Chapter two: On The Hunt
Once Chase had gotten stabilized again.. he looked down, almost afraid of what he would see.
"Oh no.." Chase breathed, drawing closer as the other members of the team arrived.
"Zuma, are you ok?" The German Shepherd gasped as soon as he found the water pup once the cloud began to clear.
"I'm good, dude." Zuma replied, a little shaken, but still quite relaxed all the same.
"What happened, pups?" Ryder asked.
"I..I'm sorry, Ryder." Chase spoke up quickly. "I thought one of the sharks was acting a bit weird, so I followed the one that seemed to be in trouble, but then he turned away and I couldn't stop in time to avoid hitting Zuma and then.."
Everyone gasped when looking down.
"Zuma, your rig?!" Rubble cried, everyone staring in shock at the lobster vehicle crushed beneath the small broken tower.
"I'm so sorry!" Chase whined. "I didn't mean to.."
"Aw it's ok, dude." Zuma assured his friend, turning toward him. "Ryder and Rocky can fix it.. right?"
"We'll sure try.." Ryder said, not seeming worried at all..
"And if not.. we'll build you an all new one." Rocky added.
"Zuma, you can ride with me." Ryder said, "Rubble, Rocky, let's clean this up and get Zuma's lobster craft back to the Whale Patroller."
"I'm really sorry, Ryder." Chase emphasized again.
"I know, Chase." The boy replied more forwardly. "But for right now.. let's stay focused on finding that statue.. then maybe we can go check on the sharks and make sure they're ok."
"Ok.." Chase replied, trying to sound confident again.
"Now.. let's see.." Ryder began again taking a look around.
"Hey wait! I think I saw something back that way.." Marshall remembered, starting a slow float toward the left side of the castle grounds. "Come on, Chase. Maybe you can figure it out.."
Chase followed after them and stopping at a fair height, he let himself float there when he noticed an odd sort of trail leading off directly from where they were..
"Another broken tower.." Chase mused aloud. "And all those scuff marks! They had to have gone this way!"
"Great.. but since we don't know what we're dealing with.. Skye, send out a manta drone to find out what we're up against."
"There seems to be some other marks amongst all the scuffs from the statue dragging in the sand.. that don't match the same pattern.." Chase noticed, distinguishing the damage patterns more closely. "Something else must have made them.. some that was.. spinning?"
"Could it be.. Moby that did this?" Rocky asked, as Rubble was hauling Zuma's busted up sub toward the Whale Patroller.
"One way to find out.." Skye said, taking the lead position over the others as Chase let his vehicle float back amongst the group. "Ruff! Manta drone!"
After sending it out, they all watched it speed off awaiting orders for the next step.
Chase tried to stay focused, but a nagging feeling still tugged at him. And when prying eyes set their sights on him again.. he couldn't help but be unnerved by their intrusion.
"Come on, guys! I can't help you right now.. I gotta help the Aqua Pups find the statue." Chase told the sharks. A group of three were now circling him in a wayward manner, or even caring if they were to bump him off balance a little; before swimming off in the same odd way.
"Wait, come back. Stop!" Chase called, then groaned when they didn't seem to hear..
Propelling his vehicle around, he went after them hoping he could figure out the problem at the very least. But what he got instead, was a bump that nearly unseated him inside his sub.
"Hey!" A few sharks among the group just stared at him with distressed eyes, as another blow tossed him over to the other side.
"Hey, stop that! -Uah!" An even harder blow sent his vehicle down to the ocean floor popping the cab open and Chase was bumped out of it and floated off into the middle of the shark horde.
"What was that for?" Chase asked the sharks. "Now my shark sub might get loose and break something. I gotta get back to my sub so I can stop it.." But when he began to swim his way toward the downed shark sub propelling itself against a rock and the sand where it had nose-dived,.. a gray wall stood in his way.. the sharks swam a bit tighter around him than they had before. Even snapping at him to make him back down from them. One even seemed to accidentally bump its head into his shoulder, but then kept on swimming around the invisible nervous circle. He tried to weave around and through the swarming sharks, but any time he'd get close enough to his vehicle he would be stopped by a nip or a bump, or would be cut off by the adult sharks blocking his path.
"Hey! Stop that, I need to get to my sub!" Chase told them, but still he was stopped from advancing.
A shark came up under him and nosed up toward his chest pushing him backwards.
"Woah! Watch it there, big guy!" Chase reacted, stopping himself from flipping over.
"What is wrong with you guys?!" He wondered in confusion.
xxxx
Skye's visor visualized something.
"Ryder! I see something!" Skye gasped, viewing the drone's camera view on the screen in front of her. "Looks like.. a sub?"
"Ok.. then it's not an animal.. Chase.. lead the way.." Ryder decided, but was confused when no response came. "Chase?"
"Where'd he go?" Marshall asked.
"Not again!" Rocky sighed, as they all turned to go look for him once again.
"Hang on.. we need to find that statue.. and Chase." Ryder said. "So, Skye, Rocky and Rubble.. go after the statue.. and hopefully once we get Chase we'll be able to join you."
"You got it!" Skye called.
"We're on it, Ryder!" Rubble agreed.
"Let's go!" Rocky barked, as they all split off after the drone.
"Now to find Chase." Ryder said, switching something on his controls. "Coral, Marshall, let's go!"
"How do you know where to look for him now?" Marshall asked.
"I'm currently tracking him on his pup tag signal.. he's not that far.. maybe we can call him and see what's up.."
xxxx
Chase was a bit startled by his pup tag flashing, but he could've also been reacting to the shark that had pushed into his space unexpectedly.
"Ih- Ryder?"
"Chase, we found the statue, we're going after it now. Where are you?" The boy's voice crackled back.
"I don't know, I-.." he dodged another shark's snap in order to regain his focus. "I've kinda got a situation here though.. I could use a little backup.. wah-.. is Coral with you?"
"As a matter of fact, yes!" Ryder confirmed as they came around the corner into view.
"What happened this time?" Marshall asked. "How come you keep wandering off?"
"I'm not trying to!" Chase reasoned. "But now these sharks won't let me leave!"
"They sure have been bugging you a lot today.." Ryder recalled. "I wonder why?"
"Maybe they just wanna play?" Zuma asked. But when Chase dodged away from one shark, floating away from the rocks and toward his vehicle they noticed how another swept in and pushed him back over to the rocks.
"Wait a minute.. I think I know what the problem is.." Coral realized.
"What?" Marshall and Zuma asked together, anxious to hear the answer.
"I think the reason they won't let you leave.. is because they're trying to tell you something." The ocean pup replied.
"You mean.. they're asking me for help?" Chase asked.
"Exactly!" Coral confirmed.
The pups vehicles eased towards him, but what they got was a few hostile chargers snapping at them to stay away.
"Woah! Hey, chill guys, we're here to help!" Zuma gasped, backing off as if he were at the controls, instead of in Ryder's back seat.
"They must have a little one in trouble." Coral figured. "These sharks are never mean unless one of their babies is in danger."
"Anh!" Chase grunted as one of the sharks pushed him into the rocks.
"Hey!" Marshall gasped, almost feeling violated for Chase. Then Coral barked something to the group of sharks that was clearly supposed to mean something.
"It's ok, they're not trying to hurt him." Coral told her friends. "They just don't know they're own strength."
"Either way, we gotta get him out of there.. right Ryder?" Marshall asked.
"I don't know, Marshall.." Ryder wavered. "If they're really trying to ask for help.. I think we need to find out why they're so upset and figure out how to help them." The boy replied.
"Chase, do you see anything around those rocks?" Coral asked.
Chase propelled himself downward and closer to the rocks for a better view.
"Um.. well I see an opening in the rocks.. but.. -ah!"
Seeing Chase jump back in one quick swish of his forepaws, was a bit of a nerve-racking fright for those watching from a distance, but then they saw him take another look.
"Wait! I see it!" Chase gasped.
"What?" The pups and Ryder wondered in unison.
"A baby shark!" Chase replied, watching the little fish zip back and forth inside the little cave. "It's trapped inside these rocks.. it must have squeezed through and couldn't get back out again."
"Are you able to get it to come out?" Ryder asked through the pup tag.
"I don't know.. but I can try.." the German Shepherd replied through the boy's com link.
"Come on, little guy, it's ok." Chase told the little shark. "You can come out now." The baby shark looked through the hole at him, its worried eyes blinking for a moment. Then it kept on swimming back and forth as if it were pacing anxiously.
"No good.. the shark won't come out." Chase reported into his flashing pup tag. "I think it might be too scared to try."
"Can you get in there to help show him the way out?" Ryder asked.
"I'm not sure I'll fit.. but I gotta try." Chase crackled back through the com link.
"Be careful, Chase." Ryder cautioned a bit nervously.
Chase paddled closer to the opening.. and taking a deep breath he prepared himself for the potential squeeze. His helmet clipped the side of the rocks and he was afraid to get it stuck. But moving down a bit further allowed him more clearance to carefully ease through the hole and into the small dark space.
"It's gonna be ok, little guy." Chase told the shark, who by now had stopped pacing to look at him either in confusion or hopefulness of being rescued.
Marshall and the pups noticed a small grind sound and the slightest bit of debris that loosened as a result and were immediately clued in to something.
"Ryder!" Marshall hissed.
"Chase, the rocks are unstable, you've gotta get out of there!" Ryder warned anxiously.
"Go, little guy! I'm right behind you." Chase told the shark, finally getting him to slide through. But trying to follow only got his helmet wedged between the rocks and he tried hard to push through.
"Anh! Nn..nah!" He tried to swim down again to get it loose and hopefully through.. but this time it didn't budge and he tried to pull back.
"The rocks are gonna fall!" Zuma gasped.
"Chase, get out of there now!" Ryder cried.
"Ih-I'm stuck!" Chase gasped. He could start to feel a hint of pressure rising around his head and he almost thought he heard cracking sounds.
"Ryder, what do we do?!" Marshall whined, and he could tell the boy was desperately trying to think of something.
Then Chase.. who knew he was out of time and options.. did the only thing he could think of..
Placing both paws at the base of his helmet, he drew the deepest breath he could get and pushed up with a pop and a rush of water closing his eyes moments before the air bubbles released from around his face.
Wah-hoo! What a fun chapter! Probably the most exciting of the three in my opinion, but the fun is not yet over! Stick with it for one last installment tomorrow. Thx!