Just a quick warning, there is a little language in this chapter, so I'm rating it this one T+. Enjoy!
Rocky yawned and sniffed around before opening his eyes. A familiar, oceanic smell hit his twitching nose and he smiled. He opened his eyes and looked directly into Zuma's emerald green ones.
"You're awake already?" Rocky asked. Zuma nodded his head.
"How long have you been looking at me?"
"Houws," Zuma replied. "You look so cute when you sleep. You make small snoring noises, and your nose twitches."
"How do you know all of that?" Rocky asked, blushing
"Let's just say I'm always watching you," Zuma answered him, licking his nose. Rocky closed his eyes happily.
"What time is it?" Rocky asked.
"The sun is almost up. It's a good thing you woke up when you did, we need to be getting back." Zuma said.
"You could've woken me up you know," Rocky said, yawning.
"Yeah, I know, but I didn't want to," Zuma murmured, running his paws softly through Rocky's fur.
"You are too much," Rocky replied, standing up, shaking himself. He touched his neck and smiled at Zuma.
"Thinking of me?" Zuma asked, showing pearly white fangs.
Rocky nodded his head shyly.
"Come here, Zuma," he said, picking up Zuma's blue collar. Zuma came over to him, and Rocky nuzzled his neck before slipping it over his neck and clicking it in place. Zuma licked his cheek and sniffed around for his. He located the orange fabric easily against the green grass and placed it around Rocky's neck.
"Come on, we gotta go," Rocky said, trotting back the way they had come. They met Marshall about halfway there.
"Hi, Marshall!" Rocky said.
"Oh, hi guys," Marshall said, looking up from the ground. His voice was less...cheery than it normally was.
"Whatcha doing?" Zuma asked. Marshall was silent for a while, and when he spoke, his voice cracked.
"Just thinking about my life before I was captured," Marshall said, tears rolling down his cheeks, staring at the ground. "So much has changed, I don't know if things will ever be normal again for me…"
"Marshall don't cry…" Rocky said, crying himself. He hugged the poor spotted black and white pup.
"I'm sorry, I just really want my old life back…" Marshall cried.
"Yeah, I know. So do I." Rocky said. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault."
"No, it's not!" Marshall said. Rocky broke away from the dalmatian."
"That's not what Chase told you," Rocky said bitterly, looking away from him.
"You...heard that?" Marshall asked anxiously. "I'm sorry! We didn't mean to hurt…"
"I'm going inside," Rocky said quickly, ignoring Marshall's question. He padded away from him, leaving the pup even more distressed. Rocky shoved his growing guilt behind the doors of his heart. He'd kept them shut since he left Jason's facility the first time, and they had never been opened fully. They had come close when Marshall diagnosed the problem behind his powers, but Rocky had managed to close them in time, with Zuma's help. They were the source of all his self-loathing and his lack of self-esteem.
They caused all the pain in his heart and all the shame in his mind. He knew he needed to let it out, but he didn't want to revisit all those memories. So every time he was hurt or shamed, he shoved those emotions behind those doors. He tried to forget out them, but they poisoned his mind infecting everything about him. And it was slowly killing him. As he walked away, tears formed in his eyes, he found that it was getting harder to ignore his feelings. He told himself all the time that if he didn't think about it, it didn't exist, even though he knew he was lying to himself. But it was a lie he wanted to believe.
"Rocky are you okay?" Marshall asked him, running after him.
"I'm fine," he said sharply through gritted teeth.
"You don't look it." Zuma agreed with Marshall.
"I said I'm fine!" Rocky snapped at the two, teeth bared. They both took a step back fearfully. What are you doing, Rocky?! Rocky shook his head, feeling guilty for hurting his friends.
"I'm sorry…" he murmured, running away from them. Why did you act like that? You know what I don't want to think about it. He shoved that guilt behind the doors of his heart as well and sat down in the farthest corner of the cave, purposely isolating himself from everyone else. Soon Ryder and the other pups awoke. Ryder looked at Rocky.
"Is there something you wanted to tell us, Rocky?" he asked when everyone was up.
"No," Rocky said firmly.
"Wrong question. What do you have to tell us, Rocky?" Ryder asked.
"Fine. You are never going to believe me. And leave Zuma out of this please, he had nothing to do with anything." Rocky lied.
"Whatever. We don't care about him. We want to know what's going on with you." Chase said.
"You aren't going to believe me," Rock repeated.
"We will be the judges of that," Skye said.
"Fair enough," Rocky said. He hesitantly told his story looking at the pups' faces for their reactions. He blushed red as he told about the parts he had lied about, and the pups looked at him in anger, especially Chase. By the time he had finished his story, the sun was shining high in the sky. Chase was the first to speak.
"Rocky, I can't believe you! What did we ever do to make you lie to us like this?" he shouted.
"We thought we could trust you, but you've lied to us for months!" Skye agreed.
"I'm really hurt, Rocky," Marshall said.
"It's not like that!" Rocky tried to defend himself.
"You framed Copycat, Rocky! Framed! And we never questioned you because we trusted you!" Ryder said angrily. Rocky's ears went flat against his head.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. You can trust me I was just…"
"Shut up, Rocky!" Chase warned.
"We are disappointed with you.
"But if you would just listen…" Rocky continued.
"I said be quiet!" Chase shouted, slashing his claws across Rocky's neck. Rocky yelped as his wounds were reopened. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he pressed a paw to his neck. Blood trickled through his claws. Zuma sprang in front of him immediately and unsheathed his claws.
"What do you think you awe doing?!" he shouted, looking ready to bite the police pup.
"I didn't mean to hurt him!" Chase said fearfully. Zuma's eyes blazed as he sat down protectively in front of Rocky. Before Zuma could do anything, Marshall grabbed Chase's tail in his teeth and dragged him away. Then Marshall slapped him.
"Why would you do that?" he shouted angrily. "We don't hurt our friend, no matter how pissed we are!"
"Hey, don't get on Chase. I agree with him!" Taja said. "Rocky got what he deserved!"
"Guys let's not fight." Rubble said meekly.
"You're too young to know what you are talking about Rubble. Stay out of this." Marcus said sharply.
Soon the pups were arguing furiously, and Rocky watched with wide eyes. What have I done! Now we are fighting amongst ourselves! This is horrible! He curled into a ball and rocked back and forth, muttering incoherently. Zuma looked down at him and saw that he was rapidly disappearing.
"Rocky?" Zuma asked.
"All my fault…" was all Zuma caught.
"What? This?" Zuma didn't get an answer.
"Rocky?" he asked, no longer able to see him. He heard soft footsteps in the direction of the exit and saw Rocky's thin silhouette in the doorway.
"Rocky, come back here!" Zuma said. Rocky ignored him and slipped stealthily out of the cave. Zuma growled in frustration. The arguing got louder and louder.
"WOULD EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!" Zuma snapped in frustration The pups froze.
"Look at what you are doing! You are fighting with each other. I thought we were friends. Why are we doing this? Chase, I'm disappointed in you. Not only did you attack Rocky, but you also caused this entire argument. And guess what? Has anyone but me realized that the pup in question had left? Or are you too engrossed in petty fights?"
"No, he's not! He's still right there!" Chase said, spinning around. Then he stopped and hung his head to find nothing.
"Where did he go?" Rubble asked.
"Away. And trying to find him will not do any good. He has a way of….dissapearing." Zuma answered.
"I hope we didn't hurt his feelings," Skye said, ashamed.
"Yeah, well you did. Badly! Honestly, regardless of how you feel about him, it would be best to stay on his good side, with him being who he is and all. Do you think he wanted to lie? NO! He didn't. And do you know why? Because he knew you guys would react like this."
"Then how come he told you?" Marshall asked meekly.
"Because he knows that I'm not judgemental. He knows that I listen before making accusations, unlike you, Chase! He wanted to tell you, but he was afraid to put you guys in danger. He wanted what was best for you And he was afraid, so he framed Copycat. Now was the right for it? No. But he had good intentions. He'd never purposely hurt anyone!" The pups hung their heads in shame.
"You don't know the gift that you have right in front of you!" Zuma barked. "You know what? He told me that he's not…" he stopped, remembering his promise to Rocky not to tell anyone. "That's not important. Have you even thanked him for saving your sorry asses from Jason? Huh? No! You are so ungrateful I can't even stand it. He died for you, but the moment you can talk to him again, you berate him! You all have no idea what he has gone through! You impudent little…" Zuma couldn't find a bad enough noun, unlike Rocky. "Now, I'm going to go out and find him, and you are going to think about your actions!"
"How are you going to find him? I thought he was gone…" Chase said.
"I can always find him, don't worry about that.," Zuma replied, slipping out of the cave himself. The pups looked at each other.
"I never thought about it like that. Maybe Rocky did have a reason, but we never gave him a chance." Chase said.
"Hey, speak for yourself. I wanted to hear Rocky, but you had to get in the way. Did you even see the blood on his neck?" Marshall asked.
"I hope Zuma finds, Rocky, we have to apologize to him!" Skye said sadly. "We shouldn't have judged him so quickly. That's why he didn't want to tell us in the first place." The pups agreed.
"I'm still not sorry for hitting him, though," Chase grumbled.
"What is going on with you, Chase?" Skye asked, exasperated.
"Nothing...I'm fine." he snapped. He wasn't, and that fact would be made plain very, very soon.
The perfectly clear sky was darkening, and Rocky dragged his paws away. Anger, frustration, sadness, and fear swirled through his heart. In the end, each emotion canceled the other out, leaving only one. Indifference. The sky turned gray, and the grass at his paws lost all color. The sun hid behind the clouds, and the ground cracked up under his paws, turning dry and hard. I don't know how much longer I can keep all this in! Rocky cried in his mind. The doors he had locked were beginning to splinter, and Rocky was struggling to keep them closed. No thoughts went through his always busy mind as they always were. Rocky didn't know how long his body had been on autopilot before he heard the voice.
"Rocky...Rocky…" a distant voice came from the distant hills behind him. Interest piqued, he turned his head, and saw a brown figure walking towards him steadily. Rocky snorted and turned away.
Just leave me alone, Zuma! He thought angrily. He came to a high cliff jutting out over an extremely far drop in the ground. He sat on the very edge and tried to clear his mind. I can't do this anymore. I've told the truth now. Whatever they think of me now, I no longer care about. Rocky knew he was lying to himself. Their words did matter to him, and they hurt him deeply. A strong wind blew through the demi-god's gray fur. He was so engrossed in his thoughts he never noticed when Zuma sat beside him.
"How did you find me?" Rocky snapped.
"Dude, you are turning everything gway! It wasn't hawd to find you." Rocky looked behind him. There was a large, spreading trail of gray behind him, all color and life sucked from it. Zuma put a paw over his, and the warmth from it penetrated his indifferent mood and he looked into Zuma's green eyes for the second time that day. Zuma shivered and Rocky looked down at the spot where the two made contact. Zuma's paw had turned gray and it was traveling up one arm. Rocky wrenched his paw back in horror. Rocky backed away from him in fear.
"No...stay away from me…" he said, stumbling backward.
"Rocky, wait!" Zuma warned. Too late. Rocky went too far and lost his balance.
"Whoa!" he cried, as he fell backward. Zuma leaped forward just in time, and caught his scruff in his teeth, and yanked him back up, hard.
"Awe you okay?" Zuma asked. Rocky threw his paws around him.
"Thanks, Zuma..." Rocky whispered fiercely. Having something other than the current condition of his mind to think about, the gray aura he was emitting reversed, and everything gained its color back.
"You're weady for all this to be over, huh?" Zuma asked. Roddy nodded, tears streaming down his face.
"Don't cry, Rocky!" Zuma said.
"They hate me… I know it!" Rocky cried.
"I don't think so. I knocked some sense into their minds, maybe with the exception of Chase... They didn't even thank you for saving them!" Rocky sniffed.
"Why would they? I didn't even do anything, Michael did all the work!" Zuma rolled his eyes.
"He led them out, but you were the bwains behind the opewation! You literally took a bullet for them. No matter what you did, they have no right to act like that." Rocky stayed there on the cliffside, replaying Zuma's words over and over again in his mind until he believed them. The two sat in silence for the rest of the day, holding each other comfortingly and looking into the sky. Neither wanted to go back, but both knew that they had to. Night fell, and the stars appeared. Rocky reluctantly let go of Zuma and stood up.
"Come on, let's find a way back home," Rocky said.
"Won't the others be worried?" Zuma asked.
"Let them be!" Rocky snapped, helping him up. "I don't see them doing anything to help…" he grumbled, stomping away. They traveled down the mountain with relative ease, with Rocky clearing their way.
"Hey, look, Rocky! I see lights!" Zuma cheered. Small, distant pinpricks of light shone.
"Come on, let's go check it out!" Rocky said. Rocky took a step forward, and his paws landed on...nothing. Rocky wobbled and threw himself backward.
"In hindsight, maybe doing this in the day would've been a better idea," he muttered. His paws glowed, and a white beam of light shone from them. Zuma's heart sank.
"Seriously! How high up are we?" Zuma asked. It was a straight drop down, about half a mile down. But at the very bottom, they could see the city, lit up at night.
"How are we going to find a way around that?" Zuma asked.
"I've got an idea!"
The was a loud rumble, and dust filled the air, causing Zuma to cough.
"Hey, what was that?" Zuma asked.
"Why don't we slide down?" Rocky asked. Zuma looked down as saw a perfectly formed ramp of sorts extending from their current position all the way down, turning and twisting as not to make the fall so steep. Honestly, it looked more or less like a spiraling staircase."Looks like someone's been twaining," Zuma said. Rocky smirk and shrugged.
"Eh, in my free time," he said. Zuma put a paw on the hard stone.
"That's going to cut us to pieces," he responded. "It's too wough." Rocky thought for a bit.
"Hmm...good point." He placed a paw on it and ice spread from it, coating the entire rocky formation in frozen water. Snow began to fall, and Rocky directed it to fall on the icy structure.
"There. How's that?" he asked.
"I've gotta hang out with you more often," Zuma replied. "I just had an idea, wait here." Zuma disappeared into the trees, and Rocky patiently waited for him. When he returned, he was pushing a large, rectangular wooden board that curved up at the sides.
"We passed this showtly befowe coming hewe," Zuma said. "It looks pewfect for sliding down that icy wamp."
"This is gonna be so fun!" Rocky said, as Zuma positioned it a starting point." Zuma jumped in and Rocky pushed it from behind.
"Good gracious! How much do you weigh?" Rocky grumbled.
"Not much more than you do," Zuma retorted, smirking at him. After gaining some speed, Rocky hopped up beside him to enjoy the ride. As they speed up, the wind resistance increased, and Zuma shivered in cold. Rocky wrapped his paws around his waist, enjoying the heat that radiated from him. He sighed in pleasure, enjoying the blissful moment. So warm...and soft...They moved quickly, but it was a long way to the ground.
"It's beautiful out here," Rocky said, glancing at the high rocky walls on either side of them. The sky was clear and the crickets were chirping. "Such a perfect view from here…" he murmured absentmindedly. Zuma turned his head and looked happily into Rocky's shining, golden eyes.
"Sure, it's alright," he breathed. His emerald ones gleamed in the moonlight. Rocky's tail wagged as Zuma spoke to him. "But only when you complete the picture," Zuma said, licking his nose.
"You know what, Zuma? I can't believe I'm saying this, but as much as I hate the man, I'm actually happy Jason and I crossed paths." Zuma looked at him queerly.
"Why? What's so good about him?" he asked, confuzzled.
"Because, Zuma," Rocky whispered. "If it wasn't for him, I would've never met you." There was silence for a few minutes as Zuma reflected on Rocky's words.
"Yeah, I guess you are right," Zuma said. "But if you could've seen the future then, would you still have gone through it for me?" Rocky didn't say anything. He lifted Zuma's collar and lovingly stroked the red mark on his neck. It was all the answer Zuma needed.
"Have you made any plans for the future once we get home?" Zuma asked.
"I don't know. At first, I wanted to turn Jason in to the police, but at this point, I want to move on from all that. But I swear on my life that the next time he tries something with me, with us, I'm going to tear his head off. Slowly.".Zuma felt uneasy at the deep malice in Rocky's voice. This isn't like him…
" There's something else too. After going through imprisonment again, I just...I don't feel right anymore about leaving Copycat in jail. So I'm going to turn myself in and clear his name." There was shocked silence for five seconds, then Zuma spun around and roughly grabbed him by the shoulders.
"You will do no such thing!" he spat angrily. Rocky looked down.
"I feel like such a criminal. It sounded innocent at first, but now my conscience is killing me." Rocky said sadly.
"You're not gonna let them take you, right?" Zuma asked.
"Oh no. I've spent most of my life- 3 years, 2 months, 43 minutes, and 59 seconds in prison. I will not spend one more nanosecond of my life there. That's more than half my life, Zuma. After I confess, they will have to let Copycat go. And the moment they do, they will suddenly realize that I have disappeared. I'm never going behind bars alive again."
"There are never going to stop looking for you if you do this," Zuma said. "They will hunt you down and try to take your power by force." Rocky eyes glowed and he snorted.
"Tsk! Let them come. They will just meet their own demise." Zuma's snout came very close to Rocky's.
"Good," he whispered. "I will never let them take you away from me," Rocky shivered. Zuma's dipped his head closer to his, until their lips were just millimeters apart. "Because you are mine," he said possessively. He went to kiss Rocky, but to his surprise, Rocky put a paw on his lips. Zuma opened his eyes in surprise.
"I want to, but we can't. One thing will lead to another, and we will never get anything done tonight." Rocky reasoned as they reached the bottom. Rocky jumped out their makeshift toboggan and onto the ground below. Zuma snorted and licked his lips, impatient.
"You know I hate waiting!" he cried.
"Come one. The sooner we find out how to get home from this city, the sooner we can get there."
"Then?" Zuma asked eagerly.
"Maybe," Rocky smirked at him and walked away, Zuma scrabbling after him. The city wasn't far from the bottom of the mountain, and they entered it quickly. It was so...different from Adventure Bay. Lights flashed, cars raced by, and people freely walked the streets. The pups walked over some train tracks, and the wheels began to spin in Rocky's head.
"Hmmm...I wonder where these tracks go…" he said. They followed the tracks to the train station. They came to the front and Rocky stood on Zuma's shoulders to see over the desk.
"Hello?" he called. The lady at the front looked down at him. "Did you….just...speak?" she asked turning white.
"Yeah, didn't you hear me?" Rocky retorted. "Where do these train tra…"
"Mercy me! It speaks!" she screamed, running to the back in fright.
"Wait, come back!" Rocky said.
Zuma lost his balance and the two fell down to the pavement.
"That was weird. Why was she surprised that I could speak?" Rocky asked, rolling over.
"Maybe the area where we live is the only place where talking dogs exist?" Zuma answered. "We never go anywhere else." Rocky nodded his head.
"Maybe. Wait here, I need to know where those train tracks lead." With that, he disappeared and Zuma lost track of him. A little later, he reappeared in front of him, with a map in his teeth.
"Found a map inside. These tracks lead in a straight line towards Adventure Bay. After that, we can take a ferry straight to Adventure Bay. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the way Jason got us here, this seems too convenient." Rocky said, tracing a route back to their island home with his paw.
"Zuma, go get the others. We are going to get home on this train. It leaves soon, and it's the last one for Adventure Bay for the next week. I'm going to scout out the train and see how we can all get in unnoticed." Zuma nodded.
"Okay, I'll be back. Don't get caught!" he said over his shoulder.
"K." Rocky said absentmindedly, already leaving the visible light spectrum. I love this power… Rocky thought as he jumped up into the train and paced around.
Passengers sat down, waiting for the train to start. Rocky moved past the passenger cars, knowing that they would be of no use to them. Maybe farther back will be better. At his command, doors opened, and passengers were quite surprised to see the doors open and no one enter the car. Or so they thought. Rocky went all the way back to where everything was stored.
"Hmmm…" he murmured to himself. The farther back he went, the less and less he saw, until he came to the last car, which was completely empty. It looked dusty. Probably no one has used this one in a while. All the better for me.
"Perfect!" he said to himself. He undid the lock on the doors and cracked it open. No one could see him, and it was dark anyway. He slid the door open about halfway and jumped down.
"Okay, this should work," Rocky mumbled to himself. "We can jump up into this car and hitch a ride to the next stop. I hope Zuma gets back soon," he said. Turning visible again, he sat down at the train station, thinking of the brown puppy that so often dominated his thoughts. Rocky wasn't sure how long he had been lost in thought before the whistle blew. He was jerked to reality.
"All aboard!" the conductor shouted.
"Come on, where are they?" Rocky asked himself anxiously.
" Rocky!" Rocky spun around and looked down by the street. The rest of the Patrol had finally made it, and just in time.
"This is our wide, dudes and dudettes," Zuma said.
"The very last car is empty," Rocky explained. "We can hide in there and hitch a ride almost completely to Adventure Bay," he said. "I've opened the door on it, but we gotta hurry, the train is about to leave the station, and they will be making sure that all the doors are closed soon." he was right, a man was already walking down the length of the train, making sure nothing was still open.
"How are we gonna get inside without being caught?" Chase asked. Suddenly, the light spectrum changed dramatically. Colors of all kinds swirled past his vision for about two seconds until everything went back to normal.
"I've got that under control, you just get inside," Rocky replied, rubbing his forehead with a paw. With no time left to lose, the Patrol ran down to the last car and jumped inside. Rocky waited until they were all in before joining theme, closing the door behind him. There was no shout of surprise; no one seemed to notice them. Chase saw the colors flash before his eyes again. Rocky put his paws on his head.
"Owww…" he cried softly. "Shit, that hurts…"
"What did you...do?" Chase asked.
"Nothing. It's not important." Rocky replied quickly, not wanting to remind Chase just yet of who he was and what he was capable of, fearing it would cause the cut-short conversation to start again. I do not want to talk about myself anymore. Zuma, on the other hand, knew exactly what Rocky had done, but choose to remain quiet.
"I guess they just weren't paying us any attention," Zuma replied offhandedly. The whistle blew again, and the trains started with a lurch, unbalancing the pups.
"How long will this train ride last?" Marshall asked.
"Umm...somewhere between eight and ten hours," Rocky said finally, rubbing his temples gently. While the pups wandered off to explore the empty boxcar, Zuma sat down by Rocky.
"You okay? You've been doing a lot today…maybe too much."
"No, it's just my powers. I'm thinking about so many things, it puts a strain on my mind to use my powers. And every time I do use them, I feel my life force being drained...it gives me a major headache." Rocky said, head pounding. "The more I do, the worse it gets." He slumped down on the ground, gritting his teeth in pain. He felt a warm, licking sensation about his ears, and the aching, pounding pain in his head receded to a dull throbbing in the background. He looked into Zuma's eyes, which were had to see in the dark.
"I just wanna say, thank you. I know you are doing this for all of us, even if everyone doesn't really like you right now. We are gonna finish our conversation later, because I think there are somethings that they want to tell you."
"No, please. I don't want to hear anymore hateful, ungrateful remarks." Rocky moaned. His headache intensified as he replayed their reactions.
"I'm sure after everyone has had a chance to think, they can have a more level headed response," Zuma replied.
"I just wanna sleep," Rocky murmured, closing his eyes. "Hey Zuma, you've been talking less with your speech impediment," he said sleepily. "You haven't said my name wrong once…"
"Yeah, I think I'm growing out of it," Zuma replied.
"Oh…" Rocky said sadly.
"What's wrong, Rocky?" Zuma asked.
"Nothing," Rocky said hastily, putting his paws around his neck. "I just thought you sounded cute with it…"
"Weally?" Zuma said. Rocky nodded and blushed lightly.
"I'll keep that in mind," Zuma replied. Rocky realized that they were not alone and quickly broke apart from him before anyone noticed them. He laid down to sleep, but sleep refused to come. His mind was bound by the shackles of his past and the sure chains of his future. His sleep was starting to become like this all the time. The hours passed, and Rocky cracked the door to the boxcar and stared out into the night. When will I ever be free? He asked himself. When will my future be shaped by the present, and not the past? When will these feelings leave me? When can I be normal again? When? When? All Rocky had ever wanted in life was to have a normal, happy life. That's it. But time and time again he was denied that. He was so close when he was living with Ryder, but he knew that when they got home, he would not be joining them. And it's all because of Jason. Jason... you little bitch. Mark my words I'm going to kill you someday. Slowly, and with joy. I'm not lucky enough for you to stop trying to kill me, emotionally and physically. I know you are still out there for me. But I'm ready now. Oh, I'm ready. Next time you mess with me, it will be the last thing you do. Rocky's mind drifted to the many ways he could mutilate and mangled Jason's body, how to give him the most pain before Rocky ripped his throat out. He caught himself mid-thought. What am I doing? You're not like that! Why are you even enjoying those thoughts? Bad Rocky. Calm yourself. He shook his head violently, but he couldn't dislodge those evil thoughts. Why can't I stop! He asked himself. The answer came immediately. Because deep down inside, no matter how nice you are nor how gentle and loving, you want revenge. You want to pay Jason back for everything that he has done for you. You want it to be your paw that serves him justice. You want it, Rocky. And there is nothing you can do to change that. Rocky sighed in frustration. I don't want revenge! Right? There was no answer. Rocky stared outside, but he wasn't seeing it. No, he was seeing his past all over again. He could still hear the screams of the animals inside Jason's first facility as he was forced to stay in a dirty, sub-standard cage, waiting for Jason to walk through the door. He flashed forwards to his actions is lying to the Paw Patrol. He saw Copycat's stricken face as he pleaded he was innocent.
"Save it for the judge!" Chase had shouted. Rocky cringed inwardly, and tears rolled down his eyes and dropped silently onto the wooded floor. He saw his friends fighting with each other, and heard the hurtful words they had told him all over again. He blinked his eyes, trying to stop the images and the voices. They stopped, but Rocky knew that they would come again. He cried softly to himself, careful not to wake any of the pups up. His tears made a puddle on the ground and they were whisked outside by the wind. As Rocky curled up and cried his heart out, frost formed on his fur, and ran up the walls of the boxcar as he rocked himself back and forth. Rocky tried to stop the tears, but they kept coming. Lightning flashed out of a perfectly clear sky. Illuminating the inside of the boxcar. The gray mix cried himself into a tortured sleep, with even more vivid visions of his past causing him to wake up again. Rocky felt his mind starting to shatter up under the pressure. The train crossed a bridge, and Rocky looked out over the still blue water. It was calm and peaceful, but as the train flashed by, the waves grew turbulent and choppy. Great. When I wanna use my powers, it's hard and sometimes I can't. But when I don't, they manifest themselves! Rocky watched as his tears hit the floor. Drip...Drip...Drip… the tears went every time they hit the floor and splashed into the growing puddle of them. The images intensified, and he creams grew louder in his ears. And all he could do was listen as his mangled, abused mind rehashed the tragedy that was his life. Then, a familiar smell came to his nose, momentarily blocking out his sadness. It was a scent he was quickly becoming addicted to. It strong, smelling like the ocean, with a hint of spring sweetness to it. It was Zuma's scent. Rocky felt comforted, and closed his eyes and lost himself in it. He felt two paws wrapped around his waist and a warmth at his back, and the nightmares playing in his mind came to a screeching halt. Rocky did not open his eyes as he tried to keep the tears from coming out of them. Zuma did not say anything. When he touch Rocky, he caught a glimpse of the images playing in his mind. He did not say "It's going to be alright.", nor "It's not your fault. No, Zuma did something more meaningful than words. He just held onto Rocky tightly Rocky felt Zuma lift a paw and stroke the mark on his neck softly. Feeling Zuma's warm, soft body against his, Rocky's visions of the past left him, and were replaced with images of Zuma. Yeah, just do that, Zuma. Just for a little… Rocky thoughts ceased as well as he went limp, falling into an exhausted sleep. Zuma felt the change immediately, and stopped Rocky from falling right out the train. He slid the doors closed and carried Rocky over to an empty corner. Rocky woke up for a moment.
"What...how…" he mumbled.
"Shhh...you sleep with me, now," Zuma answered. " I feel alone and cold without you." ZUma looked into Rocky's eyes and cried inwardly. You would never think that behind that cute, adorable face there could possibly be such a horrible backstory. After all that has happened to him, I don't think he can take much more before his mind breaks. It's the reason I haven't told him my backstory, it might prove to be too much for him. Zuma thought. You just never know what people have gone through, so you can't be so quick to judge others. Zuma looked reproachfully at Chase. Skye was at his side, and she seemed quite content. Zuma watched Rocky, listening as his breathing deepened and slowed, and felt his heartbeat decrease. Sleep was singing its alluring song, and Zuma came up under its spell. But even in sleep, he did not remove his paws from the pup he cared for, the pup he loved.
Okay! The pups are on their way back home. In a nutshell, the pups did not take Rocky's confession well. The rest of this chapter was continuing to show Rocky's feelings through all of this and his plans for the future. Rocky struggles with feelings of worthlessness, fear, and pain. Zuma can calm him down, but Rocky will never be able to escape his past until he lets go of it. Which he doesn't want to do. Sigh…
This story is fast ending, with only one (1) chapter left in it. These past few chapters (especially this one) are going to be vital to the next chapter. What happened when you can't take the pain, when you can't take the guilt, and you happen to be the most powerful entity on earth? Find out next.
