Chapter 7

Tempers and temperatures were running high in the kitchen that night! Several pups were scurrying around the silver-plated place and tossing ingredients into dishes or pots, stirring said pots, and pulling things out of ovens and stoves. Tonight was a big night; the King and Queen of Camaraderie Island were coming, and they needed a perfect dinner service!

Chase looked out over all of the pups around the kitchen, adjusting the chef's shirt he wore just slightly as he wondered what to do next. The roasted turkey was already in the oven, tended by Rocky and Marshall, and it tantalized his nose. Rubble was dealing with the pasta, occasionally saying something with his thick Italian accent he had for some reason. Miracle was already dealing with pulling out the croissants, which were burning hot.

All of the vegetables were already cooking, to be removed from the stove in a moment. And then… there was Skye, who was searching for the proper ingredients for a truffle-oil kale meal. His tail wagged just slightly has his decision was made, and he skipped up to his crush.

"Skye, let's come to the side," he said, smiling. "We should get out of the way to do this."

The cockapoo thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Alright then, Head Chef Chase." She picked the wooden board with all of the ingredients on it in her mouth, and Chase led the way to Out of the Way, which was a small, candle-lit table to the side.

When they headed off to the side, Chase exhaled, "Skye... For the longest time I've wanted to admit something to you."

Skye and Chase started cutting up the green kale plants. "What did you want to say?" she asked, not turning away from the task at paw.

"Skye, I- Look at me when I tell you this, it's really important!"

Skye frowned, "But I need to get this done."

"I know this isn't the best time, but… please."

Skye sighed and looked into his brown eyes.

"Skye... I-"

In a sudden flash of light- Skye was gone!

"Skye? SKYE?!" Chase shouted.

"Rye! Rye!" someone else yelped.

Chase turned towards the pups in the kitchen. "Guys, I need to find Skye! She disappeared!"

Nobody even looked his way as the head chef dog ran away, gritting his teeth. His brown eyes were wide and fearful as he charged across the red and gold carpet of the restaurant and towards the emergency exit-

"Muy caliente, señorita! MUY caliente!"

"Chase, THE KALE!"

The sound of the pups yelling added more speed to his steps as he burst through the door and spied Swift, picking his teeth with a small wooden toothpick. Scraps of fur and blood covered his long muzzle. "About time you got here," he said, smirking at Chase. "Because it is time for you to face your doom!"

"Y-You ate Skye!" Chase wailed, before leaping at the older dog, teeth bared. No vestige of sadness was in his system… just revenge.

Swift leapt out of the way. "Catch me if you can!" he exclaimed, running back through the door of the restaurant.

"SWIFT! IF YOU DON'T GIVE SKYE BACK-" Chase cut himself off as he charged after Swift, his bounds long, almost majestic.

By the time Chase got in, Swift was wreaking havoc in the kitchen. Pots were overturned, and ingredients covered the floor in puddles and piles. Every pup was screaming as Swift chased after them all, roaring like a monster. Rubble dashed past Chase, yelping, "Pasta! Pasta!" before Chase spotted Skye, laying on the ground amidst everything.

"Skye!"

Chase dashed up to the cockapoo… but she vanished before his very eyes! Tears flecked those same eyes as he shouted, "NOOOOOO!"

Swift laughed evilly before taking the turkey out of the stove and throwing it so it burst all over the snooty-looking king and queen.

"GAH!"

Chase looked around. He was still in the Lookout, along with all of the other pups, Ryder, and Pace and Shayla. The only two pups that were missing were Skye and Marshall. He breathed a brief sigh of relief thinking, 'Why did the pain meds have to be that strong?'

"Are you okay, Chase?"

Chase looked toward the source of the voice. It was Rocky. It was obvious that Rocky was still a little drowsy, but he seemed to be a might more concerned about the outburst.

"Y-yeah," Chase said, "Just had a weird dream."

"What was it about?" Miracle asked, fully alert. Her stray days had left her able to come to full attention at second's notice.

Chase looked at the Australian shepherd, fear in his wide brown eyes. "Well, we were in this kitchen-"

"Kitchen?" Rubble echoed back, yawning.

"Yeah, you had an Italian accent. Anyway, we were preparing this dish-"

"Why?" the young bulldog asked.

"Because there was this king and queen coming."

"No, I mean… why did I have an accent?"

Zuma frowned. "What were the king and queen doing there?"

"And how does this turn into a nightmare?" Rubble added, drowsiness thick in his voice. "Sounds pretty nice…"

"Guys, let the pup speak," Rocky cut across the pups. "Alright, so we're all cooking something for this king and queen. What happens next?"

"Well, I pulled Skye to the side to confess those feelings I had for her, and we were cutting this vegetable. I started saying it, but then she disappeared, and I heard her and Swift's voices. No, Swift's voice and Skye's scream!"

"Oh my goodness, that's terrible!" Miracle exclaimed.

"And it didn't get any better when I saw blood on his muzzle."

All the awoken pups gasped.

Chase shook his head, suddenly feeling very frazzled. "I thought he ate her…"

"Oh… My…" Rocky said, his jaw hanging.

"It may have just been the medicine," Miracle pointed out, "But that's still horrible to think about."

"And half of what happened in that dream, actually less than half of it, happened..."

"No it didn't," Zuma said, putting the paw he wasn't holding Rubble with on Chase's shoulder. "Skye won't be dead. The king and queen won't visit, and we won't cook for them. All that was just a dream."

"How do you know that she won't die?" Chase asked.

"Strategical analysis," Zuma said. "Dude, Swift wants to see you in pain. If he hurts Skye, he'll do it in front of you. I doubt Marshall is gonna be hurt either."

"But-"

"Also, the only thing that happened in your dream that happened in real life was the crazy confession," Zuma added.

"And I was doped up when it happened," Chase said looking at Miracle. His voice was at least somewhat calmed down by the lab's words.

Miracle groaned and shook her head. "Ohh, this is my fault…"

"It's Swift's fault," Rocky said firmly, "He's the reason why all of this is going on."

"And we'll stop 'im first thing when we have a plan," Rubble added, bouncing up to Chase. "Skye and Marshall won't get hurt until we get over there, so we have plenty of time!"

"And they probably won't get hurt at all," Rocky hastily added, noticing the tired bulldog's faulty wording.

"You wanna just wait him out?"

"I think that's the plan," Rocky said with a nod. "You'll recover, and Ryder will give us all jobs to do in the morning. The only bad thing that could come of taking our time is he gets impatient and…" He immediately stopped, knowing what would come next.

Chase's eyes became as small as pinpoints. Rocky looked apologetic at his slip-up.

"He won't harm them in any way until get there, if at all," Zuma said with a sigh. "Normally we could worry about starvation, but it won't be long, and Swift would again want to have you there. They'll be fine."

He suddenly remembered a horrible moment from his dream, "But...if Swift starves, he might eat them!"

"If he couldn't do it in front of you, then it's impossible," Zuma said with a shake of his head. "He could hunt enough for himself AND a whole litter."

"No...I can't risk it. We can't.

Zuma suddenly gave him a cross look. "If you go over there without being fully recovered, you'll end up dead and they'll be in serious pain when they do so."

"And if I don't, both of them could die."

"Your friends, Storm and Lightning, your mom and PACE, the great PAW founder, are going," Rocky said incredulously, "And at the rate we're going, we might as well take the whole town! They aren't going to get hurt. You need to focus on recovering so you can go without getting them killed!"

Chase opened his mouth, ready to yell at the mutt… but he shut it. Now that he thought about it, it wouldn't work for Swift if he didn't hurt Chase a great amount… at least, if he didn't get impatient. "We go tomorrow."

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Miracle said, "Your ribs-"

"It is Ryder's decision," Rocky cut across coolly, nudging Miracle's side. "If you're super quick with recovering, and do what you're told, then we might have Skye here by the end of tomorrow. It depends on how smoothly everything runs."

"...Okay…" Chase said, narrowing his eyes. "I'll take that, then. I'll recover using any means!"

"But ribs ta-"

Rocky immediately covered Miracle's mouth. "Yeah, just keep recovering! Miracle will keep you posted on your health and, who knows, you might be ready long before we even go!"

"Right. I'll recover and I can help… perfect. Sleep is the best medicine, so good night pups!"

Chase quickly walked in circles in his dog house and laid down again, yawning loudly and snoring himself to sleep.

Satisfied, everyone else went to sleep in their respective houses as well.

Pace wandered out of the guest room. He was finding it difficult to sleep; his head was throbbing with the memories of the previous day. He tried several times to shake them off, but with no avail. Plus, he had a serious crick in his neck…

He was in a long, metal-plated hallway lit by the flashing, moving lights along the floor and ceiling. Not much had changed this old structure, Pace couldn't help but think. Even though it wasn't really that long ago when he last saw it, he couldn't help but feel that he was young again.

And Chase… He had so much of his father in him. His determination was beyond what he boasted. That was both good and bad. It was good that he stayed true to himself, but with the current situation, it would prove to be a problem if he pushed himself too hard. While he knew Swift was his son, he was naturally disdainful towards criminals, and knew that if Chase did what he wanted to, then it would end in absolute disaster for either one or both of the pups, as well as everyone around them.

He cringed with pain as he took a turn into the next section of the hallway. His back bones felt as if they'd been knocked out of place, and he knocked at them to no avail. It was painful to move, but he knew that the pain would persist unless he did so.

"Honey, what are you doing out here?" Shayla asked as she quickly walked up to him. A worried expression was etched on her face.

"I couldn't sleep," he replied, a note of frustration in his voice. "And now the darn back is giving me problems again."

"Well, I could fix that. Please, get some rest."

"I've been trying for hours but can't. I'm too worried about this whole Swift situation."

Shayla was silent for a minute. Even though she wasn't going to admit it, the situation with Swift was a bit of a touchy subject to her. Not in the sense that she'd break down in tears over it, even if she did feel like doing so, but she wanted to defend her gone-awry son. But there was nothing that he did that she could condone.

Running off to Mexico had been one such thing she couldn't forgive. She had yet to understand the reasoning behind the risk, but all that she knew was that Swift had wanted to create a new life for himself in the place.

Mexico was known as a place filled with animal cruelty and gangs of dogs who did nothing but harm each other.

Unfortunately, Swift was bad news before he left for Mexico. The events of what had happened still rang through her head…

It was almost a year ago when four dogs were outside the shelter. Pace was laying in the cool shade while Shayla was watching the pups. For about a week, there was a noticeable change in Chase's behavior. She wanted to ask him, but at the same time, she didn't want to pressure him and drive him away. However, it wasn't healthy for Chase to be feeling this way.

Eventually, she built up enough courage to ask Chase to come over. "Chase. Can you come over here, please?"

"Um… S-sure Mom…" Chase said as he walked over to Shayla.

"Chase? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, never better. Why?"

"Well… I just don't think everything's alright."

"Why would you think that?"

"You just… You seem a little uneasy."

"I'm not uneasy, I'm perfectly fine."

Shayla raised an eyebrow. "Chase, I'm your mother. You can tell me anything."

"I-it's nothing," Chase was starting to look very uncomfortable.

Shayla started to rub his back with her paw. "Chase, please tell me. I know something's up and it's not like you to lie."

Chase's ears perked up. "How did you-"

"You are a terrible liar. I know which signs to look out for, and you were showing plenty of them."

"Then why didn't you… you know…"

"Because I know that it wasn't like you to do it, but for it to affect you for this long…"

Chase remained silent.

"Would you like to get it off of your chest?"

Chase bit his lip.

"Did you do something wrong?"

Chase shook his head "no". "But at the same time, I feel like I am."

"Well… You can tell me. No matter what it is, I won't be mad at you."

Chase paused before, "Swift has been mean to this one pup, and he told me not to tell anyone or else."

Shayla felt a lump in her throat, "Was this pup mean to him?"

"No…"

Shayla took a deep breath, "Oh no… Why…?"

"Because this pup that he's mean to is very clumsy."

"I wasn't looking for an answer in that question, but thank you." Shayla stood up. "Okay… Your father and I will discuss this and we'll talk about this and decide what to do from here."

Shayla was brought back into reality when Pace tripped and collapsed onto the floor, resulting in a loud yelp. Shayla darted to his side. "Pace, are you okay?"

Pace struggled to get up. The pain was intense. It felt like he was hit by a semi on the inside, and like his nerves were all on fire.

"Get me a doctor… Now…"

"P-Pace, there is no-" Shayla quickly recalled Chase's injury and the pup who'd taken care of it. She nodded definitively. "I'll be back in a second!"

"Urgh… ohhh…"

Shayla ran down the hall-way, thanking the stars that she knew where the elevator was. She jammed the button to go down to the ground floor and dashed out. The doghouses were all lined up against one wall; in one, she spied Chase sleeping, though he didn't seem happy.

Then she spotted a green doghouse with Rocky sleeping inside. She charged up to it, ready to awaken the pup inside… but no, wait, that wasn't the medical pup, that was the eco pup.

She backed away and looked towards the next doghouse. A tiny bulldog was snoring just slightly as he slept.

Shayla dashed to the next one, a white doghouse with the word "AMBULANCE" painted on there backwards and housed the pup inside. Almost immediately her green eyes snapped open. "We have an emergency," she told the pup in an urgent whisper. "It's Pace's arthritis!"

Miracle gasped and grabbed her gear. The two female dogs dashed into the elevator and mashed the buttons. "What happened?" Miracle asked.

"He was walking, he couldn't sleep, and he tripped. He can't get up because of the pain he's going through."

"Okay, I'll have to grab some meds to make the pain at least a little tolerable, long enough to get him back to his bed, but a massage should help."

Shayla nodded, trembling.

Miracle ran out and soon returned with some medicine. "Let's go," Miracle said as she darted passed Shayla.

Miracle dashed through the hall until finding Pace, groaning on the floor. "Ohh…"

Miracle took four of the pills out and moved around in front of Pace. "Open up."

The old dog looked up at her sadly before opening his mouth. She dropped the pills in, and he swallowed them with a huge gulp.

"Now they should be able to last long enough for you to return to bed, but a massage will also help to ease the pain. Let's get started now; I know they take a little bit to start working."

"Kid, I'm afraid it'll never work," Pace said, groaning out again. "I've had massages before… they don't help me entirely…"

"Yeah… Hi. I'm Miracle. The nurse pup of the PAW Patrol. We spoke earlier."

She jumped around to his back and slowly started rubbing the huge mass on his back… and in a moment, she pushed a little harder.

While the massage felt good, Pace knew it was no good.

"So, you're the first member of the PAW Patrol, right?"

"Yes…" Pace didn't really see what that had to do with anything.

"I have to say, it really is an honor to meet the one that started it all."

"Well, technically, Ryder's parents started it all, but I know what you mean."

"So… How did Ryder's parents start it?"

"Well… It's kind of a long story. One I- really don't feel up to recounting. Man, where did you get these massage skills?"

"You'd be surprised where I learn all of this."

"Oh. Wanna tell me?"

"It came from living on the streets, I had to take care of myself, and that included massaging wounds."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I also had a fear of humans for a time, but that is a story for another day. Let's just say though that if I had never met Rocky, I would have been in the dog pound by now."

"That would've been a darn shame."

"Yep, and because of said fear of humans, I would have been put to sleep because not one human would want to adopt me, not with how I would react to them at the time."

"Wowee… That's really a good thing that the PAW Patrol got you."

"Yeah… and Rocky helped me with my fear of humans while I helped him with another thing he had going on, but I will say no-"

"His hydrophobia?"

Miracle had a shocked expression on her face. "How did you-"

"I was there when they recruited him."

"Oh. But anyway, he is making great progress, though I'm not quite finished yet. I mean, he did lose both of his parents in the flood. THAT will actually take longer than it took to get my problem taken care of."

"I remember that flood, obviously."

"It changed a lot of lives, I will say that."

"It did… But not necessarily for the worse."

Miracle tilted her head. "How so?"

"Well, as much as I loved my job, I think it was for the best that I needed to retire because there were certain dogs that I wanted to be able to spend more time with." He glanced at his mate.

"Oh… I see."

"It also showed the city how important the PAW Patrol was. Without it, none the mess would have been cleaned up, and progress would have been brought to a halt."

"Wow… You were really a hero, huh?"

"Yeah… Not just me, but it also felt like the end of an era because as soon as that flood ended, a whole new generation pretty much rose from the ashes.

"The current members?"

Pace nodded. "Which includes you, young lady."

"Me? But I wasn't even there. Well… Kinda, but I didn't become a member."

"It's never too late."

"I guess not… And we have yet another member… She says its temporary, but then you never know…"

"That's true."

"Anyway, how's you back now?"

Throughout this entire conversation, he never thought of his back. Oddly enough, he didn't even feel anything. Looks like the meds were working, that goes without saying, but it could also be that she diverted his attention from it.

"I barely feel anything.." Pace's voice was pretty shocked.

"Then I guess I've lived up to my name once again." She got off of Pace's back and grinned. "One thing that I learned about on the streets is this: If you don't think of the pain then you won't feel it. I mean, it is helpful to have meds around, but I didn't have any access to drugs, not without risking any legal problems, and I did not want to deal with the police over a simple matter. It's just not worth it."

"I see. Anyway, thank you for your help."

"No problem. And remember to take it easy, especially with that hip. That's the root of the problem."

Pace nodded and stood up, stretching out. "Urf… thanks."

"You're welcome. I'll help you get back to your room."

Pace looked in Shayla's direction and smiled. "Thanks, but I don't think that'll be necessary."

Miracle looked at Shayla and nodded. "Alright then."

The Australian shepherd pup stepped out of the way as Shayla ambled over to her mate. A soft look was in her honey-yellow eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked Pace.

"Yeah," Pace said, still taken aback. His tail gave a slight wag. "Better than I have been for a long time, actually," Pace added. "I'm not entirely painless, but… my back feels good as new. And my other limbs, with our miracle worker here…" The old dog looked emphatically at Miracle.

Miracle giggled at the pun that was delivered.

"I mean, my arthritic pains have been so bad lately… Would you help me with my joints tomorrow. Please?"

"I can help now if you want." Miracle nodded after she said that.

"Oh, no, sweetie. You need your rest," Shayla said with a motherly sternness in her voice. "First thing tomorrow would work better for all of us," she added, looking at Pace."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

Miracle immediately started walking back to her doghouse, letting out a succinct yawn on her way around to the elevator. Shayla looked at Pace and smiled. "And we better do the same."

"Are you sure? I could climb a mountain right now."

Shayla giggled. "Climb the mountain in the morning. It's time for sleep."