Cherish || A Chase x Sweetie Fanfiction ||

(S3-C1) • Starting Anew •

The erupting steam from the train's engine up to its pipe awoke the pup from his untimely slumber. He was a bit discombobulated of his location but the memory striked fast in return, and he took off the tarp he used as a blanket, standing up and passing through the storage boxes as his keen ears listened to the chugging of the train.

There was a lock mechanism inside the boxcar where he stayed, closed by workers hours ago in which he hid, although it wasn't complicated to his luck, resulting in a few minutes of working on it until he was able to unlock it with a lockpick he got from his pup-pack. It was an item he rarely used, considering there wasn't a single mission he needed it.

He bobbed his head from his success, taking in a deep breath as he prepared himself for what sight would behold before him.

The gentlest push caused light to strike on his forehead, and he continued to use his strength to fully open the large, metal door, closing his eyes before he took another great inhale, turning to the outside.

He was moving at a rapid speed, carried by the train. However, he made no mistake, taking in the countryside scenery. It was like watching a three-dimensional nature show on an extremely large television.

In the distance, there were cattles in the pastures and crops were growing all around. The meadow on the side of the train tracks was growing colourful with its separated seams of flowers. It was easy on the eyes, and this was a feeling Chase wasn't as familiar with after being born in the streets and being raised in a modern city. He hadn't really appreciated the natural world until now.

The orange sun was hiding behind the mountains like a shy child, and the pup wished he traveled like this towards Barkingburg instead of flying over in the Air Patroller, which was a more efficient, less time-consuming method yet hindered the view to the beautiful landscape.

"Heh... Barkingburg," he chuckled quietly, shaking his head in remembering his goal, sitting down on the edge of the boxcar's door. In a sense, he betrayed everyone. He betrayed his unrelated family, left his only childhood friend until he became the police pup he was, and even lied about his status in life, which his team would probably mourn about due to his 'death'. He thought using wrong for another wrong would make it right, but it only backfired at him. He rebelled against his owner's wishes and sought to live his life on his own, like a teenager wishing to leave his family to deal with his life independently.

It was quite frantic.

"Yeah, I've done a lot of wrongs in my life by now." He slouched on the side of the boxcar's entrance, letting one hind leg to suspend outside while the other rested on the metal flooring, both forepaws on his belly as he stared out at the distance. "But... I can't give up. I'm perfect yet I keep making mistakes, both of which are what I hate to hear, do, and act to be. However, only I can determine what I want to do and be in life, and now that I have nowhere to go, the decisions from now on are my own, as well as the consequences with every choice I make."

The Shepherd had forgotten the anguish that his heart was being whipped with every minute. All the punches thrown, all the stabs of a knife through his continued mistakes and selfish acts—he was now embracing the past, figuring he couldn't do anything to change it now. Still, that didn't mean he was a bad pup. It only meant he was lost, which he felt weird about. Being his own therapist after looking back at all his irrational actions, he learned that his underlying hatred and jealousy was normal and temporary, his actions largely unnecessary but irreversible now that they were history.

"I must prove that I'm not the hopeless psychopath my team thought of me, and I'll do it one little step at a time. For now, I just need a place to stay. Maybe try to figure out Sweetie's past since I have nothing to do and no one to interact with but her and the other princesses if they're still in the castle. Jeez, and I guess I have to apologize for leaving without a note too."