(A/N) Hey guys. Sorry I'm late with this. The holidays have been pretty crazy for me.
Anyway, Here is Chapter 2 and it's going to answer a question asked way back in Temple of Doom
Welcome back to Paw Patrol: The Ballad Of Dally!
Chapter 2: A Broken Bond
Ryder walked from the lookout doors with a very stern look on his face as the pups called out to him.
They didn't need to tell him what happened because he was standing atop the tower watching from above, and he heard EVERYTHING.
Well…..yeah. Of course he thought about breaking the argument up. He cared and loved everyone of his pups like they were his kin. He hated seeing any of them angry, hurt, or cry. He was bout tempted to stop it, almost running down the stairs to put an end to the fight and remind them why they were friends in the first place, but for some reason, he didn't. It was probably because he trusted them not to hurt each other, physically at least. Though when he noticed Marshall's eruption, he ran down the stairs to talk to them, but he was obviously too late, both pups were now in their pup houses, hurt and locked in.
He would've been a neglectful owner if he didn't notice the rift that had appeared in between Chase and Marshall. It tore him up inside to see them like this. It had only started a few months ago, although the more realistic truth was that it really started a year ago, when the Paw Patrol first got its feet wet. For many grueling and miserable months, the once unbreakable bond started to crack before his eyes at a slow and painful rate. Even when they were hanging out and playing together, it was a lingering reminder hanging above their heads that it was still there.
It wasn't caused by just one thing and although the other pups joining later wasn't a direct influence, It still affected how many times the two saw each other.
When the Paw Patrol started, it was just three individuals. Ryder, Chase, and Marshall, that was it. Chase and Marshall only had each other to play with, with Ryder joining them on more than one occasion. But now, they had many more options on who they wanted to spend time with. Although usually, they would all play together and would usually prefer it that way than to be separated into different groups. Pup Pup Boogie, Ball, or play something called Ryder says, which Ryder found to be very cute and flattered himself.
There would be plenty of times when the pups would split off though, and you would think that Chase and Marshall would be practically glued to each other. For a while, that was the case. It would've been very rare to not see them together. Then Rocky joined the team, and that changed the field dramatically.
Rocky was Marshall pup's friend from all the way back when they lived in San Francisco, having been separated from each other years back, and when they reunited, Rocky and Marshall started hanging out more and more and pretty soon, the chances of seeing Chase and Marshall together started to dwindle.
It wasn't that Marshall preferred Rocky over Chase, in fact, he would rather spend time with both of them at the same time. But around this time, Chase started getting really serious with bettering himself, and with Rocky keeping Marshall busy, Chase now had a wide window to train and become a better police pup. He started training to become a super spy, and would barely get any free time. Leaving Rocky to pick up his slack with Marshall.
Marshall didn't show any resilience to Chase's training, in fact, he encouraged it. What best friend wouldn't support the other's efforts to better himself? Marshall was even doing a little cross training himself. Learning to become a great medic for the team. The problem was this obviously left little to zero time to spend together which in turn, caused them to drift further and further apart.
Then came the biggest factor to the bond breaking. The fights.
To be clear, It wasn't like Chase and Marshall never argued. They got into plenty of them and that was expected with friends. But those were more like pup arguments like fighting over a toy, or how many treats they got over each other. But as the team grew and the rescues started getting more and more serious, so did the pups. Especially Chase.
About a few months in, when the patrol started getting more dangerous jobs, Chase harped on everyone about safety. He would always make a point to go over safety with the other pups. At first, they welcomed this. They felt safe knowing that someone was always watching over them, making sure that they were all safe when performing their jobs but when Chase started to turn up the heat, they felt like he was getting real obnoxious about it. Whenever someone did something just a little risky, Chase would get on their case about why they did what they did. Then, he did the safety briefings with Ryder in which the pups only participated because Ryder asked them to. It got so bad that Marshall called him a walking safety video, which then led into a shouting match.
While others would get their time to put heads with Chase, it was usually Marshall that would step up to him. The arguments would get heated, but they would never escalate into something very bad. Only one led to a paw fight between the two.
It was another instance where Marshall brushed death very close, and Chase wasn't happy about it. He confronted the dally about it. Letting him know that he didn't appreciate what he did. It was fine until Marshall's ladder skills were questioned, and caused Marshall to shoot back an insult that included his father. That infuriated Chase, causing him to strike the dally first out of anger. He socked Marshall in the face and then Marshall responded with one of his own, and then all hell broke loose. They fought tooth and nail until Rocky, who was trying to break them up along with Rubble, was inadvertently punched by Marshall himself.
Ryder came out to find Rocky on the ground crying and bleeding from his nose and Marshall tending to him and crying himself. After dealing with Rocky, he ordered the two to his room, where he grounded them from the tv and pup pup boogie as well from playing outside.
It was then that the two noticed there was a problem, and did everything they could to reconnect, and be best friends again. For a good while, they were making good progress with only minor hiccups along the way.
It was safe to say that all the efforts to be friends again was not thrown out due to the argument that just happened.
For three years, Ryder watched his pup's friendship bloom and prosper. He had enjoyed watching them grow together and pick eachother up, when the other was down. It was very sad and disheartening to see them like that. He tried his best to help them and stop them from at least fighting, but it never got better.
He hated to say it, but he was pretty sure that Chase and Marshall were no longer best friends. The mere thought would keep Ryder up all night.
He looked at his four pups as they called out his name. "Ryder!"
Ryder smiled briefly at them, and the sound of their voices gave him a warm feeling. "Hey pups, are you all okay?"
They all nod silently as they wore devastating looks on their faces, clearly traumatized by Chase and Marshall's fight.
"That's good." Ryder said, keeping his smile on. "At least you all are alright."
Zuma stepped up and sadly stared at Ryder. His voice was cracking as he spoke "Wyder. What awe we going to do?" He was very close to crying when he finished. "Thewe's now way theiw evew going to be fweinds again now."
The others whimper at the thought of Chase and Marshall not being friends. Ryder went up to Zuma, gave him a light hug as the pup whimpered on Ryder's shoulder.
"Well, one thing's for sure, we are not giving up on them." Ryder implied, letting go of Zuma, and looked at him.
"But Ryder sir, that was the worst argument they ever had. Marshall seems like done with it all." Rubble chimed in.
Ryder turned his head around to look at the two pup housed that currently had his first two pups in them. He then turns back to his pups with a determined face. "It may seem like it, but you're forgetting who Marshall is Rubble. He can't hold a grudge to save his life, and I doubt Marshall even meant what he said."
Skye looked at Ryder very skeptical. "I-I don't have no Ryder. He said it with authority. Even if he didn't mean it, he'll still remember Chase's answer."
"Well I'm not giving up on them." Rocky threw out there with the same determination Ryder had. "Chase and Marshall are like brothers, and brothers do fight a lot. This is nothing more than a bad argument that they have to overcome, and I'm going to help them get through it. I'll talk to Marshall, see if I can't get him to talk to Chase again."
"I'll come with you Wocky." Zuma insisted. "Youw right, we shouldn't be willing to give uneasily. Chase and Mawshall awe ouw fweinds, and they need ouw help."
Skye then grew the confidence that Rocky and Zuma seemed to have gained. "You know what? Yeah. We should be helping them. I don't want them to hate each other. I will talk to Chase. I know he would at least listen to me."
Rubble stood next to Skye. "And I will go with you. They are our friends. It's up to us to remind them that they are brothers, and should NEVER forget that."
Ryder stood appalled at his pup's sudden boom in determination. He couldn't help but feel proud at their willingness to help their friends. Maybe he is doing a better job at raising them than he thought.
He grew a big warm smile. "You are all such amazing pups, I was going to talk to them myself, but after hearing you all, I think it's best if you all would at least try first. You all see that you're a team, and it is everyone's responsibility to pick each other up when they're down"
The pups howled in response as Ryder stood proudly.
"Alright, If you guys have them handled, I'm going around town to do some errands."
"Okay Ryder." Rocky replied. "Will do our best."
Ryder nodded in acknowledgement. "I have full faith in you all. If anyone can get those two to feel any better, it's all of you." With that, Ryder walked into the lookout to get his ATV. Before he went though, he took one last look at Chase and Marshall's pup houses. A single tear went down his cheek, before he disappeared into the look out.
Skye walked up to Chase's pup house with her nerves running all over the place. She still did have the confidence she had earlier but it had diminished a bit the closer she got to the house. Rubble followed her with a very brave and determined smile on his face. One look at him, gave Skye a little boost. At least she wasn't alone.
Although butterflies were flying in her stomach, she was so excited to talk to Chase. She was six months in as a member of Paw Patrol and already felt like she knew Chase from birth. When she got in, it was just Chase, Marshall, and Ryder, making her the fourth member of the team. She didn't see them as a team though. More as a family that looks out for each other. She felt like Chase and Marshall were like brothers to her, but she had to admit, she wanted more out of Chase. It was like she was destined to meet him.
At first, she didn't think of anything of it, but as time flew by, her feelings for him changed very greatly, and in a short few months, she saw him more as a friend.
Even though she was six years old and clearly too young to fall in love, she just couldn't help herself. Everything about the Shepherd was dreamy to her. From his gorgeous amber eyes, to his cute face, his attractive body, and his hot rump, not that she looked at it all the time, but she does catch glances of it every now and then. He was the most handsome pup she had ever seen in her life and it only got better when she was around him.
Looks aren't everything to the cockapoo, and thankfully, Chase didn't lack in the personality department. Even though he could be a very serious and authoritative pup, Skye didn't care, in fact, his authoritative side turns her on. His willingness to take charge, and lead the team efficiently and safely. Skye always felt safe around him because of it, no matter what situation they were in. She always knew that when the going got tough, Chase would be there for her. It also helped that deep down in that serious, by the book pup, was a sweetheart that illuminated in gold. She knew he could be a jerk sometimes, but not because he wanted to be one, but because he needed to be one to be a strong leader for the team, but if you got there, Chase could be a real sweetheart, and would be a crying shoulder to lean on.
There was no doubt about it at this point, Skye was in love. The only thing that needed to happen was for the both of them to confess to each other.
She often wondered why it hadn't happened yet. It wasn't like she was afraid to, mostly because she knew Chase had the same feelings. She could tell by the way he acted around her. He wouldn't get nervous or anything, instead, it was the complete opposite. Chase was always willing to hang out with her and when she would be in a competition, like pup pup boogie or something, if it wasn't competing himself, he would cheer her on, and when he was competing against her, he would let up just a little bit, but not make it be painfully obvious to notice what he was doing. It wasn't that he thought that she was too weak or anything, he just loved seeing her so happy, and she appreciated it a little bit but was still a little annoying knowing that she didn't actually beat him at his best. Then, there were the rescues she was called on with Chase. When Ryder would pick Skye for a job, he would always hope to be called on with her, even when the job didn't need him. When he was, he would usually exclaim "Yes!" and went on with his catch phrase. If he was called first then Skye, his tail would wag slightly but not too noticeable to the other pups.
Then there were the times she needed to be rescued, like last week, when she had the encounter with the eagle and crashed in the forest. Chase was obviously called to use his drone to find her and when he did, he was all over her. Asking if she was alright, wanting to know if she needed anything, squirming when she cried in pain when Marshall treated her, and visiting her every chance he got when she was at Katie's for a few days.
That's when it was pretty much confirmed that Chase had a big crush on Skye. Nearly everyone knew it. So why hasn't he fessed up yet? Skye had no idea.
Maybe it was because he didn't know how Ryder would react to such a thing. He probably wouldn't care much though, they would be under his microscope. They were still pups after all. HIS PUPS to be more exact. He'd probably make sure they would probably make sure they wouldn't get past licking each other, and even that would be pushing it. Considering that Chase himself was Mr. Goodyfourpaws, he probably didn't want any reason to be on Ryder's bad side.
Still, it pained her to know that it won't happen for at least a while. Maybe it just wasn't that time yet…
"Uh…..Skye? You okay?" A voice called to her.
Skye snapped out of her thoughts and saw Rubble who had a very concerned look on his face for Skye. "Huh? Wha? Where am I?"
Rubble cocked his head in confusion. "Uhhh….were in front of Chase's pup house. Did you zone out or something?"
"Y-Yeah, I…..guess I did." Skye replied. Still piecing together what she was doing in front of Chase pup house.
"Phew." Rubble sighed in relief. "I thought something was wrong with you Skye."
"Don't worry Rubble, I'm okay." Skye assured him. She then turns around and looks at the front of Chase's house. It looked the same it had always been, but even though it was very familiar, it somehow looked more depressing than usual, like a strange dwelling aura was surrounding it.
"Do you think he really is going to listen to us Skye?" Rubble asked, very concerned for his friend.
Skye drew a breath before answering. "There's only one way to find out." With that, she raised her paw knocked on the door. She calls out to Chase very softly and soothingly. "Chase? I-it's Skye. Are you okay?"
Skye knew that was a dumb question to ask, but it was to only question she could get out of her mouth.
Not surprisingly, there was no answer. Just a cold and dead silence. Skye could only imagine what he was doing in there, laying on the floor, drowning himself in tears, and she felt horrible for it.
Skye knocked again. "Chase? Come on now. I wanna talk to you."
Nothing.
It was stone quiet. Skye was starting to debate whether the shepherd was even in there. Thinking he might have slipped out while they were talking to Ryder. She then threw out the possibility, thinking that there would be no way no one would notice Chase walking out of his pup house. She hoped that he was just laying on the floor crying, and not having done anything drastically. Not that he would as Chase wasn't known to intentionally harm himself, but you never know….
She heard Rubble give a long sigh as he began to leave. "It's hopeless Skye, come on. Maybe we can try again later." Rubble started walking away from the house while Skye didn't move.
She didn't want to leave. she hated knowing that Chase was in there, in total misery and agony. She didn't want to give up, but she didn't know what she could do. She couldn't just open the door. That wouldn't work. It was probably locked anyway. She was about to turn around and leave with Rubble until suddenly, she got an Idea.
It wasn't a good idea per say, especially for her mental health, but it might just work.
The cockapoo turned back to face the door and started to whimper a bit. "I-If you are listening Chase, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. It's all my fault."
Upon hearing this, Rubble stopped in his tracks and spun around to look at Skye with immediate shock.
"If it wasn't for my equipment failing, Marshall would've never put himself in danger like that, and then you two would've never fought." Skye continued to say, as tears flowed down her cheeks.
Rubble looked on with disbelief. He then tried to get her to stop with a disapproving tone. "Ssskyyye, It's not….."
"Shh!" Skye hushed, trying to stop Rubble from ruining her idea.
Rubble was about to protest, but Skye shoved her fore paw in front of his mouth to permanently quiet him. She goes on, hoping that Chase was listening.
"A-Again Chase, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I never wanted any of this to happen." she then tears up again as Rubble struggles to free his mouth. "I…..I just hope you can forgive me, for ruining your friendship."
Although she was faking it, she didn't plan on crying. That would've been too much but she ended up shedding tears anyway, as she was again realizing that if she would've been there to help save Calie, this whole thing would've never happened.
Rubble fought against Skye's paw to finally say something until suddenly, the door blew open. Skye quickly retracted her paw and looked at the shepherd standing in the doorway.
Skye was disheartened at the sight of Chase and so was Rubble. His eyes were bloodshot and his fur was drenched in tears. Upon closer infection, Skye could see that he was shaking slightly. His nose was red, as she heard him sniffle a couple times, but what was probably the most horrible thing, was the look he was giving her. It was a look of pure disbelief as he looked like he was about to collapse on the floor and bawl.
It was like looking at a completely different pup who had suddenly switched places with Chase, but it was Chase. She could tell by his beautiful amber eyes, although they showed nothing but sadness.
It was terribly silent for a couple minutes as all three pups stared at each other, until Chase somehow willed his way to speak.
"T-T-Tell m-m-m-me y-you are n-not taking the blame for this." Chase croaked out, his voice very hoarse from the argument before. Although, Skye could hear a little bit of his trademark authority.
Skye didn't say anything, she just looked at Chase straight in the eyes with a confident face as she nodded.
Chase closed his eyes and took a long deep breath, he stopped shaking as he opened his eyes and stared at Skye straight through the eyes. Skye saw that his eyes weren't showing sadness. They were illuminating pure fury.
Surprisingly though, Chase didn't yell, instead, he spoke very stiffly and slowly. "Skye…..read. My. lips. You are NOT responsible for what me, or Marshall did. That was our choice, you did not have any part in our decisions."
"But Chase! I….." Skye protested until Chase interrupted her.
"NO! I don't want to hear it, Skye! I'm not going to sit hare, and allow you to take the blame for something that you have no way to control! What Marshall did was because of HIM! NOT YOU! You have no reason to be sorry!" Chase yelled.
Skye clenched at the sudden outburst, while Rubble stepped in front of her, like he was defending her from an attacker.
"Chase! Don't you DARE yell at Skye!" Rubble yelled back with authority of his own.
"I'm not yelling at her!" Chase replied. "I'm just…...I'm just…." Chase started to tear up, as he just realized what he was doing. "Oh who am I kidding, I AM YELLING AT HER! THAT'S ALL I CAN DO RIGHT?! THAT'S ALL I'M EVER GOOD FOR RIGHT?!"
Chase suddenly collapsed to the ground, and bawled his eyes out in front of Skye and Rubble. Skye pushed Rubble aside, shot over to Chase, and hugged the daylights out of him. Chase accepted this gesture, by wrapping his arms around Skye's shoulders. He buried his face in the side of her neck and continued to wail like a little puppy.
Rubble stood appalled by this. He had never seen the normally strong minded leader bawl his head off like this. He's always seen him calm, collected, and very strong minded. Then again, he had only been on the team for two months at this point.
Skye's ears were blasted with wails from the crying shepherd, while she stroked his back very soothingly. She also started to shush him in an effort to calm him down. "Shhhh. Chase it's okay. Calm down. It's okay."
Chase tried to respond but only got out gibberish due to his uncontrollable sobbing. "Bleh geh tecle tee ke bleh sa hai WAAAAAH!"
Skye continued to soothe him, while Rubble stood in place, to shock to contribute anything.
Chase calmed down a bit, which was still sobbing a little. He finally was able to croak out some comprehensible words as Skye let go of him to look at his eyes. But his eyes were down towards the ground. "I am a bad leader Skye."
Skye obviously objected to his false claim. "No you're not. You're an amazing leader Chase."
"No I am not!" Chase cried out, his tone up a bit but not too loud. "I can't even treat my best friend right!"
"Well….Maybe. But you two are going through a rough patch right now. It'll work out." Skye assured.
Rubble finally found a way to contribute. "Yeah. Don't worry Chase, best friends fight all the time. It'll get better, you and Marshall will be back to normal."
Chase stood silent a bit, keeping his head hanging and still looking down at his paws. "I don't know about that buddy. I think I REALLY did it this time. You heard him…..he hates me."
"No he does not." Skye playfully said. "He's just upset. You know how Marshall is. He couldn't possibly hate anything in this world except for maybe two things. And one of them is NOT you."
"He sounded very serious, Skye." Chase replied, while finally lifting his head. "He said he never wants to see me again." Chase started to sob again at that last comment.
"Well….let's just say for the sake of argument that he somehow really hates you and never wants to see you again." Rubble commented. "You can fix that Chase. You really can. So what are you going to do?"
Chase hung his head back down and murmured out his response. "I'm going to respect his wishes, Rubble."
Skye's concern meter shot up to eleven quickly at Chase's response, fearing the worst, she asked her next question very scarcely and slowly at a snail's pace. "Chase? What are you going to do?"
Chase was painfully silent for a minute before he finally answered the question. "I'm going to quit Paw Patrol and run away forever."
Skye was relieved to hear that Chase wouldn't harm himself, but her immediate reaction after that was one of sadness and shock, but Rubble beat her to the punch, nearly knocking Skye over at her startlement.
"What?! No! You can't quit! We can't be Paw Patrol without you! You're our leader Chase! We need you!" He started to tear up himself, as his thoughts and feelings leaked out while shaking also.
"No you don't! You don't need someone who is just going to yell at you constantly!" Chase countered back.
Skye suddenly was in tears trying to hold herself together. "Chase. Please! I love you. We all love you. You're our brother! You can't just leave us!"
Chase paused a bit at Skye's statement. Skye stood and let her tears fall to the ground. She couldn't believe what Chase was saying. That he would drop everything he ever lived for, for the sake of his best friend's wishes.
The shepherd let out a huge long sigh before he finally responded. "I can, and I will Skye. I don't deserve to be your leader. I'm a total jerk. I don't treat my friends right. I make poor decisions. I yell constantly. I'm a pathetic little ball of wasted potential. My father would be so disappointed in me. I'm a failure." Chase whined as tears flowed down his face like a waterfall.
Skye looked on with a hurt heart. She had never, EVER seen Chase like this. A beaten down version of Chase that just wants his life over with. It was horrible to look at. The once proud and responsible pup had been reduced down to a pathetic little ball. The sight nearly caused her to start wailing herself. On top of that, there was a very good chance that she may never see Chase again. She didn't want that. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. If she doesn't come up with something to bat Chase's claims down, that dream will never come true, and Skye would regret it for the rest of her life.
"You're wrong Chase. You are not a failure and you never will be." Skye started with a sudden burst of confidence.
Chase raised his head slowly at Skye's level. He was about to down himself again, but Skye cut him off before he even got a chance.
"No! I don't want to hear it again! There is no way I will EVER think of you as a failure. You're too much of an amazing pup Chase. You're forgetting about all of the stuff you are amazing at. There's so many of them that if I were to list them all, we would be here for hours!"
Skye stood on all her paws, gaining more confidence as she went on. "The most important one, is that you are an amazing leader, and you are valued more on this team that you think!"
Rubble could only watch in awe, as Skye went on. It was like she had turned into a different pup. But the complete opposite of what Chase was right now.
"Do you make mistakes? Of course you do. We all do. But you know what we do? We learn from them or fix the mistakes. Then we move on. That's what you are going to do with Marshall. Then you will be the best bestest friends the world has ever seen!"
Chase smiled a little at Skye's rally call. He wasn't going to lie. It sorta turned him on for a bit, lifting him out of his depression almost. But he still had doubts.
"B-but…..how can I do that Skye? He probably never wants to talk to me anymore." he said, still showing sadness a little.
Skye sat back down and gave her answer. "Well….talk to him. Tell him how you feel and that you are sorry you yelled at him."
"I don't think he'll listen to me Skye." Chase said back in a low tone.
"Yeah he will. You know he will. You two are best friends. Right?" Skye asked hopefully with anticipation. Ready for Chase to say yes.
Yes was going to be Chase's answer, but something kept it from coming out. He thought about the past few months and all the baggage that came with it. All the fights, cold shoulders, and silences that they gave each other during that short time. Chase knew about the rift looming between him and Marshall. He's noticed it since the paw fight a few months ago. He didn't know how it got that way. Even with the training the both of them had been though, they would've found someway to hang out with each other and it seemed that they were fighting more than they were bonding. Chase had been trying to make it better and he could tell that Marshall was trying too. But no matter how much effort they put into it, they only drifted further and further apart. Maybe….the fire wasn't there anymore…..and the two's friendship was truly lost and never coming back.
Chase closed his eyes and very stiffly turned around towards the inside of his pup house as he gave his answer.
"To be completely honest with you Skye, I just don't know anymore."
With that, he walked back into his pup house and closed the door. Leaving a stunned Skye and Rubble outside.
Rocky stepped towards Marshall's pup house with a very tense face. He heard the wails coming from the other side of the door, and his heart skipped every other beat.
When it came to Marshall, Rocky always made time for him. He was probably the closest friend he's ever had besides Zuma. Mostly because for an early part of his life, Marshall was his only friend.
Rocky had something that Chase would never be able to claim. Rocky met Marshall first. He was the first friend the dally made all the way back from when they used to live on the streets of San Francisco. Well….when Rocky did at least, as Marshall was living with his parents at the time. They grew up very close for the first part of their lives, to the point that Marshall begged Rocky to live with him and his parents, in which Rocky respectfully declined each time.
Rocky was a different pup back then. Years of being with a very abusive owner had ruined his conception of being owned. It eventually got so bad, that he successfully ran away from the abusive owner, and went to live in the dump the next town over, using scraps of all sorts of trash for all sorts of things to get him by, giving him an extensive mind on creating things out of nothing. He met Marshall one day while he was looking for food and the dally instantly helped him on the spot, sneaking out leftovers from the fire house he and his parents stayed at. The two became best friends, hung out, and played nearly everyday together. For a short while, Rocky and Marshall would see each other everyday much to the dismay of Marshall's parents, mainly because of the smell.
It truly seemed that they would be best friends forever and nothing could come in between them.
Not long after Marshall and Rocky became friends, Marshall started having problems at home. His clumsy ways were causing problems at the firehouse, to the point where the house itself considered whether or not to get rid of the dogs. Fearing that he was causing too many problems, Marshall ran away and left a note on his bed.
As for Rocky, life at the dump and on the streets had become very troublesome to deal with. The city suddenly ramped up on stray dogs and had dog catchers on every street 24 hours a day, looking for dogs like Rocky to take to the pound. After a few very close calls, Rocky decided that if he ever wanted to stay free and sustain the life he wanted, he had to find some other city to live. He left his belongings, which were of course his inventions he had made, and left the dump.
As fate would have it, the both of them ended up running into each other near the shipyard. Thinking that it was probably better to stay together, (mostly because they wanted to) Rocky and Marshall ran away together. They stowed away on a cargo ship, hoping to start a new life together wherever they wound up.
But it wasn't meant to be. Shortly after hopping on board, a terrible storm erupted at sea. Tearing the ship apart and throwing them overboard. The two survived the wreck but were unfortunately separated from each other with the both of them thinking that the other was dead. The two moved on with their lives not knowing that the other was still alive.
It wasn't until a couple years later that they found each other again. They were overjoyed to find themselves alive, and seemed to never let go of each other. Although, Rocky was very disheartened to find that Marshall had a new friend.
A new…..best...friend.
Now Rocky wasn't really surprised to see Marshall with a new friend. Marshall was a social butterfly. He could make friends with a fire hydrant if he really tried. One thing to remember however, was that Marshall never put one friend over the other, no matter how close they were to him. He didn't see his friends as some sort of leaderboard. He didn't care, he just loved hanging out with them. He never chose one over the other, and would likely spend time with everyone than just one.
Rocky knew that about Marshall, and because of that, he didn't get too jealous of Chase. It still hurt him though. To see your best friend call somebody else their best friend. It was disheartening, considering that he should be the one that Marshall would call his best friend.
Though he was jealous of Chase, he didn't really see him at fault at anything. It wasn't his fault a storm came and washed them away from each other. He was happy for Marshall, considering that at the time, Chase was probably a better friend than he would ever be.
Until recently that is.
Rocky didn't have a big problem with Chase, in fact, he did consider him a close friend and a great leader. The problem was at some point in time, between Rocky getting into the Paw Patrol and now, Chase developed a little bit of a jealousy for Rocky himself and it was easy to say that Marshall hanging out with Rocky and Zuma more definitely affected Chase. Not to mention, the stress from the job didn't really help ethier. It became a regular occurrence for Chase to get on to somebody when they made a mistake but for the most part, he didn't really yell that often. It was only with Marshall that the yelling assault.
That's not to say that Marshall was completely innocent all the time, and for the most part, Rocky knew that Chase did mean well, but he often thought that Chase came down too hard on the poor dally. He understood that Marshall could be alot stubborn on a few things, but never deserved a screaming session.
Rocky would be a little worked up at Chase. So much that it was a good thing that Skye went to talk to Chase and Rocky went to talk to Marshall. If it was the other way around. Rocky would've laid into Chase, and not hold back at all.
Rocky was admittedly a very emotional pup, and when it came to his friends, especially Marshall and Zuma, he would definitely let his feelings be known if anything were to happen to them.
The wails grew louder asn Rocky and Zuma got closer to the house. Zuma shook his head in sadness. "Dude…..he sounds howwible."
"Yeah." Rocky replied sternly. "I think Chase really did it this time."
As Rocky got up to the door, he froze in absolute horror. Marshall was crying his eyes out, and Rocky heard it all.
Zuma gulped really slowly. "You think he would even want to talk to us wocky? It's still vewy fwesh in his mind."
"We have to at least try Zuma. If we don't, this would be the whole night." Rocky said back.
With that, Rocky drew a breath and knocked on the door. As soon as he did, the sobbing immediately stopped, as a hoarse voice sounded from the other side. "Y-Yeah?"
Rocky, through his astonishment that he even got a response, called out to his friend. "Marshall? It's me, Rocky. I'm just checking on you pal. See if you're alright."
"And Zuma!" Zuma chimed in, right next to Rocky.
Rocky jumped back. "Ow! Zuma! That was my ear!"
"Sowy." Zuma apologized.
"Heh hehe."
The two suddenly hear a faint and small laugh coming from the other side of the door. They cocked their heads in immediate surprise and confusion.
"Dude, did he just laugh?" Zuma asked in shock.
"Sounds like it." Rocky answered the best he could. He couldn't really describe Marshall's sudden change in attitude. He somehow pushed his shock aside and focused on the task at hand. "Marshall? Zuma and I wanna talk to you pal."
There was a brief pause as Rocky and Zuma stood in front of the door waiting for a reply. After a few seconds of nothing, Rocky and Zuma were starting to think that it was a bust, until suddenly, the door opened.
It was so abrupt that Rocky and Zuma jumped up a few feet over the sudden surprise. Clearly not expecting Marshall to open the door.
Their astonished looks then turned into pure concern when they looked at the absolute mess that was supposed to be Marshall.
His eyes were bloodshot from hell and back, his face was shopping wet, and his nose and cheeks were as red as tomatoes. Yet through all of this, as if they needed another reason to be surprised, a small, cheeky smile was on Marshall's face.
"Hi guys." Marshall shakingly said, his lips still trembling. "What's up?"
Rocky and Zuma couldn't even think of what to say. Not only did it take almost nothing to get Marshall out of his house, but he was standing with a smile on his face, after he was sobbing uncontrollably a few minutes ago.
Somehow, Zuma was able to get something to come out of his mouth. "D-Dude, awe you okay?"
Marshall sniffed a bit before answering with a neutral face. "Well…..I've been better. But for the most part, Yeah. I'm okay."
Rocky raised a suspicious eyebrow. "You sure about that pal? Considering everything that happened an hour ago?"
"Oh." Marshall's head and ears drooped at Rocky's question. He hung his head and looked at his paws. His voice as soft as pillows. "You heard a little bit of that didn't you?"
"I don't know how couldn't we, I bet all of adventuwe bay could heaw it." Zuma pointed out.
Marshall raised his head and gave a sad look to Zuma. Rocky looked at him as well with a "Really" face.
Zuma caught on to what he said and hung his head in embarrassment "S-Sowwy, bad joke. Just twying to lighten the mood."
"It's okay Zuma. I know you mean well." Marshall said warmly.
It was silent for a bit until Rocky broke it with a very intense question. "Marshall?"
Marshall looked at Rocky and smiled. "Yeah Rocky?"
"Did you mean it? When you said that you hated Chase?" Rocky finally asked.
Marshall dipped his head down, and looked at the ground, as he gave one very long sigh. "No."
Rocky's face beamed a little, happy that Marshall didn't hate Chase, though he couldn't help but disappointed that Marshall didn't hate Chase for his wishes.
Zuma however, looked at Marshall questionably. "Then why did you say it dude? Hates a strong word to just throw out there."
Marshall didn't really have anything to say to that. "I….Um..I guess I just got caught up in the moment."
"Marshall I don't blame you." Rocky stated with sympathy, but some anger got through. "I probably would've told that jerk to back off too."
"Wocky!" Zuma scolded. "That's not nice!"
Rocky spun around to face Zuma to defend his case. "I know that Zuma. but he really was acting like a jerk. Yelling at Marshall like that when he was just trying to apologize. He had no right to yell and scream at Marshall."
"He's not a jerk Wocky!" Zuma defended. "He's awe fweind just as much as Mawshall. Youw also forgetting that Mawshall yelled at him too!"
"I know he did! But only after he was being yelled at first!"
"STOP IT!" Marshall screamed, causing Zuma and Rocky to stop immediately and look at Marshall who had fresh tears in his eyes. "We already had one friendship ending fight! I don't want another one!"
Rocky's anger subsided at Marshall's outburst. He realized that he was only making it worse by expressing his feeling about how Chase handled the argument. He hung his head and whimpered with Zuma doing the same.
"Sorry Marshall. I just don't like seeing you being treated like that for no reason. I hate seeing you like this because you're one of my closest friends. What Chase did to you was completely unnecessary in my book, and I will leave it at that."
Marshall stood in silence for a moment as he seemed to be processing Rocky's reasons for blowing off. He responded very quietly and slowly. "The only reason he yelled at me was because I was being stubborn for no reason. I knew I was wrong and yet I fought the battle anyway."
"But why dude?" Zuma pressed. "If you knew you were wrong, why did you fight him like that?"
Marshall looked at Zuma with an innocent face. "I-I-I don't know. I guess I'm just used to it at this point."
"Mawshall. Youw sounding like youw saying youw done with Chase and you don't want to be his fweind anymore." Zuma responded sadly.
"I'm not done with Chase! I still want to hang out with him!" Marshall assured.
"Well you're having a hard time proving me pal." Rocky replied. "You said you never wanted to see him again."
Marshall's head hung down and looked at his paws again in shame. "Yes…..I-I did say that." His head shot back up. "But I didn't mean it! I love Chase. He's a brother to me! It's just…" Marshall's tone slightly rose as he went on. "I just don't understand why he feels like needs to babysit me all the time! I know I mess up and make mistakes, but I don't go out there and just throw myself into danger. At least I think before I do anything dangerous and if it's the only way the job can be done, I WILL do it and I will try to be as safe as I can! He knows that! Shoot, he does the same thing! Yet he judges every move I make like a game of chess! And then he comes down on me and makes me feel more horrible than I really am!" Marshall starts to tear up as he shuts his eyes. "He even said that he didn't trust me anymore." Marshall then started to break down and cry.
Rocky felt like crying himself. His heart painfully pounded at the sight of Marshall crying his eyes out in front of him. Now he was really glad he wasn't the one talking to Chase. He would have used more than words to get his point across. But he wasn't, he was talking to Marshall, trying to get him to talk with Chase again. So they could be friends again…...so Marshall could be happy again.
Upon this thought, his anger with Chase disappeared suddenly. He realized that deep down, he didn't want the two to hate each other. They were family after all, the closest family he had. Well, maybe not the closest family he had, but that's another story for a different time. Family should not be apart from each other, and if Chase and Marshall continued down this road, it could be bad news for the team as everybody else's friendship might be affected, and the team might break apart, Rocky did not want that to happen, he loved everyone of his teammates, and would rather be alone, that to have everyone hate each other.
Then, another though crossed his mind. And it was about Chase directly. Although he didn't condone Chase's actions, he at least noticed a strange pattern that had been going on the last few months. Chase's attitude had changed dramatically. The once calm and cool pup who did have some playfulness stored in him, started to slowly turn the dial up to the highest point in seriousness. He started doing inspections, second guessing with Ryder when a dangerous situation occurs, Exercising, stressing about safety with the pups, getting very skittish whenever the pups are doing something unsafe like being up on a roof or stopping a wildfire.
All this started happening a few months ago when Rocky himself fell off a platform. He had to fix Adventure Bay's windmill. Thankfully, Marshall caught him before he hit the ground, but Rocky's mental state was tested that day, but what the pups didn't know, was what it did to Chase. That's where the safety stuff started happening, and suddenly, Chase became very protective over his team mates.
Maybe even enough, to drive them away from him.
Upon this thought, if finally hit the mixed breed, something was up with Chase, and the mere thought of that caused Rocky to immediately be very concerned about him. There was only one way to find out, and that's to have Marshall talk to him. Chase would definitely open up to him.
"Actually Marshall, I don't think that's true." Rocky finally responded with a worried tone. "There's no way Chase would ever think that. He loves you, and you know he would do anything for you in a heartbeat."
"Then…..why did he say he doesn't trust me?" Marshall asked like a sad little pup.
"I don't think it's that simple pal. I think it's something bigger than that." Rocky replied.
Marshall raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. "What do you mean Rocky?"
"Yeah dude. What awe you on about?" Zuma chimed in, matching Marshall's curiousness.
"Well, let's think here." Rocky proposed. "Chase only started being hard on safety when I fell off the windmill a few months ago. Ever since, I've noticed that he has been pretty on edge about us doing more intense emergencies.
"Well, now that I think about it, it does seem to be that Chase has changed so much in so little time, like he's scared of something. But what does that have to do with him not trusting me anymore?" Marshall asked skeptically.
"Marshall, I don't even think he trusts himself now, let alone you, me, and the others." Rocky stated firmly.
Marshall's face went to immediate sadness and worry, about ready to cry. "Are you trying to say that something's wrong with him?"
"I think we passed that Marshall." Rocky blatantly said. "There's definitely something very wrong with him."
"Do you think he's in pain?" Zuma asked suddenly.
Marshall gasped softly while Rocky replied. "It's something worse than that Zuma, it's gotta be something wrong with him mentaly and for some reason."
Marshall teared backup and started to shake a little. It terrified him to know that his friend was in any sort of depression. His voice shook as he posed the million dollar question to Rocky. "What do we do? How do we find out what's wrong with him?"
Rocky looked straight at Marshall. "I was hoping you could answer that."
"M-Me? W-What can I do?" Marshall asked, as he was put on the spot.
"Dude. You gotta talk to him." Zuma implied. "He'll open up to you."
"Zuma I just told him I told him that I hated him." Marshall countered. "I don't think he wants to show his face to me again. At least not in the near future."
"You've got to Marshall, It's the only way we can find out what's wwong." Zuma pushed.
"B-B-B-B-But I don't think he would listen to me." Marshall said nervously. "I'll be surprised if we even see each other at dinner."
"Marshall, I think you're selling him too short. He will listen to you and he will talk to you. You two are too close to each other." Rocky pressed, hoping to convince Marshall to carry out with the plan.
Marshall hung his head again only slightly this time.
"You too are best friends after all, right?" Rocky added, almost expecting for Marshall to say yes.
Marshall wanted to say yes so bad. But for some reason, we couldn't push it out. He obviously knew of the rift over him and Chase's head in these past few months. Between the fights, no time to just hang out or play, and the awkward silences, he just couldn't be sure. Not to mention the Paw fight they had spoken a lot to him. That their bond was just not the same anymore, and the training only made it worse. He didn't want it to be true, but it was. Chase and Marshall's friendship was on thin ice, and it would probably take a miracle for it to go back to the way it was. He often wished that Paw Patrol never started. Ever since it did, the two pups have only drifted further and further apart. They were fighting more than they were bonding, spending time with other pups other than themselves. No longer playing with each other all the time like they used to. He loved Paw Patrol, it allowed him to fulfill his lifelong dream to be the best fire pup in the world and it allowed him to reconnect with Rock, and meet new friends who then became really close to him.
But, though all that, was it really worth losing your best friend in the whole wide world?
After a bit of silence and zoning out for a bit, Marshall finally answered Rocky's question, but the answer completely shocked Rocky and Zuma like a thousand volts going through their bodies.
"To be completely honest with you Rocky, I-I just don't know anymore."
(A/N) Oh no. Chase and Marshall's friendship may be to broken to repair! It may actually be over! And everyone may go down with them.
Let's hope that doesn't happen.
Chapter 3 is going to be a little later, as I am currently on holiday and may not get to work on it until I get back so unfortunately, It's going to be a little bit of a wait before Chapter 3 will be up. I apologize for any of you who can't wait to get to the good parts but trust me, It WILL be worth it!
Question of the chapter: Who's conversation stood out the most, Chase, Rubble, and Skye's? or Marshall, Rocky, and Zuma's?
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 l'll get back with you as soon as I can.
This Is Sean Thames of Dragonsfire Entertainment signing off, and MERRY CHRISTMAS! (Even though it's late)