Now time to throw a bit of a magical essence into the mix, here comes chapter 7!
"What's all this Rocky? Are you still hiding more from us?!" Chase yelled at Rocky.
"I, I, can't tell you. It's too personal this time. Not even you or Zuma can know. I feel it would not come out well to tell you" Rocky sheepishly answered Chase's question.
"Rocky, we've known each other since the beginning, so you can tell me. I will understand" Chase pleaded.
"Maybe the beginning in your life, but not mine. I can barely bear my past. It's complicated. You understand right?" Rocky replied.
"Do you even trust me? Sure, go ahead, keep secrets to yourself, nobody cares! It's not like I'll trust you anymore" Chase exploded.
"I still trust you, but I can't trust you with my curse! It's extremely personal and I am not willing to share!" Rocky shouted back.
"Why not? What's so secretive that you can't even tell a friend? Tell a fellow team member or even family?!" Chase yelled.
"I'm a god, okay? You happy now? Knowing that I am related to a god?!" Rocky yelled, startinging to tear up.
"Wait, what? You're a god? And you never told anyone? You could have helped so many people, you could have saved yourself!" Chase yelled.
"It's not that simple! You don't know what it's like being a god! It's not like the gods you see in the movies, it's more of a superpower" Rocky screamed, eyes filled with tears.
"Superpower? Then maybe…" Chase murmured, "Can you explain?"
"Argh, another storytime with Rocky? Whatever. It's not like anyone else is here" Rocky spoke looking around.
"I'm still here, heh" Marshall whispered.
The two pups jumped.
"Oh, yea, that's right, you're still here" Chase responded as he glared at Marshall.
"What's all the commotion out here you guys?" Zuma walked up, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Skye asked Chase. "You two fighting again?"
"Yes we were, and Rocky, why don't you explain everything" Chase growled.
"And why should I? Even if I were to tell, I wouldn't do it in front of everypup!" Rocky growled back.
"Well, everyone is here and listening so you really don't have a choice do you?" Chase smirked.
"Hmf, fine, but try to keep up. I don't want to drag it out too long. For the other pups that just joined, I'm basically a celestial pup" Rocky explained.
Jaws dropped from the other pups and started to vividly question Rocky.
"Guys, guys, I'll explain everything. You see, as a god, I had to live a reoccuring life to put is short. This isn't my, uh, first life, but I wasn't always a god" Rocky responded.
"Pup! Get over here! I want a foot rest!" a man shouted.
A small gray runt tumbled over, horribly hurt from previous encounters from his owner. Multiple scars were lined across his body, the most evident one was the one across his chest. The pup limped when he walked as one of his hind leg was shattered. His fur was a messy gray caked in blood and sweat. After the pup silently obeyed his master, he wished that today was the day that his owner would finally kill him. His owner was a fat, abusive alcoholic that would often come home drunk and beat the poor pup senseless and after each beating, leaving the pup on the ground to suffer. The pup's owner put his feet on the pup and started to crush the little pup.
"Good boy. I need to go out Rocky, so you better take care of the house while I'm gone, or else you know the consequences" the owner told Rocky.
Rocky gulped. He knew very well what would happen. He would be tied onto the board, something Rocky named, where he would be bound and beat multiple times on and left there until morning. The first time Rocky failed was when the house was robbed because his owner forgot to lock the door. Rocky tried his best to defend the house, but the robber carried a slew of weapons, one of which was a gun and shot Rocky multiple times until he fell unconscious. When the owner returned, he was furious. Rocky had just regained consciousness when his owner grabbed him by the scruff and tied him onto the board. Even though Rocky had tried to fight off the robber, he was still getting punished. Rocky swore never to do anything like that ever again after the first time and had succeeded so far.
Rocky watched as his owner left, making sure that the door was locked. After his owner left, he sat around, tending to his wounds that he gained over multiple beating from the man. Rocky wrapped his broken leg in a leafy mass he had made from the spare leaves around the house when suddenly heard a crash from the back. Rocky jolted up and ran directly to where the crash happened. He saw there was another robber trying to rob them again and like the other robber, had a gun. Rocky growled and leaped right onto the robber, trying to pry the gun out of the robber's hands first so he wouldn't shoot. Unfortunately, because of his wounds, Rocky was unable to keep his grip on the robber's arm and fell onto the floor. The robber took aim at Rocky's belly, and shot him. Rocky felt the pain and yelped. Rocky knew better than to fight, and stayed where he was, letting the robber rob the place. After the robber cleaned up the house, he took Rocky and threw him out of the house. Rocky was barely conscious after the robber shot him, and the toss knocked him out.
Meanwhile, the gods above had been watching Rocky from above. They watched every session the man had on Rocky and pitied Rocky. No pup should ever endure the pain Rocky felt. Every god wanted to go down and spare Rocky, taking his life and bringing him to heaven, but royal family would not allow it. The family consisted of the Queen of Dreams, The King and their children. The Queen always said it was not Rocky's time to die, that he has more in him that it seems, and so the other gods waited, watching in sorrow. Finally, after the current robbery, the Queen of Dreams agreed to take Rocky up to the heavens. She sent one of her daughters to personally ascend Rocky. The goddess who had the honor to take Rocky up was Silver.
Silver descended down from the heavens and went up to Rocky, taking his life and bringing him up until something unexpected happened. Rocky had regained consciousness and looked right at the goddess. Silver didn't think to much about it until she started to move around and Rocky's eyes tracked her. Silver froze in her tracks. No mortal being could see the gods, so this was a big surprise.
"Are you here to kill me? To finish me off? Well, please do it quick" Rocky told the goddess.
Silver looked and the pup, then left the pup with his life intact. She didn't know what to do in that situation, but also felt a connection to the poor pup. She felt that Rocky still had some fight in him and just needed some help to make it show. Silver returned to the heavens and went straight to the queen's chamber.
"Ah, My beloved daughter Silver! What news do you bring? Did you help out that poor pup down there?" the queen asked.
"No, but here's the thing, the pup can see me! My queen, I felt the energy that the pup has and I've decided that it is not his time to die. He has so much energy and fight in him, he just needs some help" Silver told her mom.
"So what are you suggesting?" the queen asked curiously.
"Mother, I would like to personally help this pup regain confidence and live the life he deserves!" Silver stated, determined.
The queen thought about her bold statement, then responded, "If you were to help this pup, you do know that you will be transformed into a mortal pup with no power, and you may only return after this pup has accomplished his meaning in life. Will you go forth knowing these consequences?" the queen questioned.
"I will, I have to do something for this pup" Silver agreed.
"Very well. You will be sent to earth as a mortal to help this pup become what is destined of him. Go forth and accomplish your task my daughter, Silver!" the queen concluded.
After the figure walked away, Rocky blinked his eyes. Was that a real pup? Who was she? And why does she make me feel determined? Rocky struggled to get up, and once he did, immediately fell back down. It was no use. Rocky was just going to have to face the board. Rocky started to whimper and heard footsteps coming towards him.
"Well, are you just going to lay there? What use is that?" a female voice spoke.
Rocky looked up and saw the female pup that he saw before. "Who are you?" Rocky asked.
"I'm Silver, and I assume you are Rocky?" Silver replied.
"Yea, how did you know? Are you here to rescue me?" Rocky asked, wagging his tail.
"Well, more or less. You need to believe in yourself, you can fight back! I know you can!" Silver encouraged.
"Do you see all these scars? I couldn't even hurt an ant if I wanted to in my current state. It's hopeless. He'll just kill me and I can finally sleep peacefully" Rocky spoke, depressed.
"No! Don't give up! Here, I'll help you. Let me take care of these wounds" Silver interrupted.
Silver helped Rocky up and put him against a tree. She found a bundle of bandages in the house and started to bind Rocky's wounds. Silver growled a bit because she was unable to use any of her powers to help Rocky, which she would have healed him right there and not have to use the bandages. Once Rocky was all bound up, he looked like a poorly wrapped mummy ready to go out trick-or-treating.
"Thanks Silver, but, um, what am I going to do when the man comes back?" Rocky asked.
"Well, you have to fight! You need to show him you aren't a wimpy pup! That you are strong and brave, that he should treat you better!" Silver replied.
"Well, I guess I can try" Rocky murmured.
Right after Rocky's remark, the front door slammed open. His owner walked in and looked around. He found everything in disarray and most of his valuables were gone including his favorite shotgun next to his couch. He was furious and stomped around to find Rocky. Rocky as soon as he heard him, hid behind Silver.
"What are you doing? This is the perfect chance to fight him!" Silver encouraged.
"But he's so big! I can't take him down myself, you have to help me!" Rocky panicked.
"Rocky! Where are you you stupid little pup! How could you let robbers steal my stuff again?! Come out wherever you are, you know what's going to happen" Rocky's owner shouted.
Soon, his owner found Rocky outside, cowering. He stomped over to the cowering pup and grabbed him by the scruff.
"Bite him! Scratch him! Do something to fight back!" Silver shouted.
As Rocky flailed around, he took Silver's advice and nipped at the hand that grabbed him. His owner, taken by surprise, dropped Rocky onto the floor. Rocky dashed over to Silver and growled at his owner. Never before did Rocky felt a surge of energy. Rocky felt so strong, so confident, like something deep within him had just awoken. Rocky now had a will to fight back. Rocky took a glance at Silver who nodded, and pounced onto his owner. The man howled in rage and scrambled around to find something to fight back with. His hands soon closed on a small pocket knife and started to jab at Rocky. Rocky jumped off the man and started to dart around, trying to avoid the knife. Since Rocky still was injured from the robbery, he couldn't dodged all the knife swipes and was caught on the side, causing a large gash to form. Rocky yelped with pain dropped to the floor. Rocky frantically looked around and saw Silver just watching. Rocky's eyes pleaded Silver to do something, but Silver just stood there, not moving from her spot. Rocky was infuriated and his fighting spirit reignited. He jumped to his feet and held his ground, gritting the pain in his side. Rocky saw the man run towards him, this time with a bat and swung the bat at Rocky. Rocky growled and caught the bat right in his mouth. The impact of the man's swing almost knocked out Rocky's teeth, but Rocky was able to hold it in his mouth. He threw the bat aside and pounced at the man once more. Rocky started to claw at the man, wanting revenge for all the times he had pained him and pay it back to him. Rocky got a few swipes in until Silver pushed Rocky off.
"I think that's enough Rocky. I don't think he will wrong you again" Silver told Rocky.
"What were you doing back there? Why didn't you help me? I was clearly hurt and down, yet you sat there staring at me" Rocky growled at Silver.
"Now now, no need to growl" Silver responded and started to wrap bandages around Rocky's wound. "I wanted you to find yourself and your power inside. If I had helped, you would go back to depending on others."
Rocky thought about it for a moment and calmed down. Rocky let Silver wrap the bandage around his chest, adding more layers of bandage on him.
"Come on Rocky, let's leave, we don't need to be here anymore" Silver beckoned.
Rocky nodded and started at the door. As he reached the door, the man shouted at Rocky never to come back, cursing every step Rocky took. He then proceeded to throw his knife at Rocky. Rocky saw it coming and dodged the knife, but because he dodged it, it was flying straight at Silver. Rocky tried warning Silver, but at that point, it was too late. Rocky watched as the knife flew at Silver, and his heart stopped as the knife almost hit her. Rocky closed his eyes, then heard a thud. He opened his eyes and saw the knife embedded in the wood wall behind Silver. Rocky stared in confusion as he saw Silver unscathed.
"How, how did you not get hit? It was coming right at you!" Rocky questioned.
Silver sat there, glaring at the knife. She turned around and sighed, then responded to Rocky's question.
"Rocky, you see, I'm not actually here. I'm only here to guide you. You are the only one that can see me. That fight you had, the man thought it was only you. I couldn't help you because I'm not actually here, I wouldn't have been able to do anything" Silver explained sounding defeated.
"So you're like an imaginary friend?" Rocky asked.
"Sort of, but better" Silver replied and smiled.
Rocky started to wag his tail and stood next to Silver. After all that time Rocky spent with the man, he was finally free, he finally found his spirit and he finally found a friend, even if she was imaginary. Rocky rubbed against Silver's fur and Silver smiled. Silver started to glow a bright white and disappeared. Her task was complete. Rocky looked around, dazed, to find Silver.
"Silver? Where are you? Don't leave me! Not after I finally found a friend!" Rocky cried.
"Don't worry Rocky, I'm still here. Remember, I'm like your imaginary friend. I'm always with you until the very end" Silver whispered in Rocky's head.
Rocky froze, then smiled. Until the very end. Huh, I like the sound of that Rock thought as he walked out of the house.
Rocky from then on lived as a stray, gathering resources and frequently begged people for food. Rocky developed a moral, never to steal, no matter how hungry he was. Rocky would wander the streets often at night, gazing at the stars. Silver told Rocky that if he wanted, after he died he could join Silver in the stars, live all high and mighty and watch down on the people of earth from heaven. Rocky would agree and laugh, stating that if he did die, he wished for a quick and painless death so that he could join her as soon as possible. Rocky would play around with Silver, pretending to do something really dangerous and fake his death. Once Rocky drank from a poison bottle and fell over unconscious. Silver started to panic for a full minute until Rocky woke up, laughing. Silver formed in front of Rocky, walked over to him, then proceeded to slap him. Rocky deserved that. Finally, one day Rocky's time had come as he caught a very serious disease from foraging in the alleyways, and passed away without anyone knowing he died.
"Wait, that story completely conflicts with what you said before!" Chase asked Rocky.
"Like I said before, I lived many lives, not just this one. After I died in my first life, like Silver said, I was able to live with her, but not as Rocky, but as Gray" Rocky responded.
"So there's more? Argh, I never knew you were so complicated Rocky" Marshall whined.
"Well, let's go to sleep and I'll tell you the rest tomorrow, it's really late and the sun's almost up" Rocky suggested.
The pups agreed and slept all that they could so that the next day Rocky could continue his life story. The next morning, Chase woke everyone up, making sure Rocky was the first one up. The pups yawned, then want to Ryder to have breakfast. Ryder noticed how tired the pups were, but didn't look into it. He didn't want to meddle in the pup's business as long as it didn't conflict with their responsibilities. After the pups finished their breakfast, they immediately gathered around Rocky.
"Still want to hear it? I thought you would have forgotten" Rocky said sheepishly.
"Yes Rocky, we all want to hear it, including me" a unknown gray pup replied while walking up to the group, giving Rocky a wink.
This pup had a darker fur color than Rocky and was slightly bigger than any of the other pups. He had black paws and had a wolfish look to him. His eyes had a brilliant blue color, the same color that Chase and Marshall saw last night.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Chase asked the gray pup.
"Who me? Why don't you ask Rocky, he'll tell you all about me" the pup responded.
"Hhmf, hello Gray" Rocky sighed.
So here's the end. It may be a bit confusing so just to explain it, the Rocky in the past isn't the Rocky currently, they just share the same name. This isn't a great chapter, but it's also one of those chapters that I never developed. Anyways, like always, grammar, spelling, reviews, Thanks for reading!