Silence.
As Marshall began to wake up, all was silent and tranquil in Paw Patrol's room. Which suited him, considering how utterly exhausted he still was from the incredible day he'd had with Chase yesterday. With his eyes still closed, the Dalmatian smiled softly as he remembered all the fun he'd had, remembering the Shepherd explaining his work to plan the best day ever just for him. And his overjoyed reaction when Marshall told him that he was doing the same thing for him. And judging from the fact that something fuzzy was still snuggled up next to him, Chase was probably still blissfully snoozing away alongside him. While that didn't explain the other warm, soft thing that Marshall was sleeping next to, it smelled familiar enough that he didn't really have enough to think about it before he lost consciousness again and slipped right back into Dreamland.
Two hours later, and someone else was coming to. Feeling refreshed and relaxed, Ryder carefully opened his eyes and looked over at the dozing Dalmatian next to him. He couldn't help but smile adoringly down at his pup, who was snuggled up very closely to him and, by his reckoning, was completely out for the count. He hadn't seen Marshall looking so peaceful in a long time, and it filled his heart with more joy than he thought it would. The sleepy boy couldn't resist giving Marshall an affectionate squeeze, which prompted a muffled, squeaky bark from the sleeping pup. Then the boy carefully rubbed Marshall's head as gently as he could to avoid waking him, which elicited some sleepy, quiet groans. Marshall had been through all manner of trials and pain these last couple of months and now here he was, safer than ever and sleeping like a newborn at his side after what he could only assume was a long day full of nothing but frolicking and playing. Ryder could do this all day.
And just like a newborn, Marshall flopped onto his side and let out another sleepy groan with his eyes still closed, before slowly crawling up the bed towards his owner's face. Ryder couldn't resist any longer and scooped Marshall up, lying on his back as he laid the Dalmatian on top of him and gave him a huge hug. For several minutes, Ryder just lay there, hugging the half-asleep Marshall tightly as he nuzzled into his neck. It was enough for Ryder to briefly fall asleep again a couple of times. With no nightmares involved for once, Ryder could simply enjoy the embrace for the first time in a long time. No teddy bear could match up to this.
But then, one snuffle and sleepy groan later, Marshall began to speak in a quiet, tired voice.
"M-Mor... morning... Ruh... Ryder..."
Ryder quietly giggled as he stroked Marshall's head. "Morning, sleepyhead... you look like you slept well."
"Mmmgh... can I... juh... just five more minutes?"
"No rush, Marshall... we can stay here as long as we like."
"Yuh... you're the best... buh... don't we have-"
"Relax, buddy. We're on vacation. Life's good."
A drowsy Marshall was surprised to hear that from Ryder. He was always a fairly cheery kid, but after these two months, his voice carried so much less tension than it once did. In fact, Ryder sounded more relaxed than Marshall had ever known him. It was almost as if he was a different kid. But then, it was always easy to forget that Ryder was indeed just a kid. And after the truly unhealthy amount of stress he'd been through, hearing him sound so relaxed and breezy was a massive breath of fresh air. For the time being, Marshall was all too happy to have Ryder all to himself. With his eyes still closed, Marshall found and licked Ryder's cheek, eliciting giggles from his owner. And for a while longer, the two simply lay there, quietly enjoying one another's company in total bliss after both briefly falling asleep a couple more times until Ryder spoke up again.
"So how was your day yesterday? Tiring?"
With his question, Marshall finally opened his eyes, seeing that their room still had the curtains drawn, keeping the light down to a very low, comfortable level. With a contented sigh, Marshall replied.
"Yeah... it really was. One of the best days I've ever had..."
"Heh. I guessed. When we all got back last night, I gotta say, I was a little surprised to find pups in my bed."
Suddenly, Marshall went rigid.
"Wait. Wait, arrgh, I just remembered, me and Chase went to sleep in the wrong bed! Ugh, jeez, I'm so sorry! That's so embarrassing!"
Ryder laughed. "Take it easy, Marshall, I don't mind at all! I just wasn't expecting it! It's not the first time I've found you and Chase asleep in my bed. And hey, if it makes you feel any better, Chase had the same reaction when he realised what was going on!"
Marshall couldn't help but feel the sting of embarrassment fading away somewhat.
"Well, OK... I guess that does explain why the bed smelled better than usual! Heh!"
Ryder laughed even louder. "So, what did you get up to that left you so tired, anyway?"
Marshall beamed widely as Ryder's question triggered a flood of happy memories. "It's a long story..."
Sure enough Marshall left out no details of his day with Chase, or any details of the planning that led up to it. And the whole time, Marshall was grinning widely enough for his cheeks to ache. And Ryder felt his heart about to burst the whole time he listened, feeling intensely proud of his pups for looking out for each other like that.
"...and after all that, we just passed right out. I've never had that much fun in my life. And I'm not sure Chase has, either!" Marshall concluded.
"That's so sweet of you both... all this time, you were thinking about each other? What good pups..."
Ryder reached down and scratched Marshall's belly, causing the grateful Dalmatian to close his eyes again and rapidly kick his back leg, letting out some relaxed moans for a minute or so until Ryder hugged Marshall even closer.
"So where's Chase now? I don't remember seeing him leave." Marshall asked.
"Oh he went to get some breakfast about an hour ago. He said he wanted to stick around, but his tummy was just too loud!"
Marshall giggled. "Heh, well I don't blame him wanting to stick around. This is way too comfy..."
"I hear that..."
"So what about you, Ryder? What have you been doing?"
"Mostly? Just relaxing and sleeping. I mean, I knew these past couple of months left me all bone-tired and beat down, but it didn't really hit me until I woke up from our nap two days ago. Since then, I've mostly never left the Star Spa, and when I have, its been to just lounge around on the beaches. And yesterday, I saw a 4D movie, went to the Aquarium, you know, all the stuff that isn't too tiring."
Marshall's mouth twisted slightly. "Really? Ryder, you're missing out! There's so much to do on this Island aside from just lounging around!"
Ryder sighed sadly. "That's true, but I've just been too tired to do any of it... but you know? Now I think I'm ready! I just don't know where to start!"
"Well, I remember hearing that Rocky's been spending a ton of time in the ship's arcade. I think he'd love a co-op buddy!"
Ryder's face lit up. Truth be told, the arcade was somewhere that was at the top of his list since they got there, but hearing that Rocky might have been there? Now he was even more eager. In fact, Marshall was a good start, but he'd spent most of his time apart from the other pups the last two days. As much as his own health needed seeing to, he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty.
"I think he would! Actually, I wanna spend time with all you pups today. I helped with Rubble's bad breath, and saw the show with you and Skye, but that's about all. I don't think I've even spoken to Chase, Zuma and Rocky yet!"
"Ohh, the other pups aren't gonna take it easy on you..."
"I know, I know... OH-! I've got a great idea! We haven't really done anything all together yet, have we? How about we meet up on the beach near the Star Spa? We could have a barbecue! Just you, me and the other pups! How about that?"
Marshall's face quickly lit up, his shock giving way to excitement as he finally turned to look Ryder in the eyes...
"Oh, HECK yeah! That sounds amazing! It'll be a party just for ugmmmmpph-!"
...and promptly faceplanted straight into Ryder's chest in shock when he got a good look at the boy for the first time that day. In fact, Marshall faceplanted so hard that he struggled to get back up for a second or two, wriggling around like a fish out of water.
"What the heck is that?! Ryder, y-! What IS that?!"
Ryder's face rapidly reddened as he covered it with his arms. But this didn't deter his slack-jawed pup from staring at the oddly-familiar green onesie his owner was wearing. Marshall clocked Ryder up and down in bewilderment. The hood of the onesie had a pair of eyes and a long snout, and the back seemed to have a set of decorative spines going all the way down it. And from what little he could see of the boy's torso, it also bore a white underbelly. Marshall steadily put two and two together as R yder his his embarrassed face.
"Is this... this a Timmy Rex onesie?! Ryder, wha-?! Where the heck did you get this?!"
"Ugh, don't look at me! I know, it's gross!"
"Hey, hey, I'm not trying to be mean! Just... y'know... gimme a sec to get over the shock!"
Marshall had to admit, this wasn't a sight he was accustomed to as he stared for several more minutes.
"OK, I'm good. I just don't usually see you in onesies, Ryder!"
Ryder took his arms away from his face as he sat up in bed and lowered the hood, his face still looking as red as a tomato.
"Believe it or not, I actually forgot I put this on... I mean, it looked so comfy, and, well, it really is. I wanted to try it out when I saw it, but... but, well..."
"'But, well' what?"
"...where I got it is another story. You're not gonna believe this, but it was just... randomly in our room yesterday..."
Now Marshall was even more confused as he cocked his head at the boy.
"The onesie was... just in the room? It just... showed up?"
"You wanna know something REALLY weird? It wasn't just the onesie, either. That was just part of that huge crate I found in front of the TV yesterday."
Ryder pointed at the corner of the room, causing Marshall to look over and go rigid at the sight of the big crate that Ryder had managed to neatly tuck into the corner. The more Marshall heard and saw, the less it made sense.
"I have no idea what to say." Marshall confessed
"YOU have no idea? Try being me! There was all kinds of stuff in it! Plushies, dinnerware, at least three video games AND a console, and I don't even know how many different pup toys were in there..."
"...I mean, that's awesome and all, but... was there any kind of clue? Like, to who left it?"
"Well... there was a note, but... you know what? I might as well show you."
With that, Ryder quickly got to his feet, revealing the onesie's tail hanging behind him. Making his way to the drawer unit at the front of the room, Marshall looked at the crate in the corner again. The sizable wooden box ended up stealing Marshall's attention away as Ryder picked up the note from the top of the unit and returned to the bed, sitting back down and putting his arm around the perplexed Dalmatian.
"Here."
Marshall quickly began scanning the handwritten, laminated note that Ryder had put in front of him. And after looking over it, he was quickly left with more questions than answers:
Flopping fossils!
I still don't know how to thank you two. You saved the show!
On top of the compensation we discussed, this care package is the least we could do for you!
You two have a bright future in acting! You pulled out a performance like that with less than an hour's rehearsal! You were born for the stage!
I'm sorry that I had to ask you to fill in out of the blue, but in the end, we're all so happy you did.
When it's time for you to go, just go talk to the front desk when you check out. They'll be happy to help you pack it and put it with the rest of your luggage.
Enjoy the package, and most of all: enjoy your vacation! We here at the Royal Neptune are in your debt!
The note wasn't even signed. At least, not legibly. There were at least twenty signatures clustered around the paper, and none of them could be made out.
"OK, now I'm REALLY confused." Marshall said.
"Now you know how I feel."
"I guess it has something to do with the show I saw with you and Skye? But I don't remember working on it at all. Do you?"
"Not me! It makes me wonder if they sent it to the wro- ...ohhhhh..."
There was a long silence in the air as Marshall stared at the letter, until something clicked for him, too.
"Wait... you don't think..."
"I think..."
Slowly, Marshall and Ryder turned to look at each other, eyes wide. Both boy and pup voiced the exact same conclusion at the exact same time.
"...Chase and Rocky?"
"I mean, it WAS them in the costumes that day, right?"
"I know the voices of my pups, Marshall. It was DEFINITELY them."
"Did they... have some kind of arrrangement with the people running the show?"
"I mean, that's the only thing that makes sense, but it doesn't answer the question of how they even got there! I can't imagine they just decided to take part in a stage show one day. And as the hero and villain, no less! I-I didn't mind at first, but now that we have a bunch of merch?"
"That we didn't even pay for?"
Ryder paused for a few seconds, his brow furrowing as he formulated a plan. Marshall looked over at Ryder nervously, only smirking briefly at the sight of the boy's horrendous case of bedhead. But eventually, Ryder came to a decision.
"I'm gonna ask them. I mean, I wanted to spend time with them today anyway, but I've got too many questions to just leave this alone."
"If you find out, lemme know?"
"Will do. But first, I REALLY need a shower. You want one too, Marshall?"
Realising that he hadn't actually had a good wash since they got there, Marshall perked right up, delighted that they could get back to vacation matters as opposed to their little care package conundrum.
"Would I?!"
Ryder's shower took a little while, but eventually, he called the waiting Marshall into the roomy bathroom, where Ryder waited for him in a pair of swimming shorts he'd brought in with him so as to avoid ruining his clothes. But Marshall stopped dead as he entered, only just then realising something different about the boy.
"Whoa... Ryder, you, er... you look a little red..."
Ryder winced. "It's the sunburn, isn't it? Yeah, that'll teach me to use enough sunscreen, huh?"
The spotted pup nodded solemnly as he walked forward and hopped into the tub, letting Ryder set to work washing the Dalmatian. The warm water and shampoo felt amazing. And as Ryder lovingly cleaned his pup's fur, Marshall realised that he hadn't actually relaxed much the whole time he'd been on vacation. Maybe it was past time he enjoyed something a little slower-paced? And a little while into the relaxing wash, Marshall remembered something.
"Hey, uh... Ryder?"
"What's up?"
"I've been meaning to say, I... I actually had a dream last night-"
Ryder froze up in horror. "Oh, no... no, no, not now! How could this be happening here?!"
"Hey, hey, easy! Easy! It's not like that at all! This was a nice dream! Probably the best one I've had in a long time, in fact!"
And immediately, Ryder's adrenaline spike petered out, leaving the boy standing as still as a statue as he took some deep breaths for a few moments.
"Oh... uhh... huh. Wow, n-not used to that."
"I probably should've led with that, actually. I mean, I don't think the word 'dream' ever means anything good with us."
"It REALLY doesn't... I mean, I wish I knew why every time we talk about our dreams, it's always to do with some horrible nightmare we've had!"
Marshall smiled broadly. "Well, Ryder, you'll be happy to know that my dream was... well, happy!"
The Dalmatian felt his head being turned to look an excited Ryder straight in the eyes.
"Well, I'm all ears, now!"
Marshall giggled. "The funny thing is, it doesn't sound all that happy at first. Because I dreamed that we lived in an Adventure Bay that didn't need a Paw Patrol."
Ryder's smile faltered. "Yeah?"
"Because everything was perfect! Everyone was happy and everything was safe! Including us! You, me, Chase, every other pup! We didn't even have to think about rescues or anything!"
Ryder's smile grew again. "Ohhhhhh..."
"There wasn't a Lookout, any Pup Houses, anything like that. We weren't police pups, fire pups, rescue pups... we were just... well, pups. We all lived in a big old normal house and just played together all day."
Ryder paused as he took in Marshall's description of his dream. He was surprised to feel himself getting wistful over it. A world where he and his pups could live free like normal kids compared to a world where they'd been put through the wringer over the last two months sounded incredible.
"Wow, Marshall..." Ryder whispered, before realising that his pup's face had fallen.
"I... I'm actually kinda sad it was only a dream." Marshall conceded.
Ryder sat in silence for a moment, before giving Marshall a reassuring ear scratch.
"You know what? That's better than having scary dreams that wake you up at night, isn't it? And hey, we're all still here, we're all still alive, AND we're all on vacation having the time of our lives! Maybe things haven't been so great for us these past couple of months. But in the end, I think we came out stronger, and well... I dunno about you, but I'd say the now's got a lot going for it, don't you think?"
Marshall looked towards Ryder again with an inquisitive look as his tail began to wag.
"I guess you're right! I mean, I had the best day of my life with Chase yesterday!"
"Exactly! Uh- ooh, hang on a sec..."
Ryder fell silent for a few moments as he worked on Marshall's fur, working to get some of the suds out of his coat before asking him to turn around so he could work on his other side before speaking again.
"It's funny you had a nice dream last night. Because, well... I did too!"
Marshall gasped, whipping his head around to look at the boy with an excited grin.
"REALLY?!"
"Bleeech!"
Of course, Marshall hadn't realised that his head was covered in shampoo froth, and that he'd just accidentally splattered his owner with it. Ryder wiped the suds off his face and chest before turning back and knowingly smirking at the Dalmatian.
"Yep, really. And it was totally different to yours. I mean, I was 5 years old again, for one thing. And, well, things were a lot quieter."
"Oh yeah?"
"But the main thing I remember about it was holding a couple of bottles. Bottles that'd be used to feed baby pups."
Marshall's brow furrowed. "Bottles? For baby pups?"
"And I actually used those bottles, too. Because I was walking through a house to a blanket. A blanket with two hungry, teeny-weeny little pups. Pups so little they hadn't even opened their eyes yet."
Marshall beamed. "Aww!"
"The whole time I fed those pups, cuddled them, petted them, you know, all that stuff."
"So you just dreamed about... taking care of babies?"
"Not just any babies, Marshall. Because these two pups... were one teeny-tiny white pup, and one teeny-tiny mostly-black pup."
Marshall squinted at his owner. "Huh? How... how does that make these pups any different than-"
The speckled pup stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes shot back open. Suddenly, what the smirking Ryder was implying hit him.
"Ohhhhhhh..."
"Yep. Those two pups? They were you and Chase."
Marshall began smiling widely again. "That's so sweet, Ryder... but, Chase is a year older than me. How does that work?"
Ryder snorted. "It's a dream! They don't usually make sense, silly pup!"
Marshall exhaled sharply through his nostrils. "Well, I guess. But still. I wonder why would that be your dream? And why just me and Chase?"
All of a sudden, with that question, Ryder adopted a more serious expression. "I think I already know... let's not beat around the bush. I think you and Chase have had it worse than any of us these past two months. And you didn't have the best starts to life, either. I mean, Chase came from that awful mill, and you grew up in that firehouse while it slowly fell apart..."
Marshall looked sadly at Ryder. "Yeah... lost my owner... lost my mom..."
The Dalmatian found his sentence brought to a halt by Ryder gently laying a hand on his head.
"Neither of you deserved any of that... seeing my pups go through what you both went through... it hurts..."
Ryder's voice got progressively lower with each word, and for a second, he had to stop to catch his breath as he thought of Marshall nearly dying and later losing his father, along with Chase discovering the uncomfortable truth of his origins and possible blood family. Marshall couldn't help but whimper sympathetically at the sight of the pain his owner was in.
"...so I guess in my dream, we got to start over. And I could give you pups the starts you deserved."
Silence hung heavy in the air as Marshall took in Ryder's words. He wasn't entirely sure what to say. Ryder's dream was better than their up-until-now endless nightmares, and he knew full well that Ryder loved them, but to dream of a different reality where he could raise them himself from the very start?
"Wow, Ryder... that's... that's heavy..."
"Yeah... maybe a little too heavy for a vacation like this... even though it was the best dream I've had in a long time."
"But isn't that a good thing? We haven't had nice dreams in weeks, and now that we're on vacation, we're happy enough to not have any more stupid nightmares! And like you said, right now, the now's got a lot going for it!"
Ryder smiled softly. "Yeah... it really does..."
"Seriously, Ryder, life's good! Cheer up! We're having good dreams AND good fun! Hard to ask for much more! I know you've got more of a smile than that!"
Ryder's smile grew wider at just how happy his pup was.
"Oh, pfft-! C'mon! You're not even trying! If you can't find your smile, then I'll find it for you! RAGH-!"
Ryder barely even had time to react as his soaking wet, sud-covered pup launched himself at him and knocked him to the floor, licking his face and kneading his underarms with his paws.
"ACK-! HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE-! AHAHAHAHAHA-! MA-MAHAHAHARSHAHAHALL! I- HAHAHA-! I JUST- HAHAHAHA-! JUST SHOWERED YOU-! HAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU LITTLE STINKER- HAHAHAHAHA-!"
Ryder didn't even bother trying to get out of his pup's tickling. Marshall was absolutely right and so was he: life was good. They were already having a great time, and they hadn't even left their room or even been up properly for an hour yet. Eventually, though, Ryder completed Marshall's bath and re-showered, before putting on a surprisingly-casual set of clothes from the care package: a black T-Shirt that depicted Timmy Rex going up against King Dark and his legions while a captured Lucy Dactyl watched on, along with a pair of jean shorts and flip-flops. After that, both Marshall and Ryder left the room and headed down the corridor to get themselves a late breakfast, with a spring in both of their steps.
"What the heck are we gonna do today? Maybe I'll give the Star Spa a try myself!"
"And who knows what the other pups're gonna wanna do... it's gonna be great!"
"We haven't even started, and already we're having fun!"
As the pair got to the elevator and began to descend, a beaming Ryder kneeled down and pulled Marshall into a hug. A hug the delighted Dalmatian was quick to return as Ryder went on.
"And we've got even more of it waiting for us. I know it."
And so begins the beginning of the end. Ryder's chapters with the pups mark the last batch before the Epilogue and the Afterword. And even his chapters have something of an overarching narrative! This time concerning his reactions to Chase and Rocky's reward for saving the Timmy Rex show...
From now on, hopefully you shouldn't have to worry about me missing another week, given that I sat down and pulled several all-nighters in a bid to get caught up on my cleanup. Now I even have the Afterword pre-written! Anyway, as always, if you enjoyed this chapter, please don't hesitate to favourite, follow and/or leave a review. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you next time. Take care.
Next story: RyRo - Arcade Antics