Requested by LakkoWarner1
As their legacy continuously expanded across the countries, the team known as the Paw Patrol quickly became recognized for their emergency services worldwide. If anything, all the chaos they dealt with in Adventure City only increased their recognition. Despite their rapidly growing support, the pups remained closed off from their families.
Chase was born an orphan in the city, his first years alive was not a topic he liked talking about. Wherever it was brought up, the Shepherd could be seen staring off into space, as if horrible pain had returned in mere seconds. Ryder inherited Marshall after the Dalmation's caretaker died in a mall fire. When he was asked about his real parents, Marshall would just shrug, he never knew anything about them. He was born under the care of firefighters right in their station, then handed off to Ryder. Rocky's family was a sore subject, he sometimes mentioned a brother, but refused to elaborate further. Rubble and Skye were born as strays like Chase, although they grew up in less harsh conditions.
Zuma, the coast guard of the team, didn't carry a shadowed past unlike his friends. He was rather close with his family, at least his mother, and she wrote to him every once in a while. Usually, he met her emails with a smile, remembering times long ago. However, her most recent message left Zuma staring at the screen in disbelief. At that moment he could hardly believe his own eyes, and he felt the urge to curse the stars for aligning him in this predicament.
The next morning, Chase was enjoying breakfast with Marshall,
"I think I would look good in a hat," Marshall pondered aloud,
"You already have one," the Shepherd raised an eyebrow, chewing the kibble,
"No, that's a work hat, I mean like, a baseball cap or something," Marshall smiled over his bowl, "think I would look spiffy in a fedora?"
Chase shot the Dalmation an odd look, "Marsh, trust me on this, do not get a fedora."
"Why not?" the firefighter asked innocently,
"Just don't…"
As the two dogs bickered, Chase flicked his eyes to the left and spotted a chocolate brown Lab. He was lying on all fours, looking rather disheveled. Chase frowned at first, assuming Zuma got up on the wrong side of the bed.
"Hey Zuma!" Chase waved, "can you help me convince Marshall not to wear fedoras?"
"I never said I was getting one!"
The Lab was unresponsive, eyes widening as Chase addressed him. For a moment a flicker of shyness flashed in his eyes, and he slowly began creeping backward.
"Zuma?" Chase asked, "you alright?"
"Zume!" was suddenly called from afar, making all three dogs pick their heads up.
Chase gawked in surprise as a second dog nearly identical to Zuma ran over, honing on the smaller Lab, "I told you not to run off!"
"You were taking too long," the smaller Lab shuffled his paws,
Zuma grimaced for a moment, then emitted a low growl, "do not, do this to me, right now. You're here on my turf, follow my rules or I'm driving you up to mom."
Chase could hardly believe his eyes, "Zuma?! Did you get cloned?"
Zume chuckled slightly as the bigger dog gave an exhausted look, slowly turning his head over to his friends, "Chase, this little shit is my brother, Zume."
"That's not very nice," the little sibling said matter-of-factly, "you made me behave in the car and you reward me with insults?"
"I didn't know you had a brother," Marshall smiled, tilting his head,
Zuma sighed, "unfortunately. Mom had to go away for a bit, so he has to stay with us for a few days."
Zuma was praying for his friends to shout in protest, defying the presence of a strange dog on their territory. It was a perfect plan, rally the others, they'd complain to Ryder, and Zume would be driven back to his mother or a place he wouldn't be abducted. Zuma didn't even care about the gas prices, anything to get his insect of a brother away. All his friends had to do was agree with him.
"That's awesome!" Marshall bounced, "a new dog!"
"Does he know Pup Pup Boogie?" Chase chimed in.
Zuma was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to hotbox himself in his kennel.
"You know what, you take him for a while," the Lab said quickly, pushing Zume over to the others, "I just remembered I'm late for insanity practice."
Chase lifted a paw to say something, but Zuma had already fled the scene. Looking at Marshall briefly, they both shrugged and looked down at the smaller visitor. Zume returned their gaze with his bright blue eyes.
"He has blue eyes, just like you," Chase inquired, nudging Marshall playfully,
"I'm not a baby, copper," Zume shot back,
Marshall looked at Chase with a raised eyebrow, "and he's a dipshit, just like you."
"Excuse me, I'm like two years old in dog years," the small Lab inquired, "mind your language."
"Can we keep him?" both Marshall and Chase said together, excitedly shuffling their paws.
Chase spent the day excitedly showing Zume around the Lookout grounds. Zume followed, looking around as he walked. Rocky waved at Zume, happy to meet another dog, but he was too wrapped up in his own building projects. Rubble was delighted upon meeting a dog the height of him and invited Zume into his kennel to share treats.
Zume declined.
"I declare myself the king of the mountains!" Zume declared with a puffed-out chest, as he sat on a massive throne of green foam blocks.
"Marshall, you took all the blue ones!" Chase protested, watching the Dalmation push away the foam block with his nose.
"Hey, I like blue," Marshall countered playfully, "besides, I wanna make an ocean," he picked up the block in his teeth and looked for a place to put it.
Chase huffed in annoyance, "alright fine, I'll make a-" he looked around, spotting a yellow triangle he had yet to use, "volcano or something,"
After meeting everyone, Chase and Marshall took Zume inside the Lookout to show him around. Chase desperately wanted to show him Pup Pup Boogie, but it was clear the small Lab wanted to play something simpler. They settled on a massive collection of multicolored foam blocks, each one almost the size of their heads, it was perfect for building forts. Chase was happy to find something Zume liked, and the little Lab himself was feeling more comfortable in his new surroundings.
"My reign spreads to the oceans and volcanos!" Zume proudly declared, "this is so fun!" his ears suddenly dropped as his face fell slightly, "I don't have anything like this at home,"
"Don't feel too bad," Marshall reassured, nudging a blue block into place, "these are premium quality, very hard to come by,"
"Wait, you don't have any toys at all?" Chase looked up, "not even a bone?"
Zume lowered himself to his stomach, sitting confidently on his blocky green hill, "No, my mom doesn't let me have anything," he let a small sigh escape his mouth, "she makes me do math,"
"Ouch," Marshall winced, "I hate math,"
"Yeah, I'm not good with complex numbers either," Chase nodded, then looked up at Zume, "well you're mom's not here, so have as much fun as you want!"
Zume smiled, a feeling of kindness touching his heart and lifting him up. For once, he didn't feel so small. He was going to say something else when the pups heard a door open. Looking over, they saw Skye enter from the elevator, bouncing over.
"Hi! I was wondering where you guys went," she smiled, voice shining with friendliness.
An audible groan could be heard from Chase.
"We're playing blocks," Marshall looked up from his ocean,
"Can I play?" Skye's eyes went wide, and Zume found himself captivated by her pink eyes.
"Uh, I don't know," Chase looked up from the multicolored mess he was trying to make sense of, "we kinda have a thing going here."
"W-what?" Skye frowned, slowing down.
"It's uh," Chase chuckled, "kind of a guy thing."
Skye's face went blank, blinking in disbelief.
"A guy thing?" she repeated,
"Yeah, we… uh," the Shepherd fumbled in his words, "we're making… worlds and stuff over here."
"What, you think I can't play blocks because I'm a girl?" Skye countered,
"Well, I'm not saying exactly that,"
"It sounds like you are,"
"Skye, we're playing blocks, go away,"
"Oh, you think I can't play?" Skye tilted her head, fire rising in her voice, "you think I don't know how to play blocks?"
"Come to think of it, I don't think you do," Chase held his ground,
"Oh yeah? I bet I can play blocks better than you," she smirked, pointing at the large bin that held the rest of the foam pieces.
"Bring it, cockapoo, I'm the building block master!" the Shepherd flattened his ears,
"Oh yeah, then what are you making over there, a crime scene?" Skye countered, pointing at the mess that was Chase's area.
"No! I just haven't started yet!"
"I think anything you make comes out like a hurricane hit it," she said smugly,
"Oh really? You think you can do better?"
"I think I can!"
Both dogs instantly turned and scampered to the bin, diving headfirst into it to claim their pieces. Marshall and Zume stood with mouths agape, bewildered at the sight before him. Marshall had never seen Chase get so worked up over foam building blocks, but Zume was staring for another reason. He had not yet been introduced to Skye, and he now wanted more than ever to talk to her. He tried to open his mouth to say hi, but anxiety suddenly clogged his voice.
Once she had selected her blocks, Skye quickly realized her mouth was too small to carry them, much to Chase's amusement. She could be heard grunting in annoyance as she tried to push the blocks over to her designated spot. Zume watched her, sneaking looks to minimize the chance of Skye suddenly catching him. With her in the room, he had suddenly lost his train of thought. He looked at Marshall, silently pleading for help on what to do. Marshall merely smiled back at him and motioned with his paw in Skye's direction. Zume grew hot, recoiling a little.
"Help her," Marshall whispered to him,
Zume gulped, where was his brother when he needed him? It was only his first day with the Paw Patrol and he was already feeling things he shouldn't. Mustering up the courage, he picked up a block from his hill and hopped down, walking over to Skye.
"Um, hi," Zume said shakily, nosing his block over, "you can use one of mine,"
Skye looked up at him and smiled warmly, "thanks, Zuma,"
"Oh, I'm not-," Zume tried to say, but words failed him,
"That's his little bro, Zume!" Marshall piped in from across the room, "he's visiting us!"
"Brother?" Skye's eyes went wide, "I didn't know he had a brother,"
"Neither did we,"
Zume found himself hyperventilating at how close the pretty dog was to him, "are your eyes… pink?"
"Indeed they are," she laughed, "I think it's a birth defect or something,"
"They're pretty," the small Lab giggled, shyly dragging his paw around the floor. Skye brightened up instantly, laughing while holding a paw over her mouth.
"Thanks, you're cute," she giggled, and Zume nearly felt himself catch fire, "I like the mountain you made,"
"Oh, it's just a-" Zume replied with bashfulness, "it's just a hill. Would you like any help?"
"Thanks, although I'm sure what to make yet," Skye frowned, looking over at Chase, who was aggressively sketching out his design plans on a piece of scratch paper, "ugh, I'm totally blanking on it, what do you think?"
Zume looked at the blocks before him and singled out a single one. He picked it up and carried it into the open, placing it down, "I made a cube," he joked nervously, praying Skye would be entertained. To his relief, Skye laughed happily and playfully threw a block at him. The sound of her laughter brought a certain feeling to Zume's chest.
"Oh, let's make a tower!" Skye jumped, already getting to work, and Zume jumped in to help.
In no time at all, they formed a 4x4 square, then built up as far as they could. Zume was unsure of how they'd reach the blocks that high, only for Skye to tap his nose and tell him to watch. She then demonstrated her acrobatic skills, taking full advantage of her lightweight body to jump off the environment to place their pieces. Zume was baffled at her skill and didn't realize he was blushing.
Suddenly, Skye miscalculated a landing, tripping on herself as her paw smacked against the tower. Zume looked up in surprise, then his eyes trailed up to see the foam pillar they had assembled begin to sway. Realizing what was incoming, Zume darted forward slamming himself into Skye as he pushed her out of the way. They landed safely, rolling on the floor as Zume ended up on top of her. The tower finally crashed, hitting the floor and sending a hurricane of foam blocks all around the room.
"Interesting, you made the leaning tower of Piza," Marshall remarked, as a foam cube bonked off his head,
"More like the leaning tower of broken," Chase chuckled, "I win,"
"Are you okay?" Zume looked down at Skye, who was underneath him on her back.
"Zume, those were foam blocks," she giggled, "I would've been fine,"
"Sorry, sorry," he muttered hastily, standing up from her, "just instinct,"
"You didn't have to get off me," she whispered to him, rolling over to stand up. Zume felt his fur grow hot at the remark, nearly making him take a step back.
"Protective huh?" Skye tilted her head, "so much like your brother,"
Zume shrugged, "I don't know why Zuma is so mean to me, I just want to be like him," he confessed, "water rescues, saving people," his face grew sad, "he's the medal-winning, life-saver of the family, so no one notices anything I ever do."
"Well consider yourself noticed," Skye smiled warmly, placing a paw on Zume's chest, "so, how long are you staying here?"
"A few days," Zume shrugged,
"Awesome!" chirped the avian dog, as she leaned forward to nose him affectionately, "wanna make a fort?"
The sudden contact sent off a couple hundred fireworks through Zume, and suddenly longed to spend more time with her. Every moment he spent with Skye only increased the intense feeling in his heart. For once, someone actually enjoyed him being around, someone actually smiled back. Skye seemed to know it herself, this new dog was a world of fun and she couldn't wait to show him everything she knew. Zume nodded eagerly, and the two of them went to work again, a flirtatious connection already beginning between them.