We All Make Mistakes, Brother

"I can't believe I messed up that bad," Marshall said to himself as he walked through the forest, head hung low. "I mean, I almost sent Chase to his doom." Marshall said, recalling his latest wipeout that knocked Chase over a cliff. By some miracle, Chase was able to grab a small branch on his way down, and hold on until Skye was able to lift him back up to safety. While the pups and Ryder were all busy making sure Chase was okay, Marshall had quietly slipped into the shadows of the trees, running away from the lookout as fast as his legs could carry him while tears streamed down his face. Marshall had always been the clumsy type, but every trip or fall had resulted in laughs for the dalmatian and his friends. This time, however, almost resulted in the loss of his very best friend. Marshall knew he could never show his face around the others again; they could only hate him after that mistake. So Marshall continued to plod through the trees, unaware of a set of amber eyes watching him through the greenery.

"I told you guys, I'm fine." Chase insisted to the pups repeatedly asking if he was okay. "Give me room to breathe.

"I know Chase, but I was just so worried." Rubble told him, holding back tears.

"Yeah, dude. You gave on one heck of a scare," Zuma said, Skye nodding with him.

"I thought for sure Marshall had just had too big of an accident there." Rocky told him, shuddering at the thought of what almost had happened.

"Speaking of Marshall, where is he? I thought for sure he'd be here to make sure you were okay," Ryder said, noticing only five of his pups present.

"Yeah, where is that dude?" Zuma asked, looking around.

"Hang on, let me check his GPS status," Ryder said, pulling out his pup-pad, and tapping on Marshall's icon. "Strange," Ryder said turning the screen for all the pups to see, "It shows here that he's in the forest."

"He must of ran away because he thought I'd be mad that he almost killed me," Chase said, the realization setting in.

"Ryder, we've got to find him," Skye said, her voice quavering.

"No Skye. I've got to find him." Chase told her. "He needs to know I'm okay. And that I'm not angry with him."

"You sure, Chase? Those woods are known to have some pretty nasty creatures in them." Ryder asked him.

"I have to do this, Ryder. He's my best friend. And it's hard to tell what could happen to him in there."

"Alright, just be careful Chase. I almost lost you once today." Ryder sighed.

"I will. And I will bring Marshall back, I promise." And with that, Chase ran off into the woods, Marshall's scent leading him in the right direction.

"This looks like a good place to set up for a new home," Marshall said as he came across a large boulder leaning up against a tree with just enough space under it to fit the dalmatian pup. "Too bad I didn't bring anything with me to eat. Maybe I can find something." Marshall told himself, as he walked on past the boulder in search of food. After a few moments of walking, Marshall heard a rustle coming from behind him. He came to a stop, and turned around. "Anyone there?" He asked quietly. He was answered with silence. "Hello?" Marshall called again. He was about to take a step forward, when a large black wolf jumped out of the bushes. "Ahhhh!" Marshall cried, turning around and running as fast as he could. He ran for what felt like miles, the wolf close behind him, until he jumped through a couple bushes and came to a rock wall dead end. "Oh no," Marshall said, as he slowly turned around to see the wolf come through the bushes, and stopped in front of Marshall, snarling. "Help!" Marshall yelled out as he slowly backed up against the wall.

"Help!"

"That sounded like Marshall," Chase said, turning toward the direction he heard the sound.

"Someone!"

"Hang on buddy, I'm coming." Chase shouted as he took off in the direction of the cries.

Well, I guess this is it. Marshall to himself as he watched the wolf creep ever closer up toward him. And I guess I deserve this for almost killing Chase. It was an accident, but it seems Kharma doesn't care. Marshall squeezed his eyes shut, and turned his head, waiting for pain to come. But nothing happened.

"Stay away from my friend!" Marshall slowly opened one eye to see the wolf struggling to free itself from the net it was caught in. "Come on, Marshall! Let's get of here before he figures out how to escape!" Chase called out to him. Marshall turned to see Chase standing on a log, net launcher out.

"Coming!" Marshall ran up to where Chase was and jumped over the log, Chase close behind him, as the two ran out of the forest, neither daring to look back.

Marshall and Chase collapsed onto the beanbags in the lookout, both panting heavily.

"Woah. What happened to you two?" Rocky asked the two pups desperately trying to catch their breaths.

"Wolf... attacked… caught it… with my net," Chase huffed between breaths.

"Are you two Alwight?" Zuma asked, concern in his voice.

"Yeah. Were fine." Marshall said, rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling, letting out a deep breath.

"Come on, pups. Let's go tell Ryder," Rubble said as he ran into the elevator. The other pups minus Marshall and Chase followed him. The door closed and the elevator went to the top floor as Chase turned to look at Marshall.

"So. Why did you run away?" Chased asked him.

"I couldn't bare to look at you after what I did." Marshall replied, continuing to stare at the ceiling.

"Why not?"

"Because I knew you'd all hate me, and I don't want to see you hurt or angry."

"Marshall, Marshall, Marshall. I would never hate you because of some little mistake."

"Little? Chase, I almost killed you! That's not a 'little' mistake." Marshall said, turning to face Chase.

"It's still a mistake. And we all make mistakes."

"A mistake that almost cost the life of our best friend?"

"Sometimes, yeah."

"Still, I almost killed you."

"I almost got all of us trapped, and let Mayor Humdinger and his nephew take over Adventure bay."

"No one's life was at risk."

"No, but the way of life for all of us could have changed for far worse."

"So, we all would still be alive."

"Marshall, quit saying that! You made a mistake, but everything turned out fine in the end. I forgive you, now you need to forgive yourself."

"How can you forgive me?"

"Because you didn't mean any harm to me, and you're my best friend, my brother. I don't hate you, and I never will. And I know the others feel the same. You being clumsy is what make you special. It's what makes me smile after a hard day, because I know that my best friend hasn't changed, and I don't you want to. You're perfect just the way you are; mistakes and all."

"You really mean that?" Marshall asked, as tears began to form in his eyes.

"Every word of it. You're the first friend I ever had, and the best one I ever had. I love you Marshall, more than you will ever know." Chase said, putting his paw on Marshall's.

"Chase, I… I don't know what to say except, I love you too." Marshall said, tears streaming down his face again, only tears of joy this time.

"Then how about a hug, brother?"

"Of course, brother." Marshall said, as the two pups embraced, not knowing that Ryder and the other pups were standing there with smiles on their faces.