Chapter twenty: The Chase
The unsettled shifting of a soul did little to suppress his busy mind.. and it just kept on rolling with no sign of stopping..
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"Nooo!" He cried, his scream echoing through the dark silence of the tall structures blowing past him, that he barely thought were trees. And the faster he ran, the faster they shot by him; leaving him with barely a split second to even see them. But at this moment his surroundings couldn't be less of a wonder to his mind, as his bigger concern nipped at his tail. And while the subtle pound of echoing paws to his own still pursued, his mind was far beyond that notion of anything other than escape at this point.
'Not this again?!' His mind cried. Another long stride and the ground dropped out from under him, once his paw caught something that sent him tumbling downwards.
Hitting the ground barely hindered him, cause once he'd landed he immediately tore off, as something much larger landed where he once stood and continued the chase.
Panting breaths attacking his chest through his beating heart, all he could think was where to go next.. And as he ran, the dark scenery around him shifted to a plainly memorable place, which seemed to swallow him up more than the forest would have.. And his wailing scream of being tossed into a pit of endless darkness, from the mansion's fancified style prison room, couldn't leave his throat any louder than his ear-splitting heartbeat, and he even feared going hoarse in that moment for only a fleeting second..
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"Hah!" His breath almost caught in his throat and he concealed himself to keep from coughing. Especially since the sunlight that blinded him told him what time it was, and he groaned when burying his face in his foreleg to try and block it out with the growing headache of his trials at night.
And seemingly forever later, his chest lifted in a jerk that tensed his whole upper body in hopes of restraining what little he had left to hold in. And even this seemed to expend more energy than he felt he possessed; but he knew all too well that he would survive another day, so long as he held that one piece into place without fail. And as long as he did so.. the whole structure he felt building up high around him wouldn't collapse and crush him.
And even as he lay there like this, soaking his foreleg with liquid emotion, he kept a thought close to his heart that seemed to hold himself together from totally crumbling. And he held onto it tighter if that was possible.
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Panting a little, the pain that had been, was now just pressure.
One stroke, two strokes, three strokes,..
Though it was a struggle, it couldn't possibly have encouraged him more when he finally touched that buoy, claiming the end of his little victory.
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"Yes!" Billy hissed under his breath, pride restrained from outright excitement as he subtly pumped a fist and turned his shoulder a bit.
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"You did it, dude!" Zuma squeaked, floating a short distance from him.
"*pant* yeah.. I did.." Chase breathed, relieved to know his success, and slightly glad it was over.
"Ready for the swim back?" His friend wondered. And while his body seemed to whisper a 'no' into his very core,.. he shook it away in order to condescend it's influence.
"Yeah,.. sure." He said finally. "In fact,.. let's make it a race.. without tools obviously."
"You got it,.." Zuma confirmed, then barked his pup pack to cease and retract. "Ready?" He said.
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"What's he doing?" Daniel wondered, shielding his eyes out to the two floating pups.
"Can't tell,.." Marcus mentioned, lowering the binoculars briefly, before replacing them to his eyes. "Too far out to hear."
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"Go!" And the two paddled as fast as they could, the rising fatigue on his muscles and bones weighing him down a little, but the German Shepherd pressed on.
No pain, no gain, right? He thought to himself. And even so, another voice inside him, he could tell, screamed at him otherwise at this very thought.
Stroke by stroke, Zuma surpassed him, but he didn't give up and began to catch up a little. But it wasn't enough, as Zuma reached the Flounder before he did.
"Sorry, dude." Zuma called, as Chase finally reached him and pulled himself up over the edge with some help, same as his friend.
"Hope you're not too bummed that I beat you." The water pup finished sensitively.
Chase shook to get as much water off him as possible, his pup-tag jangling on his neck.
"Nah,.. that's ok.." He shrugged lightly. "After all, you are more of a water pup than I am.. That's literally why you're here.. Or at least how you got here anyway.. On the PAW Patrol, I mean."
"Ok, well,.. something like that." Zuma chuckled mildly, a hint of embarrassment showing in his demeanor at the reminder.
"What?" Chase wondered, after shaking again; having caught the oddness of his friend's tone. "It's true, isn't it?" Suddenly, though, a towel was dropped onto his shoulders and he was scooped up onto his back by tender, caring arms.
"Either way, we're glad you're making better progress here, Chase." Maggie smiled, holding him in a bundle within the soft towel.
"Yeah,.." he shrugged thankfully, his gaze wavering. "Me too." He smiled up at her. And he turned himself over in her grasp, so that he could be upright enough to watch where they were going, as the Flounder headed for shore once again.
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"And one, and two, and three, and four.." Chester coached, while Chase pulled his chin above the bar he held onto with every lift.
"Come on, now." Chess continued, racing around the small bar set-up to jump up and grab a grip of his own.
"And five, and six, and seven, and eight,.." he counted, pulling himself up and down with his brother by his side. "Number nine,.. and ten?"
Chase lowered himself down, stretching till his paws barely touched the ground before dropping to sit where he landed; sighing with relief.
"Wooph! That's it, little brother." Chester panted. "We're really starting to get it back!"
"You mean.. I am.." Chase corrected.
"Same difference.." Chester surrendered lightly. "Isn't that what I meant?"
"I don't know,.. is it?" Chase quipped, an unconvinced smile crossing his face.
"You tell me." His brother replied.
"Eh.. no.." Chase answered, certain he was right.
"Ok,.. you got me.." Chester finally gave in. "Don't tell anyone I was also talking to me?"
"Fat chance of that!" Chase smirked, racing off across the bouncy padded floor.
"Chase?!" Chester called, slowly walking into a sprint after his little brother. "Hey wait!"
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Air screamed by him, but he didn't seem to notice, and soaring through the air didn't seem to phase him either. Landing into a tumble of a roll, he smoothly ended up on his paws with the Zoom-It in his mouth, and he proudly marched it back to the one who threw it.
"Rocky landing, but you made it.." Billy smiled, receiving the disc from the pup.
"And it still scores good, because you landed on your feet!" Chester added.
"You ok?" Marshall asked, as the panting pup strode between him and Rocky to turn around and stand among them.
"*deep breath* yeah.." Chase answered lightly. "I think so."
"We're getting close here, pal." Daniel grinned. "You're progressing better than ever!.. As long as you don't hit the deck too hard,.. or bump your shoulder somehow,.. you should have no problems winning this whole competition."
"And just a few days from getting certified." Marcus added proudly. "Who'd of thunk it?.. the C brother comeback of the century."
"C broth-?.. oh wait,.. lemme guess,.. Chester was a Zoom-It Dog once too?" Rocky said, cutting his question off with the quick realization of what this meant.
"Sort of.. I never competed either, but I did get certified.. I have a record of being good, but only because it was part of my training as a police pup, same as Chase." Chester explained. "We used to have competitions when we were in-training at the academy, before Chase started. We'd set it up just the way they would in the real thing,.. and scored it the same as well.. we even used to have actual Zoom-It officials come out to do the scoring, so there was less trouble with foul play. Eventually a pup was forced to leave the academy, due to a spinal injury during one of these things, and were bound to one of those.. puppy,.. wheelchairs,.. I guess you could call em." At this, a gasp erupted from the pups in particular.
"Woah,.. I.. didn't realize they did that." Chase ventured, his thoughts wandering at the understanding he now arrived at with this knowledge.
"Yeah,.. it sucked.. but hey at least we wouldn't have had to risk you getting hurt back then, huh?" Chester finished, nudging his brother playfully, but he may never know the dampened feeling that came to the younger German Shepherd's thoughts. Not by what he said, but what it would mean.. had it been true.
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The tender breeze of the noontime wind pulled at the material decorations set up along the securely set posts, which held them up to display the reason for this gathering of people and pups alike.
"Woah, dude, check this out!" Zuma marveled. "Just think.. all these pups.. here from all over the place. All here to compete in this contest of fun!"
"Isn't this exciting, Chase?!" Rubble gushed. "And to think.. you'll be just like them, once you get your certification today!"
Chase smiled slightly, but no one seemed to notice the slight hauntedness of his gaze, as they continued walking amongst the bustling crowd.
"Speaking of which.." Ryder said, slowing to be in front of the group and turned around to face Chase. "They're about to make the announcement soon. We should get to the stage for roll call. Ready, pups?"
"I guess so." Chase shrugged, turning to Billy and the team.
"Go ahead.." Billy told him. "I'll catch up in time for the announcement."
"But.. aren't you gonna stand up there with me?" Chase wondered, hoping no one would hear the slight concern of his tone.
"Of course I will." Billy smiled. "I'll be right there behind you. After all,.. someone's gotta be up there to pin your Zoom-It dog badge to your collar." His grin was enough to lift his spirits and even enough to almost make him laugh at how humorous it looked. "Now hurry up, before they start without ya."
Then Chase, in a rise of bravery, nodded, then looked to Ryder and took off after the boy to reach the stage far beyond them.
Billy's gaze panned up and met his sister's who gave him a suggestive look.
"I'll be there." He reinforced, as if she didn't believe him. "I promised.. right after we find a place for you all to sit."
"Which we are fully capable of doing ourselves." Maggie told him. "Now go be with your pal."
"Thank you!" He said, laying a kiss on her cheek, before quickly weaving through the crowd to also reach the stage.
The chocolate lab of the group continued his excited observing of all the celebration around him, not even realizing a thought that came to another's mind.
"Um,.. Zuma.. aren't you supposed to be up there too?" Skye wondered innocently.
And then it hit him.
"Oh no!" He cried looking out across the crowd as some people were entering onto the stage in preparation for the announcement. "I'm gonna be late!"
"Not to worry, Zuma." Skye announced, a harness dropping from her pup-pack.
"It's a good thing Marshall and I are on Sea Patrol Lifeguard duty for the event today."
"Let's get you to the stage on time." She said, as Rocky placed the harness on Zuma with his claw. "Ruff! Parasail!" Then suddenly her parasail opened and lifted them both off the ground to carry them over the crowd.
"Woah!" Zuma gasped, at the initial jolt, but soon found it was actually quite fun.
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"Hoh.. they're about to make the announcement." Chase moaned, peeking out onto the stage as the officials were finishing up. "Where's Billy?"
"And I don't think Zuma remembered he was supposed to be here too." Ryder mentioned, kicking himself for not reminding him,.. or at least verifying that the pup was behind him when they left to get here. But then he looked over to see Chase pacing, and stopping to scratch at the athletic tape on his shoulder, for the support he needed.
"But,.. don't worry Chase.." He quickly recovered, coming over to set a hand on his shoulder to stop him from anxiously scratching. "I'm sure they'll show up in time. I bet they'll be here any second now."
"Special delivery, Ryder!" Skye called from above, dropping the chocolate lab into his arms.
"Heh, heh,.. um.. 'sup, dude?" Zuma chuckled a bit awkwardly.
"Nice of you to drop in Zuma." Ryder grinned, as the pup chuckled when he set him down. "Glad you could make it for your big moment."
"No problem,.." The water rescue pup smiled. "'Wouldn't miss this for the world! Right, Chase?" Chase stopped pacing and looked up when hearing his name. But before he could respond, his small smile dropped with the music that arose to get the crowd's attention; which would then fade out so that the announcers could begin to speak.
Hey guys, finally got a new chapter done! Hopefully I'll be able to get the next one a little easier but we'll see. ;)
Also I just wanna say thx for your patience, cause I know waiting for a new chapter of this story has probably been tough and I apologize! I will try not to leave it hanging so long, but unfortunately I regret to say I can't make any promises or guarantees.
Either way, I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you in the next chapter! Thx!