Cherish || A Chase x Sweetie Fanfiction ||

(S3-C16) • Revelation •

The furry paws exited the throne room and into the outside through the stairless entrance, being led by a human, if he could even be considered as one. The general definition of a human is the relation to or characterization of people or human beings. Ryder looked anything but that. His eyes were red, his hair was messy, and his face was bruised from the fight he gave the guards that dragged him away. He fought well, the pups knew. They were there to witness how he was desperate to get away, resulting in getting beat up, and no one turned an eye to calm the situation down. Not even the team themselves, allowing the fight to further continue and their leader to get injured.

He was limping away, holding his arm where his sleeve was ripped and showed the flow of red down his gloveless hand.

"I'm sorry, pups. I should have never brought you here, there wasn't even any consent," Ryder's voice had shriveled of its former determination. He sounded like he lost someone important to him. Other than the one he hid from his team.

They continued walking out, the PAW Patroller soon appearing before them automatically, the side of it open for entering.

"Well, head homes, pups. There are matters I still need to attend to here—"

"No."

Everyone turned towards the one who they least expected to cut their leader's sentence of. His tone was sharp and strong, and his expression was one they've never seen before. Dead serious.

"We are done with your secrets and lies, Ryder. We thought you were at your grandparents but you got tangled in this mess and got us involved. Sweetie ordered us to get out of here yet for some reason, you're still staying? You have no right to play us because we don't know what's going on, and you've been fishy enough to get our attention."

"Marshall, I have no time to explain. After I head home, I'll make sure to tell you everything, alright?" Ryder bent down, lifting a hand to cup the Dalmatian's cheek, yet he backed away and huffed through his nose, a sign of defiance.

"Tell us now. We aren't leaving until you do," the spotted pup persisted, a paw reaching to his shoulder yet he snapped at who it was with a growl, turning out that it was Everest. However, he still didn't drop his aggression. "Chase was my best friend, Everest. You're among those who know that better than anyone, but you didn't care about how I would feel on the table. I assume you know you can't stop me from speaking here just as fair as I didn't go against you."

Slowly, Everest lowered her paw, eyes drawn to the wet, marbled floor that had the scent of rain as she tried to make herself smaller, hiding behind the others.

"Sheesh, Mawshall," Zuma rolled his eyes. "What'we you gonna do, twip and fall ovew us?"

"Maybe I'll try to tamper with your parachute, Zuma. I don't know, I just feel the urge to."

The two friends showed their teeth, ready for another brawl. This time, there wasn't any chance of stopping them.

"Why can't everybody just calm down?" Rubble got in front of the two, his tiny legs shivering. He was trying to break the tension and act tough, clearly failing, but that somehow got everyone to listen to him. It was an action that was indifferent of him. "We lost someone already, do you guys think he'll be happy to see us like this?"

Marshall only scoffed. "It doesn't matter, Rubble. A few of his friends, most especially Zuma, doesn't care about—"

"I do care, alright." Zuma screamed, his lips pushed together in rage yet he began shaking, unknown to him of how he suddenly lost his speech disorder. As he blinked, wetness began sliding down his cheeks, yet he kept his stand. "I care about Chase, he was a brother to me. He was always there for me when no one was, I can't even sleep at night because I remembered every encouraging sayings he had told me when I was new to the team. I felt like an outcast but he opened me with open arms and that's something no one can mimic but him, and I was the one who killed him. I just don't want to remember him anymore, it's tearing me apart!"