Cherish || A Chase x Sweetie Fanfiction ||

(S2-C15) • Part 1: Surrender •

"Are you okay, Chase?" A voice called for the wide-eyed Shepherd, his chest pumping rapidly after a long gasp for first breath as the sweat moistened around his body. His blinking was abnormally fast, and he was in complete, utter shock.

"Where am I?" he asked, searching himself with both forepaws while sitting down, and he noticed that he wore nothing. His collar and gear were missing. He only had his brown fur, and now that he noticed it, the environment was quite warm. Perhaps it was because of the sun, but he uttered that that was impossible.

"What do you mean 'that's impossible'?"

"No, it's just—" Chase's eyes landed on the source of sound, cutting himself off in surprise at who he saw.

"Sweetie?"

"Uh... who else would it be—" Arms suddenly pulled her into an embrace, releasing a squeak from how abrupt, but she slowly hugged back. "What's wrong, Chase?"

The pup didn't answer. He figured out what was happening. At least, a theory of what was happening. He was dreaming, guessing that his body must be slowly dying in the real world. That would be the most logical answer, unless he learned to travel through time and revert everything back to when he and Sweetie were younger. It must be something like a small, vivid vision of things that happened in his life, flashing before him as his soul began to separate, clinging on for the last seconds of his dear life.

Chase let go of the pup, an arc rising from his mouth. "It's nothing, Sweetie. But can you remind me what we're doing here? I was... in a daze earlier. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, bestie." Sweetie smiled. It was a rather cute and meek one when compared to her grown, mostly mischievous grin, but the Shepherd adored it nonetheless. "You asked me what happened to my parents."

Chase nodded, ushering her to answer said question in curiosity.

"They left me in a dumpster. It wasn't a fun day but at least I got The Princess, right? Sorry for not calling her by her real name, she doesn't want anyone to speak of it for some reason—though I don't even know it myself. Anyway, The Princess took me into her care, but I soon learned that her parents became terminally ill and took their last breath shortly after my arrival, which they weren't even able to see. It's sad, I would've loved them."

"I'm sure they would've loved you too," Chase reassured, petting the pooch on her crown. He took another look around, admiring the open field of the castle. There were no obstacles to stop the shining nature and the green field had only a few guards to keep sight of them. Piles of rubble scattered in a circular manner around the place, and it was like they were debris after the supposed wall that used to stand and got broken down for some reason.

There was that intoxicating feeling in the air, until a weird question came into his ears.

"What's marriage?" Sweetie asked, the Shepherd turning to her with a questioning expression. The Terrier might have heard the guards talking about it, or maybe some townsfolk who were entering the castle for reasons he didn't know about.

"Marriage is when two individuals are in love, and they have to forever commit to being there for each other. The love should also be true, not just because you fell for someone you thought is admirable. True love doesn't break no matter how long separation might occur or how hectic a fight might get."

"Oh..." The answered pup trailed, looking away into the far distance where floating cotton balls designed the sky. "We should get married then!"

"What?" Chase covered his mouth, having shouted louder than he anticipated before he repeated the question in a quieter tone.