PAW Patrol: A Dalmatian's Reunion || DA Book Two

(C10) Memories Of Failure

Rocky and Ryder walked outside of the lookout, idly talking to each other as they stopped in front of Marshall's bright red pup house, a soft whimpering coming from inside of it, which could only be coming from Marshall, considering that every other pup was inside the lookout.

Before unlocking the door however, Rocky tapped one of his paws on the locked automatic door, trying to get Marshall's attention as he spoke. "Marshall, buddy. Are you awake in there? Ryder wants to have a one on one discussion with you." Rocky asked as the sound as some footsteps came from inside of the pup house as Marshall spoke, leaning against the automatic door of his pup house as he did so.

"R-Rocky, g-go away, please. I'm not worth anyone's time; it's just like Blaze said. I'm a failure, and that's all I'll ever be." Marshall said, his voice breaking up slightly as he thought about everything Blaze had said to him, bringing tears to his eyes as he laid back down inside of his pup house.

"Marshall, you're not a failure. You're always there for us when we're down, and we love having you around, just as much as everyone else on the team. You're an incredible fire pup and EMT, and I'm glad you're here with us." Ryder said as he looked over to Rocky, signalling to the mixed breed that it was almost time to unlock the automatic door, but not quite yet.

"T-Thanks Ryder, but why would my own parents say things like that about me after all these years? I-I don't understand, they're the ones who came up here for a reunion after you got in contact." Marshall cried out once more as he unlocked the automatic door from the inside, allowing himself to walk out and lay on the grass that was right next to his pup house, looking up to the sky as he continued to cry.

Rocky and Ryder sat down next to Marshall, comforting the dalmatian as he continued to cry, letting his emotions run free after bottling them up ever since he left Azura.

"W-Why is everyone always so patient with me? I ruin everything, and I'm just a klutz." Marshall said as he stood up, looking back at Rocky and Ryder as Ryder suddenly cleared his throat, getting the attention of the Dalmatian.

"That isn't true at all, Marshall. No person or pup is perfect, and we all love each other for who we are. Our imperfections and differences are what make us all unique, after all." Ryder said as Rocky gave Marshall a paw bump as he walked back into the lookout, leaving Ryder and Marshall alone to have the one on one conversation that Ryder wanted.

"R-Ryder, please tell me this. Do you think I'm good enough to be on the Paw Patrol still?" Marshall asked as Rocky left, remembering that he had wondered about this initially around a week ago.

Ryder wanted to respond with what his gut was saying, which was that of course Marshall was. Alongside the other pups, Marshall has become a specialist in what he does, and he's an amazing friend to boot. But Ryder could tell that what Blaze had said to the younger Dalmatian and his son had dug deep roots and was deeply affecting him.

Because of that, as much as Ryder didn't want this to be the case, he didn't think simple words of encouragement would be enough to help Marshall here. Maybe the team could show Marshall's family that he truly knows what he's doing, by allowing him to demonstrate in a live rescue?

But how would they do that? The Paw Patrol don't create scenarios to go and fix them, they get called to deal with active scenarios. But what if that changed just this one time? No one would be put in harm's way, and they'd set it up safely, so what could possibly go wrong?