(A/N) Hey guys! Please excuse my tardiness, i was held up this week.
Got some action for you finally in this one, as almost all the talking is over. So I hope you enjoy.
Welcome back to Paw Patrol and the Temple of Doooooooooooooom!
Chapter 10: A Spiky Situation
Jack rushed into his study and slammed the door behind him. He leaned on the table by his chair and took deep breaths, as he took a cigarette out of his pack and lit it up. As soon as he puffed, he started to calm down.
That…..was too close!
That german shepherd almost had them there. Right in front of the captain no less. If Jack hadn't interjected and defused the situation, his plan with the BloodRayne would have been compromised, and then all of their hard work would have been for nothing and he would be in a american jail.
He sat down on his chair and relaxed for the first time that night. Breathing deeply in and out to remain calm. One thing was for sure, he HAD to silence that pup by any means necessary. He glanced at the paper he read before the dinner, and came across the night club story. He saw Chase's bounty and then smiled menacingly through his cigarette. Why not try to kill two birds with one stone? He picked up the paper and read the bounty of five hundred thousand dollars.
"I guess it's time to cash in on that bounty." he said out loud.
Just then, Jane came through the door and stood in front of the ambassador. "Ambassador?"
Jack looked up at his number one servant. "Yes Jane?"
"A message from Onicon," She stated.
"Okay." Jack replied, anxious to hear the message. "What is it?"
"He says that there is a ceremony tonight, and he expects you to be there." Jane revealed.
"Really? Who is going to be sacrificed tonight?" he asked curiously.
"The Alpha-Heir of ShadowFur," Jane answered. "Klora."
"Oh." Jack replied. "Really? I didn't expect the Alpha to sacrifice his own son. Must because of the comment he made at the table. Alright I'll get ready." He then gets up to go to his bedroom and make preparations to attend the BloodRayne ceremony.
Jane turned around to exit but was stopped by Jack.
"Wait a minute Jane," He called.
Jane turned back around to address the ambassador. "Yes ambassador?"
"I need you to do me a favor while I'm gone."
Chase walked down the hallway by himself with his head hung low. He didn't talk to anybody as he left the dining room, not even Captain Garity who had attempted to talk to the deflated shepherd, but only got silence in return. He didn't want to talk to anyone, he just wanted to go to his room, lock the door, faceplant his pillow and maybe suffocate himself.
His performance at the dinner ended horribly, with the Paw Patrol being completely embarrassed through the whole thing with Marshall's mishap with the food and Chase's empty interrogation. He wasn't mad at Marshall, at least not as much as he was mad at himself for botching it and letting the ambassador walk all over him. He should've had evidence, he should've actually known all about what he was talking about and picked his battles accordingly. That way, the ambassador would've had no holes to escape from, and they could've solved everything without any violence. The only thing to do now, is to sleep it off, and travel to ShadowFur's camp and rescue the pups and the emeralds. He doubted that they were just going to let them in due to the bad reputation he now had from them. So, more than likely, they were going to have to fight their way into the camp to get the emeralds and the pups.
Chase stopped in front of his door and looked behind him at Marshall's door. He could really use a counseling session from his best friend right now. Marshall always knew what to say to ease Chase and bring him down to earth and make him feel better. He loved that about the dally, and knew that whenever Chase was down in the dumps, he always had Marshall to lift his spirits up.
He thought about doing just that, but after the dinner, he felt that Marshall was probably exhausted if not asleep at this point. He'll have to wait till tomorrow to talk to him, as he didn't want to disturb him.
He turned around and opened his bedroom door to find Claria laying down and awake on the bed. He was surprised at first, but then he remembered that Marshall had requested for her to sleep with him tonight.
Despite his mental health at the moment, Chase smiled at her as Claria looked at him with exhausted eyes. "Tired already?"
Claria gave a smile back as she sat up, "Yeah."
Chase went up to the bed and climbed on it to sit next to her. "I thought you wanted to have the best night ever."
"I did." Claria said scooting away from him some to give him room. "But I guess I'm just not feeling it anymore."
Chase felt a little disappointed honestly. He had hoped that Claria was in a playful mood to ease his stress from earlier. But it looks like that wasn't going to happen. But there was something that he finally had the chance to address with her. It had been bothering him since they started the journey, and now, he will finally see what's up.
"Hey Claria? He said. "Can I ask you something?"
"What is it Chase?" Claria said, not looking at him.
"Did….did I do something wrong?"
Claria looked at Chase innocently. "Huh? What do you mean."
"Oh come on Claria, you know what I mean." Chase pressed. "Have I done anything to scare you?"
Claria froze up at that question. She felt as if she was found out she was a suspect of a crime and Chase found her out. "It's that obvious, isn't it?"
"From your scent, yes, it is." Chase replied.
Claria looked at Chase with the saddest eyes. "Oh Chase. Please don't be mad. It's not like I want to be scared by you."
Chase looked into Claira's eyes, which almost made clench out of habit, but she didn't this time. His amber eyes stopped her. They weren't intimidating, they were calm and caring. Completely opposite from what she would usually get from him.
"Claria," Chase said. "I'm not mad. I just wanna know what the problem is, so I can stop scaring you. Please…..tell me. Why can't you talk to me without getting nervous."
Claria swallowed hard as she tried to think of a satisfying answer to Chase's question. "You're not doing anything Chase. It's just….It's…...I don't know what it is."
Chase listened on, as Claria tried to make sense of her mindset.
"Don't get me wrong. You're a good pup Chase. You're nice, selfless, and stubborn for the right reason."
Chase raised an eyebrow in confusion. He never heard a compliment like that before, but he guessed he could take it.
"It's just…..I don't know. Every time I look at you, I feel like I'm annoying you and that I'm doing something wrong."
Chase was taken aback by this. Try as he might, he couldn't think of a time he was really annoyed or mad after. Maybe the submarine song, but he wasn't annoyed at her as much as he was annoyed at the song. Plus that was a very silly thing to be annoyed at her about. "What are you talking about Claria? You don't annoy me."
"You may not be annoyed Chase, But to me, I'am, and it's making me feel like I'm disappointing you. Like I should be doing more. Than sitting around and playing with Marshall."
Chase suddenly had a realization as he listened to Claria's rambling.
"You are such a serious pup. You think ahead and plan accordingly, and that's not a bad thing. It sorta reminds me of…."
"Yourself?"
Claria stopped immediately when Chase interrupted her. "Y-Y-Yeah, Exactly."
The two looked at each other. Both of them were not moving a muscle as they stared at each other for a bit until Claria broke the silence.
"I may not look like it. But I can be a serious pup. Even though I can be playful, I make it a point to know my situation and know what to do if anything goes wrong, or what I need to do to reach my goal, and also how to present myself. I learned all that from my father. The reason why I haven't been so tight on it, is because I'm having so much fun with Marshall. I don't get to play much anymore. I'm getting to that age where I have to learn how to be a suitable Alpha, and how to take care of the pack in tough situations."
Chase listens on, as he takes note of Claria's life.
"Most pups get to play all through their pup hoods. But for an heir like me? I have to start learning halfway through, and by the time I know anything, I'll be a full grown wolf, then I would never have time to fool around."
Claria's eyes started to form tears, as she felt very devastated about her future. While she was fine with being an Alpha-Heir, and dreamed of making her father proud by excelling at leading the pack, she had to give up her pup hood to fulfill that goal. She often thought of what it would've been like to not be tied to fate, but always shrug it off, as she loved her mother and father, and would not want to trade her life with anyone else for that one reason.
"So when I play, I play as much as I can until I get very tired, and that's what I get when I spend time with Marshall. I get to release all that playfulness that has been inside of me for so long, and I want that because it won't be long before I have to stop altogether."
Chase felt bad for the pup. In a way, He's the same way. He always felt playfulness building up inside of him from time to time. Always wanting to let it out. Even though Chase was just a pup, he acted much older than he was. Because Ryder made him the de facto leader, Chase always drove himself to be that fulfilling leader the Paw Patrol needs, making him feel like playing was not a necessity. If it weren't for Marshall and the other pups, he would rarely play, as he would probably be off bettering himself by exercising and reading.
Chase had Marshall to thank for showing him how to balance seriousness and playfulness, but for Claria, she had no one. Yeah she had Roxy, but she probably didn't see him but one or two times a month, and if she's the heir, she must have a lot to learn so she could lead the pack so, she probably has a lot less time than Chase ever has to play.
The police pup resonated with this, considering that it's the complete opposite with him. He thinks that he plays too much all the time. It's not that he doesn't like to play, he just would rather be working and keeping order than to goof around.
Claria spoke up again as she got comfortable "So whenever I talk and look at you, the look you give, reminds me of that, and that I need to be what's expected of me. That's the reason I get nervous around you Chase."
"So…you think I expect a lot out of you?" Chase asked.
Claria looked down very sadly as she confirmed Chase's answer. "Y-Yeah. Pretty much."
Chase was silent for a moment, before he replied with a reasoning tone. "Claria. I'm going to tell you something that I don't really tell a lot folks about me. Why? Because I completely understand what you're talking about."
"You do?" Claria asked.
"Yep." Chase said back confidently. "Chase I had those thoughts before."
Now it was Claria's turn to listen on with interest as Chase continued.
"The feeling like everyone's expectation is more out of you, when that's not the case. The feeling of doing more than you can possibly do, even if the jobs are acceptable and always waiting to do your best for the sake of everyone else because you feel you need to. I used to get those feelings all the time, and still do from time to time. But you wanna know something?"
Claria stayed still. "Hmm?"
"A certain pup told me that you can only do as best as you can do. No more, no less. If you keep thinking that you can do more than your best, you'll only be disappointing yourself, and nine times out of ten, your friends don't expect you to be better than your best anyway, they just want to know that you will be there for them, ready to take on anything that comes across."
Claria sat in awe and started to relax, even scooting a little close to Chase, not at all intimidated no more.
"That's all they want, so there is no point in stressing yourself Claria. You already showed me that you're more than capable to help us in any way you can, and you haven't done anything to lose my trust. So there should be nothing you need to prove to me. So all you need to do is…" Chase paused and smiled at Claria, as he was quoting that certain pup. "Do your best, and forget the rest."
Claria smiled back and formed tears of joy, as she hugged Chase suddenly. "Thanks Chase. That means a lot to me."
Chase hugged back as he felt that her uneasiness for him just vanished into thin air. "Your welcome squirt."
They let go as they looked at each other again with admiration. Claria smiled as she spoke next. "If only you were as playful as Marshall. Then it would truly be the best night ever."
Chase raised an eyebrow, as he gave a skeptic smile. "Oh? You don't think I'm playful enough for you."
Claria faced the foot of the bed as she laid down and yawned. Curling up into a ball. "No not really. That's not a bad thing though, just a little bit of a bummer though."
"Oh really?" Chase said slowly, as he got into a hunter's crouch, ready to strike Claria.
Claria had her eyes closed as she yawned one more time, not seeing Chase's determined look. "Yep. Such a…whoa!"
Claria had no time to react, as Chase suddenly tackled her on the bed. A chill ran down her spine when this happened, but she wasn't screaming, instead, she was laughing hysterically.
Chase had a hold on her and started tickling the snot out of her. Claria thrashed a round, tring to get out of Chase's grasp but it was no use, as Chase's ticklish assault overcame her.
"HAHAHAHEHE…..WHAT...HEHE….ARE YOU…HEHE…..DOING?!" Claria struggled to speak in between her laughs.
"What's it feel like to squirt?" Chase replied, almost laughing himself. "I'm tickling you."
"P-P-PLEASE! HEHEHE! SSSSSTOP!" Claria exclaimed. "I-HAHA-CAN'T BR-BR-BREATHE! HEHE!"
"I'm afraid I don't want to stop Claria." Chase said grimly. "Not until you tell me that I'm playful enough!"
"W-W-W-W-WHAT?! HAHA!"
"You heard me! Whose playful now huh?!"
"AHHAHAHAHA! YOU ARE! YOU ARE! HEHE! P-PLEASE STOP!"
Chase didn't let up as he continued his assault. "IIIIII can't heaaaaar yoooooooouuuu."
"YOU ARE! TEHEHEHE! HAHAHAHA! PLEASE! HEHE! LEMME GO!" Claria said, struggling to escape as Chase continued. But inside, she was loving it.
Chase eased up a bit as he asked the next question. "Even more than Marshall?"
"Well, HEHE Maybe not HAHEHE that playful!"
Big mistake, as Chase grew the most evil smile he had ever had in his life. "Wrong answer." He said, as he intensified his tickling to the point where Claria would explode with uncontrollable laughter.
"BWAHAHA! HEHEHE NO! TEHEHEHE! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GARI! HAHAHA! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! PWFHEHEHEHE!"
"Am I more playful than Marshall?"
"YES! HAHA!"
"Really?"
"YES! REALLY! HEHE!"
"You're not just saying that cause I'm ticking you. Huh?"
"MAYBE!"
That only made it worse, as he moved to her belly. "I don't think like that answer."
"GAHHAHAHAHA! OKAY! OKAY! I GIVE! HEHEHEHEH! I GIVE! YOU ARE HEHEHE! MORE PLAYFUL THAN MARSHALL! AHHEHEHEHEHE! NOW PLEASE! STOP!"
Feeling like she had enough, and mostly because he was starting to get a little tired, Chase finally let go of Claria. Claria laid out with Chase sitting next to her.
"Wow Claria, didn't expect you to be very ticklish." Chase stated.
Claria's brain was practically mush at this point as she tried to reply. "Blddjoi….Zonld….ghath...daffn."
Chase sat there and observed Claria for a bit before he stood up and proceeded to get off the bed.
Claria, after finally catching her breath, landed her eyes on Chase who was about to jump off the bed. She had on her mind. Sweet, sweet revenge. She stood and crouched low behind Chase, her eyes locked on the shepherd. When she was ready she called him out. "Hey Chase."
Chase turned around to look at Claria, "hmmm...oof." Chase had no time to react, as Claria pounced on him, and tackled him off the bed and landed on the floor with Chase landing on his back and Claria on top of him.
"Ha! Got you!" Claria exclaimed, proud of herself, as her paw pressed on his chest "Revenge is mine!"
Her smile immediately faded when Chase groaned in pain. She had enormous amounts of concern, as she stood there frozen in place. "Oh no! Chase! I'm so, so sorry. Do you need help?"
Chase however, was faking it, as he smiled and suddenly rolled over, and took Claria with him. They switched places in one swift movement with Claria practically scared out of her paws as Chase still had a smile on his face.
"Ah!" Claria yelped. "No! Please! I'm so sorry! Please don't kill me!"
Chase chuckled as he suddenly gave the terrified pup a quick lick. "Rule number one of fighting squirt. NEVER give your opponent time to recover."
Claria calmed down as she pressed Chase. "Oh come on Chase! That wasn't fair!"
"It may be," Chase replied. "But there's no fairness in a fight Claria, you got to be ready for anything."
Claria rolled her eyes "Whatever. What did you do anyway? That was pretty cool."
"Oh that?" Chase acknowledged. "It's a basic dog side take down while laying on my back, My dad taught me that."
"Can you teach me?" Claria asked very eagerly.
"Sure, why not." Chase answered, as he started to teach Claria the move. "It's really simple. Just take your front left paw and put it on my joint in my right foreleg like this…"
Chase placed Claria's left foreleg on his leg "Take your back left leg and put it in the same spot on my back left leg." Claria did just that as she started to get the hang of it. "And then, take your right foreleg, and place it on my right side here." Claria followed Chase's instructions closely as Chase gave the last of the tutorial. "Then, all at once, push on my right side while using your left paws as a fulcrum and slam me on the…..whoa!"
Before Chase could finnish, Claria did was she was taught and rolled Chase over, just like he did before.
"Oof!" Chase yelped as he slammed on the ground on his side while Claria stood over him.
"I-I did it!" Claria jumped with joy. "I did it!"
"Whoa." Chase replied, very impressed. "You learn fast squirt." He then rubs his head as he states the last sentence. "Though I wish you didn't slam me so hard."
They both laugh as Claria gets off of Chase, allowing him to stand up, and stretch.
"Well." Chase yawned. "I think I'm going to check on Marshall. See how he is doing."
"Okay." she replied, as she started heading out the door. "I'm going outside."
"Outside?" Chase repeated. "Why?"
"Well," Claria answered nervously. "You know…...I need to go."
"Why don't you use the bathroom?" Chase suggested "That way you don't gotta walk that fur."
"Are you kidding?" Claria asked back "I don't know how to use those….things."
"Oh come on Claria." Chase said. "You're a smart pup. You can figure it out."
Claria thought about it for a bit. Human technology was so weird and a little scary for her, she had no interest in learning how to use the toilets.
But… it is a long walk to the front doors, and she may not be able to hold it in sooo… she may have no choice. She sighed as she gave in. "Okay I'll try."
Chase smiled at her, as she went into the bathroom. Leaving Chase to exit out the room.
Before he left though, he went into his pack, and barked out his emergency pack. He grabbed a nearby bowl, tore the bag open, and spilled it's contents into the bowl. He figured that Marshall would be hungry, so he felt that an emergency pack would fill Marshall right up. Once he was ready, he made his way out of the room. He saw Jane who had just arrived to straighten up the rooms.
"Oh, hey Jane." Chase greeted. "You scared me."
Jane practically jumped a few feet when Chase called out to her. "Hey Chase. I'm just making sure everything is set for you to be comfortable for your good night sleep."
Chase nodded at her as he walked in front of Marshall's room door. "Okay cool. I'm just going to check on my buddy for a bit."
"Please." Jane replied. "Take all the time you need."
"Thanks Jane." Chase responded. As he turned around and faced the door.
Jane stared at him a bit before she opened the door to Chase's room and made her way inside. Closing the door behind her.
Chase stopped in front of Marshall's door and raised his paw to knock, but before he could knock, the door swung open as Marshall stood in the doorway. Chase swung the bowl behind him as he greeted him. "Hey buddy."
Marshall smiled at the sight of his friend, though the smile wasn't genuine, which Chase could tell from Marshall's stance. He was going to say something, but his smile that he gave wasn't really much better. Still, he had a very eager tone as he spoke to him. "I have something for you."
Marshall's smile diminished a little. "To be honest Chase, I don't have anything that you have, I don't think there is anything that you have, that I would need right now."
"Oh really." Chase replied sarcastically. "Okay."
Chase then turned around and started to eat out of the bowl, making sure to chew loudly for Marshall to hear. It worked as the fire pup's ears peaked up. He ran in front of Chase, next to the bowl, and immediately started eating the food. Chase backed up and let Marshall eat, while Marshall moaned in enjoyment.
A few bites though, Marshall stopped and looked suspiciously at Chase. "This isn't your emergency pack is it?"
Chase cringed up as he gave his answer. "No! It's from Jack."
Marshall raised his eyebrow in a skeptical manner. "Really?"
"Yes! Really!" Chase blurted out, swallowing in nervousness as Marshall knew he was lying, but Chase was not going to give up easily. "Look, would you just eat okay? I want you to be okay when we leave tomorrow."
"Okay fine, I'll eat it." Marshall said. He really didn't feel like fighting with him. Especially since he was almost dead tired. He picked up the bowl and went over to his bed, climbed on it, laid down, and went back to eating.
Chase joined him on the bed as he sat next to him. He felt warm and relaxed next to him, as his problems went away just by being with his best friend.
Marshall stopped eating all of sudden as he looked at Chase with sadness. "Chase?"
Chase met his eyes with assurance. "Yeah buddy?"
"Are you mad at me?" Marshall asked, sounding distressed.
Chase double taked a little bit at the question. "What? No. Why would I be mad at you?"
Marshall ate another bite, as he added an explanation to his question. "I completely embarrassed us up there. I freaked out at their food. That was so disrespectful to them. They probably think we are ungrateful and picky."
Marshall at this point was about to cry at his embarrassment as Chase notices and then starts nuzzling him slowly, trying to comfort his sad friend. "No, no Marshall, I'm not mad at you. In fact..."
Chase stopped as he caught Marshall's sadness. "...It should be you that's mad at me."
Marshall turned his head and was completely clueless. "Huh? Why?"
Chase took a deep breath, as he revealed his reasons. "It was me who humiliated us Marshall. You little stint was only a cover up for what I did."
Marshall didn't say anything as he let Chase continue on, as he went back to eating.
"I made us look like complete fools up there." Chase muttered out. "I was pressing issues without any evidence to back me up, and Jack knew that. He played me Marshall. Played me like a fiddle. I should've listened to you buddy, or I wouldn't have fell into his tr…"
"He's lying." Marshall interrupted, after he swallowed down the last bite.
Chase was caught off guard at Marshall's retort. "What? Huh? How do you know?"
"Oh come on Chase," Marshall continued as he looked at his clueless friend. "It's obvious."
Chase looked on as he was trying to piece together Marshall's point. "Don't follow."
"He kept dodging your questions Chase." the dally continued. "I turn by making us look horrible in front of everybody. Not to mention he stepped in immediately to defend ShadowFur. He is definitely in on it."
"Wait." Chase interjected. "You heard everything?"
"Of course I did Chase." Marshall replied "You thought that I was just gagging out at the food? No, I was listening Closely."
A pit formed in Chase's stomach as he grew concerned about Marshall hearing everything. Most specific, one grueling part. "You mean, you heard everything?"
"Are you deaf Chase?" Marshall asked, chuckling. "Everything."
Chase felt uneasy as he asked his next question. "Even when he….." he swallowed hard at the next part. "Mentioned about...you being an…?" He stopped not wanting to finish it but Marshall didn't need the rest to know what he was talking about.
Marshall was quiet as a mouse for a few seconds, as he looked down at his paws. He took a deep breath himself as he finally answered. "About me being an arsonist? yeah….I heard that."
The two pups had a moment of silence as Marshall started to shake slightly. It was still fresh in his mind, as it happened months ago. All those people hating him no matter what he did, the memory of hearing the children screamed as he rescued them, the media blasting him everyday. It still affected him, as it was a dark point in his life. Still, he got through it, and it was nothing but another bad memory for Marshall.
"Look…..It doesn't affect me anymore." Marshall half lied. "Plus, I know why he brought it up. He was trying to get under our skin. Rattle us and humiliate us, for one reason, to take the shade off of him and ShadowFur."
"So, you think he is in on it," Chase replied. "And ShadowFur is actually doing this."
"I don't think so, I know so." Marshall, said back.
Chase couldn't help but admire the fire pup for paying attention to everything, It was almost like his little blunder at the table was just a show to hide his interest. Although, he felt that Marshall was actually grossed out and was not faking it to say the least. "That's amazing Marshall. That you were able to get all of that."
"Well." Marshall said as he chuckled and nudged Chase a little. "I learned from the best."
Chase blushed as he knew who Marshall was talking about as he smiled at him. "Oh come on Marshall, I'm not that good. Especially after tonight. I was horrible."
"Chase." Marshall said annoyingly and surly. "You didn't embarrass us. He did, and left himself wide open. Though I wished you didn't press so hard Chase. I was so worried when they were growling at you."
"Yeah," Chase replied. "That was pretty tense wasn't it?"
"You couldn't be more right man." Marshall said. "But anyway. You shouldn't be ashamed of yourself Chase. You had Jack on the run, and he had to double back and put us down to escape. You exposed him."
Chase smiled at his friend's reassurance, but he was still doubtful. "I don't know Marshall. I don't think Ryder would have done it that way."
Marshall smiled back as he knew what to say. "Not only would've Ryder done the same thing, The same result would've happened Chase. You did nothing wrong Chase. At least I don't think you did, and considering the guest at the dinner, I don't think it matters now. What with Jack's involvement, and ShadowFur's guilt, which was confirmed by you Chase. You didn't embarrass us. You exposed them, and you there was no other way you could've done any better than that."
Chase no longer had doubts as his face brightened at Marshall's counseling words. "Thanks buddy. I-I really needed to hear that."
Marshall's smile grew to a toothy one as he yawned loudly. "Of course man, anytime man."
Chase then got up, stretched his limbs, and jumped off of the bed "Okay, I think that it's time to sleep it off."
Marshall nodded in agreement as he yawned again. "Yep. I one thousand percent agree with you. Good night man."
Chase looked at Marshall with a firm smile. "Good night buddy."
He left the room and walked into his. He thought about his conversation with Marshall, as he went to his pup pack to get Officer Bear. He genuinely believed Marshall for the most part, but we still thought he could've done better by a long shot.
He pushed it aside for now as he got his teddy out to sleep. But the one he pulled out felt different, really different. He looked at it and discovered that it wasn't Officer Bear at all, it was Chief Teddy, which was Marshall's teddy.
Chase was immediately confused, as he was wondering how Marshall's teddy got into his pack. It got worse when he didn't find his teddy. Chase gasped as he realized that his and Marshall's teddy must have gotten mixed up. This theory was strengthened when he remembered that Claria was the one who did the packing when they tore down the camp. He looked towards the bathroom where he assumed Claria was. Poor pop probably got confused whose was whose. Although, he didn't know how she could've gotten it wrong considering Chief Teddy had a fire helmet on, and Officer Bear had a police uniform on. But he can't take it back, so there was only one thing to do. "Guess I gotta go make a trade."
Chase made his way to the door, with Chief Teddy in tow. Unbeknownst to him, Jane, who was hiding in the Shadows, started moving behind him with something that looked like a handkerchief. She moved quietly as she was closely behind them. She then took the handkerchief and in one swift motion, wrapped it around Chase's neck, and started choking Chase.
Chase gasped as he immediately started thrashing around, trying to thwart off his attacker, ramming her into various tables and chairs. Crashes could be heard, as Jane maintained his grip as best as she could, slamming Chase to the ground, whenever he tried to get up, and shake her off.
Chase managed to get up, and quickly pushed backwards, and slammed her back first on the pillar next to the bed. She cried in pain but kept her grip on Chase's neck. She then slammed his head on the nightstand, causing the lamp on it to fall on the floor. In the midst of his struggling he grabbed a gold pitcher that fell with the lamp, and popped her on the side of the face with it, which loosened her grip a little bit, as Chase was able to get a paw in between the handkerchief and his neck. Still, Jane didn't let go, as the hold tightened around his neck. Chase then stood a few ways from the door, and stood on his hind legs. He then thrusted back down to his fours, and used the momentum, to flip Jane over his back and land in front of him. But Jane's grip was still as strong as ever, as she did the same thing after, causing Chase to go right back where he started, only he was in the sitting position. Jane put her feet on his back and pulled hard for leverage.
Chase yelped in pain, as his back was now being bent backwards and the choking intensified. Air was running out, as Chase tried to do anything to escape, but he couldn't escape due to the pain in his back, and air diminishing from his lungs.
The sound of a door knock filled Chase's ears as he heard a voice which turned out to be Marshall.
"Um, Chase?" He called. "The door is locked, so could you come here please?"
Chase tried to yelp for help, but he couldn't due to his attacker yanking harder.
"I think there has been a mix up. I found Officer Bear in my pup pack. I was wondering if Chief Teddy was in yours."
The shepherd tried so desperately to move to the door, but Jane's grip was as tight as ever as he gasped for air.
"Chase? Chase?!" Marshall called. "Are you already asleep?!"
Chase didn't have much time left as he started getting light headed.
"I swear to god Chase! If you're sleeping with Chief Teddy I'll…I'll...I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do something!"
Chase squirmed around with the last of his energy to escape. But it wasn't working, in fact, it was making it worse, as Jane somehow pulled back with more force!
"You know what?" Marshall yelled nearly crying. "Go ahead! Sleep with Him! Just don't STRANGLE HIM!"
Chase reached out as if he could somehow open the door by some sort of force.
"Good night Chase!" Marshall yelled angrily, as pawsteps could be heard stomping on the floors which meant that he was not behind the door anymore.
Chase at this point, felt doomed. HIs last hope was trying to alert Marshall. After that, there was nothing he could do, as he started to lose feeling and consciousness. He gasped slowly a couple times as his paws went limp.
Suddenly, Jane let go, as Chase fell to the floor, gasping for air as he finally got some. He laid motionless on the floor for a few seconds.
Meanwhile, Jane was struggling with Claria, who had pounced on her and started biting her shoulder. Claria held on, as Jane screamed in pain and flared around trying to shove her off. She rammed Claria onto a wall pillar, causing Claria to finally let go and fall to the ground. Jane then picked her up like a battering ram, and threw her at a table on the far side of the room. Claria crashed into the table, and laid motionless as the table's contents spilled on her and buried her. She was down for the count.
"Stupid Mutt!" she spat, as she applied pressure to her wound. She suddenly heard a growling then a sharp bark behind her. She turned around to see what it was, and had no time to react, as Chase, who had regained himself, pounced on Jane. She fell backwards with Chase landing on top of her on his fours. Chase saw the wound and bared his teeth, as he suddenly chomped on it. Jane started to scream, until Chase put his paw on her mouth, preventing her from alerting anyone. He moved closer to her neck as he chomped harder and harder to the bone. He got a hold of her throat, and started to clamp harder, stopping her from breathing altogether.
He took his paw off of her mouth, as she tried to scream for help but all that came out was gargling, as she struggled to breathe. Then, the inevitable happened, as Jane's life officially went away. She went limp in the middle of the floor.
Chase wiped off the blood on his mouth and looked at the work he had done with disgust. That was probably the second time he ever had to end a life so gorely, and he was not used to it at all. But he had to, to protect Claria and him.
Speaking of the wolf pup, he shot his head over to where he was. She was standing with a shocked and terrified look on her face. He immediately felt extremely terrible for her, as she probably never seen anything like that in her life. He was about to go over and comfort her, when he suddenly thought about Marshall's safety. He ran to the door, opened it and shot like a bullet to Marshall's room.
The Dalmatian startled awake as Chase burst through the door frantically looking around for the threat. "Chase? Hey. If you're looking for Officer Bear, he is right…"
Marshall didn't finish, as Chase ran to his bed, jumped on, and started sniffing for a scent, causing Marshall to fall off the bed on his head.
"I'm good!" Marshall said as he shot back up and observed Chase, as the shepherd sniffed every nook and cranny. "Chase? What's going on."
Chase couldn't him, his mind was stuck on sniffing out the attacker. Tearing up the room as he sniffed the bed, under the bed, the tapestries, the tables, the curtains and windows, the walls, and even the bouquets. But he got nothing. He looked at Marshall with a confused face.
"There's nobody here."
"Hey! I'm here!" Marshall blurted out as he was confused himself.
Chase rolled his eyes and shook his head as he went back to sniffing. Marshall was starting to get concerned for his friend. "Chase, what is going on?"
Again, Chase didn't listen as he now started to sniff the floor slowly.
"Chase? Come on now." Marshall said, very concerned. "Y-Your scaring me."
Chase was about to finally say something to Marshall, but finally found a scent at a pillar with a female wolf on it, standing on her back paws, howling. Chase sniffed the pillar for the trace of the scent as he sniffed all over the pillar.
Marshall saw this, but because he didn't know what was going on, he looked at Chase sniffing the female wolf and was disgusted. "Really Chase? I never thought you would stoop that low."
Chase didn't hear him, as he put his paws on the wolf's chest, causing Marshall to cringe. "Oh come on Chase! That's taking it too far."
What Chase did next, made Marshall jump back in startlement, as Chase suddenly pushed the pillar inward, revealing a secret passage.
"YIPE!" Marshall yelped, as Claria finally came in, still looking terrified as she was now shaking. Marshall saw this and was now very worried about her.
"Claria?" Marshall asked softly, as he looked into her eyes. "Claria? What's wrong? What happened there?"
Claria shook more as she gave her answer, wavering her voice as she spoke. "J-J-J-J-J-J-Jane at-t-t-t-t-tacked us. Almost k-k-k-k-k-killed Ch-Ch-Chase and I."
Marshall was about ready to burst with worriedness. "What?! What happened?!"
"I-I-I don't really know," Claria stumbled out. "All I remembered was g-g-g-getting up, and seeing Ch-Ch-Chase….suf….suffocating her and biting her n-neck."
At that statement, Claria shot over to Marshall, and buried her face in his chest and sobbed. "IT WAS SO HORRIBLE MARSHALL! HORRIBLE AND SCARY!"
Marshall hugged her back and rubbed her back to soothe her. He was horrified at what he had been told. Although he never seen Chase do something like that before, there had to be a reason for him to do it. That criteria was probably met when they were attacked. Still, for Chase to end a life so horribly, it must have been pretty scary.
"Shh, shh, it's okay Claria. It's okay. He did it to protect you."
"I know but…." Claria sobbed out. "It was still scary!"
"Hey, hey, hey." Marshall replied softly. "It's okay. You're safe, and that's all that matters alright?"
Claria sniffled as she let go of Marshall who was looking at her with his trademark eyes. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Marshall was about to say something else, until Chase called from the passageway. "Claria?! Could you come here please?!"
Upon hearing her name, Claria ran over to the entrance to the passage and saw Chase looking at something on the wall. It was a hieroglyph of seven wolves, holding seven emeralds with different colors. Chase assumed that they were the Alphas of the packst holding the emeralds but what he was curious about, was the words written underneath it. It was in a different language which Chase didn't know how to read it. "Could you translate this for me?"
Claria went to the hieroglyph and looked at the writing on the bottom. "Well my wolf's language is a little rusty, but if I'm not mistaken, it says. "Follow the path ahead to find fortune and glory. What does that mean."
"I'm not sure squirt." Chase answered, as he looked down the passageway. "But one things for sure, there's gotta be something at the end of this." He then turned to face Claria. "Claria. Go get my pup pack."
"Right!" Claria acknowledged, as she ran to Chase's room to get his pup pack.
Chase got out of the passage and faced a questioning Marshall.
"What are you going to do?" Marshall asked.
"We're going down there." Chase answered.
Marshall then grabbed his pup pack and helmet. "Okay, let me get my…."
"No." Chase said firmly. "You stay here."
"What?" Marshall responded, baffled as to why Chase wasn't taking him along. "Why?"
"I need someone here to look out for us and make sure we don't get any more visitors."
"Well why does Claria get to go?" Marshall asked back as the pup in question appeared with Chase's pack. She gave it to Chase who proceeded to put it on.
"Because." Chase answered, while straightening up. "She can read wolf language. You can't."
Marshall looked defeated and hurt as he didn't have anything to counteract that. He just stayed still as Chase and Claria walked in the passageway. Marshall stood at the doorway and watched them disappear into the shadows.
"Well! You know what to do if you're in trouble! Just yelp for help!" he called out.
"Will do!" Marshall heard Chase say, as they were now out of sight.
Chase and Claria walked through the dark passage with caution. They looked around to gain awareness of their surroundings. The passage was dimly lit with sunlight shining through the holes in the walls which were shone through with grass covering all around them. The passage itself is reasonably sizable, though Chase had to duck his head from time to time to get through due to the ceiling being low in some parts. Claria carefully followed Chase while trying not to lose sight of him as they traveled more into the darkness.
"This place is so dark." Claria commented, as she slowly trekked through the passage.
"Yeah." Chase replied. "Watch yourself Claria. Step where I step, and don't touch anything."
Claria didn't hear that last part, as she eyed something that looked like a door. She walked up to it, and grabbed the handle to see what was behind it. She pulled it open only for the door not to open at all but for the handle to break off, with the door shattering to pieces, revealing two skeletons of pups, which caused Claria to cry out. "AH!"
Chase shot around and saw the wolf pup cower in fear at the sight. He gave her an irritated look as she looked at him. "Claria, what did I just say?"
"S-Sorry!" Claria apologized "I won't touch anything."
Chase rolled his eyes, then continued to go down the now very tunnel with Claria in tow.
Claria then noticed that she was stepping on something squishy and slimy. She started getting disgusted as her toes were now Slimy. "Eww. What are we walking on? Feels like tree bark and tree sap."
Chase stopped as he too was curious. Though he thought he had a good idea as to what it was, and it was definitely not tree bark. "I don't think it's tree bark squirt."
Claria looked down to figure out what it was. But she couldn't come up with an answer as it was too dark. Chase, very curious as to what it was they were stepping on, barked out his spotlight and shined it on the floor.
What it turned out to be astonished the two pups. On the floor in the tunnel, were bugs as far as the eye could see. Ants, roaches, centipedes, earwigs, mantises, and more covered the ground, and chirped loudly
Claria froze as she looked at the sight unmoving. "That's….a lot of bugs."
"Yep." Chase replied as he observed the sight before him. 'Thank god Rubble isn't here.'
Suddenly, Chase had to slap his neck with his paw thanks to something biting him.
"Ow!" Chase cried out, as he slapped his neck to kill what bit him. He then motioned for Claria to keep moving. "Go! Go!"
The two continued on as they now stopped at a doorway. Claria was about to go in, until Chase stopped her with his foreleg. "Hang on a minute squirt." he then looked around the doorway to check for any traps. He sniffed around it, as he noticed the holes next to the door and looked through both of them with the one on the left being a view of the other side, which was a small room with the ceiling being really low, and the one on the right was a small compartment with a stone block all the way in the back of the compartment. When he thought it was safe, Chase then walked into the chamber with Claria right behind him.
Unfortunately, she wasn't paying attention to what she was stepping on, as her paw winded up stepping on a button, which caused the door they came through, to close. Chase turned around to try to open it, but it was too heavy, and had no handle to grab on. He turned around and saw a different kind of door on the other side coming down to close. It was halfway down as Chase shot to it. He reached out to Claria so he could at least get her through. That way, she could find a way to open it from the other side, but it was too late, as the door closed, trapping them inside.
Chase looked around to find a way out of the room. The chamber was circular with a cone shape in the middle of the ceiling, which worried Chase, as he thought at any moment at any moment now, the real trap would be sprung. He saw a skeleton in the middle and went over to it and investigated what happened to him.
Claria watched as she started to move forward to see if she could help.
"Stop!" Chase blurted out, as he raised his paw in front of her. Afraid that she might set off another trap. "Stop. Just….stand over against the wall. Will you?"
Claria whined at her uselessness, as she did what she was told, and leaned against what she thought was a wall. But as soon as she leaned against it, she started moving backwards gradually. Her eyes went wide as she turned her head ath what she was leaning on and discovered that it wasn't a wall at all. It was a stone slab, sticking out of the wall, and was now retracting into the wall. A rumbling was heard, as a mechanism was activated.
Chase heard this and looked up to see what the sound was. It didn't take long for him to figure out that the second part of the trap had sprung, as the ceiling started to descend gradually.
Chase looked over at Claria, who was now terrified at what was happening.
"What did you do!?" Chase called out.
"What?!" Claria replied, scared out of her mind. "I did what you said! I stood against the wall!"
Chase dropped it for now, as he looked for any way to stop the trap. He tried to pull the slab back out of the wall, but it was so far in that Chase couldn't get a grip on it.
"Chase!" Claria called in horror. "What do we do?! We're going to get crushed!"
Chase looked around the room for ANYTHING that can help them. But he couldn't find one, which caused him to panic a little. "Uh….uh…..um…..uhhh."
The ceiling was about halfway down and Chase was now scrambling for something. He then remembered the stone block outside in the hole. Which meant that he needed help.
"Uh….um…...uhhhhhhhhhhhhMAAAAARSHAAAAAAAAALL!"
Marshall heard screaming coming from the passageway as he put his helmet on "Chase?!"
"MARSHALL! WE NEED YOU HELP BUDDY!" Chase yelled from the chamber.
Upon hearing the call for help, he quickly moved inside the tunnel. "What's wrong?!"
"We're in trouble!" Chase replied back.
To add on to the already deadly trap, Spikes started to rise up from the holes in the floor and ceiling. Chase's eyes grew wide as basketballs. "THIS IS SERIOUS!'
"Serious?!" Marshall asked as he turned around and saw the two skeletons from earlier. "How seri….GAHHHHHHH!"
Marshall shrieked as he fell on his butt in shock.
"MARSHALL! WERE IN A SPIKY SITUATION RIGHT NOW!" Chase exclaimed as he wedged a skull in between the wall and the rolling mechanism to try to buy Marshall some time at the least.
Marshall got up and looked around frantically "Th-There are two dead pups down here!"
Chase ran up to the hole and yelled through it. "THERE'S GOING TO BE TWO DEAD PUPS IN HERE! HURRY!"
Marshall then went back to trekking through the tunnel. "What happened?!"
"It's a long story Marshall!" Chase answered as he and Claria had to maneuver their bodies to avoid the spikes. "Hurry or you won't get to hear it!"
Marshall stopped as he couldn't see where he was going. He turned on his light on his helmet and looked around. "Where are you Chase?! I can't see a thing!"
"Over here Marshall! Straight in front of you!" Chase answered, seeing the light through the hole.
"MARSHALL!" Claria shrieked. "HURRY!"
Marshall walked forward following the sound of their voices. He stopped again as he felt squishiness in his steps. "Eww yuck. What am I stepping on?"
He looked down to shine the light on the floor and saw the billions of insects covering the floor. He groaned at the sight of them. "Ick! What a bunch of bugs."
"MARSHALL!"
Marshall jumped at the calling of his name and ran forward to the stone door, brushing bugs and ants off of him as he moved. He got up to the door and tried to get in but found that he couldn't. "Let me in! Let me in!"
Claria shot to the door. "NONONONONONONONONONO! LET US OUT! LET US OUT!"
Marshall backed up and frantically looked around while jogging in place anxiously as he didn't know what to do. "WHAT DO I DO! WHAT DO I DO! WHAT DO I DO?!"
Chase got up to the door and spoke through the hole "There's gotta be a fulcrum release lever somewhere!"
"WHAT?!" Marshall said, confused by the words.
"A handle that opens the door!" Chase replied as Claria clenched next to Chase for comfort. "Should be in the right hole!"
"Oh okay okay." Marshall acknowledged, as he stuck his paw in the hole to the right of the door. But as soon as he did, a foreleg came out of the hole and grabbed Marshall paw, causing him to jump in fright "AHH!" he then realized that it was Chase's paw as it points to the right.
"NO! NO! NO! Marshall, not that right! The other right! YOUR OTHER RIGHT!" Chase informed.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Marshall said, as he looked in the other hole. Sure enough, there was a stone lever at the back of the hole. Only problem, it was about an arm's length away and it looked like Marshall couldn't reach it. "It's way back there Chase! I don't if I can reach it!"
"You're gonna have to try buddy!" Chase replied, as he and Claria in the corner, as the spikes were now centimetres away from their heads. Claria whined as she was truly terrified.
"Okay." Marshall acknowledged again, as he looked in the right hole. He then freezes up as he sees the inside of the hole taken over by ants and slime. "Ummmmm."
"MARSHALL!" Chase screamed, snapping Marshall back to reality.
"Gah! Sorry! Sorry!" he said as he stuck his paw through the hole. Ants immediately covered his paw and slime squished in between his toes. Despite this he reached further, trying to grab the lever. He stretched himself super thin but ran out of leg and was only paw tips away.
"Marshall!" Chase called, as he looked through the hole. Truly terrified
"weeee are goiiiing to DIEEEEEEEE!"
He then starts whining as that was looking to be a true outcome. The spikes had now reached their heads, as one was bending the bill of Chase's hat. Claria was now cuddled fully on Chase. Her eyes were closed, and was hyperventilating. Chase petted her and spoke in a reassuring voice. "It's okay Claria, It's okay squirt. I got you. I got you."
Chase tried his best to comfort the wolf pup, as he waited for death to take them. He pretty much accepted it at this point. He didn't think Marshall would fail in saving them, but he was ready for it. Chase thought about his life in short bursts. Playing with Ryder, meeting Marshall, becoming best friends with him, losing his father, starting paw patrol, losing Marshall, confessing to Skye, getting Marshall back, losing Skylar. Every memory came rushing past as the spikes went down to his sides. The ceiling was now touching his head, as he crouched down lower.
He closed his eyes as he waited for the spikes to stab him, if the ceiling would n't do it first. He held onto Claria and stroked her slowly while she whimpered. If he and Claria were going to die, he was going to at least make it comfortable for Claria.
The spikes were now starting to pierce him, as he held his breath. Ready to see his father again for the first time in years.
"GOT IT!"
The mechanism then stopped as Chase opened his eyes to find that the spikes were retracting, and the ceiling went back up."
The doors opened, as Claria quickly made her way to the other side through the door, to where she was out of the room. Chase was breathing heavily at his near death experience. Marshall came in frantically looking around. "Chase?! CHASE?! Oh no, I'm too late. I'm sorry Chase!" Marshall started to whine and tear up, in fear of him being too late to save his best friend. Not knowing that Chase was behind him, alive and well.
Chase regained his senses as he saw Marshall crying. He reached out to him and hugged him for dear life. "Marshall! Marshall I'm here, I'm okay buddy. You saved us."
Marshall calmed down as he nuzzled Chase like his life depended on it. "Oh thank god man!"
They let go as Marshall chucked a bit. "Phew! That was a close one wasn't it."
Chase was about to respond, until he noticed that Marshall was about to lean on the same stab Claria leaned on. "No! Wait! Marshall! WAIT!"
Too late, Marshall caused the slab to retract again, and restarted the trap.
"NO!" Chase yelped, as he watched the door behind them closed again. The spikes came back and the ceiling started moving down again.
"Oops." Marshall said, as he realized what he did.
"It wasn't me this time!" Claria chimed. "It was him! It was him!" the door in front of her started to close, about to trap Chase and Marshall in the room.
Chase started running to the door, while making sure Marshall followed him "Marshall! GO! COME ON! GO! GO!"
Marshall followed as Chase made it out of the room with the door halfway Closed. Marshall was just about out, but he tripped on his own paws, and landed just shy of the door.
"AHH!" Marshall yelled, as he started to crawl out of the room.
The door was a hair away from his back as he scooted out of the room, with it almost closing on his back paws.
The three pups stood by the door and caught their breaths, as they looked at each other. After a few minutes, they all started to laugh hysterically at the recent event. When they were done, Marshall looked around to find out where they were, to try to see where they were here at. "Where are we?"
Chase looked down the passageway shining his light. " I don't know. But one things for sure, there is only one way to go, so we might as well go that way."
Marshall and Claria nodded reluctantly not knowing what's in store for them.
"Well Chase." Claria said. "Lead the way."
(A/N) OOOOOOWEEEE! that was close. Could've sworn that i was about to fall off the chair at that and I wrote it!
As you probably have noticed, things are starting to happen, as the adventure is just getting started.
Unfortunately, Chapter 11 is going to take a bit to upload cause I've got mandatory overtime next week. So Chap 11 is going to take a little longer but don't worry, it won't take that long.
Question of The Chapter: What do you think the tunnel leads to? Also, as a bonus, what would you do if you ever came across a tunnel like that with all those bugs?
Please leave your answer in your review.
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.