Chapter 8: Reunited

"How long have we been walking?" Rocky asked. The only functioning thing Chase had with him happened to be a stopwatch, left unscathed from the mudslide while the rest of the tools in the police pup's pack were compromised.

"An hour and a half," Chase said. He knew what Rocky was going to ask next. He knew he would be asked if they could stop for a breather. It became evident when Chase had to slow his pace down so that the mixed breed wouldn't fall too far behind.

"Can we stop for a little bit?" Rocky asked. "I'm tired and my paws are sore."

Chase sighed. He wanted to spend every second searching for Skye and he didn't want to stop until she was found.

"Five minutes," Chase said reluctantly. "Any time spent resting is time that Skye could be more lost than she already is."

"Chase, it's just five minutes," Rocky tried reasoning with him. He knew how much the cockapoo meant to him, even before he actually confessed a couple days ago. Maybe if I was in his position, I'd feel the same way he does, he thought. But unfortunately, he wasn't. He never saw Skye as anything more than a friend, nor did he ever really concern himself that much with the German shepherd's feelings for her.

The two pups reached a clearing where there was a small pond. Chase, deciding to make the most of their five-minute rest, jumped in the pond to get the dried up mud out of his fur and to quench his thirst. Rocky, wanting to avoid getting wet at all costs, sat at the edge, carefully lapping up water. He never had an issue with drinking water, but he'd be a dead pup before he would willingly submerge his whole body. He sighed in contentment as he quenched his thirst.

Marshall arrived at Jake's Mountain in his EMT gear. Ryder had sent him up there to tend to a climber who had sprained their ankle. After a quick look at the x-ray, Marshall grabbed a bandage and wrapped up the climber's ankle.

"There, good as new," he said.

After being thanked by the climber, he decided to continue his search for Chase. He was nearing the point of desperation; the German shepherd was his best friend, his brother, and Marshall couldn't bear the thought of losing him on top of his parents.

"How are you doing buddy?" Chase asked the dalmatian. It had been a week now since Marshall's parents had perished in that fire. Right now, he and Chase were sitting outside the door to the courtroom in Adventure Bay.

"I'm really, really nervous," Marshall answered.

It had been the most painful and stressful week of his life. Two days after his parents' funeral, the Foggy Bottom police had apprehended what they called a "person of interest." A few DNA tests and a polygraph later, they had the man in custody awaiting trail for arson and involuntary manslaughter. He and Chase were about to enter the courtroom for the sentence hearing. Ryder had just recruited another pup to the team, a gray mixed breed by the name of Rocky. Skye stayed back with Ryder to help show Rocky around.

"That's why I'm here with you," Chase said. "Let's go in, the sentence hearing should be starting soon." He opened the door for the dalmatian, who slowly walked inside.

A few hours later, the two returned to the Lookout.

"We're back Ryder!" Chase announced.

"Hey Chase!" Skye said, running up to the duo.

"Hey Skye," the German shepherd replied.

"How did it go?" Ryder asked, walking out with four bowls of pup food.

"It went really quickly," Chase said.

"But you were gone for hours," Skye said.

"As far as courtroom hearings go, it was pretty quick," Chase chuckled.

"What was the sentencing?" Ryder asked.

Chase paused, he turned to where Marshall was standing, only to find that he wasn't standing there anymore. It was at that moment that Rocky appeared.

"He went to his pup house," Skye said to Chase.

"Ten years in prison, no parole," Chase said to the group. "A fair sentence if you ask me, but my biased opinion is that he should be locked up for life."

"Thanks for going with him Chase," Ryder said, patting the police pup on the head. "I know how much that had to have meant for him."

While Chase, Skye, Rocky and Ryder were conversing, Marshall was over at his pup house. He left the door open so that he could eavesdrop on the conversation, but he just didn't really want to be part of it at the moment.

That night, Marshall was having trouble falling asleep. He kept tossing and turning, trying to find a way to get comfortable, but to no avail. Sighing, he got up and walked outside. He glanced to his right where Chase was asleep in his pup house.

Marshall crept up to the German shepherd. He gently tapped his shoulder and whispered his name. When he got no answer he tried again. This time, Chase opened his eyes.

"What is it Marshall?" he asked groggily.

"I just wanted to thank you for being there for me this past week," Marshall said. "I guess I didn't realize how much it meant to me or how much I needed it until today."

"No problem Marshall," Chase said, sitting up and hugging the dalmatian. "That's what brothers do."

Marshall returned the hug, Chase's words having moved him to tears, but for the first time in a week, they were tears of happiness.

Marshall's resolve to find the police pup grew even more. He took off down the mountain as fast as he could, not even tripping over any of the exposed roots along the way. But he skidded to a halt when he heard something that made his skin crawl.

In the distance was a loud piercing howling noise. Marshall didn't need to be a wildlife expert to know what kind of animal made that sound. Gulping, he continued onward.

"Okay, our five minutes are up," said Chase, getting out of the pond and shaking himself dry. "Let's get going to find-" he was suddenly interrupted by a twig snapping. Both Chase and Rocky shot up, not expecting anyone else to be anywhere near them. A few seconds later, there was a rustling noise from a nearby bush.

"Chase," Rocky whispered, moving close to the German shepherd, "what was that?"

Chase lowered his face towards the ground, not once taking his eyes off of the bushes that were probably half a football field's length away. He began sniffing when he caught a smell that made his fur stand up. And that's when he saw them. A pair of eyes that he could see through the bushes. They were yellow and screaming murder.

"Wolf," he whispered to the mixed breed. The two started to back up, and that's when the shadowy figure emerged from the bushes. It was big, gray and mangy. And it looked hungry.

"What are we going to do?" Rocky whispered in as quiet of a panicked voice as he could.

Meanwhile, the German shepherd was not only trying to figure out a way out of this predicament, but new thoughts entered his mind. Skye. His resolve to find her grew even more, that is, unless this wolf had already found her first. Chase looked to his right, where off in the distance one could see smoke coming from Jake's chalet. He looked to his left at the path that led further into the woods. He then glanced at Rocky, who was trembling in fear. Chase realized that there was only one thing he could do.

"When I say so, run in the direction of Jake's chalet, as fast as you possibly can, and don't look back."

"But what about you?" Rocky hissed.

"I'll distract this guy and at least buy you some time to escape. I can use my Pup-Fu to defend myself."

Rocky once again didn't like that answer. But it seemed like that was the only way at least one of them survives. He himself stood no chance against the wolf, but Chase was bigger, stronger, more athletic and more well-versed in Pup-Fu.

"Please be careful," Rocky said, getting into a running stance. The wolf had started to creep its way towards the pair of pups.

"Go, now!" Chase said. Rocky, without hesitation, sprinted away as fast as he could. Chase got into a defensive stance as the wolf began to charge at him.

Skye limped on her three good legs for what felt like hours, but it was maybe an hour, two at most. She had no idea where she was, but she continued in the same direction, hoping that she would come across something familiar. Deciding her back right leg needed a break, she reluctantly walked over to a nearby tree to rest some more. Her mind was racing with a lot of thoughts, though none consumed her more than the thought of a particular German shepherd.

Skye giggled as she thought back to when she was on the camping trip with Rocky. How Chickaletta found herself stuck in a crevice, how she rode down on Chase's winch to save the mayor's purse chicken. But then she recalled how ecstatic Chase seemed to be when she returned from the crevice unscathed.

"Yes, Skye's okay! She's okay!" she could hear him rejoicing in her mind. Despite in the moment Chase claiming he was glad that she saved Chickaletta, it gave her hope that maybe he reciprocated the feelings she had for him. She was about to close her eyes to rest more when she heard a loud, sharp howling noise. She shot up and looked around for the source of the noise. It was coming from her left, and it sounded really close by.

Skye's eyes darted around, looking for somewhere to hide, as running on three legs would do her no good. Soon she heard a rustling noise and what seemed to be the sound of running. Oh no, she panicked. She stared off to where the rustling was coming from, holding her breath, fully expecting the wolf to return for another chance to use her as dinner. What she wasn't expecting was seeing a familiar face run out into the clearing.

"R-r-rocky?" she squeaked at the running figure. The figure stopped and turned to face her and she gasped. "ROCKY!" she ran towards the mixed breed and gave him a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!" she said, tears threatening to fall.

Rocky wrapped her in a hug, relieved to have found her. "I thought we lost you," he choked on his words. "Chase is gonna be so happy to see you." His mind instantly reeled back to Chase, who had commanded him to run while he tried to fend off a wolf.

"Where is he?" she asked, trying to hide a blush. "Is he okay?" She had completely forgotten about the wolf that was nearby and was focused solely on her crush. "Rocky," she said again, "is Chase okay?"

Rocky whimpered before sighing. He certainly wanted to be honest with the cockapoo but wasn't sure how she would react to the truth. Biting his lip, he answered, "He told me to run, he's fending off a wolf right now."

Skye immediately dashed off in the direction of the wolf's howling. Rocky was going to stop her, or at least join her, but he was frozen in shock? Shocked that he was reunited with Skye, sure, but it was probably fear more than anything else that prevented him from chasing after her. He stood there in place for at least two minutes, the howling growing more distant.

"Rocky?" another voice said, this time from behind him.

The mixed breed gasped and turned around, where he saw Marshall in his medic gear.

"Marshall!" he shouted, running towards the dalmatian and, like he did with Skye, wrapping him in a hug.

"Rocky!" Marshall said, tears dripping from his face. "I thought we lost you." After the two let go of each other, Marshall looked the mixed breed up and down for any possible injuries. "Are you hurt?"

"My paws are a little sore from walking, but other than that, I think I'm okay."

"Have you seen the others?"

Rocky froze. How was he supposed to explain to Chase's brother by all definitions minus blood that the German shepherd was fighting a wolf? Suddenly, the two heard the wolf howling, though it seemed even further away than it did before.

"He told me to run, that he would buy me some time," Rocky said, tears forming on his face this time.

Marshall immediately jammed his pup tag. "Ryder!" he yelled.

"What is it Marshall?"

"I found Rocky near Jake's chalet! He's okay, but Chase is fighting the wolf. I'm going to help him."

"Where are y-" Marshall hung up before Ryder could finish his sentence.

"Stay here and wait for Ryder," Marshall said to Rocky before he, like Skye had done minutes ago, ran off to find Chase.

Chase could hear the wolf huffing and puffing behind him, slowly gaining on him. Chase wished he had his super speed to help him out. He looked to his side where the wolf had clawed him during a brief melee. It wasn't too deep but it was dripping blood, leaving a trail in the grass.

Chase turned around once again to see that the wolf was no longer behind him. He worried that the wolf was planning an attack from a different direction, so he kept running as fast as his legs would carry him. He found a tree that was climbable and jumped to its bottom branch. He hoisted himself up and climbed and climbed. Once he had felt that he was at a safe enough height, he scanned the area, looking for the wolf.

Meanwhile, Skye had taken off in the direction of the wolf's howl. She could picture its jaws closing on Chase's body, which only made her pick up her pace in spite of her injured leg. She stopped when she saw a small pool of blood a couple yards away. She stopped and sniffed the area and caught a whiff of a familiar scent.

Chase, she thought. Seeing his blood made her eyes well up with tears. But she also noticed a trail of blood leading further along the trail. He's still alive! She got up and continued on, following the trail of blood alongside the edge of a cliff.

After a while, she noticed that it was harder to see the blood in the grass. Does his blood really clot that quickly? She was also getting tired from all the running. Despite her heart's desires, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

Her stopping proved to be a mistake. After a few seconds, she heard a rustling noise. Gasping silently, she turned to her left and saw the wolf. It seemed to be wearing a twisted smile on its face as it appeared to have found a second victim.

Skye slowly started backing up away from the wolf, though that didn't stop the wolf from slowly moving closer to her, its grin seemingly getting bigger. Skye continued backing up until she felt her backside bump into a tree.

She whimpered in fear as it looked like this was the end for her. The wolf stopped and snarled at her before getting into an attack stance. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst…

Chase continued scouting for the wolf from the tree. It had been five minutes and he started to think it had given up on its pursuit. He was about to climb down the tree when he heard the sound of two creatures running. He looked to the source of the noise and couldn't believe his eyes.

Skye?! his mind screamed. He saw the cockapoo running on the trail alongside the edge of the cliff. He was going to shout her name, but that's when he heard the sound of the wolf running past the tree he was hiding in and towards the unsuspecting cockapoo. Gasping, he quickly and quietly climbed down from the tree and towards the predator.

Chase crept his way into a nearby cluster of bushes. Peering over the top, he saw the wolf only a few feet from the pup of his dreams, getting ready to send her into eternal sleep. While the wolf was preparing to pounce, Chase tried to figure out what to do. Trusting his gut, he too got ready to pounce. He had to time it just right if he wanted this to work.

The wolf, after toying with Skye for what it had determined was long enough, sprang at the cockapoo, who had turned away and covered her eyes. Just as it was about to dig its fangs into her, it felt something ram it from its side. The wolf turned and saw a German shepherd, the very one it was originally hunting. Yelping, the wolf tumbled to the ground before sliding off the edge of the cliff. Chase peered over the edge to make sure the wolf was really gone before turning his attention to Skye.

"Skye!" he said, rushing over to the scared cockapoo. He reached out to her and she pulled away with a yelp. "Hey, hey," he said in a soothing voice. "It's me."

Skye finally was able to focus on the figure in front of her. "C-chase?" she said. She looked him the eyes, those warm, amber eyes that she adored. They were lined with tears and full of worry.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Are you hurt?"

Skye was unable to speak, let alone answer that question. Her tail began wagging. Before she knew what she was doing, she tackled the German shepherd and wrapped him in a hug. As she buried her face into his chest, she immediately began sobbing. Hearing her crying broke Chase's heart and he began to cry too.

For a few minutes the two pups just sat there holding onto each other tightly, and soon their crying gradually subsided. The two ended their embrace so that they could look the other in the eyes.

"Is this real?" Skye finally asked. She sat back to take in the image of the German shepherd in front of her.

"Y-y-yeah," Chase said, wiping away the remainder of his tears. "I think so." He then eyed something familiar on the cockapoo. "Are you wearing my pup tag?"

Skye looked down at the police pup's collar around her neck, then back up at Chase, nodding. It was then that she noticed something familiar on the German shepherd.

"Are you wearing my pup tag?" she asked. She pointed at the pink collar and tag that Chase had around his neck.

Chase simply nodded. The two pups returned their pup tags to each other, then they sat there for a few moments, neither one taking their eyes off the other. Before Chase knew what he was doing, he pulled the cockapoo back in for another hug, their tails wagging at unprecedented speeds. He rested his head on her shoulder while she nuzzled her face against his chest, their emotions pouring out in front of each other.

"CHASE!" a voice interrupted their moment. Chase turned to see Marshall standing nearby. When they made eye contact, the dalmatian charged at the shepherd and gave him a big hug. "I'm so happy to see you again," he said, fighting back tears.

"It's so good to see you too Marshall," Chase replied.

Skye sat and fawned at the emotionally touching moment Chase and Marshall were having. But before she knew it, Marshall pulled her in to make it a group hug. After what felt like forever, they finally broke the hug. Skye sat next to Chase while Marshall examined them for injuries; she wanted to be as close to the police pup as possible after a traumatic week.

"Are either of you hurt?" Marshall asked the two pups in front of him. He immediately noticed Skye's bruised leg. "Skye, I need to look at your leg."

The cockapoo complied and let Marshall examine her back right leg. He pulled out his x-ray and, much to the relief of Skye and Chase, said that she just needed to properly rest her leg and that nothing was broken or sprained.

By the time Marshall was done examining Chase and dressing his side with a bandage, two more figures appeared.

"Ryder?" Skye asked, not believing what she was seeing.

"Pups!" the ten-year-old shouted.

"Ryder!" Chase and Skye yelled, sprinting to their owner and tackling him. Ryder wrapped them tightly in a hug and began crying.

"I thought I lost you two," he said in between sobs. Soon, Marshall and Rocky joined in the group hug.

"Where are Zuma and Rubble?" the mixed breed asked, eager to get back to his best friend.

"They're back at the Lookout," Ryder said. "I told them to stay back in case an emergency pops up."

"Can we see them?" Skye said.

"Of course you can!" Ryder said.

The five began walking when they heard yet another howling noise, this one in the other direction from Jake's chalet. Skye, having had enough of wolves for the rest of her life, trembled in fear. Chase, who had just stopped a wolf from eating Skye at the last possible second, instinctively pulled Skye close to him and growled.

"Aww," Marshall said teasingly.

"Let's get out of here," Rocky said. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say I've had enough of these wolves."

As they continued onward, Skye was having trouble keeping up with the others due to her bruised leg. None of the others seemed to notice until Chase turned around and saw her limping. The German shepherd trotted back to where she was and crouched down.

"Here," he said, gesturing to his back. "Climb up."

"Oh," Skye said, her cheeks rising in temperature. "You don't have to-"

"I insist," Chase cut her off, trying to hide the redness on his cheeks.

Skye reluctantly climbed up on the police pup's back. Chase lifted her off the ground and quickly caught up with the others.

"Thanks Chase," she said as she rested her head on his back.