Chapter 9: Initiation
Chase and Everest walked out of the cabin. Chase looked around, seems like him and her were the last two left. The sets of paw prints in the snow led Chase to believe that the rest had gone back to the base after leaving the pair to talk. The two walked out of the woods, following the same path Chase took to get there. Not a word was spoken on the way back. Anyone watching the two may have thought that walking back in silence after an argument may be a little awkward for them. It was actually quite the opposite. The silence gave Chase and Everest time with their thoughts. Time to think about the day so far as well as how it might play out.
After making their way back to the building, they walked down to the hideout. Once they entered, Everest walked off leaving Chase with Tuck, Ella, and Sean. The three made there way up to the shepherd, the twins more nervously than Sean.
"Hey Chase" Ella said, "are you alright"
Chase sighed.
"I am. I'm sorry for my little outburst at the cabin. I just… I wasn't ready for something like that out of nowhere"
"Listen Chase, we get it. You were right, what we did was pretty extreme, especially since you really have never been in a situation like that before" said Tuck.
"Yeah we're sorry we put you through that all of a sudden. We just figured that since your nose and police background gave you such a huge advantage, that you needed a hard test. Like I said before, something that would put you under pressure" added Ella, "on the bright side, you passed. You managed to use your tracking skills to find us"
The sudden realization hit Chase. She was right, he actually did pass the test.
"I guess I did. Which means, I'm done with training. Right?" said Chase, excitement beginning to build up inside him.
"That's right!" exclaimed Ella, happy that her friend was no longer angry.
"And that means no more random attacks right?" Chase asked looking towards Tuck.
"No no, those'll still happen. Gotta keep your fighting sharp right" said Tuck.
"Oh. So what now?" asked Chase.
"Well now you 'graduate'. Although before you can, someone has been wanting to tell you something" Tuck said as he and his sister pushed Sean in front of Chase earning a glare from Sean, "We'll leave you two alone"
The twins then walked away to find Everest, leaving Chase and Sean alone to talk.
They stood in silence before Chase spoke.
"What could you possibly have to say to me?" he said harshly.
Sean rolled his eyes at the shepherds tone.
"Believe me I'm not happy they convinced me to do this either" Sean took a long breathe and started, "I wanted to apologize to you. I know, leaving you in the snow was a terrible idea. When I did it, I wasn't thinking long term. I should have brought you to your team or somewhere safer. You weren't my target. I was just annoyed with you that you kept running into me. I'm used to having a clean mission, in and out with no trouble and you getting in the way… I just didn't know how to deal with it. And yes, I understand you probably won't forgive me or even trust me after that. This might not mean much to you, but I just had to say something"
The two sat there in silence, Sean's words still dwindling around in the air. The silence made Sean uncomfortable. He was mentally prepared for an angry fit or an act of violence, but wasn't expecting Chase's words.
"I know the others made you do this rather than convince you, but thanks. As you could imagine I'm still not entirely over it, but apologizing was a start, and it's a start I can respect. Plus, if we're all in this together, we need to watch each other's backs, for the teams sake. That means trusting one another. So in that case, I forgive you"
Chase stuck out his paw towards Sean. After staring at it for a few seconds, Sean reached out his own paw and shook Chase's in a sign of mutual respect. Their little feud was, for the most part, over.
"Now that that's all wrapped up, you can finally join us in this fight. I'm sure you've heard the same words from the others that we need all the help we can get. Follow me" Sean said in a new found state of ataraxia.
The two walked over to Everest, Tuck, and Ella who were waiting for them in the middle of the room.
"So, everything good?" asked Tuck.
Sean looked over to Chase.
"We're all good" Chase said with a smile.
"Great, now we can move on with the ceremony" said Tuck.
"Ceremony? What ceremony?"
"When someone finishes their training or 'graduates', the one with the most seniority indoctrinates them into the creed" explained Sean, "the one with the most seniority out of everyone here is me so I will be indoctrinating you"
"Glad we made amends then" Chase said making the group laugh, "So when can we start?"
"Well the traditional way to do this is to do this big candlelit ceremony with the more 'higher ups' of the creed. However since we can't do that now, we'll do a quick paraphrased version"
"Let's do it"
As if on cue, Tuck, Ella, and Everest lined up around Chase as Sean retrieved something from a drawer and stepped in front of him.
"Are you ready?" Sean asked, "because after this it's too late to back out"
Chase looked at the friends around him, thinking it over one last time. They all gave him kind, reassuring smiles that allowed him to finalize his answer.
"I've come this far, I'm ready"
Sean nodded and began.
"For the many generations our creed has seen, we have always protected the people and led them on the right path. We kill to create peace. We fight the darkness to preserve the light. We remain in the shadows. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. Chase, you have proved to us your skills and passed our tests. Will you agree to abide by our ideals?"
"I will"
"Do you agree to remain loyal to us in the darkest of times?"
"I do"
"Are you willing to protect the innocent at the cost of your own life?"
"I do"
"Then by the powers vested in me, I hereby grant you the title of assassin, and welcome you to our creed" finished Sean as the others cheered for their friend.
"I can't believe it, you're finally one of us!" shouted Everest excitedly.
"Yeah, we've been needing some help for a while now" said Tuck.
"Now Chase, you may have noticed the brace around each of our foreleg" said Sean holding up his leg.
Chase looked around noticing everyone had some type of brace around their foreleg.
"Yeah I was wondering what that was"
"This brace is a symbol of our creed, and our sacred weapon. Only those inducted into our creed are granted the use of this weapon. Since you are now an assassin, I grant this weapon to you. Now hold up your leg"
Chase held up his foreleg as Sean put the weapon around it. After he tightened the straps, Chase put his leg down.
"To use this weapon, simply extend your leg towards your opponent while lifting your paw up" explained Tuck.
Chase looked down at the brace now wrapped around his leg. He lifted it up and swiftly moved his paw forward exposing the sharp blade. He looked at it in awe.
"This thing is crazy" said Chase, continuing to admire it. Then something hit him, "This is the weapon you all use to take out targets right?"
"Yeah why?" asked Tuck, tilting his head in curiosity.
"I just remember that every body had a single blade wound. Which leads me to my next question, do you guys only use this blade to kill or do you use other weapons?"
"Well now that you're an assassin, you'll probably need to know this. We try to use the blade as much as we can, but if you can't in any situation, then you can use other things. We try to use the blade because it's our somewhat calling card, if you can understand that" said Sean, explaining more about the weapon.
"I guess. But why would we need a calling card. Don't we, as you put it, 'Remain in the shadows'" Chase said repeating Seans words from earlier.
"So when anyone see's the body, especially the ancients, they know it was us who killed them. It strikes fear into them and shows them that we're not gone and we're not going anywhere" said Everest with gusto.
"Good to know" said Chase.
"So Chase, now that you're officially one of us, I have your first mission. You and Everest come with me" said Sean walking over to the target board as Chase followed close behind, "Ella's been scouting out this target for a few days now. Nothing major, but something that will give you a challenge. People call him blackjack. He's a Rottweiler in charge of some local drug ring operating around Adventure Bay and Foggy Bottom. His operation is fueling a chunk of the ancients economic funds. Ella's field report informed us that he's always surrounded by guards so you'll need to find a way to either separate them or simply take them all out. The choice is yours. Over on the table is a folder with his location and some background information on him and his operation. I want you in and out, don't stick around too long and don't I repeat don't get caught by the authorities when they show up. One more thing, you won't be going alone. I want Everest to go with you. She won't be doing much other than watching your back. Dismissed"
With that said Sean walked away leaving Chase and Everest alone with the folder. They immediately went to the folder and began looking through it. It was very similar to some of the criminal records they had at the police station. The targets identity, location, associates, and some other information.
"Excited for your first mission?" Everest asked.
"I am, although I feel like that wen't by quick ya know. I mean with the training"
"Yeah training is supposed to be a lot longer than a day or two, and that ceremony is supposed to be a lot more ritualistic. However we need more paws so getting you ready was at the top of our list"
"Thats understandable. Although I'm sure going through training for longer and having a big ceremony lets you feel a lot more accomplished"
"It does. I remember my-"
"Chase are you there?"
Everest looked at Chase in shock as Chase froze in fear.
"Hello Chase are you there?"
"Ryder!? Yeah I'm here"
"Okay good, just wanted to check in. I looked at the tracker in your collar and it said you were in an apartment building. What are you doing there?"
"Oh uh just... got a lead on the case" Chase said nervously.
"Okay, good luck, and say hi to Everest for me"
"Y-you got Ryder" said Chase as Ryder hung up leaving Chase and a noticeably angry husky.
"Chase! Are you kidding me! Why is your tracker on!?" she shouted.
"I'm sorry I totally forgot about it"
"We can't have any of the Paw Patrol coming here to look for you or finding you on a mission, they could get hurt. You need to get that collar out now!"
"Well what about you, Tuck, and Ella? You guys still wear your collars!"
"Ryder's not our owner. We don't have trackers in our collars. Now get that collar out of the hideout now or find a way to shut it off"
"Ok ok" said Chase starting to think, "maybe I can get Rocky to disable the tracker"
"How are you going to do that?"
"I don't know" Chase thought for a few minutes, "maybe if I can distract the others, I can pull Rocky aside and get him to do it for me"
"That sounds good, but how do you plan on distracting all of them for long?"
"That's where you and the twins come in. I need you guys to just play with the others until I'm done"
"As long as you can get that tracker disabled I'll help"
"Great. Tuck, Ella! Come with me I need your help" yelled Chase as him and Everest were walking towards the exit.
"What's up" said the twins simultaneously.
"I'll explain on the way" Chase said as the four left the hideout.