Marshall had never felt more content as Chase drove him home. But at the same time, he felt a sense of trepidation. If Chase had reacted the way he did, how were the other pups feeling? Something told him that he should probably brace for a lot more emotions to come. Though Marshall was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he found that they had stopped a little while shy of the bridge to the Lookout, parking off to the side of the road.

"Huh?" Marshall said. "Chase? Why have we stopped?"

"Well..." Chase replied. "I don't wanna wake the other pups. And like I said, I have something to show you."

"But shouldn't we wake them? They wanna know I'm OK… right?"

"Of course they do! But..." Chase gave Marshall a pleading expression. "I just want you to myself for a little longer… I know that's not right… is it?"

"Well no… But you know..." Marshall gave a sad smile before gently licking Chase's face. "I don't think I mind it..."

Chase smiled in response as the pair hopped out, only for Marshall to trip over his own paws on his way down, landing flat on his face.

"I'm OK!"

Chase first froze up in horror, before clasping his paws over his mouth and desperately trying to suppress the urge to burst out laughing. Further evidence to Marshall of how badly Chase missed him when he heard the muffled snickering.

"C'mon. Shh."

Chase led Marshall over the bridge on foot. As much as Chase didn't want Marshall to have to keep walking thanks to the three-day hike the poor dalmatian endured, he didn't want to wake the pups, either. Once they saw that Marshall had miraculously survived, Chase was sure that what happened in his little reunion with him was going to happen again, but with four other pups in the mix.

Slowly, a strange shape came into focus at the side of the Lookout as the pair approached. But when Marshall saw what exactly the shape was, his heart juddered to a halt.

The sight was his pup house, but radically different to how he remembered it. It was completely inaccessible, if not for the giant portrait of his smiling face set up in the middle of it, then for the sea of flowers and candles placed in front of it. Black banners were draped over it. Cards of condolence, flower wreaths and even his teddy were laid out around the pup house.

Marshall swallowed hard as his blood turned to ice. Chase was effectively showing Marshall his own tomb. The sight was completely surreal and haunting to say the least.

"This is how we were feeling…" Chase whispered. "This is what was happening while you were gone… I mean… when we had to tell the pups that you were dead… I..."

"Chase..." Marshall whispered. "I mean, I know it looked like I died out there, but… were things really… this bad?"

"We'll talk more in a sec. Follow me."

Chase led Marshall around the bays, showing him that half of the remaining pup houses were empty. But the ones that were filled made the dalmatian's heart drop. The first filled house was Rubble's, occupied by not just the familiar bulldog, but Skye, too. He couldn't help but notice how miserable they both looked in their sleep. He also couldn't help but notice the large, dried puddle underneath both of their heads. It didn't take much imagination to figure out that the two had cried themselves to sleep.

Next was Rocky's pup house, being shared with Zuma. Only Zuma was clinging onto Rocky for dear life with his eyes squeezed shut and emitting a series of soft whimpers, obviously suffering from horrible nightmares. Rocky, too, was obviously not sleeping soundly, considering the look of pain on his face as he slept.

Marshall froze. He desperately wanted to go and wake the pair of them up and give them the biggest hug he could muster. The creeping sensation of guilt started to take him over.

"Hey, Marshall..." Chase hissed. "Come on."

"But…" Marshall quietly replied. "...they look so… upset… Can't I wake them up?"

"Marshall..." The pleading expression returned to Chase's face. "...please..."

Marshall sighed heavily under his breath. "Let's make it quick." he replied. "I don't want them to think I'm dead for much longer."

"Of course."

Chase and Marshall went inside the Lookout as quietly as they could. Marshall was starting to feel overwhelmed. He had a feeling the pups would react terribly to news of his "death", but not quite to this extreme. After turning on the lights, Chase pushed two blue bowls full of food and water towards Marshall.

"These are yours." Chase said with a smile. "All yours. Don't be shy."

Marshall gasped. "Th-thank you!"

Chase only smiled more widely as Marshall practically inhaled the food and water before him. Within seconds, the bowls were completely devoid of their contents, leaving Marshall breathing deeply in relief.

"Ahhh… So much… So much better..." Marshall sighed.

"We can deal with all that mud in your fur later." Chase said. "C'mere. Take a load off."

In the time that Marshall had spent eating, Chase had moved over to a beanbag, patting the empty space next to him, wearing the same smile as ever. Marshall responded by hopping onto the beanbag and snuggling close to Chase. After so much walking, having something comfortable to sit on was most welcome. As was Chase swiftly throwing his arms around him. If it weren't for the intensity of the current situation, Marshall likely would've blacked out then and there.

"So… Ready to share?" Chase asked.

"Just about." Marshall replied. "It's a heck of a long story. See..."

Marshall went on to recount his three day hike to Chase, making sure not to leave out the details of how lonely he was and how he frequently wondered if he'd ever make it, considering how far down the river he went and how the leaves and grass he was forced to live off of barely provided enough energy to keep him going. Chase listened on in horror at the trials that Marshall had to endure, expressing amazement that everything ended up going well for him, all things considered. All he could do in response to Marshall's mention of things feeling hopeless and his considerations of giving up was hug him even more tightly, doing his best not to cry again.

"And yet you kept going until the bitter end… That's so like you..." Chase whispered.

Marshall briefly cracked a smile in response to Chase's praise. "Chase… What were things like while I was gone?" Marshall was dreading finding out, despite the burning curiosity in his brain. "Were things… really that bad?"

"'That bad'? They were way worse! The entire town thought you were dead! We're still preparing your funeral! All the pups couldn't stop crying when we broke the news!" The painful stories the two were telling proved too much for Chase to handle, prompting him to break down in tears again. "E-everyone came by to… to pay their respects… Mr. Porter brought Alex… the kid was c-crying the whole time… Jake said that Everest had… totally shut down… Mayor G-Goodway looked like she'd been crying too... A-and Carlos came by w-with Tracker… Th-they didn't even speak to us the whole time… Even… E-Even HUMDINGER came by! He said… he never w-wanted it to come to this!"

It was surprisingly easy for Marshall to picture this depressing reality in his head. It would explain why the atmosphere of his hometown was so heavy on his return. He started to imagine how much pain everyone went through, and the guilt came back full force for him. Guilt that filled him up and spilled out through his eyes.

"No… No, no, no, no, NO!" Marshall sobbed, quickly throwing his arms around Chase. "I-I'm so sorry! I hurt you all so badly! I didn't… d-didn't even think I… I-I..."

Marshall found himself cut off by Chase abruptly squeezing him even more tightly. "No. Shut up. Do NOT apologize! This wasn't your fault at all! It was… it was CALI'S fault! She made you fall into the river! If it wasn't for her, none of this would be happening!" The two simply laid on the beanbag, crying once again at the pain of the emotional scars the pair had suffered.

"But… we got you back…" Chase sniffled after a couple of minutes. "And we will NEVER. Let you go again. Not ever."

"I… I'm not going anywhere this time… I promise." Marshall replied. "B-but… What about you and Ryder? You were the last two I saw before..."

Chase's body stiffened at the mention of his owner's name. Something told Marshall that he wasn't going to like what Chase was about to tell him.

"We all took what happened badly… But Ryder took it hardest, I think..." Chase said. "He didn't stop crying all the way back to the Lookout, and then he ran to his room… We haven't seen him since, but I heard that when someone tried to talk to him… he just screamed at them to leave him alone… I heard Skye say she tried it… then Rocky… But they all said the same thing… Even when Katie tried to talk to him… He acted like she wasn't even there..."

Marshall whined. "Wait. You 'heard'? You didn't try and talk to him yourself?"

Chase sighed. "After I broke the news… Everything fell apart… I just kinda shut myself in my pup house… I only came out a couple times in the last few days to get some water… When you found me on the beach… That was the first time I'd even left the Lookout since..."

"Huh? But what about eating? Taking a bath? Talking to people?"

"I... didn't do any of that..." Chase squeezed his eyes shut in preparation for the tongue-lashing Marshall was obviously about to give him.

"You WHAT?!" Marshall yelled, doing his best to keep his volume under control. "You mean to tell me all this time you weren't taking care of yourself at all?! Chase, you know how bad that is for you! I know you were all hurt, but starving yourself?! If I'd known that you hadn't eaten for days, I wouldn't have had that food you gave me!"

"Why do you think I stayed quiet?" Chase whispered.

"And the pups! They all would've needed you! And you would've needed them! And you shut yourself away?!"

"...me? You're worrying about me? My best friend. My baby brother died right in front of me. All I could do was watch. For the last three days, I've been stuck thinking about that nonstop… And you're worrying about me taking care of myself?!"

Chase was struggling to keep from outright yelling, despite the tears coming back to his eyes.

"Do you have any idea how much it hurt?! I kept thinking that I wasn't good enough to save you! I knew that I should've been there for the pups and Ryder! But I was so… so weak! I couldn't bring myself to even leave my pup house! Whenever someone tried to talk to me, I didn't even have the words to reply! All I could think about was you! And how badly I failed! And all this time, I kept thinking it should've been me! Why did I have watch you die?! Why couldn't I be in your place?! What did you do to deserve any of that?!"

When Chase finally stopped talking, he noticed Marshall staring back at him with a look of wide-eyed, tearful horror. If it wasn't clear to him how Chase was feeling before, it certainly was now. Once again, the two held each other close and broke down.

"B-But… We-we have you back…" Chase sobbed. "Against all the odds… You came back… That… Th-that's all that matters now..."

"Y-yeah…" Marshall whimpered. "That… That w-was one of the w-worst three days of my life... I-I don't… w-want to be taken away from you again..."

"You won't. I swear." Chase held on to Marshall even more tightly, while giving him a determined glare with red, bloodshot eyes. "I-I won't let anything that horrible happen again... I just got a second chance, here. And I'm NOT going to blow it."

Marshall couldn't help but smile through his tears. "And I'm not g-gonna let that happen again either… I'm… never going to let myself get taken away from you all again..."

Chase smiled back as he bumped his forehead against Marshall's. "Y-you… You promise?"

"Promise..."

"Cross your heart?

Marshall pulled back and mimed drawing an X-shape over his chest. "Crossed."

The two swiftly pulled back in and embraced each other as tightly as they could. For all the pain they'd suffered. Through all the agony. There was one thing that was clear to them now.

The bad dream was finally over. The bad dream that seemed to have no end had ended with the pair of them reunited after being torn apart from each other. They simply laid on the beanbag in each other's arms for a few minutes, thanking the fates above for Marshall's safe return after the horrible tragedy that had ensued. Soon, however, Chase broke the silence.

"So… You think you're ready to see Ryder?"

"As I'll ever be..." Marshall sighed.

"He's gonna be over the moon..."

"You think so?"

"Pff, what kinda question is that?!"

"B-but what if he's mad at me?"

"He won't be mad at you at all! C'mon!"

Marshall saw that he didn't have a lot of choice in the matter as he followed Chase off of the beanbag and into the elevator.

"Oh, and Chase?" Marshall said, taking his place next to Chase in the elevator. "Once we get up there, I'm not going any further until you get some food."

"Are you still worrying about me not eating?" Chase replied. "Look, I'm fine. Don't go worrying yourself about me!"

"You haven't eaten in three days and you just gave me all of your food. If you want me to feel better, you're going to get some treats from the dispensers up there and eat them, and that's final."

Chase snickered at Marshall putting his foot down like this as the elevator began to ascend. "I missed you so much, Marshall. More than anything..." He leaned in and nuzzled Marshall harder than ever, which Marshall was quick to return.

"I missed you more, Chase..." Marshall gave Chase a brief lick, only to gag slightly. "Heh… Salty..."

Chase only smiled in response to Marshall's assessment of the situation. "I missed you times infinity..."

Chase had done what Marshall had said after arriving at the top. He really hadn't realised how hungry he was after not eating for three days. But after the weight of Marshall's supposed death had been lifted, Chase found himself emptying nearly the entire dispenser, punctuating his impromptu feast with a giant burp.

"Er… Sorry." Chase said meekly.

"Don't act like you don't feel better!" Marshall replied through laughter.

"Well, I do… But this is gonna make me so fat..."

"As long as you're eating, who cares?" Marshall asked, moving over to the doors to the Lookout's balcony and stepping out, staring out over the city.

"I wasn't sure I'd see this again, you know." Marshall said wistfully.

"Trust me Marshall." Chase replied, walking over next to him. "You'll be seeing way more of it."

"I hope so… I'm not in a hurry to go back to the forest… Right now, all I wanna do is just stay in Adventure Bay..."

"After that? I'd say you've earned a little time off around town."

"Hey! Who's there?!"

There was no doubt that that was Ryder's voice. But he sounded hugely irritated and confrontational. As if he was a completely different person in his grief. Chase began to yearn for Ryder to arrive already so that he could finally snap out of his deep depression.

"Well. It's time." Chase whispered, turning to the source of the noise.

"Guess so." Marshall replied, doing the same and internally bracing himself for meeting Ryder again, seeing the beam of a flashlight come from around the corner.

"Chase, is that you?! Who are you talking to?! What are you even doing up here?! Do you have any idea what time it-"

Ryder shone the beam of his flashlight at the two pups for a couple of seconds while continuing to rant on. But only after that time had passed did the boy react with a gasp so loud that the pups were surprised that he didn't end up moving them closer with the force of it. Ryder had jumped, dropping the flashlight he was wielding on the floor, smashing it to bits. The look of ferocity on his face had changed to one of shock not dissimilar to Chase's earlier on.

With a dropped jaw and wide eyes, Ryder started to breathe heavily. His hands were shaking rapidly for a few seconds before he dropped to his knees, the weight of the revelation being too much for him to handle. After three days of pushing everyone away in anger at being unable to save one of his own. Three days of wallowing in his supposed failure. Three days of questioning his own leadership. Three days of crying in anguish over the death of his beloved fire pup. Here that same pup was standing right in front of him. Bedecked in mud and other filth, but very much alive. Overwhelmed by what he was seeing, Ryder slowly began to cry.

"M-muh… Ma-Marshall…?" Ryder stammered with tears filling his eyes. "Is… I-is… that..."

"Believe it or not, Ryder..." Marshall interrupted, with tears of his own beginning to form in his eyes. "...you're not dreaming… It really is me…"

The ensuing pause of about five seconds felt like an eternity to the three. But that was all the time it took for Ryder's breathing to become faster and more erratic. Breathing which quickly turned into sobbing. Sobbing which turned into hysterics as Ryder swiftly rose up and dived at the pups, throwing his arms around the pair of them and screaming tearfully while hugging them tightly enough to practically crack their bones.

The sight of Ryder in tears was always a hard one to comprehend. The sight of Ryder in total hysterics was even more so. But after him being an angry, spiteful, reclusive shell of himself for the past couple of days, it was an oddly welcome sight, if a contagious one. It didn't take long for Marshall and Chase to join in as their owner wailed more loudly than they ever thought possible.

But with the door to the Lookout's balcony open, the other four pups soon came running to investigate why their owner was suddenly crying his heart out so deeply. Only for theirs to stop altogether when they saw the wailing bundle of spotted fur in his arms. The reaction was near-immediate. After a period of shock for all four of them, they burst into tears and charged forward like a horde of bulls and hurled themselves at their supposedly-dead friend, clinging to him for dear life and forming a giant group hug.

The Lookout had never gotten quite as loud as it had on that night. If the Lookout didn't sit on an isolated island, then the ensuing wailing from all seven of them likely would've woken up everyone in a several block-wide radius. If there's one thing that the entire Paw Patrol had in common, it's that none of them were graceful criers. Least of all Ryder. But every single one of them had a very good reason for their tears.

Their family was finally whole once more. Never to be broken again.

CONTINUED IN REKINDLED ANEW

And that's it. A short one, but hopefully one that was still enjoyable. I don't have much to say, so I'll try and keep this short.

For the one-shot collection that I'm trying to write, I'm trying to keep each story relatively short (around 4K words at most, let's say), so I've got to try and keep myself from getting carried away. Advice that I haven't been following very well... because I've done it again. I was coming up with ideas for one-shots, and another came into my head, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised "...OK, yeah, I'm not going to fit all of this into a one-shot".

You know what's funny? It's an idea that I swore up and down I'd never do, but the more thought I gave it, the more I liked what I'd come up with. So to avoid waste, I'm going to focus on that one next. This one, I'm more comfortable revealing to you. This one's going to be an origin story on how Chase and Marshall met (and by extension how the Paw Patrol was founded). I know, not exactly untrodden ground, and it's not going to be anything overly-dark, but I think I'm onto something with it. I'm also going to be introducing ONE OC (two, maybe?) in it: a pup's parent. Again, something I said I'd never do. I guess it's good to push your own limitations sometimes, isn't it? I think I can handle this one.

How many chapters will it have? How long will it take? I have to give my classic answer on it: I'm not sure. But I WILL be focusing on the one-shot collection afterwards. I swear! ...honest...

Jokes aside, I wasn't actually intending to start chasing plot bunnies, but hey, allow me a little deviance from time to time? I hope you look forward to what I have in store.

Hrm... Didn't do a very good job keeping this short, did I?

Next up is Start Your Engines. Hope to see you then.

PyreFly out.