Here's chapter two of The Power Inside!
I woke up with a gasp, panting hard. Why? Why do I still have nightmares about it? I shook my head and looked at the clock. It read three in the morning. I sighed and put my head down on my pillow, but had no intention to sleep. I wish I could forget the past. It doesn't do me any good. I slowly drifted off with my thoughts, and tried to keep myself awake, but soon I fell asleep once more.
"Hey Chase! Wake up!" Ryder called.
"Huh?" I murmured as I awoke.
"It's time to call the other pups! I'm surprised you didn't wake up to your alarm. Did you have a bad dream again?" Ryder questioned.
"Yea, I did. It's no big deal" I replied groggily. Ryder sighed and left to prepare breakfast. I went to the main room of the lookout and put on my pup pack. Slowly, I woke up the other pups and called them to breakfast. However, it seemed as though Rocky hadn't slept much either. His eyes had bags under them, and it looked like he was still half asleep. I wonder why.
After taking off my pup pack, I went straight to the cafeteria. There, the other pups had already started to eat. Everyone except for Rocky was discussing the fight me and Rocky were going to have tomorrow.
"I don't recall saying tomorrow" I interjected.
"Well you did say not today, and considering how hyper Rocky is, it's safe to assume Rocky would want to do it tomorrow" Zuma noted.
"I guess I did say that" I huffed. Ugh. Why did I agree to this? I don't want to hurt the other pups like I did yesterday. After finishing off breakfast, Rocky excused himself and left towards his room. I shrugged it off and headed towards the arena to watch the other pups. Even though we train in the arena, we don't train every day. Most days we have fun in the battlegrounds. I usually launch tennis balls from the balcony to have the pups catch. It's pretty fun for the rest of the pups and amusing for me to watch. I headed towards the balcony when Skye stopped me.
"Chase, let's go to the arena, me and the other pups have a fun new game to try!" Skye yipped happily. I rolled my eyes and headed towards the arena doors. There, I found the pups setting up some hoops and platforms.
"Are we really going to run an obstacle course?" I asked.
"Yep! It's for all of us to try without using our skills and see how fast we can do it!" Rubble exclaimed.
"Without powers? That'll be interesting I guess" I responded. The course didn't look too hard, but there were parts that seemed outright impossible to do without powers. That included a rope swing from platform to platform, a jump that seemed way too far apart, and finally a vertical jump that is way too high. The first one to go was Rubble. He ran through the beginning easily, clearing the first difficult obstacle. However, when he reached the jump, he missed the platform by a tiny margin.
"Darn! I thought I could make it!" Rubble sighed. Next up was Zuma, who slid right off the rope when trying to clench onto it with his teeth. Next was Marshall, who, like Rubble, fell short from the platform. Finally was Skye, who cleared the first and second hard obstacle with ease. When she reached the vertical jump, she looked up at the ending platform and contemplated on how to approach it. Even though she loved doing back flips, this platform was simply too high for her. She looked around for any way to boost her up, but found nothing. She then made a blind jump to attempt the vertical climb, but was not able to reach the top. Still, she made the farthest out of any of them.
Finally, it was my turn. I stepped onto the first platform and started the reaching the first obstacle, I started to think ahead. I knew that there was no way I would be able to reach the top platform. Then, I had an idea. I jumped for the rope and clung onto it with my teeth. Slowly, I made my way up the rope and onto the support beam the rope was attached to. I started to untie it and took it with me. As I reached the second obstacle, I picked up a small beam from one of the obstacles. First, I threw over the beam across the gap and it landed on the other side with a thud. Then, I hopped over the long jump barely with my back paws hanging over the edge and my claws digging into the platform for support. I hauled myself over, and continued to the final obstacle with the beam in my mouth and the rope around my waist. When I reached the vertical wall, I started to tie the rope onto the beam. When the other pups ran the course, I noticed that there was a small gap between two boards above. It seemed like the rope would fit through to the other side. I threw up the beam and got it stuck between the boards with the rope hanging down. With a sigh or relief, I climbed up the rope and onto the final platform.
"Wow Chase! You did it!" Marshall shouted as he jumped up and down with excitement.
"I didn't even think about using the obstacle course to get over to the end! Smart thinking Chase" Skye congratulated.
"I guess we can declare Chase as the winner!" Rubble exclaimed. I climbed back down from the rope and met the other pups on the ground. Through this entire ordeal, however, Rocky hadn't appeared at all. I started to get curious and went over to the training rooms to see if Rocky was preparing for his fight. It turned out that he wasn't there. I started heading towards his room when I heard a thud near me. It came from Rocky's room, and I rushed in quickly. Apparently Rocky went back to bed after breakfast, presumably to catch up on sleep. It seemed like Rocky was having a nightmare, and kept tossing and turning on the ground. I shook Rocky awake and he screamed.
"Oh Chase, how's it going?" Rocky panted.
"I'm doing fine. Are you okay? It seemed like you were having a nightmare" I asked, concerned.
"Nah, I'm good. It was nothing" Rocky replied calmly. It was nothing? Nightmares aren't just nothing. After my own experience with them, there had to be something going on in his head.
"Are you sure? I've had my fair share of nightmares and none of them ended up being 'nothing'" I questioned.
"Yea, I'm fine. What are the other pups doing?" Rocky asked, changing the subject.
"They were doing an obstacle course, and it was pretty fun," I answered. "I actually won too!"
"Really? I wish I was there. I was the one that made the course you know" Rocky sighed.
"I could tell. It was really difficult to get the rope and pole" I said.
"So you figured it out? That's very clever of you" Rocky exclaimed, impressed at Chase's feat.
"Honestly, if I didn't see the little gap, I wouldn't have been able to figure it out. You did a good job designing it" I praised.
"Thanks! What time is it?" Rocky asked as he looked over at the clock. It read twelve. "Oh, it's about lunch time. Why don't you head out? I'll join you pups later."
"Okay, no problem. See you at the cafeteria" I answered as I left. As I entered the cafeteria, I saw Ryder filling up our bowls.
"Oh, hey Chase! I saw what you did with the course and it was amazing!" Ryder complimented.
"It was nothing really. Rocky did a great job designing it" I replied as I blushed.
"Yea, Rocky spent so long building it. I think it started to drain into his sleep though. I really should warn him about losing sleep over creating" Ryder said to himself.
"I thought he looked tired this morning" I commented, and went over to my dish. Ryder had already filled up my bowl and I dove right in. The pups had planned to use the rest of the afternoon to train, so I went into my own training room. Even though there is some pretty fancy equipment inside, I never really use it. I spent my time in the room reading about powers and spells until dinnertime came around. After dinner, the pups had gone into the rec room to watch some Apollo. I joined them, but couldn't focus on the show since everyone was talking about tomorrow's fight. Why is everyone so eager to see me fight? I really don't want to fight Rocky, but a deal is a deal. Maybe I should go easy on him so that the pups won't push me to fight again.
I went back to my room early since I wasn't able to concentrate with the other pups chatting incessantly and hopped onto my bed. I hoped that my nightmare the previous night had gone, but it returned, leaving me with a pool of sweat in the morning. I hate this. Why do I have to suffer? Why does my dreams have to haunt me? I yawned and slowly got up. It was about time for me to wake the other pups, and got dressed for my morning routine. When I reached the main room, however, I found that all the other pups had already gotten up and finished breakfast. I started to question why they got up so early until I realized that I would be fighting Rocky today. Bleh.
Rocky was in his training room doing his practicing for the big fight. I, on the other hand, had tried to eat as slowly as I could so that I didn't have to fight, but I knew that the fight was inevitable. As I finished my bowl, the other pups gathered around me and most of them were jumping with excitement.
"C'mon, let's get to the ring!" Zuma cheered.
"Do I really have to fight him?" I asked nervously.
"Yes! You promised that you would!" Skye yipped.
"But I… Fine. Whatever. I'll get it over with" I huffed, annoyed. Deep down though, I hoped that whatever happened with Rubble wouldn't show during the fight with Rocky. I can't be hurting another friend after all. As I entered the ring, Rocky was already on the other side. Based on his expression, however, he seemed tired again, maybe more than yesterday. Did he spend all night training?
"Hey Chase! Are you ready to fight?" Rocky called out to me.
"Are you sure you want to follow through with this? You seem pretty tired" I warned, hoping that he would decline the match.
"Are you kidding? I wanted to fight you for so long!" Rocky proclaimed, getting ready to fight. I rolled my eyes and sighed. I guess there is no backing down now.
"You pups ready?" Skye announced. We both nodded. "Then let the fight begin!"
With a burst of speed, Rocky zoomed up next to me and attempted a blow. I got caught off guard and narrowly dodged the blow. Even though he and I had different abilities, he could match my speed. I followed his attempt with one of my own and rushed up to get him back. When I made contact, however, I felt a shock up my paw.
"Sorry Chase, I forgot to mention that my fur is charged with static electricity" Rocky teased. My paw stung withe Rocky's electricity. Some pup actually was able to get a hit on me. Finally!
"Heh, that was nothing" I retaliated and rushed in for another blow. Rocky jumped and landed next to me with incredible speed and launched a thunderbolt towards me. I dodged out of the way and popped up next to him. I struck him once more, but making sure that I swiped at his legs. Sure enough, Rocky fell to the ground with a thud and a groan. I realized that Rocky had indeed supercharged himself, but only where his fur was dense. That meant that areas like his legs and head were still open to attack. Rocky got up growling.
"You are very clever Chase. I didn't think you would figure it out so quickly" Rocky complimented. "That's why you cleared my course so easily."
"You want to back down now? I'll still allow you to" I mocked.
"Hah, in your dreams" Rocky shouted as he zoomed up to me. He put a paw onto my side and sent a current through it. I felt a pain spreading around my body as I fell to the ground. For once, I had a strong opponent. I got up quickly and spotted Rocky. I followed with by charging towards him. Rocky had jumped out of the way, but I had anticipated that. I punished his jump with a blow towards his belly. Rocky went flying into the air and landed hard on the ground. He had coughed up little amounts of blood, but was still standing his ground. He no longer had a playful expression on his face. Instead, he was looking much more angrier. He sent a lightning bolt towards me with immense speed. His powers grew to an insane level and I narrowly jumped out of the way. Suddenly, the bolt turned and hit me dead on the back I yipped and crumbled to the ground. Rocky walked over to me, smiling.
"I guess I won?" he laughed. I growled back at him and swiped, hitting his muzzle. Rocky yipped and backed away. There was blood on my claws and felt another urge. I knew that it was coming again. I had to back away from my paw. But I couldn't help it. 'I' licked my claws clean, and felt a rush of energy. 'I' looked over towards Rocky who was ready to continue the fight. 'I' jumped towards him, slashing at him. When the blow contacted Rocky's fur, 'I' felt the electricity shocking my paw, but it didn't hurt. With a massive slash, 'I' cut into Rocky's side and Rocky yelped. He jumped back, limping slightly. However, his face unexpectedly had an expression of anger. Storm clouds formed above the arena, and the clouds started to boom. The pups and I had turned our attention to the roof, which was shrouded in clouds. Soon, it started to pour on me, covering me with water. With the cool shower, I felt myself calming down and looked back over to Rocky. He was crouching down, shaking his head, and murmuring something to himself. The rain stopped and the clouds dissipated quickly and Rocky got back to his paws.
"Alright Chase. You win" Rocky declared blankly. I became very confused.
"What? You could still stand. This fight isn't over yet!" I responded.
"Heh, and here I thought you didn't like fighting. I forfeit. Simple as that" Rocky stated. Rocky started at the door, limping all the way, Marshall waiting to treat his wounds. Even though I had won, I felt myself doing the same thing I did the other day. Why can't I control it? What's more, why did Rocky forfeit just like that? I became angry with myself and stormed out of the arena. When I went back to my room, I heard crying behind Rocky's door. All of my frustration died as I slowly knocked on the door.
"Who's there?" Rocky sniffed.
"It's me, Chase" I answered.
"What do you want?" Rocky questioned, still sniffling.
"I just wanted to know why you're crying" I responded, hoping that Rocky would open the door. Sure enough, Rocky's door opened and a crying Rocky stood there.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Rocky asked.
"How about you tell me as a reward for winning?" I joked. Rocky smiled and let me in.
"Chase, you know that my power is electricity, correct?" Rocky asked and I simply nodded. "Then you must know that there was something off about the storm clouds."
I thought about it. I realized that, even though thunder clouds seemed like a logical power for Rocky to have, the rain pouring down from the clouds seemed like a power Zuma would have.
"I think you get it, you're a bright pup. The rain. I shouldn't have the power to make rain clouds, let alone rain, and yet I did. The reason I did is exactly why I had nightmares and why I seem tired every morning" Rocky explained. I tilted my head in confusion. Rocky sighed.
"The thing is, I'm blood bound to my brother."
And here's the end of chapter two! I hope you enjoyed, and I will explain what Rocky means from what he said next time. Anyways, Comment, Grammar, Thanks for Reading!