PAW Patrol: Marshall Gone Missing.

Chapter 34

Chase's war cry echoed across the cave, like a demon unleashing it's rage. From the entrance, Skye saw her friend ran towards the bear with blood-lust in his eyes. She knew what it was all about. She had seen the bloody collar and, with it, began to paint the image of an eaten up corpse. Doing her best to avoid the bile growing in her mouth, she saw Chase slide underneath the charging bear. Turning around, he barked and jumped, biting the bear in the tail.

The beast howled with pain as it tried to shake Chase off, but he refused to let go. Using his paws, he pushed himself onto the back and started biting as hard as he could at the neck, his german shepherd's teeth ripping fur and out.

Skye didn't know what was scarier. The bear or Chase. She had seen Chase act violent before, mostly against the occasional thief or bully they had to deal with. But this was the first time Chase looked like he was fully willing to kill. Still frozen, Skye watched in horror as the bear finally got wise and made for the wall of his cave. Turning around, he slammed his back against the rocky surface. Chase cried out in pain before slipping down, dazed and bleeding around his ears.

Seeing his attacker down, the bear got up and opened its jaws.

"Chase!" shouted Skye, before turning to her Pup-Pack. She may have lost one friend, but she wasn't about to lose another. "Arf! Arf! Wings!"

Once her wings came out, Skye flew as fast as she could towards the bear. Normally, she wouldn't dare attempt to do this in such a narrow space as a cave, but it was better than losing two pups in one day. The bear's attention was caught as Skye began to zip around the bear, barking at it. It roared and tried to swipe at her with his claws, but she was much too nimble for it.

Getting an idea, she headed towards the exit of the cave while shouting, "Come and get me, you overgrown teddy bear!"

The bear roared in anger and chased after her, reaching the edge of the cliff path that lead to a long way down. Skye took to the air even higher as the bear continued to roar at her.

"Hey!" shouted a voice, catching the bear's attention. It turned around and saw Chase, back on his four paws, growling at the bear. "Bark! Net!"

His net launcher emerged from the puppack and fired, the net wrapping around the muzzle and face of he bear. Blinded and unable to roar, it leaned on its hind legs in confusion while swiping in the air. "This is for my brother you murderer!" shouted Chase as he charged forward. With a loud cry, he tackled the bear right in the chest. Skye watched and waited as the force of the blow pushed the bear off the edge of the cliff, hurling it into the dark chasm below.

Skye didn't stop watching the falling bear until she could see it no more and turned away, trying not to visualize the gory fate. Instead, she focused on Chase, who looked at the location of where the bear fell while taking deep breaths. He then quickly turned back into the cave.

Landing back on the ground, Skye retracted her wings and headed forward, eying a large puddle of blood that smelled just like...

No... no, please...

Skye rushed in, but paused upon seeing a sight that shattered her heart. Chase held Marshall's blood covered collar that was starting to mix with the tears that were falling from his eyes. Slowly, he looked up at Skye with a pleading face. "Please tell me..."

"T-tell you what?" asked Skye, who started to feel her own waterworks coming out.

"Tell me this is a dream... tell me this isn't' real... and that when I wake up Marshall will be in his dog house. Washing it... and then tripping on his hose and spraying Rocky again. And we all just laugh because that's Marshall being Marshall," whispered Chase, as he lowered his head. "Please, Skye... tell me... tell me he's not dead..."

Skye slowly walked over to Chase and nuzzled him, holding him closer to her as she felt the collar between both their chests. "Chase... I'm so sorry... I'm so so so sorry..."

She closed her eyes as she felt him breath heavier and heavier, hyperventilating worse with each breath. Until at last he unleashed it all in a painful scream.

"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!"

Chase fell to the floor, cradling the collar as he openly bawled. Mud, tears, and rain decorated his defeated face as he screamed, "He promised! He promised! Oh. Marshall! Marshall! Please don't leave me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything! You're not an annoyance, you're my brother! Don't leave like Dad did! Please! I love you! Please! I love you! Please... please... please... Marshall... please..."

Never before had Chase look so broken in the eyes of Skye. The once strong and capable leader that she always admired, even before her feelings for him, left her speechless. It was like looking at a little newborn, alone and scared in a world of nothing but darkness. His sorrowful cries rang even in Skye's soul as she lay her head over his and cried with him.

Nothing she said could heal this. She wasn't sure if anything could heal this. Marshall, her comrade, her friend, was gone forever and nothing would ever be the same. Paw Patrol would never be the same.

"... I need to call... Ryder..." whispered Skye, figuring he and the rest of the pups deserved to hear the news. Chase didn't say anything, he just whimpered. Pressing her communicator tag, she called for her owner.

"Skye?! Thank goodness! What happened?! Are you and Chase safe?!" cried out Ryder on the other end.

"R-Ryder..." whispered Skye, trying to find the words.

"Skye?"

"... M-Marshall's... d-dead..."

Another cry exited Chase as Skye winced. The other line was quiet as Skye waited.

"A-are y-y-you s-sure? Is there a-a body?" asked Ryder, his voice cracked.

"W-we found his collar... and his blood... in a bear's cave..." said Skye, trying to not imagine the grim final moments of the dalmatian's short life. All she could hope was that he didn't suffer long and was at peace.

There was a long silence, only broken up by Chase's crying. Finally, Ryder said, "Are you safe?"

"We are."

"When the storm ends... come home..."

"Ryder! I'm sorry! It's all our fault, if we hadn't..."

"Skye... don't... just don't blame yourselves... please..."

Skye swore that before the call ended, she heard a heartbroken cry.