(A/N): Hey guys! Back with a long one for you. Almost killed my wrists typing this but it was way worth it.
Welcome back to Paw Patrol and the Temple of Dooooooooooooooom!
Chapter 9: Dinner With the Enemy
The tea kettle on the stove in the kitchen, whistles loudly notifying Jack Micheals that the boiling process was done. He went over to it and poured into a medium sized tea cup and left the kitchen and sat down in his study to continue reading his newspaper. After taking a sip, he set the cup down on a nearby table, and then proceeded to pull out a cigarette and light it up. He puffed strongly as he pulled a good bit of the smoke down to his lungs, and exhaling the closest he could get to a cloud. And then went back to reading the headline
The story that caught his eye was the news report of a night club shooting involving the wicked crime boss Bubba and his mate, the ever talented and popular up and coming singer, skylar. Unfortunately for many fans, Skylar was found dead at the club along with another dog named Chozo who was Bubba's son. The suspect of the shooting was revealed to be a german shepherd who went by Chase, who was a police pup from Paw Patrol, who had not been seen or heard from since.
Jack was saddened by Skylar's passing. He was a big fan of hers, ever since he saw her perform in New York the last time he was there. Her performance of the musical, Anything Goes was amazing, as her dancing was on point and her voice would have been the voice of a generation if she would've gotten that far. She was also very beautiful and because of that, he always wanted to meet her. But now, that will never happen, and nobody will ever get to hear that beautiful voice ever again. All because of that damn german shepherd. If he ever sees him, It would be bad news for the one they call Chase.
A little bit further down, was a picture of the police pup, with a bounty of five hundred thousand dollars. Dead or Alive. Jack was astonished that they would even put that much value on someone as low life as he was. Still, it would be a decent paycheck to bring him in. Wouldn't that be funny, if suddenly the shepherd in question were to show up at his door.
At that moment, a woman comes in the study to address Jack. "Jack, there's some pups that would like to see you."
Jack put out his cigarette and looked at his servant. Who could be bothering him at this time of day? He was about to shrug them off and be away with them but for some reason, he wanted to at least know who it was. "Who is it?"
"I don't have any names sir." the servant answered, "But it's a wolf pup, a dalmatian, and a german shepherd."
Jack suddenly lit up at the mention of the shepherd. 'No,' he thought 'no way. He can't be here! That would be the world's greatest coincidence if he was. What would he be doing all the way out here? Maybe to hide himself from law enforcement? But then again why would he risk it by talking to me?'
"Um, sir?" the servant called. "Are you okay?"
Jack snapped into his head upon hearing his servant. "Huh? Oh, sorry Jane I was just in deep thought." he got up from his chair and faced Jane. "Let them in the gate and tell them that I will be out momentarily to greet them."
Jane nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes sir, I will do that."
She left the study to tell the guards to let the guest pass the gate, as Jack straightened himself up to look presentable. If it is the shepherd in from the headline, he was going to keep it cool and show his hospitality, then strike where the shepherd least expected it.
The three traveling pups walked through the lawn in astonishment. This person clearly had money to spend, as he had all sorts of decor all over the laven. Statues, fountains, and flowers covered the lawn to the point where if it wasn't for the wolf's how in the distance, Chase would've forgotten that he was in Wintergreen.
They walked forward until they were stopped by the centerpiece of the lawn. A statue displaying two wolves battling for dominance. One was on the ground, on its back, growling at the other one who was lunging at it. Ready to strike with it's jaws.
Chase and Marshall looked at it with awe while Claria looked at it with both horror and confusion. Marshall notices this and questions her, "Claria? Are you okay?"
Claria swallowed before she spoke. "Yeah, somewhat."
"What's wrong?" Marshall added.
"It's the statue, it's sorta creepy to me." Claria revealed.
"Hm?" Chase questioned. "It is? How?"
Claria took a deep breath when she told them what was freaking her out about the statue. "I-It's the exact moment that Red-Eye killed Gari."
Chase's ears perked as he looked back at the statue. Marshall stared at Claria with a questionable look. "Wait, Red-Eye killed his own sister?"
"Yep." Claria responded casually. "Took him a bit to do it while she was injured by the way. That's how she entered the afterlife. Red-Eye followed her days later when her followers killed him in his sleep."
"Geez." Marshall said. "You really know alot about this stuff, do you?"
Claria chuckled as her face blushed in flattered. "Well, he he. My mother told me a lot of bedtime stories."
"Bedtime stories?" Marshall repeated, surprised. "That's what your bedtime stories are?"
"Mhm?" Claria confirmed
"How could you ever sleep with those stories? They're so scary." Marshall shivered out.
"It didn't bother me." Claria replied.
"How?!" Marshall blurted out, frustrated. "How did it not…...oh nevermind." Marshall decided to give up and drop it while Claria shrugged her shoulders.
Chase then spoke up. I wouldn't pay no mind to Claria. After all, it is an okay moment in your history."
"I know I know." Claria replied with a troubled tone. "It's just, I don't like seeing Gari before she spoke. "I always thought that she was invincible."
Marshall was about to console her, until a voice suddenly made him jump.
"Hello!"
The three pups looked behind the statue and towards the front door. The estate where the voice was coming from. They all walked towards the front door of the estate where the voice was coming from. They all walked towards it, stopping a little shy from the door. In front of it stood a human male. He had a black steson on, a red dress shirt covered by a black vest with blue jeans and boots on. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, thanks to his somewhat baby face look with a five o clock shadow covering his entire chin.
Chase thought that he looked like someone that should be in a bar saloon than in a country fully inhabited by wolves. But then again, Chase didn't really know what to expect the human to look like so assumed it didn't matter.
"Well, well, well, what a sight for sore eyes." He then walks closer to where they were about six feet of each other. "I thought my servant was joking around when she said that the Paw Patrol were expecting me."
Marshall's head practically twisted off as he was very confused. "You know of us?"
"Why shouldn't I?" the man replied while lighting a cigarette he pulled out of his case. He then puffed and literally blew out a cloud causing the three pus to cough softly. "You guys are quite famous around the world."
"We must be if you heard of us." Chase said back.
"Yes, quite. My name is Jack Micheals, I'm the ambassador for Wintergreen, and you are?" Jack announced.
"My name is Chase." Chase began.
The ambassador froze upon hearing Chase announce himself, as if he was just told a cure for cancer.
Chase then turns his head to Marshall. "This is my best friend, Marshall." Marshall stood proud as Chase turned to Claria. "And this is Claria."
"Ah Claria!" Jack said as he walked closer to her and put a hand on her head. She flinched a little when he did. "You must be the heir of the River Rush pack."
Claria practically shook from his creepiness. "Y-Yes sir. T-Thats me."
"Fantastic. I've heard horror stories of how you went missing for weeks. I've got to say, that I'm glad you found your way back." He says while petting her, Claria is still shaking. The man notices this as he stops immediately. "There's no reason to be afraid young pup."
"S-sorry, I just don't like people touching me too much. Especially if I don't know them." Claria retorted, squirming away from Jack a little bit.
"I understand." Jack replied to the scared pup as he puffs on his cigarette. "Now allow me to ask, what's a couple characters like you doing all the way out here? Are you lost?"
Chase eyed the man closely, looking for any sort of suspicious clues, as Marshall responded. "No sir, we're not lost, we're on our way to ShadowFur's camp. We need to have a talk with them."
Jack pulled the cigarette out of his mouth as Chase continued to stare at him. "Oh, what impeccable timing. I've invited ShadowFur to discuss some matters. I'll save you guys the trip and let you stay here tonight. Were having a big dinner also. What do you say?"
Chase didn't answer him immediately, he just continued to stare at the man, expecting some sort of catch. He thought about his offer very closely. It was starting to get dark and all the food they had, were the emergency packs Chase and Marshall had stashed away. It would be idiotic to turn down the offer especally if ShadowFur was going to be there. But there was something that just wasn't right about Jack. Mostly the fact that he was here in the first place. For all he knew, no human ever lived here. Now all of a sudden, Poof! There's one right in front of him. Even though Claria said that he had been here forever, Claria said that he had been here forever, Chase still wasn't comfortable with it. But that wasn't the only thing that alarmed him. It was his posture, his movements and his scent this didn't set right. It was like he was hiding something from them that would automatically make him a treat. Chase didn't know what it was, but he could tell from the way he presented himself. Still, It wouldn't hurt to just have dinner with him right?
He looked at Marshall and Claria to see what they thought. "Well, what do you think guys?"
Marshall looked up at the sky as he thought about it. "Well, it is getting dark Chase, and unless Claria wants to hunt in the dark, I think we should join them, plus, it would be great to sleep in a bed tonight."
"Yeah. And if ShadowFur will be here, we can definitely follow them to their camp tomorrow." Claria added. She then whispers in Marshall's ear. "By the way, I have no problem hunting in the dark."
Chase turned back to Jack still wearing the glare. "Then I guess it's settled." He bowed his head at him. "We accept your hospitality."
"Splendid!" Jack exclaimed, spreading his arms a part and then bowed with his hat off. "Then I formally invite you into my home."
The three pups nodded as they all then went into the mansion.
The door opened to reveal a luxurious room accustomed to something you would get in a hotel suite package. It was about the size of a whole house itself. A king sized be with a canopy and white see through drapes, occupied the left of the room while pillars covered the rest of them with little sculptures of female wolves in the middle of them. The windows were pretty tall with cyan blue curtains covering them. In the center was a table with flowers on it with chairs around it. Marshall was amazed at sheer size of it, as he was pretty sure that this was bigger than even Ryder's room. Heck forget about Ryder's room, it might be bigger than the lookout itself.
"This is you two's room. I hope you find it, inviting." Jack revealed.
"It is, thank you so much." Marshall replied.
"Wow," Claria spoke in awe, as she walked in and looked around. "It's enormous." She climbed on the bed and noticed how bouncy it was. "So this is a bed? It's so bouncy." She then started to jump joyfully. "Woohoo! This is fun!"
Marshall chuckled as he stepped towards the bed. "Yes Claria, but you're not supposed to jump on it. That's where you sleep."
Claria stopped immediately at the statement, as she drooped her ears in sadness. "Oh, you mean I can't jump on it?"
"No! No! Go ahead! Do whatever you like." Jack intervened. "I don't care, as long as you're comfortable."
Marshall then looked at Claria as he beamed the biggest smile. "Well in that case." He climbed on the bed and started jumping. Causing Claria to jump with him. "Woohoo!"
The two jumped on the bed like children rebelling against their mother. Laughing and giggling till their heart's content.
Chase stood back and watched the two pups having so much fun as he rolled his eyes at the sight with a smile on his face. As if it was completely normal for Marshall to goof off during a difficult situation, because it was.
The two started to do tricks and poses. All was fine until Marshall got cocky. He started doing intense tricks where suddenly, he went up in an angle and fell right off the bed, into the table that held the flowers.
Crash!
Marshall crashed into the table, breaking it in half as it almost looked like something would see at a pro wrestling event.
Claria stopped jumping, and looked over at where Marshall landed. "Marshall?! Are you alright?!"
Marshall was unresponsive for a few seconds as the wipe out genuinely knocked him out. This actually worried Chase as he was about to run over and help his friend. But, like always, Marshall got right back up as if nothing happened. "Yeah, I'm good. Can't say the same about the table though. I-I'll clean it up."
"That's alright Marshall, I'll get Jane to clean it up." Jack chimed in, as he motioned for Jane to do so.
Jane started picking them up as Marshall stood aside watching. "I-I can help…" But before Marshall could help, two more servants came in to help Jane. Feeling as if he would be in the way more than helping, Marshall backed away from the mess, and let them work. He then turned to Jack with sorrow in some eyes as he whimpered. "I'm really sorry about the table."
"It's alright Marshall. This is just a guest room, and it's just a table, I'll have it replaced in minutes."
"Oh, okay." Marshall acknowledged, still feeling bad about the table.
"Jane will be your server tonight," Jack said. "Whenever you need anything, just call her, and she will get it for you."
"Yes ambassador," Claria acknowledged.
"No please, just call me Jack." Jack requested. "We are not at a gathering after all."
Marshall and Claria both nod as they started to relax on the bed.
Jack then turned to Chase and Invited him across the hall, "Now, your room Chase."
Jack guided Chase across the hall, as Chase followed him to a door on the other side of Marshall and Claria's room. He opened the door and revealed to Chase his room for the night. It was a little smaller than Marshall and Claria's which Chase expected. Considering it was only him sleeping in here. The bed was king size while the room itself had couches and love seats all over. A bathroom was located right next to a walk in closet. Lamps and gold dishes occupied the tables as the bedside table had an alarm clock and flowers. 'Perfect!' Chase thought. 'At least I can wake up before Marshall this time!' The center of the room was more open than the one across the hall, with only a double sided mirror occupying it.
It was almost perfect for Chase, but there was one little problem. The room itself was decorated with red everywhere. Red curtains, red sheets, red comforters, red pillows, and red furniture. Making the room glow in redness. Normally, he didn't think it was important enough to bring it up, but he really would've preferred blue. But he can live with it. He did feel jealous of Marshall getting a blue room though.
"Is everything to your liking Chase?" Jack asked.
Chase took a look around the room before he gave his answer, smelling everything for suspicious things that would be off. "Yes, It's perfect."
"Good to hear." Jack replied. As he started to head out the door. "Now if you would excuse me, I have some matters to attend to."
"Wait. Hold up a bit! I wanna ask some questions!" Chase called.
Jack turned around and looked at the questioning shepherd with a smirk on his face. "I assume you have many questions about me."
Chase only nodded in agreement.
"I assumed so." Jack said while lighting a cigarette. Puffing it and blowing the smoke with some of it unintentionally hitting Chase's face. At least that's what Chase thought. "Unfortunately, I don't have time for your little interview Chase. I have to make sure that everything is in order for tonight."
Chase and Jack's eyes met as they stared at each other for a few minutes, though if you asked them, it was more like hours. Chase didn't think he was lying, but it was pretty clear he was using the dinner preparations as an excuse. A person like him has to have skeletons in the closet, Chase was going to drag at least one of them out.
Jack puffed on his cigarette before he broke the tense silence "Tell you what, let me get everything straight for the dinner, and I will send for you before it starts, when I'm done. Then you can ask all the questions you like until ShadowFur Shows up. Deal?"
Chase was surprised by this sudden mood change. It looks like for sure, Jack wasn't interested in his questions. Now whether or not he will be truthful with his answers was another story, but at least he could ask. "Chase kept his stare on as he answered. "It's a deal Jack."
Jack stayed silent, as he gave a trademark grin and left the room with Chase still stared at him until he eventually was looking at the door.
Chase turned around and went for the bed to rest a little. He felt ease all around him as his body sunk into the mattress. Not long after, the door opened revealing to be his best friend.
"Hey Chase! Finally getting some rest?" Marshall asked.
Chase didn't get up as he stayed with his legs spread out and his face in the pillow.
"Much deserved." He said. His voice muffled a little bit.
"Yeah," Marshall responded. "It's nice to lay on a bed for once huh?"
Chase then got back up and faced his friend. "Yep. like your room?"
"It's alright I guess. Wish it would cut down on the blue though."
Chase chucked a bit as he responded. "You think you got it bad, take a look at all this red. I don't know if this is a room or Farmer Yumi's barn."
They both laughed at Chase's joke as they sat down on some of the furniture.
"Well, I gotta say, Jack seems nice, though I think he needs to cut down on the cigarettes a good bit." Marshall stated. "Good gravy he smokes too much."
"You got that right." Chase replied. "I practically coughed the whole time I was talking to him."
"His lungs must be destroyed." Marshall said. "He is nice though."
Chase looked at his friend with uneasiness. "I don't know about that buddy. He may seem nice but there's something about him that just rubs me the wrong way."
Marshall spaced out as he listened to Chase's concerns. Chase had been known to swing for the fences when it came to trusting people. Hell that's how him and Chase's friendship started. It took a lot to gain his trust. Once you got his trust, you were fine, but if there was something about you that he didn't like, even the littlest of things, you would be more successful being friends with Mayor Humdinger than to be friends with Chase, and Marshall was in that position before, so he knew how it felt to be on that side of the fence with Chase. He would be the first one to tell you, that it is no fun. Especially if you admired the pup like Marshall did.
"Oh come on Chase." Marshall finally replied. "We just met him. And I didn't see anything wrong with him. Well….besides maybe the smoke."
"I know we just met him, it's just, you know. With everything that's happening here, and the state of the wolves, I have a feeling that he is involved somehow."
"I think you're jumping to conclusions Chase. And the only reason you are, is because you didn't even know he lived here, and you find that weird."
Chase furrowed his brow as he was confused by that last statement. "What? What do you mean?"
"What I mean is I think you going into this while knowing what's going on, and drawing conclusions when there aren't none. Just because of the fact that he happens to be the only human that lives here. Yeah, it's strange, but I'm sure if you just talk to him, your fears will be erased."
Chase thought about Marshall's statement thoroughly. Maybe he was right, there could be nothing wrong here, and he could be overreacting. After all, Jack is letting him ask questions later, so maybe there really is nothing and Chase is just grasping at straws. Still though, that doesn't mean the ambassador is off the hook.
"You maybe right Marshall, just do me one thing buddy."
"What is it man?" Marshall replied.
"At least watch yourself around him. Keep an eye on anything suspicious okay?"
Marshall smiled as he accepted Chase's request. "I will Chase, but promise me you won't go overboard with everything okay man?"
"I'll try." Chase answered uneasy.
Marshall was about to reply that Chase should do more than just try, but Claria came in and was wagging her tail. "Hey Marshall, I got the fort set up! We are going to have so much fun tonight?"
Marshall began wagging his tail also as he got excited of the night that was to come. "Awesome! I can't wait to pillow fight with you!"
"Pillow fight?" Claria asked. "What's that?"
Marshall gasped at Claria's ignorance "You don't know what a pillow fight is?"
"Will, I didn't know what a pillow was until a few days ago."
"Oh, you are missing out!" Marshall said as he jumped with joy
"Heh heh," Chase chucked "You two are one of a kind aren't you?"
"Seems like it don't it?" Claria happily cheered.
Marshall smiled as their tails wagged in sync with each other.
"Tonight is going to be the best night ever!" Claria said excitedly.
"Yep you got it…." Marshall stopped when he looked at Chase. He was smiling at the two playing off of each other. But suddenly, Marshall thought of Chase and Clara's relationship. He didn't say anything before, but he definitely noticed Claria's uncomfort with Chase. He felt bad for both Chase and Claria for this. Claria felt intimidated by Chase. He knew this from the way she would talk to him, how she would clench up and cower away from Chase away from him. He sorta understood her, as that's what he did when he met him. And as for Chase himself, he must be driving himself mad, trying to find out why Claria is scared of him. There was only one way to solve this problem and unfortunately, he had to give up the best night ever.
"Actually Claria, I think you should sleep with Chase tonight." Marshall suggested.
Claria and Chase practically jumped up to the moon in shock.
"What? Why?" Claria asked, heart broken.
"Well, you spent the night with me last night. It's only fair if you spent the night with Chase tonight. So he won't be alone again." Marshall answered
Chase was about to say that he didn't mind being alone, but Claria beat him to the punch.
"B-But we were supposed to have the best night ever." Claria replied very softly, almost crying.
"I know, I know Claria." Marshall replied, trying not to cave in to Claria's puppy dog eyes. "But Chase likes to do that stuff, right man?"
Chase looked at both of them and smiled and chuckled nervously. "Y-Yeah. O-Of course I do."
"See? You can still have the best night ever. Just without me." Marshall said.
Claria felt heart broken. She was really looking forward to spending the night having fun with Marshall. She had everything ready with a fort and everything. She loved playing with Marshall cause it reminded her of when her and Roxy would play in the woods. She didn't get that vibe with Chase. Mostly because of his intimidation. While her talks with Chase in the woods definitely made her feel less frightened by him, Claria still had very mixed feelings about him. Not to mention, she didn't think Chase was into playing that much. Considering the way he presents himself. He rarely said anything in the forest when Marshall and Claria were singing, as he was more focused on the journey than playing with them and goofing around. There was nothing wrong with that of course, after all, you've got to have somebody making sure they make good progress and Chase seemed superior at that. So she didn't even attempt to try and see if he wanted to join them. But, if Marshall says that he loves to play too and is not really all that scary too, she guessed that she could try one night with him.
"I-I don't know Marshall," Claria spoke up. "I really wanted to play with you tonight."
Marshall responded with puppy dog eyes of his own. "Please Claria, for me?" He practically sat and begged her to accept.
Claria sighed as she finally gave in. "Alright Marshall, you win, I'll spend the night with Chase."
Meanwhile, Chase himself had stayed silent since Marshall's request left his mouth. This was the last thing he wanted, for Claria to feel any sort of pressure to get along with him. He wanted it to be natural, like Chase and Marshall's was. Actually, now that he thought about it, their friendship didn't start off natural at all.
Wait a minute.
Did Ryder's family and his dad mean to leave them at that house alone all those years ago?!
Chase snapped out of his thoughts when Jane appeared in the doorway to announce that preparations were ready.
"Dinner will be ready shortly," She announced. "Jack would very appreciate it if you could be at the dining room early to get your seat."
'Yes' Chase thought, as he pushed his previous troubles away for now. 'I can finally find out what's so special about Jack Micheals.'
Marshall looked at Chase with a smile. "Well Chase, you ready to have dinner with the enemy?"
Chase returned the smile with confidence. "Right behind you buddy!"
Chase, Marshall, and Claria, Walked into the massive chamber that was called the dining room but to Chase, it probably would've passed as a sanctuary of a church.
In the middle, a long dining table sat with about twenty chairs set up all around it. Each chair had thick red cushions for comfort, and medium tall backs with one as well. Servers around the table were setting the table with plates and silverware as the three observed the room. Behind the head of the table was a platform with a podium In front of a giant plate glass window, displaying a picture of Gairi's head to the upper left, facing left, and Red-Eye's head on the lower right facing right, in a playing card like template. The walls had tapestries showing different points in the wolve's history. From the formation of the packs, to the creation of the wolf's emeralds. There were doors on each side with one at the right of the room leading outside, one on the left, leading into the kitchen, and one in the front of the room where Chase, Marshall, and Claria walked through. On each side of the door, were full body portraits. The one on the left was a picture of Gari, who was perched on a rock in an open field, gazing at it's observer with a caring and calm face on her as if she was assuring the viewer that she would always be by their side, guiding them through life, and the many hardships of it. The other one on the right was a picture of Red-Eye, who was also gazing. Although it was more like a scowl, as his scared left eye was reminding you of who he was and what his motivations were, Dominance.
Chase looked closely at the picture of Red-Eye while Marshall and Claria looked around the gigantic room. From the looks of him, Chase could immediately get the vibe of who Red-Eye was and still is. An overzealous, arrogant, and demanding. Chase wondered what it was like to live amongst him, wolves probably lived in fear of him. Maybe even his supporters were fearful of him. He couldn't imagine if Red-Eye ever got his wish in life when he was around "around." The world probably would've been a different place, if he ever succeeded. He switched to the picture of Gari and obviously got a different feeling from her. One of love, compassion and selflessness that sorta reminded him of his owner back home. Chase could tell from the look in her eyes, that as long as she was "around," no one would ever be subjected to pain, misery, and suffering, and there would be a cold day in hell, if Red-Eye would ever get his way under her watch.
"Heh, thank god for you I guess." Chased softly said out loud.
Though one thing clicked for Chase. Something that kept him from looking away from the picture. It was Gari's appearance in more detail. Her coat was lavender, and her face, underbelly and undertale, were snow white. Although the lavender was a little faded, probably due to age, but as long as Chase looked, the more he had a feeling of familiarity to the wolf. He couldn't put his paw on it, but if he didn't know any better, the full grown wolf in the portrait, had a strong resemblance to a certain husky back home...
At that moment, the door on the right opened and revealed it to be the ambassador, Jack Micheals. As expected, he was smoking a cigarette but instead of his wild west setup, he had a black and red tux on, though he was still wearing his black steson on.
He walked over to the table, where servants were still setting it up for the dinner that was about to happen in about ten minutes or so. He whispered to one in its ear, which the servant acknowledged him, and disappeared through the door Chase came in at. He then turned to Chase who had now begun to look at him.
"I'm glad you could make it Chase."
"Well, my friends and I can hardly pass up food." Chase replied. "Especially when we don't have any more left."
Jack chuckled a little bit before he spoke "Yes, well, ShadowFur are almost here, and when they do, we will start eating."
"Understood ambassador." Chase acknowledged sternly, as he gazed into the ambassador's scheming eyes. At least he thought they were.
"Well, why don't we do that interview you were so excited about doing?" he asked as he puffed on his cigarette.
Chase continued to stare at him, not moving a muscle as he replied. "They're just questions ambassador. This is not an interrogation. There is no heat."
Jack returned the stare with intensity. "By all means Chase, I won't mind the heat. As I have absolutely nothing to hide from you or your friends."
Chase didn't know whether to take that as a challenge, or a threat. But that didn't matter right now. What did, was the chance to ask Jack all the questions he wanted.
"How long have you lived here?"
"All my life." Jack answered without a beat, as if the talk wasn't a talk, but a duel on the street.
Chase was appalled at the answer. As if someone told him that his life was a lie. How?! He had never heard of this person in his life. No such man existed in his mind when he got back from Wintergreen last year, and he's the ambassador apparently. Surly, he would have least heard a mumble about him.
"My family has lived here for a hundred years Chase." The ambassador went on, as he turned away from Chase to look at a tapestry, showing at he showing the slaughter of the BloodRayne wolves, They wanted to get rid of all the wolves, as they didn't know who was part of what, and they wasn't going to ask questions."
Chase stayed silent as he decided to listen to the ambassador's story. He had no Idea how Jack was involved, but he felt like his involvement was coming up.
"Upon hearing this, Legend says that Gari herself appeared before the soldiers. She didn't threaten them though, that wasn't what she wanted to do. She instead convinced them to bring the president at the time, Woodrow Wilson to talk with the Alpha's, to discuss some sort of treaty. They agreed and allowed the president to talk with the Alpha's. The wolves assured the president that they had no plans to threaten the humans, as long as the humans left them alone. The president almost agreed with them, but he wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. He agreed to their terms but only if the US would be allowed to send an ambassador and live here to keep an eye out on things, and to make sure the wolves don't rise above each other and gain power again. The Alphas reluctantly agreed to this and my great great grandfather was sent here with his wife to do just that, and then four generations later I'm here. I hope that answers your question Chase."
Chase thought about Jack's story very thoroughly. Everything seems to add up, but he couldn't help but think that he was missing some details. Like why was the U.S. military involved in the first place? Did BloodRayne threaten them? If that was the case, then how did they find out who the U.S. even was? Second, why was his grandfather selected to be ambassador? What made him right for the job? Third, how powerful did the BloodRayne wolves become for the U.S. military to get involved?
Chase thought that the more he pondered, the less time he had to ask questions. So he started asking about the U.S., but when he attempted, a servant appeared next to Jack and whispered something in his ear.
"Oh! I-I see." The ambassador said, as his eyes sorta widened at whatever the servant told him. "Well Chase, but it seems that we have another unexpected guest here this evening." He motioned for his servants to open the door that leads outside which revealed a man dressed in a service uniform, showing that he was military. His rank was Captain in the U.S. army, and he had as many medals and ribbons that you could fit on a ribbon rack. He was also wearing his service cap and his coat as his shoes were practically blinding everybody in the room, if his medals were not doing it. He stood proudly as the ambassador introduced him to Chase. "Chase this is…."
Chase didn't need Jack's introduction to know who it was. He was a man who Chase knew very well since his early pup years. "Captain Garity?"
The man looked at the german shepherd and practically let his jaw fall to the floor, as he looks at a face he has not seen in years. "Chase? Well I'll be. I never expected to see you here!"
"I can almost say the same for you." Chase replied.
Jack looked at the two, as they hugged a quick second and let go. Jack then tried to establish a connection. "You two are friends?"
"Well, I don't know about friends," the captain said. "But I've known Chase since he was a little little pup. I was friends with his father."
Chase's mind was hit with ultimate devastation when his father was mentioned. He may have died five years ago, but it still pained him as if it happened yesterday. Chase didn't show it though, as he kept his composure. A clear head, keeps the mind full of bread.
"He's helped us out in many situations. One of the best dogs I have ever known. It was a sad day when we lost him, and I miss him dearly." The captain added.
Chase was about ready to break down in tears as the captain went on. Ever since his dad passed on, Chase would usually get very quiet and depressed when anyone talked about him. He loved his father and valued his opinion more than anyone else. The one thing he wanted in life was to make his father proud of him, but he never got that chance. He got better about it though, thanks to his friends, but he still felt that he had a long way to go before he could truly move on.
Captain Garity seemed to finally notice, when he looked at his friend's son, who looked like he was on the verge of crying. "I-I'm sorry son. I didn't mean to open an old wound."
Despite his thoughts, Chase looked at the military captain and gave his best smile as he could. "It's o-okay captain. It's…..been five years now. I'm mostly over it now."
The captain gave a reassuring smile as he scratched Chase's head. Reassuring him that everything was okay.
Jack however, had been silent listening to the conversation thoroughly. He was about to say something, before Jane went up to him.
"Sir?" she called. "ShadowFur has arrived."
"Finally." Jack replied. "We can get this show on the road." he then looks at the two individuals, as he announces to them what's going on. "I'm going to greet them, I'll leave you two to catch up."
He then makes his departure, leaving the captain and Chase to talk.
"So, Captain, what are you doing here anyway?"
"Well, the state has been sending me once a month to check on things with the ambassador." Garity answered. "Make sure he's in line."
"Really?" Chase asked back.
"Yeah." the captain replied. "It seems that they wanna make sure everything is in order here. I don't think there's a need for it, considering everything has been peaceful. I just do it to keep me busy these days."
"Not getting much action as you used to. Eh old man?" Chase jeered with a grin.
"Hey!" Garity objected. "I'm not that old yet Chase."
"Yeah, Yeah whatever" Chase rolled his eyes as he muttered that out while grinning more.
"I do wanna ask Chase, what are you doing here?" The Captain asked curiously. "It's a long way from Adventure Bay to be all the way out here."
"Well, it's sort of a long story Cap." Chase replied. "One that will have to be told later. Instead I was wanting to see if you could tell me something."
"What is it Chase?" The captain asked.
"What all do you know about the BloodRayne wolves?"
The table may have been long, but it didn't take long for all of it's chairs to be occupied by a mixture of humans and wolves. Servants and wolves mostly occupied the table, the far end close to the main door, while the other end was occupied by Captain Garity, Chase, Marshall, and Claria on the right side, and ShadowFur's Alpha and Delta on the left side. Well, it would be if they were there. Unfortunately, Jack had announced that the Alpha had to return home for some, "urgent matters." The only ones there were the pack's Beta, DarkClaw, and the Alpha-Heir of all wolves, Klora. A male pup who was obviously super nervous to represent his pack.
Chase felt bad for the, as he looked like he was going to faint at any moment. This of course threw a wrench into Chase's plans to interrogate ShadowFur. He couldn't interrogate a pup. Hell he probably didn't even know what was going on anyway. He couldn't talk to DarkClaw because for some reason, he was a mute. Marshall learned that the hard way when he tried to greet him and got nothing but a stern and intimidating stare from DarkClaw, which freaked him out until Claria told him about the beta being a mute. So that was obviously going nowhere. Chase was pretty much out of luck at this point, as he would have to wait until he meets the Alpha himself.
Chase did think it was weird how the Alpha decided not to show up all of a sudden. He thought wolves were pretty serious about being offered anything. So for him to just drop it for some "issues" was pretty sketchy. He would've understood if they didn't send the heir in here stead. Sure the beta was here, but once again, he was a mute. Kinda hard to represent a pack when you don't speak. He put it aside now to focus on eating a good meal, get a good night sleep, and to ask to follow ShadowFur to their camp. If they were staying the night that is.
Meanwhile, Marshall was looking around the table assessing the ShadowFur wolves that were waiting patiently for their meal. One look at them made him understand why they were called ShadowFur. Their entire coat was black with each wolf having distinctive features like white stripes or white swirls on their bodies. The only parts that weren't black were white underbellies and faces, although some of them had faces that were half and half.
They were the first group of wolves that they had seen since they crash landed that were healthy which irritated Marshall. The other packs were starving to death and these wolves were sitting in a luxury house ready to devour their meal as if there was nothing wrong. He kept his mouth shut though, he didn't want to say anything that might end in bloodshed
Claria had stayed silent since they sat down as she was looking at Kora. As much as he hated ShadowFur now due to the wrong deeds they have done, she couldn't help but notice how innocent Klora looked, as if he had no idea what his pack was doing. He was visibly shivering like a scared little pup. Maybe after the dinner, she'll try to talk to him, and maybe he would be willing to help them, depending on what side he was on.
Marshall leaned into Claria as he mumbled to her. "So, this is ShadowFur?"
"Yep." Claria answered. "Here they are."
Marshall looked around again at the wolves that crowded the table. "They are really a colorful set aren't they."
"They are." Claria said, before her face fell as she mumbled out the next sentence trying to hide her words. "It's not fair."
"Hmm?" Marshall replied, even though he knew what she was alluding to.
"They sit here with full stomachs and probably in the best shape of their life and yet my pack and the others are trying their hardest to even make it through the night." She almost blurted that out loud so everyone would hear her, but she knew that she had to keep her cool. "It makes me so mad."
"I know it does." Marshall said back. Barely keeping it in himself . "But don't you worry as soon as we get to the bottom of this. We will make it right. Or my name isn't Marshall."
Claria looked at Marshall and gave a satisfying smirk "Thanks Marshall."
"Like I said." Marshall replied. "We haven't done anything yet."
The sound of a spoon tapping the side of a glass, notified everyone to quiet down and look over to the ambassador, who was behind the podium on the
Platform.
"Alright everyone our main course will be here shortly." Jack announced.
"Until then, I will now formally introduce the guests who have joined us tonight. First, we have Captain Garity form the United States Army, joining us tonight."
The servants nodded in acknowledgement as the captain slightly raised his hand in attendance. The wolves however, weren't so welcoming, as they glared at the accomplished captain.
"Well these wolves are rude." Marshall whispered to Chase, which caused Chase to quietly hush him as the Ambassador went on.
"Next, we have Claria. The Alpha-Heir to the River Rush."
Claria sat up as highest as she could as the servants and wolves nodded in her presence. A complete opposite reaction than captain Garity's
"We also have the pups from Adventure Bay, Chase and Marshall, who are members of the famous Paw Patrol."
While the servants were nodding in acknowledgement, the wolves stayed frozen in their seats, staring at the two rescue pups. But it wasn't scowls on their faces. Instead it was astonishment.
"You mean the same Paw Patrol who helped the Woodland recover their emerald from invaders?"
Chase nodded as he answered Kora's question. "Yes. Although I'm one of the ones who actually did the deed."
"I am very honored." the heir replied, as he bowed his head towards him while the others followed suit.
Chase was about to reply until Jack tapped on the glass again. "Now, now. There will be plenty of time to talk after the introductions."
Everyone nodded at him, as he introduced the last guests. "Alright, our last guests are the ShadowFur wolves, represented by the Alpha-Heir of ShadowFur, Klora."
The servants once again nodded as well as Chase, Marshall, Claria, and Garity. Klora practically almost fainted in place as he shook at all of the attention.
Marshall took note of this as it sorta reminded him of himself. "Aw, poor pup." he whispered to Chase. "He looks like he's about to run away."
Chase shook his head at the sight, as it was a definite no go on the interrogation of the ShadowFur Wolves. Now, he has a new target, which was the ambassador. Captain Garity told him something very peculiar about the ambassador's house, and he wanted more information from the ambassador himself.
At that moment, the dinner officially began when servers entered the room with glasses full of drinks of water, tea, and flavored drinks that the patrons had requested earlier.
Jack got from behind the podium, and sat down at the head of the table, and began sipping his tea, with the others following suit. Chase had begun to look at Jack with a very determined face. The ambassador noticed this as he stared back at the shepherd. "Something the matter Chase?"
"No not really." Chase answered back, smiling firmly at Jack. "Captain Garity and I were just discussing the history of the wolves and he told me something very interesting about your house."
Jack's mouth matched Chase's as he wondered what has caught Chase's attention "Really now? Enlighten me Chase, what did he tell you about my estate?"
The servers came out of the kitchen with napkins and saucers full of grapes and olives as the patrons started eating them. For Marshall, this dinner started off well, for he loved grapes as he's started eating them along with Claria who was eating the olives.
"He said that this property was once the territory of the BloodRayne wolves." Chase stated, staring calmly at Jack.
One server came out of the kitchen with a big serving plate with a silver dome on it. Concealing whatever was in it. Marshall licked his lips as he couldn't wait to see what the main course was, "Oh boy! I wonder what it is. I'm starving."
Caria matched his excitement as well. "Me too."
The server put the dis in front of Marshall and lifted up the dome. Marshall licked his lips again but immediately stopped when he saw what was inside and was shocked. On the plate in front of him, was a snake! Wrapped around a big Chalice holding a bouquet of flowers.
Marshall was dumbfounded at the sight. He had a hard time eating a rabbit with its head cut off earlier. He couldn't imagine how he would ever eat this without feeling bad for the snake. It wasn't even cleaned or anything. It was like it died naturally wrapped around the Chalice.
Claria however had a complete opposite reaction, as she continued to stare at the snake with her mouth watering and her tongue sticking out. "Ooooo. Snake,...surprise."
"What's the surprise?" Marshall gasped. He regretted asking that question, when the servers cut the snake open, and what seemed like a hundred baby snakes flowed out of the big snake like blood gushing out. Wiggling and gargling around which almost made Marshall throw up on the spot.
"Well. That is peculiar." Jack replied to Chase's discovery, not taking his eyes off of Chase, but was calm as a turtle. "Well, I guess it's very fortunate that the BloodRayne wolves are no longer with us."
Captain Garity then chimed in while eating. "Yes. Very fortunate. The BloodRayne wolves were vile creatures. They worshiped Red-Eye like a cult. Complete with pup sacrifices. The U.S. army did away with them thoroughly.
Marshall watched in horror, us wolves and Claria were eating the LIVE baby snakes in front of him. Some even slurped them like romain noodles, which made Marshall gag in response.
"Well I assume BloodRayne has followers." Chase replied in response to Captain Garity. Not taking his eyes off of Jack.
Jack looked up from his plate and stared daggers back at Chase. "Impossible Chase. There is no trace of the BloodRayne wolves anywhere."
Upon hearing this, Marshall and Claria looked on as the conversation got tense as Klora, DarkClaw and the rest of the wolves paid attention as well.
Chase noticed this but continued on. "I'm not so sure about that now. The River Rush pack says that the ShadowFur wolves had been raiding their camps like they've used to. Said that they pledged their allegiance to BloodRayne."
The ShadowFur wolves hear this as they now stare at Chase with daggers of their own. Some even produced a low growl at the shepherd, as they were about to come across the table on them for even accusing the pack of the deed. Marshall was deeply concerned for Chase, as he looked at each wolf, ready to defend his best friend.
"Watch it Chase," The ambassador warned. "You're becoming very unpopular with our guests. They take too kindly to a foreigner sticking their nose into business it doesn't belong and accusing them of something with no evidence."
Chase too noticed the atmosphere of the room becoming hostile from the wolves. All except for Klora, who was now looking at Chase as if he was very intrigued by what he had to say. Chase had to bring the mood down or he would be mauled in the matter of seconds. "I'm not accusing anyone. I'm just saying what the pack told me."
"Well I suggest you keep it to yourself Chase. Packs had been known to spread stories of fear and folklore." Jack replied he then eyed Captain Garity as he said his next statement. "Your beginning to worry Captain Garity."
"No, No ambasassor. I'm not worried." The captain all said, as he shooed away some baby snakes. "Just…...curious."
At that moment, platters were passed around as the patrons took their time picking from the Platter. It went to Marshall as he saw what was on them and came so close to freaking out. On the platter, were rabbits ready to be eaten. The problem? Their heads were still on, as Marshall couldn't even look at them. A wolf across the table from them, noticed this, and began to question the distressed Dalmatian.
"What's wrong?" The wolf asks in a calm and soothing voice. "You're not eating?"
Marshall was hyperventilating a little bit as he answered her. "I-I-I had a rabbit for lunch."
The wolf rolled her eyes as she began to devour her rabbit. Pulling it's fluffy tail off to start off as she tore it to pieces. Marshall began to breathe heavily, as he inched over to Chase. "Chase, give me your hat."
Chase looked at Marshall with a confused look. As he took his hat off he handed it to Marshall. "Why?"
"Cause I'm going to puke in it!" Marshall answered frantically as he grabbed Chase's police hat.
Upon hearing this, Chase immediately snatched it away. "Eww! No! Use your helmet."
Claria had just finished her rabbit, as she burped loudly. "Excuse me." She forgot about Marshall's problem with eating food that looks at him. As she was destroying her food without noticing Marshall's struggle through Pukeland. She had not eaten this much in forever, so she was going to savor this moment as much as she could.
Back at the head of the table, Chase was eating his portion, as he continued to press the situation. "You know, they also said that ShadowFur took something valuable to them."
"You're still on about this Chase?" Jack replied, while eating. "You don't give up easily, do you? You know it's rude for a guest to insult his hosts."
Chase grinned as he was giving a firm stare at the ambassador. "I'm sorry, I thought we were talking about folklore."
Marshall couldn't take it any longer, he was close to getting up and finding the nearest bath room and staying there till the end of the dinner. But he decided against it, as it would look bad on him and Chase. Plus he had to try to eat something, or he would have trouble trying to sleep with an empty stomach.
He noticed a server pass by and motioned for him to come over. "Ex-Excuse me. Do you have anything simple, like soup?"
The server nodded as he went to fetch the dally a bowl of soup.
Captain Garity looked at Chase with as much curiosity as a cat. "What exactly did the pack say was stolen?"
Chase thought about saying their pups were stolen, but decided against it.
As it would probably cause enough trouble to get out from. Chase took a deep breath before he answered. "An emerald."
Almost every wolf at the table peaked up and stared at Chase again. This time, with more aggressiveness than before, as growls could be heard. But the mood immediately went down, when surprisingly, Jack started laughing out loud, almost choking on his food.
"You see captain?" he said to Garity, mocking Chase. "An emerald!" he laughed some more as Chase's fack fell to one of embarrassment.
The server came back out of the kitchen with a little chalice in his hand as he appeared next to Marshall and set it down in front of him. Marshall wagged his tail in excitement. He figured that there was no way they could screw soup up. He picked the dome cover off the Chalice as steam resonated from the soup as he bereaved it in soothingly. He went to start eating it, but he ended up bumping the side of it, finding away they could screw it up.
When he bumped the side, eyeballs floated to the top with pupils staging at him. REAL EYEBALL! Talk about not being able to eat anything that looks at you, now it seemed like god was mocking him.
Marshall whimpered in response to this as he visibly began to shake in fear and embarrassment. Claria looked over at the Chalice, again, forgetting about Marshall's stance on eating. "What? You don't like sheep eyeballs?"
"SHEEEEEEEP?!" Marshall exclaimed as he had a horrified look on his face.
"Chase," Jack began as he ceased laughing. "If the pack wants an emerald so badly, they could go to the wolf's howl and go dig one up! That is one of this country's resources. Gemstones are everywhere on that mountain from rubies to sapphires. Saying that ShadowFur stole an emerald from them would be like me stealing candy from a baby. It's not really that big of a deal Chase. Geez Chase, if you're going to accuse somebody of a crime, make sure you have heat behind it. Or else you would more like a tattle tale, rather than a police pup."
Chase was largely humiliated. If Ryder was here, or hell, his father was still alive, they would be very disappointed at his performance. Maybe he should've won the lead with the kidnapped pups instead. At least it would've saved him from embarrassing himself.
Claria finally finished her rabbit, and locked over to Marshall, who had not moved an inch since he took the dome off the sheep eye soup. She then looks at the soup with very tantalizing eyes. "Are you going to eat that?"
At this point, Marshall had given up on eating anything tonight. Hell he probably will never eat again ever. At least the same way he used to.
While still wearing a face of shock and horror and barely moving, Marshall placed his left paw on the right side of the base of the chalice, and slowly pushed the chalice in front of Claria. Giving her permission to finish it off the soup.
Chase then remembered a key point about the emerald as he tried again. "It wasn't a normal emerald that was taken. It was their wolf's emerald. The emerald that protects and provides the pack with resources, and now that it is gone, the wolves are starving and drop dead at any moment of the day."
That did for DarkClaw. He had heard enough, as he got up to come across the table and rip Chase's throat out but Klora stopped him with his paw and pleaded with him to sit back down.
Jack however, gave death glare to Chase as he went to defuse the situation. "Chase." he said grimly. "I find it amusing that you're going off of rumors and speculation, when you seem to forget that you and your band of misfits are not immune to them as well."
Chase returned the stare as he listened on to Jack's retort.
"I seem to remember hearing something about your dalmatian friend being considered more of an arsonist, than a fire pup." The ambassador sternly said.
Chase was caught completely off guard at that statement.
About two months ago, Marshall made an appearance at an orphanage down at Foggy Bottom, to talk about fire safety with his fans. Ryder and Chase went with him to help as Marshall was not particularly great with public speaking. But even with that, Marshall still ended up freaking out and accidentally knocking over a conveniently placed candle over, that sent the orphanage into a blaze. Thankfully, no one was hurt except for Marshall's mental health. As it was the worst day of his life. Well, more like the worst week of his life, as the media trashed his reputation and over exaggerated the situation. Because of that, people wanted Marshall to quit the Paw Patrol forever, as they thought that his clumsiness would one day cause many deaths and for that, called him the worst fire pup ever. Marshall came really, really close to following suit and never being a fire pup ever again. It took Ryder, Chase, Skye, Rocky, Zuma, Rubble, his parents, his sister Ember, Kaitie, Alex, Mr. Porter, Captain Turbot, Farmer Yumi, Farmer Al, Jake, Everest, and the entire population of Adventure Bay, to convince him otherwise and lift his spirits up, from the lowest it had ever been, and push back the media, and to continue on being the best fire dog in the world.
Chase was enraged that Jack would ever bring up the lowest point of his best friend's life, but kept calm to not show weakness. "That was an accident." Chase said slowly and sternly, as he now gave an Icy stare at the ambassador. "And if I remember correctly, because I was THERE, he saved everyone in that orphanage."
Jack returned the stare as he knew he hit a sore spot. "I'm pretty sure he did Chase. But that didn't stop the media. Did it?"
Chase tensed a little at that as he hoped Marshall wasn't listening.
Jack went on his verbal assault. "I also remember reading in the paper today about a nightclub shooting a couple nights ago, involving the death of a famous singer named Skylar."
Chase's Icy stare vanished as he was reminded of his friend's death.
"And apparently, you're the suspect." Jack informed the now distressed shepherd.
Chase couldn't believe what he said. He hoped he was lying. But he was pretty sure that Jack was serious as a heart attack.
Chase felt like he wanted to run away and hide in a closet and never come out. Not only did he lose one of his friends two days ago, but now he was being accused of her murder. This had to be Bubba's doing. No way he would ever be willing to take responsibility for Skylar's death. Guess he now he's going to have to deal with that when he gets back home.
Chase swallowed hard as he tried to keep his composure, but after being told a bombshell, It was very to do that. "I-I-I-I-I Didn't kill her."
Jack took Chase's awkwardness and ran with it. "That's not what the paper said."
"Well…..um…." Chase was closed to breaking down, as he could barely finnish his sentence. "There…..There seems t-t-to b-be a b-big mim-m-m-misunderstanding."
"Exactly what we have here Chase." Jack said sternly. "A miss understanding.
Chase had fully given up at this point. The once strong minded and confident police pup, had now been broken down into a very deflated and embarrassed pup. He had fully given up at this point, he wanted to curl up into a ball and cry of embarrassment. He had been defeated in this battle spectacularly, and wanted to go home with his tail between his legs.
"U-Um…. Excuse me?"
The entire table looked at where the voice was coming from, as it turned out to be Klora, who had finally broken his silence.
"Can-Can I say something?" He requested nervously.
The ambassador nodded as he gave permission for the Alpha-Heir to speak.
Klora cleared his throat as he began. "I know about our history with the BloodRayne wolves. I know that we were once called the dangerous alliance because our ways of terrorizing the other packs. I thought the stories were told to frighten little pups to get them to behave. But I then later found out that it was all real, and that we have done unspeakable things to the other packs." He then locked on to Chase.
"Chase." he said sternly. "I am ashamed of my pack forever for helping the BloodRayne wolves, and I assure you that as long as I'm still alive, we will never, ever be associated with those monsters ever again."
CHase looked up into his eyes of Kora with sorrowful eyes. "I-If I've offended you, then I am sorry."
Chase and Jack gave each other one last stare as the ambassador grinned menacingly.
The severs came back one last time holding many more Chalices with silver domes on the top of them.
"Ooooo." Claria said excitingly. "Dessert."
'Oh great! Dessert!' Marshall thought. 'I wonder what it is this time, lizard's tale, stuffed turtles, fried birds, baked cats? At this point, he didn't care what it was, he just knew that he wasn't going to like it.
A server set a chalice down in front of Marshall and revealed a monkey's head. Marshall gasped sharply at the sight as all the air was sucked out of his lungs.
"Ahhh." Claria said, very eager to eat it. "Chilled Monkey Brains!" She then opened the top of the head and dugg in.
Chilled…...Monkey…..Brains.
Chilled…..Monkey…..Brains
CHILLED MONKEY BRAINS!
That did it. That was all Marshall could take as shortly after looking inside the monkey's head, he lost all feeling everywhere. His eyes rolled backwards into his head, as he fell backwards in his chair causing it to fall and land with a loud thump. He had fainted and landed on his back, with his paws up in the air. Twitching slightly.
Claria snapped back into reality and went to check on him. After discovering that he had fainted, she picked him up by the scruff of his neck, and placed him on her back with the help from a nearby servant.
Thankfully, Marshall was light as a feather and Claria was pretty strong, as she addressed the table. "I-Im going to take him to his room. Thanks for the dinner!" She then starts making her way out of the room, as the rest of the patrons went back to their meals.
Normally, Chase would be infuriated, but after the embarrassment defeat earlier, he welcomed Marshall fainting as now, everybody was talking about Marshall whiting out, rather that a stupid dumb german shepherd like him.
Chase didn't say anything else for the rest of the dinner, as he sat completely still. Not even eating his Chilled Monkey Brain.
Oh man, poor Chase. He had just been played like a fiddle, and Marshall's fear was put to the test here. This is definitely going to be a long night for the two of them.
Chapter 10 will be up by October 9th at the latest
Question of the Chapter: Good lord that was a lot of exotic food! Would you eaten all of that?
Please review and tell me your favorite parts and if you have any questions about the story or anything else just put it in your review or pm me and I l'll get back with you as soon as I can.
This Is Sean Thames of Dragonsfire Entertainment signing off.