk slow enough for us to understand!"
"That's nothing!" Chase added, laughing at how even his owner could be silly sometimes. "When he finally crashed, he just blacked out in the street! R-Rubble had to pick him up in his scoop to take him back home-!"
"It's…! It's way better for picking up people than… than I thought it'd be!" Rubble replied, gasping for breath in between words.
Some of the pups began to pound the floor from laughing so hard. Another reminder that Ryder, for all his professionalism and maturity, was still as much of a child as any of them, and was prone to his own moments of immaturity. Like imbibing far too much sugar for a boy his age.
"Ohh… Man, Ryder's the best..." Marshall sighed, finally calming down with the rest of the pups, stopping to flick a tear away from his eye before flipping to another random page. But once again, the room fell as quiet as a graveyard, the atmosphere growing as thick as mud. For a long time, the pups stared wordlessly at the image that Marshall had stopped at with their mouths hanging open, none daring to say anything.
"Errrrrr… right." Rocky began, uncertain. "I, er… I guess you, er… You have a lot of questions. But, really, it's easier to talk about than it looks… There's a simple explanation for this, you know. See, this, er… I mean, it's… Really, there's-"
"WHY IS ROCKY DRESSED LIKE A SUNFLOWER?!" Tracker screamed.
The pups all immediately fell about laughing again at Tracker's blunt question, combined with the ridiculous sight of Rocky grinning to the camera in a sunflower costume.
"He- He looks so cute in it, doesn't he?!" Skye guffawed.
"It looks better than his normal gear, right?!" Rubble laughed.
"Alright, we're done here! Move on, already!" Rocky barked, his face practically aflame. The embarrassment was clear in his brown eyes.
"B-But…!" Chase choked. "C'mon, there's… there's a really funny story behind this!"
"I WILL BITE OFF YOUR EARS AND NAIL THEM TO YOUR BUTT, MISTER!" Rocky roared, causing Chase to laugh so hard that he went completely silent, only giving the odd wheeze as tears streamed from his eyes.
"M-Mawshall…!" Zuma gasped. "Please…! Turn the page-! I-I… I think… Chase… Ch-Chase is gonna die…!"
"M-Me… Me too-!" Marshall wheezed, extending a trembling paw towards the book and flipping to a new page.
For a while, the pups couldn't concentrate on the book as they all gasped for air from laughing so hard. Ryder's photo had made them practically bust a gut, but Rocky's photo nearly finished them off entirely. Eventually, Rocky's face had stopped burning with embarrassment and pups finally settled down enough to look at a new photo. And this time, it was Skye's turn to feel chagrin at the image of her dressed up as a black-robed witch, rubbing her paws together and giving the camera a sinister sneer alongside Chase, who was dressed up as a warlock in purple robes, laughing evilly into the camera.
"Aww, maaan..." Skye whined. "I still don't get why I had to be the bad guy in that play..."
"Hey, so did I!" Chase added. "It totally doesn't fit either of us!"
"C'mon, you guys did a good job!" Marshall countered.
"Especially when the play had half the cast get sick!" Rocky added.
"But it's totally wrong!" Chase spat. "I-I mean, I'm not dark and gritty! I'm Chase! I'm a nice pup, right?! Heck, I'm a police pup and just thinking about guns is enough to make me sick!" He held up his front paws with an exasperated expression. "These paws uphold the laws, don't they?!"
"What about me?!" Skye added indignantly. "I always thought I was a good pup! I'm not a witch! I-I don't hurt people! Putting anything in danger makes me feel... pukey!"
"But guys, isn't a play all about being someone you're not?" Everest countered. "Someone had to do it. And you look like you had fun. Isn't that what matters in the end?"
Both pups paused for a moment, unable to come up with a counter for Everest's argument.
"Huh… I guess you're right." Chase conceded.
"Well, I DID enjoy it a little..." Skye added.
"Hey. We all enjoyed that play. And so did everyone who watched it! We were all winners!" Marshall reassured, turning the page as he looked at the smiles of his friends.
But when Marshall looked back down, the photo that greeted him was of Zuma buried in fish, looking like he was on the verge of puking. The poor labrador's eyes were watering as his cheeks bulged on Cap'n Turbot's ship. And in the background was Cap'n Turbot, looking guilty.
"Uwp-!" Zuma gagged. "Awwwgh… I… I wish I'd fowgotten that… Jeez, that… I don't think I got wid of that smell until a few weeks had gone!"
"Ugh-! Yuck!" Rocky choked. "I just remembered it, too!"
"What happened there?!" Tracker asked. "Did someone spill fish all over Zuma?!"
"Yeah, someone was being pretty clumsy there. And for once it wasn't me!" Marshall explained.
"Cap'n Turbot dropped a bucket full of fish all over him." Chase went further. "Some thanks for saving him, huh?"
"We didn't think fish could be so stinky that the smell would get stuck in his fur for that long..." Skye sighed. "Lookout smelled like a fishmonger's for weeks!"
"Wyder had to give me a bath evewy day, and that still didn't help the smell!" Zuma scoffed.
"Trust me, fish is a nightmare to get rid of the smell of, Zuma." Everest reassured. "Jake went ice-fishing once and accidentally threw one of his catches in my face! It took weeks to get the smell out of MY fur, too!"
"Hey, at least Cap'n Turbot keeps his fish far away from us, now!" Marshall said lightheartedly, flipping to another random page. "Oh, wait, this is the end. Oops. Guess I-"
But Marshall interrupted himself with an involuntary gasp when he looked down at the final page in the album. The sight was very familiar, and yet, not something he actually remembered. The other pups, for their part, had gone completely rigid and quiet, the sight clearly shocking them into silence, too.
"It's… It's..." Chase stuttered.
"Us..." Skye continued.
The pups were correct. The photo showed a head on shot of the pups all piled up together as the morning sun streamed through the windows of the Lookout, every single one snoozing into the new day, all looking as blissful and happy as could be. Marshall was at the centre with Everest on top of him and Rocky underneath his head, with Chase and Skye snuggled into either side of him, and Tracker, Zuma and Rubble slept snuggled tightly next to them.
"B-But… this was..." Marshall whispered.
"Just a couple nights ago..." Rocky completed the dalmatian's sentence.
"Did… Ryder take this… while we were all sleeping…?" Rubble asked quietly.
"He's gotta have..." Zuma replied.
"Hold on, guys." Everest interjected. "Didn't you guys sleep with Ryder after he had a bad nightmare last night?"
"Yeah, and I think he's been having them for days..." Chase replied.
"That makes sense." Tracker replied. "The poor guy sounds really out of it..."
"He LOOKS really out of it, too…" Marshall affirmed. "Remember when I told you how Ryder looked yesterday?"
"So did he take this after a nightmare woke him up?" Chase asked rhetorically.
"It must've been way after if he looked that bad..." Skye replied sadly, looking down at the page, noticing some faint water marks on the paper around the photo. "Wait… these splotches… are these..."
Chase suddenly took notice of what Skye was talking about and leaned down, putting his nose to the paper and sniffing diligently, before his eyes widened once more as he sat up, his mouth hanging open slightly.
"...tears?"
Now none of the pups felt like laughing anymore. Nor did they feel like looking at any more photos in the album. Since their thoughts were now occupied once more by their owner, and the reminder of just how broken he was. Clearly, the boy still loved them with all his heart, despite how distant he was being. But then, his distant attitude was the entire problem. The current basis behind their big question of the hour.
He clearly wanted to talk to them again. So then why was he continuing to hide from them?
...well! That was some heavy whiplash, wasn't it? I hope you're all insured!
Wasn't everything silly and fun? Nobody is immune to that kind of thing, least of all where I'm concerned. And as an aside, I am happy that I managed to fit in the backstories of the Paw Patrol, too (save for Chase, Marshall and Ryder, but then, I've already covered theirs in Start Your Engines. Also minus Rubble, but then, he's a bit of a... special case). I only hope that I did well with them and that they all made some degree of sense.
But we've still got loose ends to tie up, as the Paw Patrol were just reminded. Loose ends that these author's notes have no place in, I feel. So starting from now, I'm getting out of here! A joy for some to hear, I'm sure, but I'm going quiet for the next few chapters. The uploads will carry on as ever, but it might be better if I maintain radio silence for these next ones! Right, with that, I'm gone! Talk to you in a few weeks!