Vigilante PAW

Chapter Thirteen: Friends

Before long, every area on Marshall's body was covered with black fur. All of it except for his left eye, which frantically looked around at all of the black fur seeping closer and closer by the second.

For once, he was actually able to move, his left paw reaching up to the back fur on his face, trying to tear at it, trying to cut it off of his face with his claws. This effort proved futile, as all of the fur he clawed away quickly grew back.

There was no escaping it.

He tried to scream out once more, desperately trying to reach anyone who could possibly be around. The mostly black furred pup was silent, though. After all...

...What mouth did he have to scream from?

As the black fur finally enveloped his left eye, he was thrust into darkness. The floor beneath him broke away, crumbling to dust as the black furred pup began to fall into the abyss of his own color. Reaching up, he tried to grab onto something, anything.

But he had nothing to grab onto.

The Dalmatian continued to fall, his pup tag, the only light he had left, suddenly tore from his collar, separating itself from Marshall. Just like that, nothing was left.

He had nothing left.

"Marshall....!" A muffled voice called out.

"Marshall...!"

"MARSHALL!!"

He opened his eyes.

Marshall's eyes, wet with tears, looked around frantically, the pounding in his chest quick and heavy, pumping blood throughout his body to support the fight or flight instincts he was dealing with. As he gasped for air, the Dalmatian sat up, looking around.

The first thing he saw was the face of a woman, staring back at him with worried eyes. The woman's lipstick covered lips contorted into a grimace. It was the same woman who had taken care of him after his fight with Hood.

The former fire pup's breathing didn't slow any more, though, his mouth agape to gather as much air as possible as quickly as possible. His eyes were almost as wide as his mouth, trying to make sense of what was going on.

Putting a hand over his heart, the woman realized how quickly his heart was beating. She pulled him close, cradling him in her arms.

"Deep breaths... Deep breaths, Marshall..." She spoke faintly, "I'm here... I'm here... It's okay..."

His breathing slowly calmed, eyelids lowering. The Dalmatian slowly looked up at the woman.

She sat down, still holding Marshall close, "You were crying in your sleep... Was it a nightmare?"

He nodded in response before his eyes drifted down to look around the parts of his body that were within his field of vision. Black and white, but mostly white. As it should be.

"Well, on the bright side, it seems like your fever went down..." The woman put a hand on his forehead, "Looks like your cold is pretty much gone."

She gently laid the Dalmatian back on the bed, "As for your injuries..."

Marshall looked down at his forelegs, which were wrapped with bandages. His head also was sore from being slammed into the wall by Hood the previous night. Groaning, the Dalmatian looked out of the window, his eyes widening.

The woman followed his gaze, "...Right. You're probably wondering what time it is. You slept all day. It's the night after the one you got injured."

Nodding in acknowledgement, he laid on his side.